Page 7 - Robeson Living Winter 2020

Pictured above and below: captured stills at the Robeson County Courthouse

over, your head begins to buzz as if a hive of bees had swarmed
there, when close your eyes, you see six hundred million torch-
light processions all charging at you, ten abreast, and when
you open your eyes the light blinds you and everything seems
dancing about.”

Early colonial families consumed alcohol on a daily basis often
because there was not always a supply of clean and healthy wa-
ter. In the early days they imported wines, brandy and fortified
wines. They soon wanted to be self-sufficient, so they began
distilling their own liquor. They used a wide variety of items
to make liquor--berries, plums, potatoes, apples, carrots, and
grain--anything that had the power to attract yeast and then fer-
ment. While the product was not smooth it was alcohol. Two
of the more popular American spirits during the first century
and a half of colonization were peach brandy, made mainly in
the Southern colonies, and applejack (a brandy distilled from
cider), which probably originated in or around New Jersey.

Stills were an important part of life for the colonists. There was
a clergyman sent by the British Crown to represent the Church
of England in Virginia. He was equipped with only a few ne-
cessities of life, which consisted of a few cooking utensils, ta-
bleware, feather beds, a few chairs, and a copper still for use in
distilling brandy for family use, and for visiting parishioners.

Stills were one asset that was always mentioned in wills as
can be seen in early North Carolina wills. John Sanders from
Robeson Living ~ Winter 2020 Page 7