Download or read book Murder and Mountain Justice in the Moonshine Capital of the World written by Phillip Andrew Gibbs and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2023-07-17 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Story of Hard Spirits and Defiant Souls Franklin County, Virginia has long been known as the Moonshine Capital of the World. That history can seem romantic, but the county has a dark and violent past. The descendants of the Scots-Irish who settled its rugged mountains openly defied the law and employed their own notions of justice to defend their traditions and livelihood. During Prohibition, the production of moonshine skyrocketed, but the liquor didn't stop flowing from the mountains when the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed. County and state officials struggled to maintain order in a region where unsolved murders, strange disappearances, and senseless killings were a way of life. The peak came in 1978, with nine murders linked to moonshine and drugs in the county. Historian and Virginia native Phillip Andrew Gibbs tells story of that horrific year and the history behind it.
Download or read book Spirits of Just Men written by Charles D. Thompson Jr. and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2011-04-20 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirits of Just Men tells the story of moonshine in 1930s America, as seen through the remarkable location of Franklin County, Virginia, a place that many still refer to as the "moonshine capital of the world." Charles D. Thompson Jr. chronicles the Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935, which made national news and exposed the far-reaching and pervasive tendrils of Appalachia's local moonshine economy. Thompson, whose ancestors were involved in the area's moonshine trade and trial as well as local law enforcement, uses the event as a stepping-off point to explore Blue Ridge Mountain culture, economy, and political engagement in the 1930s. Drawing from extensive oral histories and local archival material, he illustrates how the moonshine trade was a rational and savvy choice for struggling farmers and community members during the Great Depression. Local characters come alive through this richly colorful narrative, including the stories of Miss Ora Harrison, a key witness for the defense and an Episcopalian missionary to the region, and Elder Goode Hash, an itinerant Primitive Baptist preacher and juror in a related murder trial. Considering the complex interactions of religion, economics, local history, Appalachian culture, and immigration, Thompson's sensitive analysis examines the people and processes involved in turning a basic agricultural commodity into such a sought-after and essentially American spirit.
Download or read book Spirits of Just Men written by Charles Dillard Thompson (Jr.) and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2011-04-20 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Following the end of Prohibition in 1933, demand for moonshine remained high due to taxes imposed on large liquor producers. Seeking to answer this demand were the distillers of Appalachia who, having established illegal networks of moonshine distribution under Prohibition, continued their activities and effectively skirted the federal liquor tax scheme. Spirits of Just Men chronicles the Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935, held in Franklin County, Virginia, a place that many still refer to as the "Moonshine Capital of the World." While the trial itself made national news, Thompson uses the event as a stepping-off point to explore Blue Ridge Mountain culture, economy, and political engagement in the 1930 illustrating how participation in the moonshine trade was a rational and savvy choice for farmers and community members struggling to maintain their way of life amidst the pressures of the Great Depression and pull of the timber and coal-mining industries in Virginia. Through Thompson's prose, local characters come alive as he pays particular attention to the stories of a key witness for the defense, Miss Ora Harrison, an Episcopalian missionary to the region, and Elder Goode Hash, itinerant Primitive Baptist preacher and juror in a related murder trial. Thompson explores how local religious belief both clashed with and condoned the moonshine trade and how stills and the trade enabled a distinctive cultural formation in the region that goes far beyond the hillbilly stereotype alive today. Not only is his work is based on extensive oral histories and local archival material, but Thompson himself is from the area and his grandparents were involved in not only the moonshine trade but the trial as well"--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book The Field of Justice written by William A. Thomas and published by . This book was released on 2024-06-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Lawless written by Matt Bondurant and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-09-11 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a Foreword by Director John Hillcoat Based on the true story of Matt Bondurant’s grandfather and two granduncles, Lawless is a gripping tale of brotherhood, greed, and murder. The Bondurant Boys were a notorious gang of roughnecks and moonshiners who ran liquor through Franklin County, Virginia, during Prohibition and in the years after. When Sherwood Anderson, the journalist and author of Winesburg, Ohio, was covering a story there, he christened it the “wettest county in the world.” Anderson finds himself driving along dusty red roads, piecing together the clues linking the brothers to “The Great Franklin County Moonshine Conspiracy,” and breaking open the silence that shrouds Franklin County. In vivid, muscular prose, Matt Bondurant brings these men—their dark deeds, their long silences, their deep desires—to life. His understanding of the passion, violence, and desperation at the center of this world is both heartbreaking and magnificent.
