Today’s Cannon Courier reports that County Executive Mike Gannon has called a special session of the County Commission for August 28th to address the state’s first distillery referendum. The election commission is currently in the process of validating and certifying the petition signatures we turned in last week.

Cannon County Administrator of Elections Stan Dobson was in the process Monday morning of certifying the signatures on the petition for the referendum, which was presented to him Friday by a group of citizens hoping to start Short Mountain Distillery.

The election office must certify that the petition contains the names of 10 percent or more of the qualified voters of Cannon County, based upon the number of votes cast in the 2008 presidential election, according to state law.

The group turned in over 800 signatures Friday. According to the election office, 554 were needed to hold a referendum.

However, before a referendum can be held, the petition must be received by the Cannon County Commission. Commissioners will not vote on whether the referendum will take place, only that they have received a petition for one which contains the required number of signatures from registered county voters.

If certified, this will be the state’s first distillery referendum under a new law and will allow voters to decide whether they want jobs, tourism and revenue that will come with a new American brand of distilled spirits started right here in Cannon County.

One of the reasons Short Mountain was well known for its moonshine is its ice cold spring water. Many old-timers tell us the colder the spring water, the faster the still condensed its spirits. They also tell us speed was an important factor when trying to out run the law.

On the 300+ acre Kaufman farm on the North West side of Little Short Mountain, there are three springs putting out water so cold you can’t keep your hands in it too long, and they flow just as steady in the hottest days of summer as they do any other time.  One of the springs, Spring #1, comes from a small cave that has evidence of being used as a source of drinking water at one time.

You can see an old rock wall had once created a pool area right at the mouth of the cave. Nearby, two old concrete support structures indicate a large cistern had once sat here creating pressure to send the water to a nearby location or to store it for using in an old whiskey still. We’re not sure which it is and are looking for old stories or photos showing what this might have been used for.

The use of these springs will introduce a renewable energy source to the Short Mountain Distillery operations. By capturing the ice cold water, the distillery will save power by not having to refrigerate the water supply used to condense the spirits. This water will then travel through a cooling tower and into a nice pond before returning back into its natural environment.

You can view the springs on this interactive map that will eventually include video and a look at where we’d like to locate the distillery.

(WOODBURY, TN) – A group wanting to create a Tennessee brand of distilled spirits in Cannon County, Tennessee will turn in petition signatures Friday at noon for a county wide referendum. (photo courtesy of Cannon Courier)

Cannon County farmer Billy Kaufman and supporters will deliver over 800 signatures collected over the past two months to Cannon County Election Commission Chair Stanley Dobson at noon today in Woodbury, TN. The signatures must be validated and approved by the county commission before voters can decide in the county’s November general election whether or not they want a distillery under a new state law.

If voters approve the referendum, Short Mountain Distillery will operate on Kaufman’s 300 acre farm on Short Mountain in Liberty, Tennessee.

“This is about jobs,” said Kaufman. “It’s also about tourism, revenue and the kind of sustainability we need to preserve our way of life.”

In 2009, the state legislature passed a law allowing legal distilleries across the state of Tennessee. Lawmakers put in place a referendum process for counties that do not already allow liquor by the drink or package stores. Distillery referendum petitions require a total number of signatures equal to the county’s total votes cast in the last Presidential election.

Cannon County has a rich agricultural heritage that also produced what some say was the best distilled spirits in the country before and during prohibition. Moonshine from the hills of Cannon County is specifically celebrated in old time country music songs once sung at the Grand Ole Opry by Uncle Dave Macon, Porter Wagoner and others. Tennessee is well known around the world for Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel aged whiskeys.

“Throughout this process we spoke with a lot of people, young and old, who have called Cannon County home all their life,” Kaufman said. “The support and enthusiasm people are sharing with us has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Short Mountain Distillery will bring tourism, jobs and needed county revenue while honoring the community’s history and character.

“We want to work directly with local farmers and businesses as we grow,” Kaufman said. “We want to share our local history with the world, and we want tourism to bring new opportunities for local businesses.”

