Western Maryland Moonshining
When the sale, production and transportation of alcohol were banned in the United States in 1920, Western Marylanders had to choose between becoming teetotalers or criminals. Many law-abiding citizens chose the latter. “Illicit liquor, manufactured in countless stills in homes, farmyard barns, and even auto repair shops, could be bought all over the county.” Harry Stegmaier, Jr. wrote in Allegany County – A History. One of the first raids in the county on these places where illegal liquor was sold and produced came about almost accidentally. On June 2, 1920, Elmer Dumar, owner of the Vimy Restaurant on North Mechanic Street was not very happy. His wife, Jennie, had spent part of the evening flirting with “a Spaniard,” according to the Cumberland Evening Times. Dumar finally lost his patience and got into a fight with the Spaniard. The man ran Read more…
1931: Bootlegger vs. a revenue agent in Oldtown
The two revenue agents for the federal government crept into the woods around Oldtown on November 15, 1931. William R. Harvey was the senior agent so he led the raid. They were after three bootleggers who they had been watching lately. While making illegal liquor during Prohibition was a problem in Western Maryland due to its abundance of forests and lack of population, it usually wasn’t a fatal one like it could be in the larger cities. For the most part, it was a game of hide and seek between the bootleggers who would try and hide their stills and federal agents who would try and find them. If a bootlegger was caught, he would serve a few months in prison and then start all over again when he got out. Two of the bootleggers had been arrested previously for Read more…
Moonshining in the mountains
When I write about moonshiners, I feel like I’m writing about Elliot Ness and the Untouchables. Here’s a moonshiner article I wrote for The Chambersburg Public Opinion that ran on Monday. I think this is the third story about moonshining I’ve written. I did one a couple of months ago set in Allegany County and a few years ago, I wrote about the death of Frederick County Sheriff’s Deputy in a raid on a still in the Catoctin Mountains. I also recently was given a copy of an unpublished memoir about life in a coal mining town in the first half of the 20th Century. It has a section in it about Prohibition and moonshining in the mountains. It even has diagrams and recipes for making your own adult beverages. I always thought moonshine applied to all illegal liquor Read more…
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