Carol Jean Holland Grisham (D)
(6:05) Carol Jean Holland Grisham discusses her father making and selling whiskey. This interview was conducted as part of a joint project of the Music Preservation Society and the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. This project focus was oral history interviews with area residents who had lived...
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| Format: | Electronic |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library
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| Online Access: | https://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/oral_hist/id/227 |
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Electronic |
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Oral Histories Collection |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts Carol Jean Holland Grisham (D) Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts Capone, Al, 1899-1947; Whiskey |
| description |
(6:05) Carol Jean Holland Grisham discusses her father making and selling whiskey. This interview was conducted as part of a joint project of the Music Preservation Society and the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. This project focus was oral history interviews with area residents who had lived or worked on the Tennessee River.Florence- Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Carol Jean Holland Grisham
March 4 2008
Cherokee, Alabama
Conducted by Freda Dailey
Clip 4
CAROL GRISHAM: He [ her father] made whiskey over on Seven- Mile Island. I mean he did for years and finally, finally they caught him. But, it took them a long time. They knew he was doing it, they knew he was doing it and why he was doing it. He was doing it to feed all of us. But, it was, let’s see they didn’t catch him till after I was married. Now when he had a job he didn’t do it. But the minute that his work played out he would go right over there and then transport it back and forth, back and forth in the boat, you know. Then he would stash it over on somewhere in the rocks. He never would let us fool around it. When we were not on the river, when we were at home, his still was just like a little playhouse. And by the way this was not something to be proud of, but it’s something that’s historical anyhow, my uncle and my daddy made and sold whiskey that went to Chicago with uh
FREDA DAILEY: Al Capone?
CG: Uh huh, yeah, I remember as a little girl, Freda, them coming up to our house. They’d come sort of in a convoy. I don’t what they called it back then, that’s be what I call it today. They would have the seats and all, would just be stripped out. And those things, they would wait, of course we didn’t have telephone, they would wait until, and give Daddy time to make up enough that sometimes they would get a thousand or two thousand gallons at a time. And of course, they didn’t pay Daddy anything for it, two or three dollars a gallon, or probably five, if he charred it but I remember them saying that Daddy made the best whiskey of anybody.
FD: And how’d they char it?
CG: Daddy would burn out barrels. He’d burn out the inside of barrels and then char it. It was a beautiful color, a beautiful, beautiful color. They particularly liked that. They’d pay Daddy probably, probably two dollars more a gallon for the charred whiskey. But anyhow, they finally, they finally caught Daddy. And I think probably that that’s the only, only time that Daddy ever was fined. They knew he was doing it and they knew why he was doing it.
FD: And probably some of them drank it.
CG: Oh gosh, what you talking about! Mother and Daddy would, I’ve seen doctors and lawyers that would come to our house when I was a little girl. Mother would drive our old whatever kind of car we had back, and Daddy would get in their car, load them up and get in their car and take them home. They’d be blind- running drunk. And then when you got to school with their kids and all, their kids would look down their nose at you because you’re a bootlegger’s daughter you know. So many times I would have liked to have said “ Hey, my mother and my daddy drove your mother and daddy home the other night because they were too soused to do anything”. And the only time Daddy ever spent, spent any time in jail, was he was not guilty of that. But Daddy was from the old school, you didn’t tell on anybody, ever. They came and picked Daddy up. They’d found this still. They came and picked my daddy up. And Daddy told me this tale so many times and told, well I of course I knew about it because we almost starved to death when Daddy went to jail. And they’d come to Daddy about every, about every three weeks or four weeks and they’d say, “ Cherry, now we know it not yours but we know you know who it is. If you will, you’ll tell us who it is, we’ll turn you lose and you can go home to your family.” And Daddy would never tell. That man, Freda, never, ever, we almost starved to death. See in a child’s mind you think like a tree, a little sapling is great big ole tree. And I can, for years and years I had in my mind I could see my mother dragging this great big humongous tree out of the forest you know out of the woods to keep up warm at night in a house you could throw cats through the walls. But we came very near starving to death. That man never brought us a sack of meal, never brought us flour or anything. We came very near starving to death. And Daddy, they kept Daddy six months. And they finally determined that he was not going to tell and they turned him loose. And they would tell him, “ We know it not yours, but you know who it is.”
FD: Was it the local jail, where he was?
CG: No, they finally sent him to Kilby. They kept him over there. They thought if they sent him to Kilby, you know, he’d tell. And they sent him to Kilby. And Daddy told me the man’s name so many times, and I didn’t want to hate him. I didn’t want to hate him, so I’d just block it out, and I would never, and then the minute that Daddy had the stroke and lost all that, I would have given anything, anything if I could of, if I hadn’t done that, if I had not done it. But I deliberately did it because I thought, “ I will hate them the rest of my life because they let my daddy serve that time.” And then just practically just they forgot about us.
