1894 – Two letters on illustrated stationery from the owner of a Hudson Valley apple brandy distillery assuring a supplier that he would make good on what he owed

Walden, New York, 1894. Envelope or Cover. Very good. These letters from J. A. Terry, the owner of Old Sycamore Apple Brandy Distillery in Walden, New York to Esmond & Ward, perhaps apple suppliers, of Newburgh, are dated May 3 and May 16, 1994. Both are written on exceptionally attractive stationery depicting the busy distillery complex and enclosed in a mailing envelope that features the same illustration. The envelope bears a circular Walden postmark ais franked with a red 2-cent Washington stamp canceled with a ‘circle of wedges’ handstamp. In nice shape with a little postal soiling to the envelope.

In the letters, Terry assures Esmond (truncated) & Ward that he will soon pay them what he owes in person, explaining that he had been unable to settle the debt because

“My revenue tax . . . was charged 254 more for those barrels . . . than I could buy them for any other place but I will call in some day next week and pay the bill.” . This was not the first time that the Old Sycamore Distillery had a run-in with federal revenue agents. As noted in small print under the illustration, Terry was the “Successor to B. K. Johnson.” Just five years before this letter was written, aggressive federal revenue agents seized Johnson’s distillery after discovering a mere $1,700 of apple brandy in barrels without revenue stamps indicating that no federal tax had yet been paid. Johnson, who was described in the press as “a model of honesty and uprightness” was arrested. Although he offered to settle the case, he was rebuffed by the Attorney General and pushed into a deep depression and had such an “effect upon the man’s brain that [he rapidly plummeted] into critical condition [and] expected to go insane.”

Since colonial times the apple farmers and innkeepers of the Hudson Valley had sold vast quantities of their apple brandy (also known as ‘apple jack’ or simply ‘apple’) without any government interference. However, that changed in the mid-to-late 1870s. Recognizing a cash cow when it saw one, the federal government prohibited the sale of apple brandy without a license and imposed a 90-cent per gallon tax upon it. Locals resisted, and soon many found not just their brandy confiscated, but their homes, farms, and inns seized, and themselves imprisoned.

(For more information, see “Defining Moments in Hudson Valley Applejack” at the Hudson Valley Wine website and “Sequel of a Government Seizure” in the 20 April 1899 issue of the New York Times.) . (Inventory #: 010444)