King of the moonshiners
Subtitle: Lewis R. Redmond in fact and fiction
By: edited by Bruce E. Stewart ; with a foreword by Durwood Dunn.
Contributors: Stewart, Bruce E.
Edition: 1st ed.
Series: Appalachian echoes series
Publisher: University of Tennessee Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Knoxville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 127
ISBN-13: 9781572336407
Subjects: Redmond, Lewis Richard, -- 1854-1906; Distilling, Illicit -- North Carolina. -- History -- 19th century; Liquor industry -- Taxation -- North Carolina; Outlaws -- North Carolina -- Biography
Genres: Biography.
Description: "The "hillbilly hero" is an American archetype. Living a hardscrabble life in the mountains of the South, he turns to making moonshine in a homemade still, hidden from the prying eyes of the "revenuers"-the federal agents who pursue him because he doesn't pay taxes. In reality a law-breaker, in our mythology the moonshiner is the hero who fights valiantly to eke out a living while being unfairly dogged by the "infernal feds." Developed and embellished through more than a century of American popular culture, this image has put down deep roots in our collective psyche. King of the Moonshiners shows us how those roots first began to grow.".

"Lewis R. Redmond was an archetypal moonshiner. On March 1, 1876, the twenty-one-year-old North Carolinian shot and killed a U.S. deputy marshal who tried to arrest him on charges of illicit distilling. He then fled to Pickens County, South Carolina, where, within three years, he gained national notoriety as the "King of the Moonshiners." More than any other individual moonshiner in southern Appalachia, Redmond captured the imagination of middle-class Americans. Then, as now, media coverage had a lot to do with his reputation.".

"This book includes three publications that helped to transform Redmond into a national celebrity. The first is a newspaper interview of Redmond, first published in the Charleston News and Courier in June 1878 and subsequently reprinted in newspapers throughout the country. This sympathetic portrayal made Redmond a household name. The second publication is Edward B. Crittenden's 1879 dime novel (and fiction it certainly is), which solidified Redmond's reputation as the most dangerous man in southern Appalachia. The third piece was written shortly after Redmond's capture in 1881, allegedly to set the record straight.".

"As Bruce Stewart ably demonstrates, Redmond Aand his legend were the products of a specific historical moment: leaders of the "New South" wanted to shed the region's hillbilly reputation while northern writers, looking for colorful stories, created a new and mythic version of Appalachia. Through these original documents, contemporary readers have the opportunity to relive that fascinating time."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : the life and legacy of Lewis R. Redmond; title: Mckinley's interview of Redmond, 1878 / C. McKinley; title: The entwined lives of Miss Gabrielle Austin, daughter of the late Rev. Ellis C. Austin, and of Redmond, the outlaw, leader of the North Carolina "moonshiners" / Edward B. Crittenden; title: The true life of Maj. Lewis Richard Redmond, the notorious outlaw and famous moonshiner, of western North Carolina, who was born in Swain County, N.C., in the year 1855, and arrested April 7th, 1881 / R. A. Cobb.