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| title |
Carol Jean Holland Grisham (D) |
| titleStr |
Carol Jean Holland Grisham (D) |
| author |
Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
| author_facet |
Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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FLCPLoral_hist227 |
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https://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/oral_hist/id/227 |
| thumbnail |
http://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/oral_hist/id/227 |
| _version_ |
1782468788617216000 |
| spelling |
Carol Jean Holland Grisham (D)Capone, Al, 1899-1947; Whiskey(6:05) Carol Jean Holland Grisham discusses her father making and selling whiskey. This interview was conducted as part of a joint project of the Music Preservation Society and the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library. This project focus was oral history interviews with area residents who had lived or worked on the Tennessee River.Florence-Lauderdale Public LibraryFlorence-Lauderdale Public LibraryCarol Jean Holland Grisham; Freda Dailey2008-03-04sound; textaudio/mp3; text/pdfEnglishIs part of the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library collectionContact the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library for permission to useFlorence- Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Carol Jean Holland Grisham
March 4 2008
Cherokee, Alabama
Conducted by Freda Dailey
Clip 4
CAROL GRISHAM: He [ her father] made whiskey over on Seven- Mile Island. I mean he did for years and finally, finally they caught him. But, it took them a long time. They knew he was doing it, they knew he was doing it and why he was doing it. He was doing it to feed all of us. But, it was, let’s see they didn’t catch him till after I was married. Now when he had a job he didn’t do it. But the minute that his work played out he would go right over there and then transport it back and forth, back and forth in the boat, you know. Then he would stash it over on somewhere in the rocks. He never would let us fool around it. When we were not on the river, when we were at home, his still was just like a little playhouse. And by the way this was not something to be proud of, but it’s something that’s historical anyhow, my uncle and my daddy made and sold whiskey that went to Chicago with uh
FREDA DAILEY: Al Capone?
CG: Uh huh, yeah, I remember as a little girl, Freda, them coming up to our house. They’d come sort of in a convoy. I don’t what they called it back then, that’s be what I call it today. They would have the seats and all, would just be stripped out. And those things, they would wait, of course we didn’t have telephone, they would wait until, and give Daddy time to make up enough that sometimes they would get a thousand or two thousand gallons at a time. And of course, they didn’t pay Daddy anything for it, two or three dollars a gallon, or probably five, if he charred it but I remember them saying that Daddy made the best whiskey of anybody.
FD: And how’d they char it?
CG: Daddy would burn out barrels. He’d burn out the inside of barrels and then char it. It was a beautiful color, a beautiful, beautiful color. They particularly liked that. They’d pay Daddy probably, probably two dollars more a gallon for the charred whiskey. But anyhow, they finally, they finally caught Daddy. And I think probably that that’s the only, only time that Daddy ever was fined. They knew he was doing it and they knew why he was doing it.
FD: And probably some of them drank it.
CG: Oh gosh, what you talking about! Mother and Daddy would, I’ve seen doctors and lawyers that would come to our house when I was a little girl. Mother would drive our old whatever kind of car we had back, and Daddy would get in their car, load them up and get in their car and take them home. They’d be blind- running drunk. And then when you got to school with their kids and all, their kids would look down their nose at you because you’re a bootlegger’s daughter you know. So many times I would have liked to have said “ Hey, my mother and my daddy drove your mother and daddy home the other night because they were too soused to do anything”. And the only time Daddy ever spent, spent any time in jail, was he was not guilty of that. But Daddy was from the old school, you didn’t tell on anybody, ever. They came and picked Daddy up. They’d found this still. They came and picked my daddy up. And Daddy told me this tale so many times and told, well I of course I knew about it because we almost starved to death when Daddy went to jail. And they’d come to Daddy about every, about every three weeks or four weeks and they’d say, “ Cherry, now we know it not yours but we know you know who it is. If you will, you’ll tell us who it is, we’ll turn you lose and you can go home to your family.” And Daddy would never tell. That man, Freda, never, ever, we almost starved to death. See in a child’s mind you think like a tree, a little sapling is great big ole tree. And I can, for years and years I had in my mind I could see my mother dragging this great big humongous tree out of the forest you know out of the woods to keep up warm at night in a house you could throw cats through the walls. But we came very near starving to death. That man never brought us a sack of meal, never brought us flour or anything. We came very near starving to death. And Daddy, they kept Daddy six months. And they finally determined that he was not going to tell and they turned him loose. And they would tell him, “ We know it not yours, but you know who it is.”
FD: Was it the local jail, where he was?
CG: No, they finally sent him to Kilby. They kept him over there. They thought if they sent him to Kilby, you know, he’d tell. And they sent him to Kilby. And Daddy told me the man’s name so many times, and I didn’t want to hate him. I didn’t want to hate him, so I’d just block it out, and I would never, and then the minute that Daddy had the stroke and lost all that, I would have given anything, anything if I could of, if I hadn’t done that, if I had not done it. But I deliberately did it because I thought, “ I will hate them the rest of my life because they let my daddy serve that time.” And then just practically just they forgot about us.
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