Family Legacy, Legends & Arrest Records
The Parton Family History
Both sides of my family come off the same road in Sevierville. Both sides had opinions about moonshine, they just didn't always agree on which side of the law to have them from.
The Partons and the Nolands both come from Wiley Noland Road in Sevierville, Tennessee, which tells you most of what you need to know about how tangled up these two families are.
My Papaw, Lee Parton, made a little shine. Not a lot, mind you. Just enough to keep a family going through the kind of years where a little extra meant everything. That's how it worked back here in the mountains: the corn was heavy and hard to haul, and the whiskey was light, valuable and walked itself right to market.
On the other side, my Great-Grandfather Wiley Noland made a little too. Now here's the part I love: his own brother was the sheriff. And somehow (truly, mysteriously, remarkably) that sheriff never did manage to find either still. Funny how family works.
There are arrest records in this family. There are also legends, and I'd wager the legends are the better read. What matters is the recipe survived all of it, passed down through hands that knew exactly what they were doing and exactly who not to tell about it.
Now it's legal, it's bottled, and it's got my name on it. Papaw would probably find that hilarious.
From my family recipe into your glass.