Tales from Kentucky Lawyers

11. Moonshining

11 MOONSHINING Ofthe various folk heroes who have captured the imagination ofAmericans , few occupy such a prominent position as the moonshiner. With the ability to rig up stills in remote mountain hollows and outsmart revenue agents, these brewers of illicit alcohol were nonetheless no strangers to the Kentucky court system over the years. The following stories illustrate the cleverness-and occasional fierceness-of those practicing a traditional craft that has increasingly been displaced by the manufacture and sale of other illegal drugs. 159. "FEMALE MOONSHINE WHISKEY MAKER" There was a woman in Pikeville named Emma Morton [pseudonym], and she stayed in court a lot, probably because she was firm and tough in her principles. She and her husband did two things for a living. She made moonshine whiskey, and he collected sales tax. Back in the first days of the sales tax, they sent people around to each merchant on a regular basis to collect the sales tax. Emma's husband traveled all over east Kentucky in an old Buick car, and she made moonshine. Well, he would load that car up with moonshine, and he had a perfect excuse to be going to every store-sell it! He could go to every store to collect sales tax and leave moonshine. Well, after he died, his Emma had a new neighbor named Jones Sartin [pseudonym]. She called him "That Old Sartin," and they couldn't get along. And Sartin claimed that she went out to feed her chickens one day and reached in the bucket where the corn was and pulled out a 124 Tales from Kentucky Lawyers pistol and started shooting at his feet. But she denied firmly that it happened like he said. Here's the way the questioning went in court. The other lawyer said, "Mrs. Morton, did you take a bucket out to feed your chickens?" She said, "Yes, I did." He said, "Did you take a gun out of that bucket and start shooting at Mr. Sartin?" She said, "No, I didn't." The lawyer said, "Ifyou didn't, how come all these neighbors have testified that from a short distance they saw him suddenly start dancing about?" She said, "Well, I reckon the Lord just set his feet on fire." The lawyer said, "Well, there was another time before that that you admitted shooting one of his chickens, didn't you?" She said, "That ain't got nothing to do with this." The lawyer said, "But you did do this, didn't you Mrs. Morton?" She said, "I told you that ain't got nary a thing to do with this." The lawyer said, "Judge, I move that you direct Mrs. Morton to answer this question." Judge Ventress said, "Yes, it's a proper question. You must answer it." She looked up at the judge and said, "Judge, I ain't answering no more questions about Sartin's fowls." The fact is, it intimidated the judge and the other lawyer. She never did answer any more and they didn't ask them. Lawrence Webster, Pikeville, November 9, 2000 160. "MOONSHINE WHISKEY MAKER" My good friend, Attorney Sid Easley, over at Murray shared this story with me. We were talking about Lawrence Griffith, who was one ofthe three inmates who, along with Harry Ferling and Tex Walters, tried to shoot their way out of the penitentiary in 1923. Lawrence Griffith was some type of murderer out of Mayfield, Graves County, but his folks were really from Tennessee. Sid's story goes like this: My dad in his early adult years was aWPA foreman, building many roads in the hills south of Lynnville, Graves County. That area was settled soon after theJackson Purchase was opened, but the once fertile MOONSHINING 125 hills were quickly eroded by continuous tobacco cultivation. It was poor, like much of Marshall County before TVA. Dad enjoyed telling WIggings stories, and as you know, Lawrence Griffith was convicted of killing the Wiggings. I recall him telling me the story about Joshua WIggings, the grandpa of them all. Josh was well known for his ability to make moonshine. When he was being tried in Paris, Tennessee, for stealing, he took the stand in his own defense. On cross-examination, the prosecutor said to him, "Joshua, are you the Joshua that made the sun stand still?" Joshua proudly responded, "No, I'm the Joshua who made the moon shine." Bill Cunningham, Eddyville...