Lemuel Lee ‘Big Hyde’ Tolley

Sometime between 1846 and 1850, a child by the name of Jasper Lee Daniel was born to Calaway and Lucinda Daniel.  (Jasper’s exact birthdate is unknown…his tombstone says 1850, but many believe he was born in 1846 since his mother passed away in 1847).  No one could have known that, Japser “Jack” Daniel would eventually become a distiller and start what would become most popular whiskey brand on then planet, Jack Daniels Old #7. 

Jack never married and had no children.  He did, however, have many siblings.  Nine from his biologic mother and an additional three from his stepmother when Jack’s father remarried after Lucinda’s death.  Without children of his own, Jack was known to take his nephews under his wing.  One of those nephews was Lem Motlow, husband of Jack’s sister Finetta.  

Finetta had a daughter named, Lillian Elizabeth Motlow.  At the young age of 25, Lillian married a gentleman named, John Lafayette Tolley, age 28.  On July, 26 1898, Lillian gave birth to Lemuel Lee Tolley in Moore Tennessee, making Lem Jack Daniels grandnephew.

Lem was a tall, rugged man with a thick skin and stern demeanor earning him the nickname ‘Big Hyde’.  Lem ‘Big Hyde’ Tolley was a second generation distiller (his father also work at the Jack Daniels distillery) and in 1941 he would become only the third master distiller at Jack Daniels. 

Lem would face many challenges during his tenure at Jack Daniels.  Because Tennessee was the last state to repeal prohibition in 1938, the distillery had only been back in operation for 3 years when ‘Big Hyde’ took over.  One year later, in 1942, the distillery would once again have to close as a result of World War 2.  At the end of the second World War in 1946 Jack Daniels once again began to produce Tennessee whiskey.  But, in the years following the end of WWII, good ingredients, especially quality corn, were hard to find. 

Celebrities, Politicians and the whiskey world in general craved the drink Frank Sinatra deemed ‘The Nectar of the Gods’.  Big Hyde was the person who introduced Frank to Jack Daniels.  There was pressure of him to cut corners,  increase production and meet demand.  Lem refused, stating “We are only gonna do it one way, just like Uncle Jack”. 

Lem was known to be a very hard worker, he routinely worked 6 days a week and frequently on Sundays as well.  He was even seen at times working on Christmas day.  A Nobel prize winning author once wrote “In a changing world, there are some things you can count on, like the quality of Jack Daniels”.  Lem was also the master distiller when the company was purchased by The Brown-Forman Corporation in 1954.  

Lemuel Lee ‘Big Hyde’ Tolley retired in 1964 and sadly passed away in December of 1980 in Lynchburg TN.  He was survived by his two children: Jon Compton Tolley (1923-2015) and Lily June Tolley (1926-2016).  In 2014, The Jack Daniels, Lem Motlow Proprietor company released a Masters Distillers Series #3 whiskey in Lem’s honor.  The handcrafted sprit was released with a custom rocks glass complete with Lem’s signature engraved on the side.