On President's Day, Feb. 18, the Middle Tennessee chapters of the National Society Sons of the American Revolution asked me to address their 4th Annual General George Washington's Birthday Celebration. This came about thanks to my being an occasional contributor to American Spirit, which Hammock Inc. produces for the Daughters of the American Revolution. They left the topic open, so after casting about a bit, I decided to talk about the whiskey distillery built at Mt. Vernon in 1798 - which was the largest distillery in the country at that time.

The distillery burned down in 1814, and its foundations remained largely buried until Mount Vernon launched a major archaeological dig in 1999. Since then, the Distillery has been reconstructed on the site to demonstrate actual 18th century distilling processes - and occasionally make whiskey.

About 50 people attended the dinner - which included a color guard in RevWar era uniforms and tri-cornered hats. All were far more knowledgeable about genealogy and American history than I, and Washington's whiskey-making was not exactly news - heck, everyone made whiskey back then - it was safer to drink than most anything else besides beer or boiled beverages like tea and coffee. But they seemed to enjoy learning more about it, as I did. The speech, slightly revised, will be published in the May-June issue of American Spirit.

Two anecdotes from the evening:
First: I was around 8 or 9 the first time I visited Mount Vernon in the late 1950s. My Dad took a friend and me in our unairconditioned Studebaker, on a very muggy Northern Virginia summer day. There was a line, so Dad bought us Pepsis at a concession stand while we waited to get in. That was my first Pepsi, and I was amazed at how much better it tasted than Coca-Cola! And that, I’m ashamed to say, is all I remember about the visit.

Second: After my speech, one of the women came up and said her maiden name was Hudgins, although spelled Hudgings. She asked if I could recall any distant ancestors. I remembered my great-great-grandfather, Ransom Hudgins, who fought for the South in the Civil War. Turns out that's her great-great-grandpap also, and we are descended from one of his sons. Very small world indeed.