I believe the Kennedy family had a little hand in liquor also.
1797 John Anderson, a Scottish farm manager, convinced George Washington that distilling whiskey would make money. In a six-week season each spring, Washington’s men netted about a million shad and herring from the Potomac River. The catch was then salted, packed in barrels, and exported. His diversified farming was less successful, largely because of his long absences from Mount Vernon.
(AM, 9/01, p.80)(HNQ, 8/30/02)
1799 Dec 14, The first president of the United States, George Washington, died at his Mount Vernon, Va., home at age 67. Richard Brookhiser authored "Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington." The Washingtons at this time had 317 slaves. His 5 stills in Virginia turned out some 12,000 gallons of corn whiskey a year. In 1993 Richard Norton Smith authored "George Washington and the New American Nation."
(A&IP, ESM, p.16)(AP, 12/14/97)(WSJ, 11/6/98, p.W15)(SFEC, 5/2/99, Z1 p.8)(SFC, 12/11/99, p.B6)(WSJ, 2/22/00, p.A40)
