SEGMENT: ENVIRONMENT & DISTILLERIES
Gray Herndon>UIS Collection H-I>UIS Collection H-I, Segment 8
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- ENVIRONMENT
- Description of Mississippi River Bottoms in southern Illinois around Grand Tower. Describes bottomland before building of levees & draining of swamps.
- DISTILLERIES
- Tells story second-hand about southern Illinois, on the Mississippi River, there was a swamp and undrained riverbeds around Grand Towers. They put in ditches, but before they made levees, the grew cane brakes. A man built a still that could only be reached by water. Sold corn liquor. A dog warned him when the revenuers were coming looking for him. After the dog died, he had to listen for revenuers. One day they were too close when he spotted them and he ran away and dived into the river. Couldn't make it across, so had to come back and he got caught. Gray never heard of any stills in Sangamon County. He says that any fruit juice can be made into liquor, for instance apple brandy or applejack. His family never drank.
