The late Virgil Reece Murphy was one the most extraordinary individuals amongst my family. He is illustrious in parts of my family for his moonshining operations during the Prohibition Era. Simply having a relative producing whiskey during this time would not be out of the ordinary, but he is highlighted for his ability to evade law enforcement officers.
In the late 1910’s, Virgil Reece Murphy lived on the border of Putnam County and Overton County in a community called Spring Creek. It was there that he was taught how to craft moonshine from other family members. This prowess allowed for him to craft delectable homebrew which attracted customers from all places. An element that would play a part in attracting customers was the flavoring added…show more content… Nevertheless, he continued his business during the Prohibition. This eventually led to his brief imprisonment.
Following his detainment, he returned home and continued his business in secrecy. Virgil was aware that if he were to continue his business, it would require becoming an expert in stealth. This expertise allowed him to conduct commerce throughout the Prohibition Era with minimal confrontation with the police. These minimal conflicts, nonetheless, are to be recognized for their amusement.
On one such occurrence, the revenuers were in mobile pursuit of him. He was performing a delivery toward Nashville when he was discovered carrying homebrew. This was of no concern for him because he modified his Cadillac to outperform the police cars. He outdistanced them and concealed the gas guzzler in a nearby cornfield. With the car hidden in the field, he proceeded to walk near the highway back toward Cookeville. As chance would have it, the Sheriff of Putnam County was coming home from Nashville. The sheriff pulled over to the side of the road and gave Virgil a ride back home north of Cookeville. He dropped him off and upon returning to the police station, the sheriff discovered the Virgil had an all-point bulletin. The sheriff laughed for he knew where he was. The sheriff was a firm acquaintance of Virgil and decided not to…show more content… At these locations, Virgil and a few of his associates would produce moonshine from the stills and place them in barrels to be given to the mafia out of Chicago. The Sheriff of Putnam County and company were aware of their activities and arrived on the scene. Virgil and his associates were not in the vicinity at the time, thus the police would have to conceal themselves until they returned. When the moonshiners returned to check on their products, they overheard the revenuers talking. They immediately took cover in the bushes behind them while they were watching the stills. There was a trailer placed near the locality concurrently. Coincidentally, the neighborhood drunk was stumbling around searching for whiskey. The drunk vandalized the trailer to find the alcohol. The noise produced by his activity alerted the revenuers and captured him. They all left to head to the Cookeville jail and mistakenly assumed their task was over. The moonshiners took advantage of this opportunity to collect their capital and hauled it away through the back roads. He escaped the grasp of the law yet