Kaufman and his brothers, David and Ben, are the great-grand children of Jesse Shwayder, the founder of another well-known American brand Samsonite 100 years ago in 1910. Their grandfather, Louis Degan, ran Samsonite’s Murfreesboro, TN location for decades employing many Middle Tennesseans.

Short Mountain Distillery will be a small-batch craft distiller creating specialty brands of moonshine and aged whiskey. For more information and photos from today’s filing, visit our website at http://www.shortmountaindistillery.com. 

Moonshine from Short Mountain was famous long before it was made legal again. Just ask any old-timer and they’ll tell you. The fine products we want to make right here in Cannon County are just a taste of what some people knew to be some of the best moonshine in the country.

Uncle Dave Macon, a celebrated Cannon County resident and country music star, sang “Cannon County Hills” on NBC’s first broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry in October of 1939. The show charmed America with a slice of the South that included an homage to moonshine from Short Mountain. According to historian Robert Mason, it was a favorite song of Uncle Dave.

Here’s some of the lyrics from “Cannon County Hills” talking about what Uncle Dave Macon likely knew from personal experience to be true.

In the Cannon County Mountains, they have bright and growing fountains,
On every hill they have a still.
But you just remember one hundred days from next November,
They’ll be moonshine in the Cannon County hills.
O, those hills, those beautiful hills,
They’ll be moonshine in the Cannon County hills.
Bright lights on Broadway, the sun shines bright in Dixie
But there’s moonshine in the Cannon County hills.

Porter Wagoner also sang about some of the best mash cookers you could find in his song “King Of The Cannon County Hills,” and they happened to be from right here on our very own Short Mountain.

Well the things I know you cannot learn in college
And I don’t need cash cause I ain’t got no bills
I can tell you in a flash just how long to cook your mash
And the best come from the cannon county hills

Cannon County residents helped us reach our petition signature goal at Saturday’s Celebration on the Square in Woodbury, TN. Hundreds of county residents weathered the brutal heat to celebrate the completion of renovations to the county’s historic courthouse.

A couple of days after the August elections, we’ll turn in the signatures we’ve gathered to place the ballot question before Cannon County voters in November. The referendum results will decide whether or not voters will allow an American brand of distilled spirits to operate on Short Mountain and bring  jobs, tourism, and revenue to the local economy.

With your support in November, Short Mountain Distillery will honor and preserve a long history of distilled craft spirits from the hills of Cannon County that at one time was said to be the finest in the country. Over the next few months we hope to give you a taste of our rich agricultural heritage here in Cannon County and help honor a way of life we hope to share with tourists from across the nation and around the world.

If you didn’t get a chance to sign our petition, you can catch us election day August 5th gathering more signatures than we need to make certain the good people of Cannon County can vote for their future in November.

Every now and then, as folks sign our November referendum petition, someone shares with us a wonderful family story of a time when it was said that illegal moonshine from Short Mountain was considered the finest in the country.

They were stories of neighbors, family and friends. They were also stories of outlaws like Cooper Melton as shared with us by Melanie Garrett Nistad, the great granddaughter of Cooper Melton.

Cooper vs. Capone
Story Told by Joe Underwood
Mechanicsville History Meeting December 1, 2002

“Here’s one for you… Jim Dearman and my dad were pretty close in age. They both told me that the best moonshine in the country was made at Short Mountain. They were very particular they really wanted to make good whiskey, and they did- like a cook would want to make a good cake, they came from everywhere. Al Capone was running big guns in Chicago and he sent two cars to Short Mountain, to get whiskey that Cooper Melton made.

They all will tell you, that the cooler the water is for the condensing coil in the process of making whiskey, the quicker it will condense.  Now, the coldest water anywhere around the mountain is running out the north side of the mountain and Cooper Melton’s big spring ran water out of the north side of the mountain. He had a fabulous still up there. He had super big boiler. Ruth Hale Barrett confirms that she has been to that spring (but confirms that she has not taken part of the whiskey!) It was one of the most modern stills for the time.

Capone came here to get a load of whiskey and he had a pretty bad name. The old timers’ told me this, they said the locals were really scared that he would come and load up, shoot them and go away and not pay. So, what they did was these locals got them a plan. They said they hid behind rocks and holes in the ground and up in trees and everywhere with their firearms. They said “they’ll drive up to the still and they will load up”.

