Nearis Green

Nearis Green
Occupation Master Distiller,
Known for Jack Daniel's

Nearis Green (c.1820–1890[1]), also spelled Nearest,[2] was an enslaved African-American master distiller[3] who taught distilling techniques to Jack Daniel, founder of the Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distillery.[4]

Biography

Sometime in the 1850s, when Jack Daniel was a boy, he went to work for a preacher, grocer and distiller named Dan Call. According to company lore, the preacher was a busy man, and when he saw promise in young Jack, he taught him how to run his whiskey still. However, on June 25, 2016, The New York Times published a story identifying the true teacher as Green, one of Call's slaves.[4] The newspaper said that the Green story has been known to historians and locals for decades, even as the distillery officially ignored it.[4] Although, Green’s story — built on oral history and the thinnest of archival trails — may never be definitively proved.[4]

Green was one of a few slaves owned by Call who stayed on even after earning their freedom. When introducing Green to an 8-year old Jack Daniel, Call is quoted as saying, "Uncle Nearest is the best whiskey maker that I know of." Call is then quoted as saying to Green, "I want [Jack] to become the world's best whiskey distiller - if he wants to be. You help me teach him."[1] Green served as master distiller on the property. Known as Nearis Green, Nearest Green,[1] “Uncle Nearis,” "Uncle Nearest,"[4] Green also played the fiddle and was a lively entertainer who sang with the Fisk Jubilee Singers.[5] “Only a few years older than Jack, (Green) taught him all about the still.”[6]

Slavery ended with ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865, and Daniel opened his distillery a year later, immediately employing two of Green’s sons.[6] In all, at least three of Green's sons were a part of the Jack Daniel Distillery staff: Ott Green, Charlie Green, and Eli Green.[2]

Nearis Green was married to Harriet Green and had eleven children, nine sons and two daughters. Seven of those sons and both daughters are listed in the 1880 federal census.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Green, Ben A. (1967). Jack Daniel's Legacy. Rich Printing Co. pp. 27–28.
  2. 1 2 Rael, Jillian (2012). Around Lynchburg. Arcadia Publishing. p. 38. ISBN 9780738591476. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Krass, Peter (2004). Blood and Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel. Wiley. ISBN 9780471273929. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Risen, Clay (25 June 2016). "Jack Daniel's Embraces a Hidden Ingredient: Help From a Slave". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Allen, Nick (2 July 2016). "Slave behind Jack Daniel's never got credit he deserved, says descendant". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  6. 1 2 Spoelman, Colin (2016). Dead Distillers: A History of the Upstarts and Outlaws Who Made American Spirits. Abrams. ISBN 1613128894.
  7. ↑ "Nearis Green Family Tree". nearisgreen.com. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2016.

External links

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