Download or read book The Wettest County in the World written by Matt Bondurant and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-12-29 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bondurant weaves a compelling tale of violence, desperation, and greed, as three brothers run moonshine in Virginia during prohibition, in this story that is based on a true story about the author's grandfather and two uncles.
Download or read book Moonshine Murder and Mountaineers written by Allen Cook and published by . This book was released on 2014-09-24 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around the turn of the twentieth century, a rural county located in the backwoods of the Blue Ridge Mountains made national headlines as the most lawless place in America. Winner of the North Carolina Society of Historians' Willie Parker Peace History Book Award, Moonshine, Murder & Mountaineers: The Wildest County in America recounts a time when moonshiners and desperadoes faced off against lawmen in epic battles that made national headlines. The book focuses on actual events from an area in western North Carolina that held the reputation as the wildest county in America. With a masterful blend of entertaining stories supported by historical documentation, the reader is given an exciting account of true events.Moonshine, Murder & Mountaineers also provides readers with historical and genealogical reference points. The names of real people are used throughout the book. An index of names is provided for ancestry research. Old newspaper and court documents are quoted on numerous occasions and provide a solid historical reference point to the accounts. The book is written in a format to both entertain and inform. Entertaining and exciting stories are followed by a chapter documenting historically accurate research. This format takes the reader back in time through vivid short stories and allows one to make their own opinion of the events based on the facts. Moonshine, Murder & Mountaineers: The Wildest County in America will prove to be a fun and informative read!
Download or read book A Nip of Murder written by Carol Miller and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2014-12-16 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "As Daisy McGovern knows all too well, it isn't easy being a young, small town waitress at the local diner. And it becomes even harder just as she's trying to stitch her life back together and salvage her job by converting the diner into a bakery when a mysterious robbery occurs and one of the thieves ends up dead on the bakery floor with a chef's knife in his chest"--
Download or read book Moonshine Murder and Mountaineers written by Janie Ledford Cook and published by Chestnut Ridge. This book was released on 2014-10-20 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Killers of the Flower Moon written by David Grann and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, “one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."—New York Magazine • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NOW A MARTIN SCORSESE PICTURE “A shocking whodunit…What more could fans of true-crime thrillers ask?”—USA Today “A masterful work of literary journalism crafted with the urgency of a mystery.” —The Boston Globe In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. Look for David Grann’s latest bestselling book, The Wager!
Download or read book Murder Moonshine General Mayhem in Shotgun County written by R. L. Murray and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-12-18 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uncle Dave Macon, made the county of Cannon quite famous when he sang about those Cannon County Hills from the Grand Ole Opry stage. Later on, it was Porter Wagoner who recorded the King of the Cannon County Hills song and even Grandpa Jones sang about being the King of the Cannon County Hills on the Hee Haw show in 1969. Maybe the tale of Al Capone supplying his speakeasies with Cooper Melton's moonshine from Short Mountain gained the county it's notoriety or it could be the county's nickname of Shotgun County. No matter which claim you are taken by, you'll find murder, moonshine and other general mayhem aplenty. Read through newspaper articles and old court documents that take you through a timeline of the stories of convicted murderers John Hollandsworth, Dillard Warren, Albert Jetton; the first county lynching of Tom Lillard, the death of moonshiner Cooper Melton or the robbing of the Bank of Auburn...all three attempts. Scan through old sworn testimonies where neighbors swear to the illegal activities of each other involving Lewdness, Carrying a Pistol, Selling Liquor and Disturbing Public Worship to Running a House of Ill Fame or read about the Cannon County son who became Sheriff and then on to U. S. Deputy Marshal and was called 'one of the most successful officers in the country.' These were the times when words like desperado and assassin were frequently used and it all happened in those Cannon County Hills. A few of the more notable stories and various court documents are compiled here in Murder, Moonshine and General Mayhem in Shotgun County.