They brought a carload of thugs with him with guns, which would scare anybody. “If you hear a shot fired, don’t let them come out of that holler from that still”. So, they were laying for them in case they tried to rob them, and they wouldn’t have gotten away. So they came, got their load of whiskey, paid for it, and them ol’ boys let them drive right on back to Chicago!”

Tell us your stories about Short Mountain moonshine. We’d love to share them with the world.

If you were in town today, you probably wondered who that was on the square with the little table, sign and an American flag. That was Billy Kaufman with John Whittemore and me. We were collecting signatures we need so the voters can decide in November whether they want a distillery in Cannon County.

In about 3 hours, we got about 20 signatures. It wasn’t what we needed, but there weren’t a lot of people out today. The square has been closed off under renovation for some time now, but it’s now open and looks pretty nice.

The Cannon Courier stopped by and took our picture and wrote up something on their website if you’d like to check that out.

If you’re in town Tuesday and Wednesday, stop by the table at the courthouse and say hi to Billy and sign our petition. If you check the thermometer to the right, we’re now 30% of the way there. We’ve got about 19 days to go, and every valid signature counts.

Parts of the road leading to John Whittemore’s place on Short Mountain can feel like someone’s private driveway at times. But once you’re there, you know it by his barking dogs and John’s commanding voice telling them to leave the car alone.

I caught up with John around 10 this morning to talk about signature gathering for the November referendum. John is excited about the opportunity a distillery would bring to Short Mountain and is helping gather necessary signatures to bring it to the people of Cannon County for a vote.

When I pulled up, John had just put in a good half a day’s work on his Blues Hill Farm and nearby Morning Side Farm. He looks every bit the part with his overalls, straw hat and occasional spit of tobacco juice, a habit he admits he picked up from his grandfather.

Despite the ups and downs of farming life, John says he has never been happier than he is farming. After he met his wife Becca and had two children, Hank (14) and Anna (12), John made the move back to the area in search of a quality of life he remembered growing up, and he found it on Short Mountain.

Everything John’s family needs is here. Becca, a Vanderbilt graduate, home-schools their two children. John not only appreciates local culture, he supports it in various ways. John occasionally plays with a group a friends in a band called the Short Mountain Boys. For years he provided white oak materials to local renowned basket makers through the White Oak Timber Co-Op. He even has an active Screen Actors Guild membership through acting in local performances at the Arts Center.

The Whittemores grow pretty much everything they need. They rarely shop at a grocery store, and what they don’t have they trade to get. A neighboring Mennonite family has milk and cheese. John will trade corn for beans, and there is no shortage of wild game. In fact, there’s not much you can’t get on Short Mountain, and it’s been that way for more than 100 years.

Back in the early 1900s, John’s great grandfather, Roofie Parker, made what family lore says was widely respected whiskey and moonshine. John thinks his brother Clay might have helped run it around the hills. The law didn’t like it, and Roofie spent a couple of stints in state prison for it.

Several descendants have had their share of run-ins with the law, but John’s grandfather, Kenneth Parker, didn’t like the outlaw lifestyle much. He had other ideas and bought up land around Roofie and his brother. Kenneth raised cattle and farmed the land. He has a road now named for him.

Any farmer will tell you farming is hard work. If you are looking to make a living, you’ll probably have to settle with making a life. Like most farmers, John stays busy to make ends meet, and he likes the idea of a distillery producing an American brand of traditional Tennessee spirits on Short Mountain.

For John, a distillery would protect a way of life he wants for his children. It would create a sustainable relationship with local farmers and connect tourists with a story of Short Mountain and the community John knows well and wants share. He also sees the opportunity it can bring to our schools and local community.

It’s an opportunity that can’t come to Cannon County without a referendum, and John is working hard to make that happen.

If you see John in Woodbury, stop him and say hi, and if you want to give the voters a chance to decide whether they want a distillery in Cannon County, you can sign his petition.

• Befriend John on Facebook
• Follow our effort on Facebook
• contact us with your number and address if you would like more information or to sign the petition