Alco-Lachia: A Bootleg Biography

When the Scots Irish people settled in America’s Appalachian Mountains during the 18th and 19th centuries, they brought their culture and heritage with them. A big part of this culture was partaking in “a wee drop of the dew.” This tradition of folks in Appalachia to partake of and produce that wee drop has gone through many changes in the past couple of centuries: from family celebrations to supporting the family illegally, to today when it has become a legal booming agritourism industry helping to support the economy of an entire region. It is only fitting that in March, the month of St. Patrick’s Day when everyone is Irish, the Gilmer County Genealogical Society’s program for its monthly meeting will be all about the history of that wee drop’s changes in the region.

Alco-Lachlia: A Bootleg Biography will be the presentation for the March GCGSI meeting, with speaker Zachary Walls explaining how the Appalachian region has been under the influence of alcohol since its early years of settlement by non-native people. He will focus on the time of Prohibition in the early 20th century, giving stories of local bootleggers and how their personal livelihoods, and those of other Appalachians who shared this dubious occupation, developed into a major national sport.

This GCGSI meeting will take place on Saturday, March 18, at 2:00 p.m. in the main level meeting room of the Gilmer County Library. The public is invited, and admission is free.