Home Brew

Sue Atkinson also loved to visit her cousin, Cora Arms Daniel, and would sometimes get to stay with her for a week during the summer. Cora was the daughter of her Grandmother Amanda’s brother, John Oliver Arms. This made her the first cousin of Sue’s father, Vol, and the first cousin once removed (which we have always called “second” cousin) of Sue.

Cora had met Walter Daniel while both were working in Cliffside during the early 1900s, and they married, but had no children. They lived in the West End of Forest City, where Walt worked for Duke Power Company, manning the substation just behind their house. Sue remembered Cora being a wonderful cook, and both Cora and Walt making her feel very welcome.

In 1932, when Sue was 13 years old, she was allowed to visit for a week with Cora and Walt. She always tried to be helpful when she was visiting, but she later wondered if this helpfulness would land her in jail.

Whether they admitted it aloud or not, most men enjoyed a drink now and then, and many an otherwise law abiding citizen made a crock of “home brew” for his own use or for “medicinal purposes” during Prohibition. Taking this one step further, it was not unusual for someone to provide a jar of one’s own “recipe” to a few friends who did not have the time or expertise to make their own, but were willing to reimburse the provider for his supplies and trouble. Most of the public refused to view this as a criminal act, even though Prohibition was still in effect in the summer of 1932, and the “Jones Law” provided that persons convicted of manufacturing, importing, selling, or transporting liquor could be sent to jail for 5 years, and fined $10,000.00.

Since her father never had alcohol in the house, Sue had very little knowledge about it. She just wanted to be helpful, and did not mind one bit going down to the basement and “capping” the home brew Walt made in churns in the basement and provided to his regular customers. Luckily for Sue, the Daniel house was not raided by the Revenuers, and she was not arrested for her crime of aiding and abetting in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages. Sue felt she no longer had to worry about this when the 18th Amendment was repealed in November of 1933, by the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution.