Not everyone felt secure about leaving their hard earned money in a Tennessee bank during the 1800s. Many witnessed the Panic of 18731 which resulted in the Long Depression. At a time when runs on the bank were frequent, bank robbers were abundant, and fires were known to destroy entire city blocks, people in smaller towns began to get creative. Some preferred to hide their money in their houses, others feared it could burn in a house fire… so they chose to bury their money like a pirate hiding their treasure. In the midst of financial resourcefulness an enterprising young whiskey distiller in the little town of Woodbury, Tennessee found a way to safeguard his money by investing in an industry that ended up growing his investment more than it would have by sitting in the vulnerable town bank.
J.B. Kirk was born in Woodbury, Tennessee in 1854 to a farming family that owned hundreds of acres on the outskirts of town. He lived in a time when local natural resources were a vital part of the distilling process. The Kirk’s grew their own grain for their mash bill, used the limestone filtered water from their spring that never ran dry, and utilized the diverse Tennessee weather for their aging whiskey. It sounds simple enough, but from growing crops to aging barrels, depending on Tennessee weather is risky business. But more times than not, the volatile Tennessee climate turned out to be a hidden ally, breathing life and complexity into the barrels of aging whiskey, shaping the soul of his spirit.
His inaugural year of business was fruitful so young J.B. had to make a quick decision about where he would store his money. Instead of putting his money in the bank, or burying it, he purchased his family’s 231 acre farm from his parents. It would appear he learned quickly that the only liquid asset he desired in his portfolio was his whiskey. After buying his family farm J.B. Kirk purchased an additional 37 properties in Woodbury. Most of the properties were buildings on the public square or land that was connected to the family farm and distillery, adding to the total acreage of his property.
Years later prohibition would shut down whiskey production. As the flame from his whiskey still was extinguished along with the industry that granted him his livelihood, J.B. and his wife Elizabeth decided on a fresh start. They were able to sell some of their real estate assets that had been gaining value over the years and moved 20 miles down the oldest road in Tennessee to Murfreesboro.2 The house they purchased was a large estate that had once been a ladies school, then a hospital used by both Union and Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War.3 Although it was near the downtown area of Murfreesboro, it did have a swath of open land right outside to give them a little taste of home. Maybe a taste of home is not exactly the right way to look at it. The house was located in the Evergreen Cemetery where J.B. was now the super intendant. By this time he was 65 years old, an ideal age to settle down and retire. And what better place to retire than the place you’re going to be buried?
That year Elizabeth and J.B. also found out their youngest daughter Ruth was pregnant. Fantasies of new life in their new home already felt like cherished memories — Holding her newborn while opening presents around the Christmas tree, singing baby to sleep in the blanket filled bassinet, the first steps, first day of school. Unfortunately these memories for young Ruth would never come to life. In the fall of 1920 Elizabeth and J.B. Kirk lost their daughter Ruth due to complications while giving birth to my grandfather.
The pain was too much for Ruth’s new husband to bear, so Elizabeth and J.B. made the decision to raise their grandson. My grandfather grew up playing in the cemetery where he was born, singing songs and sharing stories with the tombstone that bore his mother’s name. He went to college down the street at MTSU, would become a prominent preacher in Brentwood, Tennessee, and the first Dean of Students at Lipscomb University in Nashville. He passed away at 96 and now rests in the very cemetery where he was born, alongside his wife of 70 years, the mother he never met, and his grandparents, Elizabeth and J.B. Kirk.
Distilling whiskey provided the money for J.B. Kirk to buy real estate, then when it came time to sell, that money provided a safety net for him to retire, provide for his family, and when he was in his mid 60s…raise my grandfather.
Passion for real estate has been passed down through generations in our family. My cousins and I have invested in real estate over the years. In reverse order from my great-great-grandfather, the money I’ve made in real estate was used to invest back into J.B. Kirk Bourbon Whiskey.
This year as we announced the revitalization of J.B. Kirk’s bourbon whiskey my wife and I drove to our family plot at the Evergreen Cemetery. The sun was setting, the air was crisp, we parked and walked along the grounds until arriving at our plot that is lined with a small cement border. We first said hello to my great-grandmother Ruth, her sisters Wylie, Lura, and Goldie. We walked the border where my Grandparents now rest and introduced our newborn son. After a little while my wife held our son while I snuck behind my grandparent’s headstone to say hello to my great-great-grandparents Elizabeth and J.B. Kirk. I uncorked the bottle of J.B. Kirk Bourbon, and the very first pour from the bottle dampened the ground below J.B. Kirk’s headstone. I told him we use the same ingredients he used in the 1800s, that the brand is still 100% family owned, and that every ingredient was grown and distilled right here where it all began…Tennessee.
So here I sit, where saloons once thundered, where hearts broke and healed, where dreams fermented and matured. With every pour of J.B. Kirk bourbon whiskey, we raise a glass not only to the man — but to the spirit of a place and a people that refused to be forgotten.
The past lives on. You can taste it.
— President & great-great-grandson of J.B. Kirk
Drink Responsibly.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1873 ↩︎
- https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/state-pride/tennessee/oldest-road-in-tn ↩︎
- “This House, Erected in 1853, Was a Young Ladies School, Hospital, Home,” The Daily News Journal, October 15, 1941, Page 5. ↩︎