Lem Motlow
Lemuel “Lem” Oscar Motlow
Tennessee in the early 1800s was still a wilderness when Agnes Motlow, a Revolutionary War widow, settled with her family in Lincoln County. In nearby Franklin County, Joseph Daniel settled with his family. Two generations later, on Dec 22, 1869, Agnes’s grandson Felix Motlow, married Joseph’s granddaughter, Finetta Daniel, and the Motlows and Daniels would forever be linked in history.
Nettie’s younger brother, Jasper, known as “Jack”, went on to create the famous, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. As Jack never married nor had children, who would take on the business?
Lem, The Early Years:
Enter Lemuel Oscar Motlow, born November 28, 1869 in Moore County, Tennessee, near Lynchburg., to Felix and Nettie Motlow.
Lem had a close relationship with his Uncle Jack, who took Lem under his wing into the whiskey business. Lem had a head for numbers, and In 1883, just 14, he started working in the distillery, handling the distillery's bookkeeping.
Lem, the Family Man
In 1895, at the age of 26, Motlow married Clara Reagor, 22. They had two children; an infant daughter, who died shortly after birth in 1896, and a son, John J. Reagor Motlow, in 1898. Clara, unfortunately, would die three years later, on Nov 14, 1901, leaving Lem to raise three-year old, John.
In 1903, Lem remarried Ophelia Verna Evans; together they would have four children – Robert Motlow (1904-1976), Daniel Motlow (1906-1992), Clifford Motlow (1909-1995), and Mary Motlow (1912 – unknown). John would go on to become president of the Jack Daniel’s Distillery, and when Brown-Forman purchased the Distillery, he joined the board of directors. John passed away in 1978.
In 1907 due to failing health, Jack gave the distillery to his nephew, Lem, and his cousin, Dick Daniel. (Dick later sold his share to Lem).
Lem, the Politician
During this time, Tennessee, which had a history of opposing alcohol consumption, passed legislation prohibiting liquor throughout most of the state.
Lem ran for state-wide elections in 1908, with a sole interest in trying to influence the temperance movement laws being passed. Lem was elected a State Senator, and in the years to come would win several elections and serve in both the Tennessee State House of Representatives and Tennessee State Senate,
Though Motlow would never be successful in overturning prohibition laws, he did get a state law passed that alcohol could be sold in small quantities as a medical prescription.
Lem, Savvy Businessman
Lem wasn’t sitting by watching his company suffer as Prohibition laws spread. In the years leading up to the 18th amendment, Lem started moving his operations and inventory to St. Louis, Missouri, and to Birmingham, Alabama, in an effort to escape the tightening net of prohibition laws in Tennessee.
Inevitably, though, in 1920, Prohibition would become a national constitutional amendment and make liquor sales illegal across the country.
The most visible effect in 1920 on large distillers like Jack Daniels, was the sizeable inventory with nowhere to be legally sold, and liquor inventories stored in federally bonded warehouses protected by armed guards.
A few years into the 1920’s period, Lem Motlow would become entangled in one of the most controversial and darkest chapters in Jack Daniels history.
Lem, the Defendant
In August 1923, a group of well-connected crooks skillfully siphoned bourbon from stored barrels, through 150 feet of hidden hose and in to waiting trucks, where they then disappeared. The thieves drained 893 barrels, and then refilling them with water and vinegar, in a process known as “milking”. They would leave one barrel untouched for inspections. Investigators believed Lem was behind the operation and Federal authorities charged Motlow with bootlegging.
On the morning of March 17, 1924, Lem appeared in court, and then afterward, went out drinking with friends. That evening, drunk and tired, Lem boarded a sleeper train back to Tennessee and headed for the Pullman berth car; but as Motlow tried to enter the sleeping car section, he was confronted and asked for the proper ticket by Ed Wallis, a black sleeping car porter. Motlow became angry at being questioned and denied access, and during the argument, Motlow fired two shots, one which killed Conductor Clarence Pullis, who had intervened after overhearing the argument. When Pullis died two days later, Motlow was charged with murder.
With all the resources available to the wealthy businessman, Lem hired a team of prominent lawyers to defend him. Motlow’s lawyers took advantage of the prevailing racial attitudes and made the case about Wallis’s character. The black porter was a key witness in the shooting death of the Train Conductor, but Motlow’s team successfully convinced the all-male, all-white jury to return a not-guilty verdict. Motlow left the courtroom a free man.
Though Motlow was never convicted, Motlow’s wealth and access to prominent people, along with his attorney’s defense tactics, remains a dark cloud over his life.
Prohibition Ends
In 1937, Tennessee repealed prohibition laws, and in 1938, Motlow reopened the Jack Daniel's Distillery and resumed operations at Lynchburg.
In 1939 Lem Motlow’s Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey was introduced. Produced until 1992, it was available in a variety of sizes and proofs. Limited in quantity and highly sought after, these bottles are difficult and usually quite expensive to obtain.
In 1941, Lem suffered a stroke, and he continued to work for the next 6 years in a wheelchair. Lem died of cerebral hemorrhage on September 1, 1947, in Lynchburg, at age 77. He was buried in the Lynchburg cemetery
The distillery passed to his four sons, Reagor, Robert, Daniel and Connor. In the ensuing years the Motlow brothers increased production while remaining faithful to the tradition of quality set down by Jack Daniel and their father, Lem. Reagor, first born, and always General Manager under his father's guiding hand, assumed the position of President.
Footnote: Lemuel Oscar Motlow had a 3rd cousin by the name of Asa Griggs Candler. The two distant cousins shared Great, Great Grandparents Obediah Hooper and Massilva Marvula Brooks. While Lem found prominence with the Jack Daniel’s company, Asa owned a drug store and learned the pharmacy trade; in a stroke of genius, he sold his pharmacy to purchase the formula for a syrup which he produced and founded a new company he named Coca Cola. It just goes to show, a Jack and Coke were meant to be together.
