The Life Of George Holcomb – George Begins Making Liquor

by Alex Brooks
The previous episode ended in mid-October of 1815. During the next six weeks, George gathers a lot of apples and makes cider, applesauce and “cider cheese” and makes trips to Albany to sell all these products. During this time the Still House is finished, mostly by the work of his cousin Sylvester. On December 1, 1815, George sets off for Troy to get a license for the stilling.
Dec 2, Saturday: I went into Troy to the collector’s office and he gave me a bond to fetch home to sign and get two bondsmen and then told me to go to stilling, and be sure to make returns of the number of gallons of liquor stilled by the first of Jan next.
Dec. 4: Today I went to Peleg Spencers and engaged his hired negro to come and still for me. Spencer charged me fifty cents a day and the negro, by the name of Solomon, to have extra wages.  Today we began to still.
Dec. 8: Today I walked to Troy and went to James Mallery, the collector, at his office, and made returns of my brandy that I had stilled from Dec. 4 to the 8th, which was 71 gallons, and I returned that said bond with Father’s and William’s name signed with mine, …which lays us under two hundred dollars obligation if I don’t make true returns, when I still, the said duties which I paid was $17.40…On Friday morning I paid Solomon, the negro, 3 dollars, and sent two dollars by him to Spencer for his time out of said Spencer’s hire.
Dec. 25, Monday: This evening William and I went with the wagon to Canaan and carried ten bushels of rye to Mr. John Whiting, to pay for the patent right of the globe still, by the name of Hinderson Still, and said Whiting gave me a receipt for the rye, ‘til he get the patent be wrote.
In January the swelling on his throat and neck flares up again, but it only lasted for a week this time.  In the second half of January he started chopping wood most days and all through February the same.  In early March he has another attack of “the old complaint,” and there are frequent mentions of “doctoring his neck” and “taking phthisic” throughout March.
May 27, Monday:  Solomon the black man came up and assisted us in stilling.
Friday the 31st, Holcomb  goes to Troy to get a license for stilling. On June 16, 1816, it snowed so that “the hills were white and froze in many places.” The 7th and 8th it continued cold and snowy.
July 1: I went to the collector and took license under the new act for stilling for one week and I expect the duties will be $1.50.
Saturday afternoon Holcomb rides down to Squire Spencer’s to ask for the assistance of Solomon the black man “to come and show us how to reduce our cider brandy.” Solomon came the next morning and did so.