Download or read book A Night of Makin Likker written by Morris Stephenson and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Shadow Country written by Peter Matthiessen and published by Modern Library. This book was released on 2008-08-19 with total page 912 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • “Altogether gripping, shocking, and brilliantly told, not just a tour de force in its stylistic range, but a great American novel, as powerful a reading experience as nearly any in our literature.”—Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books Killing Mister Watson, Lost Man’s River, and Bone by Bone—Peter Matthiessen’s great American epic about Everglades sugar planter and notorious outlaw E. J. Watson on the wild Florida frontier at the turn of the twentieth century—were originally conceived as one vast, mysterious novel. Now, in this bold new rendering, Matthiessen has marvelously distilled a monumental work while deepening the insights and motivations of his characters with brilliant rewriting throughout. Praise for Shadow Country “Magnificent . . . breathtaking . . . Finally now we have [this three-part saga] welded like a bell, and with Watson’s song the last sound, all the elements fuse and resonate.”—Los Angeles Times “Peter Matthiessen has done great things with the Watson trilogy. It’s the story of our continent, both land and people, and his writing does every justice to the blood fury of his themes.”—Don DeLillo “The fiction of Peter Matthiessen is the reason a lot of people in my generation decided to be writers. No doubt about it. Shadow Country lives up to anyone’s highest expectations for great writing.” —Richard Ford “Shadow Country, Matthiessen’s distillation of the earlier Watson saga, represents his original vision. It is the quintessence of his lifelong concerns, and a great legacy.”—W. S. Merwin “[An] epic masterpiece . . . a great American novel.”—The Miami Herald
Download or read book The Leo Frank Case written by Leonard Dinnerstein and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The events surrounding the 1913 murder of the young Atlanta factory worker Mary Phagan and the subsequent lynching of Leo Frank, the transplanted northern Jew who was her employer and accused killer, were so wide ranging and tumultuous that they prompted both the founding of B’nai B’rith’s Anti-Defamation League and the revival of the Ku Klux Klan. The Leo Frank Case was the first comprehensive account of not only Phagan’s murder and Frank’s trial and lynching but also the sensational newspaper coverage, popular hysteria, and legal demagoguery that surrounded these events. Forty years after the book first appeared, and more than ninety years after the deaths of Phagan and Frank, it remains a gripping account of injustice. In his preface to the revised edition, Leonard Dinnerstein discusses the ongoing cultural impact of the Frank affair.
Download or read book Getaway With Murder written by Diane Kelly and published by St. Martin's Paperbacks. This book was released on 2021-10-26 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Getaway With Murder is the first in a cozy series from Diane Kelly set in a lodge in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where secrets hide behind every hill. As if hitting the half-century mark wasn’t enough, Misty Murphy celebrated her landmark birthday by amicably ending her marriage and investing her settlement in a dilapidated mountain lodge at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With the old inn teetering on both a bluff and bankruptcy, she must have lost her ever-loving mind. Luckily, handyman Rocky Crowder has a knack for rehabbing virtual ruins and for doing it on a dime, and to Misty’s delight, the lodge is fully booked on opening night, every room filled with flexible folks who’d slipped into spandex and ascended the peak for a yoga retreat with plans to namastay for a full week. Misty and her guests are feeling zen—at least until the yoga instructor is found dead. With a killer on the loose and the lodge’s reputation hanging in the balance, Misty must put her detective-skills to the test. Only one thing is as clear as a sunny mountain morning—she must solve the crime before the lodge ends up, once again, on the brink.
Download or read book The Moonshine Shack Murder written by Diane Kelly and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this intoxicating new cozy mystery series, the future for modern-day moonshiner Hattie Hayes looks bright--until death darkens the doorstep of her Moonshine Shack. The Hayes family has made moonshine in Chattanooga since the days of Prohibition, and Hattie is happy to continue the tradition, serving up fun, fruity flavors in mason jars for locals and tourists alike. All signs indicate her new 'shine shop will be a smashing success. What's more, mounted police officer Marlon Landers has taken a shine to Hattie. For the first time ever, the stars seemed to have aligned in both her work and romantic life. But when a body ends up on her store's doorstep alongside a broken jar of her Firefly Moonshine, it just might be lights out for her fledgling business. The homicide detective can't seem to identify the person who killed the owner of a nearby bar. The only witness is Hattie's longhaired gray cat, and Smoky isn't talking. When the detective learns that the victim and Hattie had a heated exchange shortly before his murder, she becomes her prime suspect. Lest Hattie end up behind bars like her bootlegging great-grandfather a century before, she must distill the evidence herself and serve the killer a swift shot of justice.
Download or read book Side by Side written by T. J. Ray and published by Pelican Publishing Company. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "When federal marshals rode up to Will Mathis' rural house outside of Oxford, Mississippi, in 1901 to arrest him for counterfeiting and distilling, they had no idea what was waiting for them. Mathis and African American servant Orlando Lester shot the marshals, chopped up their bodies, and burned Mathis' house to the ground with the bodies inside. Mathis and Lester were sentenced to hang. Nationwide media coverage of the grisly case led more than 7,000 people to descend on Oxford to witness the hanging of a black man and a white man side by side"--Provided by publisher.
