Daviess County Distilling Company

Registered Distillery #2

This plant, located 1 mile above Owensboro on the Ohio River, was started April 16, 1874 by Callaghan and Trigg. In March 1879, W. S. Harris commenced, alone, and on Oct 14, 1880, a new partnership was formed. In 1882, city directories showed W. S. Harris & John Callaghan as Proprietors and later (in 1886), it was under the control of Millett & Callaghan. In 1888, the distillery was operating as the Daviess Co. Distilling Co. with R. Monarch, President and John Callaghan as VP-Treasurer. The brand Kentucky Club was well established at this time. Information from insurance underwriter records compiled in 1892 suggest that the distillery comprised a two-story frame structure with a metal or slate roof. The grounds housed a cattle barn and three warehouses. The distillery is located about a mile west of town, on the river, and its capacity is 800 bushels of corn per day; it has 720 mash tubs and its engine is ninety horse-power.

Bonded Warehouse “A” was brick with a metal or slate roof and located 150 ft NE of the still. Part of the warehouse used for storage of free spirits and designated Free Warehouse “C”. Bonded Warehouse “B” was 125 ft east of the still and frame construction with a metal or slate roof. Free Warehouse “D” was frame with a metal or slate roof, located 225 ft east of the still house. In 1901, Geo. E. Medley of Bardstown (formerly associated with Mattingly & Moore and J. R. Walker), purchased part of the distillery from the R. Monarch estate. In 1904, Dick Meschendorf of Louisville joined Medley in acquiring the entire plant. When Medley died in 1910, his son Tom took over operation. The following year fire destroyed warehouse 2B and the bottling house. These were soon rebuilt and the plant capacity increased to 750 bushels. (from the Coyte Papers, cited in OASG). Cecil goes on to note that the distillery was closed upon Prohibition and the remaining stocks sold to Wathen Bros. The distillery was later (1928) sold to Field Packing Co.

This distillery provided product that was sold under the following aliases:

1892-1903: R Monarch, Owensboro, KY

Internal Revenue recorded warehouse transactions for this distillery as follows:

1898: Daviess County Dist. Co. — T, W
1898: R Monarch — T, W
1901: R Monarch — T, W
1901: Daviess Co. Dist. Co. — T, G, W
1903: Graeme McGowan — D, W
1903: R Monarch — T, W
1903: Daviess Co. Dist. Co. — T, G, W
1904: Daviess Co. Dist. Co. — T, W
1904: Graeme McGowan — D, T, W
1904: R Monarch — T, W
1914: Daviess Co. Distg. Co. — no details given
1914: Geo. E Medley — no details given
1920: The Daviess Co. Distilling Co. — no details given

D – Spirits were deposited in the warehouse

T – Spirits were withdrawn upon payment of tax

G – Spirits were withdrawn for transfer to general bonded warehouses

W – Spirits remained in the warehouse at the close of the year

References

Source: www.pre-pro.com

Source: History of Daviess County, Kentucky. Chicago: Interstate Publishing Co., 1883. Print.