Mam-ma's Southern Family

I have been discussing in the last four blogs about the estate inventory of my 5 times Great-grandfather, Robert Lancaster, who died in 1840 in Shelby County, Kentucky. When I discovered that he had two copper stills and seventy-two barrels of whiskey, I became very curious about whiskey-making. I began my research on the making of whiskey in the 19th century via the Internet. I learned some basics from the “Bourbon Whiskey” article on Wikipedia . But I wanted to learn more. Two books that I received through inter-library loan were very helpful: The Social History of Bourbon,   by Gerald Carson and published by The University Press of Kentucky in 1963, and Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey, an American Heritage by Michael R. Veach, and also published by The University Press of Kentucky in 2013. Because these two books were published by an academic press, they were well documented. I was never a drinker of hard spirits, so I didn’t know much about whiskey. Since read...

Robert Lancaster of Shelby County, Kentucky, died in 1840, and his estate was probated by his youngest son, Josiah Lancaster, as administrator. [1] His estate was ordered to be inventoried and this is the fourth post about that inventory. This being Kentucky, I should not be surprised to find whiskey making items in the inventory. 66 mash tubs, 2 copper stills &                 still house apparatus            80   00 45 acres of corn                                  300  00 40 bushels of wheat                             20   00 2 Bee s...