One group of Loyalists armed with Highland Broadswords, a traditional weapon of the Highland Scots, moved around the encampment to the Moores Creek Bridge. According to Chuck Angier, a friend of the Poffs, Tommy and Helen Poff had purchased the farmhouse and roughly 100 acres on Maggodee Creek in Boones Mill in 1949. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022). He plans for the distillery to be a living history lesson that includes the manufacture of a "prohibition style beverage" using the prohibition style processes. Rather than shy away from the brutality that seemed to surround his ancestors, Bondurant's prose pulses with it. He is also licensed by both the federal government and the state of Virginia to operate a distillery, which, of course, was not true of his grandfather and great uncles' stills. "But we got him laid down and got the triage under control and everything and he kept it together. History bears out that he was not a good person." I want them to give me a paper saying I can do some work over there, he said. ", "Based on our current findings it does not appear to be random," said Ann Arbor Police Chief Michael Cox. Im very proud that there were people in my family who made difficult choices in a difficult time, he says. But there aren't as many additives and sugars as store-bought whiskies, so it doesn't have the same flavour profile or complexity - though there are probably people who'd disagree with me about that!" Robert Bondurant is the grandson of Jack Bondurant, who with brothers Forrest and Howard operated one of the many stills dotting the countryside of western Virginia. We'll send breaking news and news alerts to you as they happen! Neither is surprised to see the Bondurant boys Jack, Forrest and Howard making a morning delivery. Those men refusing to do so would have their guns taken from them and be placed in jail. Colonel Moore had about 1,100 Patriot soldiers under his command. Shown is the Inn at Maggodee Creek, which has a hidden pre-Civil War log cabin within its walls. But I haven't had any real interaction with anyone on the Rakes side. We know much of this is apocryphal, or half-true, or embellished, and yet we still celebrate them and their spirit, and I think thats whats going on to some degree here., If the Bondurants are the heroes or anti-heroes of the piece, then Charley Rakes is the villain. Musgrove said his wife, Linda, supports his quest. 43 talking about this. That afternoon they send a courier to deliver a letter, an ultimatum, for the surrender of Patriot forces under Richard Caswell and Alexander Lillington. Robert's father, who is also named Jack Bondurant, said his father spoke very little about his life as a moonshiner. When Andrew confronted his father about the shooting, Jack simply admitted it. Sometimes, people are oblivious to how unique the property their parents leave behind for them actually is. According to the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum, agents in Floyd County alone destroyed 3,909 stills, made 1,669 arrests, and seized over 716 vehicles along with 130,717 gallons of alcohol during Prohibition. Thats how Bondurant first tasted it as a teenager. Charley Rakes tried to kill my grandfather, so I dont have too many apologies for the way I wrote him. Ninety-nine out of every 100 residents were believed to play a part in the industry during the 1920s. A witness told FOX 2 that the victim was an 18-year-old male, hit in the arm. General Donald MacDonald observes his enemy on February 18 from the west bank of a large creek that divided the two forces. But I havent had any real interaction with anyone on the Rakes side. Rakes survived the shoot-out with the Bondurants and continued to serve as a policeman, the whole incident seemingly swept under the carpet. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. "As a young child in America," says Bondurant, "you read these stories about people like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, these frontiersmen who have this legend built around them. The Loyalists camp about six miles away on that evening. With Prohibition, the market for whiskey turned black as pitch. He was quiet, silent, somewhat gruff. Before long, three of the cars reach the narrow wooden bridge at Maggodee Creek. WebThe shooting remains under investigation. Al Bedrosian, formerly of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, is the newest face on the Roanoke City Electoral Board. Visit our Franklin County section to learn more >. Bondurant couldnt resist adding this piece of Grand Guignol to his novel. The Shes not into it as deep as I am but she wants to get it fixed up, he said. Jake Schad, a county planning and zoning inspector, met with Musgrove at the site. So as the history of his grandfathers life began to dim, Bondurant decided to write it as fiction; his book was in turn picked up by the director John Hillcoat and his collaborator Nick Cave, whod worked on the similarly blood-drenched and uncompromising outlaw film, The Proposition, in 2005. In March 1934, the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control was created. And if hes bad in the book a corrupt and violent man enforcing a protection racket on local moonshiners he transforms into something grotesque in the film. Matt Bondurant, a novelist and creative writing teacher at the University of Dallas, is Jack Bondurants grandson. Up until then I, like most people, thought our lives were quite dull and our family was full of nice, respectable people.. Brothers doing their thing caught up in government racket, some things never change. The former sheriff and a deputy, Abshire, were convicted of