Secrets of the Ledger - Whiskey and Drinking Habits
When thinking back to the past, it is necessary to consider different challenges people experienced during their everyday lives - safe fluids to drink were much more of a challenge to find in the 1820s than today, though it is important to acknowledge that many people still routinely have accessing safe drinking water.
As such, people in the early 1800s often drank alcohol such as whiskey, rum, and brandy during meals. Water was not considered to be a very safe drink. Alcohol was safer due to the distilling process. By the 1820s, American adults were drinking an average of 5 to 7 gallons of pure alcohol each year. William Kyle sold whiskey by the gallon, bottle, quart, and pint.
In Montgomery County, Gordon Cloyd was the main supplier of whiskey to Kyle’s store. In 1823, he supplied 3,713 gallons of whiskey from his distillery to the store. Over 1,800 gallons of whiskey was sold to other store customers. The rest was shipped to another store in Lynchburg for sale. Gordon lived in western Montgomery County in what is now Pulaski County. He owned a large plantation with a distillery. The plantation and distillery were worked by 39 enslaved people in 1820.
Whiskey, brandy, and other spirits were often homemade from extra crops. By turning surplus grain such as rye, wheat, corn, or barley into alcohol, it could be used by the family or sold for cash.
By the 1830s, people began to be concerned about the heavy alcohol consumption. Members of the Temperance Movement believed that alcohol use was a threat to society. These concerns led to the restriction of alcohol sales and later to Prohibition.
(Stoneware Crocks Courtesy of Laura Beth Weaver)
