The Wettest County in the World

by Matt Bondurant

  I must add here that my grandfather, after a few more run-ins with the law, went on to be a respectable, law-abiding, and even revered member of the Snow Creek community for many years until his death. His children and their children, including myself, have all basically faded into the gentle obscurity of decent citizens. It seems that perhaps that part of our blood that prompted such dramatic and dangerous behavior as committed by my grandfather and his brothers in those desperate times, has faded as well.

  The basics of this story are drawn from various family stories and anecdotes, newspaper headlines and articles, and court transcripts, particularly from T. Keister Greer’s compilation of grand-jury testimony, titled The Great Moonshine Conspiracy of 1935. Greer’s book also provides testimony from the other major players in the conspiracy, as well as background and biographical information. However, this historical information does not help us fully understand the central players in this story, at least in terms of their situation or what their thoughts were; all involved are now deceased and little record exists. There are no letters, and my grandfather and his brothers did not keep diaries. My task in writing this book was to fill in the blank spaces of the known record. There are the family stories, and for this we must rely on the recollection of relatives, like my father, who was alive during the trial though as a very young boy, as well as other local people and friends who knew my grandfather and these other men. These memories and stories are vague and often specious at best, mixed with several decades of rumor, gossip, and myth. These were people who lived and died in real and dramatic ways, but due to the passage of time and circumstance it is difficult to render their lives with complete accuracy or fidelity to actuality.

  In order to get at that truth, I created characters based on these people, some who are combinations of the original figures, some quite close to the historical record as we know it, and others who are almost wholly fabricated. Anyone who is a surviving relative of any of the involved parties should not assume that certain characters in this fictionalization are somehow meant to portray someone distinct. It was not my intent to flatter or slander anyone involved with this tragic story, least of all anyone in my own family. I suppose you can consider this a parallel history. I have imagined a number of things for which there is no record, and I have presumed upon the actual historical figures with the liberty that is granted a novelist. My intention was to reach that truth that lies beyond the poorly recorded and understood world of actualities.

  There are the facts: The drought of 1930 was severely damaging to the already poor county, and moonshine activity exploded. The “Bondurant filling station” was known to be a hub for moonshining, drinking, fighting, and general mischief. My grandfather and his brothers Forrest and Howard were known around the county and in the papers as “the Bondurant Boys.” My granduncle Forrest Bondurant had his throat cut and somehow survived. He was then gut-shot at Maggodee Creek and later nearly his whole body was crushed by a load of lumber that was dropped on him. He survived all of this, finally succumbing when he fell through the ice in a shallow creek. Maggie was a real woman who stayed with my great-uncle under mysterious circumstances, and their relationship is a matter of family lore. Jack was also shot at Maggodee Creek, and a few years later he married Bertha Minnix, my grandmother, who was a skilled mandolin player who played on the radio and whose parents were members of the Dunkard Church, or Old German Baptist church as it was alternately called back then.

  We know that the writer Sherwood Anderson did spend some time in the area seeking out the famous female bootlegger Willie Carter Sharpe, and he did attend the trial where my grandfather and grand-uncles testified. He spent several years in the area, working on his house in Marion and traveling the countryside. Anderson contributed a story to Liberty magazine in 1935 about the “Great Franklin County Moonshine Conspiracy.” His last novel, Kit Brandon, is commonly understood to have been greatly influenced by his experiences in rural Virginia, the legend of Willie Carter Sharpe, and the Great Moonshine Conspiracy trial.

  The shooting of “the Bondurant Boys” at Maggodee Creek by Rakes and Abshire is well documented in court transcripts and newspaper articles, as is the horrific murder of Jefferson Richards and the curious death of Charley Rakes.

  Everything else, as Sherwood Anderson would say, is “transmuted by fancy.”

  Acknowledgments

  I AM INDEBTED TO T. Keister Greer’s exhaustive account of the events of the 1935 trial taken from grand-jury testimony, titled The Great Moonshine Conspiracy of 1935. His book provided not only an overview of the often complex and confusing conspiracy, but also court transcripts of my grandfather and his brothers. The works of Sherwood Anderson obviously played a large role in my research, particularly Kit Brandon; Dark Laughter; Winesburg, Ohio; and his collected memoirs and letters. Probably the best book ever written on the topic of illegal liquor is Jess Carr’s The Second Oldest Profession: An Informal History of Moonshining in America. Another invaluable resource was the Franklin County Historical Society and all of its generous and helpful volunteers. Their exhibits, photos, and records were a great aid, and I encourage anyone who is interested in this topic to visit this museum, situated in downtown Rocky Mount, the epicenter of the moonshine trade.

  I would like to thank all of the early-draft readers of this book, including Seth Tucker, Mike Mannon, and K.S. I would also like to thank the various writers who have assisted me in some way with this, including Tony Early and Margot Livesey.

  I would like to thank my agent, Alex Glass of Trident Media Group; my editor, Alexis Gargagliano; and all the fine folks at Scribner who made this process a pleasure.

  I thank my family for their continued support and love.

  And my wife, Stacy, my dearest friend and companion.