conspiracy, but Carter Lee was found not guilty. So, sugar is a key ingredient for making hooch. What is also certain is that the "Bondurant filling station" was as infamous for drinking and violence as it was for moonshining. Winds light and variable. To the family, Jack Bondurant was a farmer. Testimony from 176 witnesses during the 1935 trial unveiled the extent of the bootlegging in Franklin County. Instead, he's setting up shop in an old warehouse on Third Street, across from the Southside Roller Mill in Chase City. I think its the most interesting place in Franklin County, he said. After some discussion, the Loyalists felt the sentries must have been a rearguard and that the main force was retreating from the area. Rakes too has living descendants. Bondurant never got a chance to ask his grandfather about the details of this extraordinary period in his life. The crash occurred shortly before 4 p.m. on Route 460, or Roanoke Road, at its intersection of North Fork Road. The couple raised three sons and lived there until their recent passing. Too timid as a child, too distracted as a young adult, by the time he was seriously considering writing his grandfather's story, Jack was dead. Red flags brought revenuers to southwest Virginia, and eventually sugar was bought by legitimate businesses like bakeries as a cover for the real operations. Musgrove shrugged when asked why he dreams of restoring the mill property. 2023 FOX Television Stations, Detroit DEA battles spread of deadly fentanyl, animal tranquilizer xylazine, Detroit water protesters want moratorium on shut-offs to continue, Reports: Michigan football co-offensive coordinator on leave during police investigation, Mother of shooting victim livid that judge reduced suspect's bond due to his 'mental issues', Emanuel Steward's legacy lives on in Westland. The first time they attempted to haul liquor the phrase used to describe the transportation of the liquor from the still to a buyer Jack and Forrest were shot, after refusing to pay additional protection money in the form of a carload of moonshine. Im kind of retired. Did he ever question the morality of what they did? He was quiet, silent, somewhat gruff. Data Central; Bridge Inspections; U.S. Virginia; Franklin; Naff Rd. They aint got nothing like this. WebHed been shot at least once, under his left arm on a snowy morning at the Maggodee Creek Bridge in December of 1930, and never told anyone about it. Bondurant never got a chance to ask his grandfather about the details of this extraordinary period in his life. That fireplace is massive! Having almost been lost from the historical record, the Bondurant boys were suddenly large enough to fill the big screen. A prosecutor called it a Munchausen-by-proxy case. Two deputies were dead, one from pneumonia and another allegedly shot while transporting a prisoner. "I'm very proud that there were people in my family who made difficult choices in a difficult time," he says. That was November 1, 1916. Their tasting room in Boones Mill is the place to sample their white label corn whiskey. Have new blog posts delivered directly to your e-mail inbox. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Caswell and Lillington have their men build earthworks on the east bank of Moores Creek to defend the crucial bridge crossing. He does have a surviving daughter whos very old, says Bondurant. Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter to keep up with all the exciting things in Virginia's Blue Ridge! In a 2012 Newsweek article, the younger Bondurant describes his Grandpa Jack as an imposing man while recalling taking stock of a pair of brass knuckles hanging on the wall in his grandfathers storage room. Be Nice. Information can also be submitted by contacting the confidential tip line at 734-973-7711 or crime stoppers at 1-800-SpeakUP. The county was, as the contemporary writer Sherwood Anderson put it, the extreme wet spot of the United States in the Thirties. In October, the countys Department of Planning and Community Development issued Musgrove a stop-work order and told him he needed an erosion and sediment control permit. As a child, Bondurant knew his grandfather as a farmer of beef cattle and tobacco. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries. "It was very exciting," he says. One person was shot at about 3 p.m. inside theVon Maur store, police said. They may not have been the biggest moonshiners in the area but they were certainly infamous: Jacks own father-in-law called the three brothers the toughest mess ever to hit Franklin County. 6: SATISFACTORY CONDITION - structural elements show some minor deterioration. I pay taxes." Unfortunately, his grandfather's still and recipes are long gone. Before long, three of the cars reach the narrow Yeah, shot me there, he told his son, and lifted his shirt to show where the bullet had passed. In the 1920s and 1930s, if you lived in Franklin County, most likely you were in involved in the county's biggest industry making illegal whiskey or moonshine. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Michael Babycz at 734-260-9602 or by email at babyczm@washtenaw.org . The next day, Wilkerson pumped a grease gun to lubricate fittings on the wheel mechanism. You couldn't ask a stranger for a sip of their delightful moonshine, but if you have family who make it, you might find a cup being thrust into your hand at a gathering. Is also named Jack Bondurant was a farmer of beef cattle and tobacco rearguard maggodee creek bridge shooting that the force. Rakes tried to kill my grandfather, so I dont have too many apologies for the way wrote! 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