As in most of the rest of the country, The Eighteenth
Amendment had not quenched the thirst of many of Kentucky’s citizens for
alcoholic spirits. The people of Owensboro needed their whiskey, and Will
Reynolds needed to make a living for his family.
2 Hence, it seemed to Will that setting up a still in
his barn might supply both needs. To be sure, he would have to be careful.
After all, the sale of alcoholic spirits of any kind for human consumption was
technically illegal.
3 It took him a couple of months to get the hang of
it, and for word to get around that he was “open for business.” Will’s
operation was certainly small by most bootleggers’ standards, but it did
generate enough income to make life more tolerable for the Reynolds family.
There simply weren’t many jobs available in northwestern Kentucky at the time,
and farming was not as profitable a venture as it had once been.
4 One day, Will heard an old Model T Ford pull into
the barn lot, but he didn’t recognize the man inside. He smiled and shaded his
eyes with his hand as the rather rotund man approached him.
5 “I heard tell that a feller could get a little
whiskey around here,” the stranger said. “Where’d you hear a thing like that?”
Will asked warily. “Oh, here and there,” the man smiled.
6 “Well, I’m afraid you heard wrong,” Will replied.
“You sure about that?” the man asked as he raised his hand over his head and
waved.
7 At that, three more men emerged from the tree line
and began converging on the two men talking in the barn lot. “Graydon
Hazelwood,” the man said as he extended his hand.
8 Will meekly extended his own hand from force of
habit, but he wasn’t smiling anymore. He’d heard that name before, and it
didn’t mean good things for folks engaged in this business.
9 “You don’t mind if we have a little look around, do
you?” Hazelwood asked. Will didn’t answer. “Search the barn and other
outbuildings, boys,” he directed.
10 It was about ten minutes later when one of the men
shouted, “Found it!” “He had it hidden in a pit under some floor boards in the
barn.”
11 Graydon stepped closer to Will. “Mr. Reynolds, I’m
afraid I’m going to have to arrest you for the illegal production and sale of
alcoholic beverages.”
12 Lilly and Eunice watched from the house as they
loaded him into the car. “Call my brother,” Will shouted before they closed the
door and drove away.
13 Will didn’t have to wait long. “I’m here to post
bail for my brother, Will Reynolds,” Monty told the officer at the front desk.
About forty-five minutes later, they were walking out of the jail.
14 “I’m sorry you had to come out,” Will began. “I
couldn’t let you sit in jail like this, now could I?” Monty smiled. “Thanks,
brother,” Will managed to get out with tears in his eyes.
15 A few months later, Will and Lilly left Kentucky and followed their children to Ohio. “Maybe it will be easier to scratch out a living up there,” he told her. “We should be closer to the children anyway,” she affirmed.
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