In 1896, Gwynn Spring Distillery is listed as Hunters Depot. The distillery is located northwest of Bardstown, KY off the maintained roads and deep in the woods. Visitors must have guides to locate it. It was established in the 1870's by Jefferson D. McGee and a Mr. Walker. The operation was destroyed by fire and was rebuilt in 1880. John B. Stoner has been a partner with McGee in the distillery since 1895. Dee Beam is the distiller.		In 1896, the F. G. Walker Distillery was located on College Creek, on the western edge of Bardstown. Established by Walker in 1881, it is now operated by his partner, Charles C. Brown. Morgan Edelen is the distiller and F. V. Bell is the beer runner. The warehouses are dry with capacity of 8,000 barrels. Frank Stivers is the barrel maker and William E. Abell is the general manager. F. G. Walker and Queen of Nelson are the name brands

Source: Bardstown: Hospitality, History and Bourbon (KY) (Making of America Series)
Author: Dixie P. Hibbs (C)
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It is likely (not proven) that F. G. Walker was the 'Mr. Walker' of the Gwynn Springs Distillery. The F. G. Walker distillery was auctioned away in 1918, the last year of the Great War. With the event of the 1920's Depression, alcohol was banned and became illegal. Bootlegging became a way of life for many people who had known no other means for a better livelihood.

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FELIX GRUNDY⁴ WALKER (RICHARD MOREEN³, MOREEN D.², GIDEON¹)  the full name of F. G. Walker, was born on April 6, 1837 in Nelson County, Kentucky to Richard Moreen Walker and Sarah (Sallie) Bayse and died 1925 in Nelson County, Kentucky. He married MELISSA J. SHEARER Abt. 1872 in Nelson County, Kentucky. She was born Abt. 1846 in Kentucky, and died in Nelson County, Kentucky.

Children of FELIX WALKER and MELISSA SHEARER are:

i. ANNIE⁵ WALKER, b. Abt. 1872, Nelson County, Kentucky.

ii. HATTIE WALKER, b. Abt. 1874, Nelson County, Kentucky.

iii. REBECCA WALKER, b. Abt. 1878, Nelson County, Kentucky.

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The name F. G. Walker is  shown on the copy of this stock certificate, reading that James B. Beam owns forty two shares of the Old F. G. Walker Distillery Company in Bardstown, Kentucky. Each share was worth one hundred dollars. The capitol stock of the Walker company at the time was $13, 500.00. More research is being done to find the history and the connection between the Walker's and the Beam family.

A little Whisky History
From  Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

The first Kentucky whiskey was made in 1789 and a tax on whiskey led to the first test of federal power, the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.
We are assuming our ancestors Gideon and possibly Charles and others in the Walker family, were involved in the Whiskey Rebellion. At this time more research is being done to substantiate this.

George Washington , after serving as president, became probably the new republic's largest whiskey distiller.

Even before the Revolution, whisky had become the preferred way to use surplus grains in the frontier settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. The expansion of a corn belt in Kentucky and Ohio had created a corn glut. There were no roads in the region and most transportation was by packhorse. It cost more to transport corn or grain than it could bring on the eastern markets, so farmers distilled it into "liquid assets" that could easily be shipped or bartered. Practically every farmer made whiskey and it became a medium of exchange.

By 1810, there were at least 2,000 distillers producing more than two million gallons of whiskey. Annual absolute alcohol consumption (including wine, beer, etc.) may have been as high as ten gallons per person; a level over four times the current rate.

The Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve, and Jack Daniels distilleries are all located in dry counties

Notice the two different spellings for whisky and whiskey? Which one do you drink or think it is?
The answer is on another page of this web site.

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