Posted on 08/31/2017 5:25:55 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
Nathan “Nearest” Green was a slave whose services as a distiller were rented out to a Tennessee preacher, Dan Call, in the 1850s. It was Green, research by black author Fawn Weaver shows, who mentored Call’s protege, Jack Daniel, in the making of the famous spirit that would bear his name.
While he went on to serve as Jack Daniel’s first master distiller and, as a free man, became prosperous in his own right, Green’s contributions have largely been missing from the company’s success story, even as they remain common knowledge in Lynchburg, Tennessee, Ms. Weaver said.
“To this day I don’t know how Nearest ended up being hidden. I really don’t,” she told the Mail. “Because when Jack was alive he never hid him. When Jack’s descendants ran the distillery, they never hid who he was or what he did. The relationship between Jack’s descendants and Nearest’s descendants were one that was rare between blacks and whites. They would’ve stood out. In Lynchburg, they always knew.”
Ms. Weaver said that her research shows that Daniel and Green’s business relationship was remarkable for its mutual respect across racial barriers, particularly for the time. “His family was fully integrated after the Civil War. Jack and his family did not see a difference between Nearest and his family and their own,” she told the Mail.
Indeed, the closeness between the Green and Daniel families is recognized in the name of the new whiskey label, Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Why does this “story” read like advertising for a new brand of whisky?
I tend to agree...it’ll fit between the Old Number 7 and Honey market.
But one other observation. Tennessee (with the exception of the Memphis region) was one of those states where slavery was dying out by the early 1850s.
They will be fine as soon as they write a check to Jesse Jackson.
Because it probably is. Good catch. Hennessy is jointly owned by LVMH (Frogs) and Diageo (Brits). Jack Daniels is owned by Brown-Foreman (USA). Look for B-F to make a play for black American whiskey market share. Good luck getting black women away from Hennessy, but I bet there’s room in the market for something for the brothers.
On my bucket list for things to worry about when I don’t have anything to worry about.
What is it with Hennesy? Has anyone here tried it?
Slavery was mostly dying by the time the Civil War started.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans died to put a final answer to the question of slavery.
After the war, many blacks and whites lived and worked together (as indicated in this article).
The Democrats killed Reconstruction.
The Democrats started the KKK.
The Democrats started Jim Crow.
The Democrats promised “segregation forever”.
The Democrats tried (and failed) to block the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
But, in spite of the Democrats’ best efforts, when I was growing up, blacks were starring on TV and in movies, no laws barred them from anywhere, and no one I knew ever used the n-word. I had black friends in HS and in college. It was no big deal.
And then the Democrats came roaring back with “Identity Politics” and kicked off what has amounted to a Race War in this country.
Worst racial situation in the US since about 1859 in my opinion. The last 30 years or so have been a steep, steep decline. Totally the fault of the Democrats.
Jack Daniel’s Embraces a Hidden Ingredient: Help From a Slave
Sounds to me, like they are trying to make something out of nothing.
The brothers would love a good Jack Daniels Malt Liquor.
I think ol' Jesse has been put out to pasture.
“What’s the word?”
“Hennesy”
“What’s the price?”
“25 dollars twice”
Just doesn’t have the same ring to it...
How about, “Hennesy, forever”? Nah..
[I think ol’ Jesse has been put out to pasture.]
True, haven’t heard that much about him and Sharptongue during the current shenanigans.
Really? Do you think it was this bad in 1859?
Interesting. I don’t recall it being mentioned on our tour back in the 1990’s. We live prob about 75 miles away. All the little shops in town sell anything and everything related to Jack Daniels. Once, I drove up with the kids and had the “holiday” meal at Miss Mary Bobo’s for lunch one Thanksgiving week for something different/interesting on a school day off.
I’ll only drink the Old No. 7. Once somebody bought the green label stuff . . . YUCK.
I think, because it is.
the name of the new whiskey label, Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey.
I was always fond of Wild Turkey and Maker’s Mark.
Obviously you two have been neglecting to get your weekly dose of the Keep Hope Alive With Jesse Jackson radio show. Sunday mornings here in SoCal. Get down with the struggle.
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