Whiskey Men and Fire

       

Foreword:  Fire was a constant plague of pre-Prohibition distillers and others dealing with liquor.   The alcohol in whiskey is highly combustible.  An ethanol-water solution that contains 40% alcohol by volume will catch fire if heated to 79 degrees Farenheit and an ignition source is applied to it. This is called its flash point. The flash point of whiskey, therefore, is just about room temperature.  Because open flames were common in pre-Pro distilleries, the threat of fire was ever present.  From among a number of conflagrations that might have been chosen as examples, I have selected three of the most disastrous.

William C. Patterson, a wealthy Philadelphia businessman, neither made nor sold liquor.  His role was in providing storage for whiskey as it aged from Pennsylvania distilleries that entrusted their product to him for safe and sanitary keeping.  To that end, on Front Street above Lombard, he had erected a structure known as Patterson’s Bonded Warehouse.   It comprised eight buildings, all but one seven stories high and 220 by 135 feet.  Each was supposed to be completely fireproof, and built without connection with the others, and therefore supposed to be safe from total destruction by fire.

On the night of August 4, 1869, however, one wall of a building facing Lombard Street collapsed, reputedly because of excessive weight from 25,000 liquor barrels on the floors.  Stored whiskey went down with the ruins and in a few moments a violent explosion occurred, scattering timbers, bricks and flames.  Firemen appeared to have isolated the damage and it was thought other sections of the warehouse could be saved.  Then a second building exploded in fire and soon the entire facility was engulfed.  The front page of the Harpers Weekly of August 21,1869, shown above, told the story. 

When the smoke cleared the entire warehouse complex lay in ruins.  Although no lives had been lost, the monetary loss was placed at $5,000,000 — more than 20 times that in today’s dollar.  Of that amount only $2,299,000 of the lost whiskey was covered by insurance.  The bottom line for Patterson was the personal responsibility to make good all uncovered losses.  The cost is said to have swept away most the wealth he had amassed earlier.  Said his obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer: “From this blow his fortunes never entirely recovered, but as he had borne prosperity without being spoiled by it, so he met adversity with a calm front and an equal mind.”  

Being a close neighbor to a pre-Prohibition distillery was, at best, a mixed blessing.  It provided employment but put its surroundings at peril from explosions and fires.  A case in point was the distillery owned by George W. Robson Sr. near Newport, Kentucky, located in a small settlement on the Licking River called “Finchtown,” shown on a map here.  Because the massive plant, below, whose flagship brand was “Old 76,” provided residents with steady employment,  Finchtown was the picture of a thriving community. 

On September 4, 1888, residents got a rude awakening when an explosion rocked the community.  Around 10 p.m. as a night watchman was making his rounds on the third floor of the distillery, he was flattened by a blast from a still.  The force of the explosion collapsed the south wall of the distillery onto a boiler shed.  The watchman suffered severe burns but survived.  No other injuries were reported.  Robson quickly rebuilt with fireproofing in mind.  He issued a statement that cited how much his improvements had decreased fire insurance rates on whiskey held in its warehouses.  The danger of another fire was seen as low by insurers.

That is, until January 24, 1907.  About 9 p.m. that day, a watchman came across a blaze, one that quickly spread out of control into the community.  As the flames raged, a popular saloon and the Finchtown drug store were consumed.  The fierce conflagration moved rapidly toward the warehouses that were at maximum capacity with aging whiskey.  As the flames engulfed the storage areas, the barrels are said to have exploded like rockets in the night sky.  Once again Robeson rebuilt.  This time the people of Finchtown had had enough and many moved away.  The town ceased to appear in area directories and in 1938 the area was annexed to Newport.  

No American distiller before or since has ever been faced with the death and destruction that plagued Franklin T. Corning during an period of just over five years when three major disasters in succession ravaged his Peoria, Illinois, distillery, below.  As one writer described it, Corning faced “torrents of fire.” 

The first disaster occurred in October, 1903 when a huge steel tank used for cooking the mash exploded, hurling it through the north wall of the distillery and landing 250 feet away.  The entire north wall of the distillery was blown down and other walls badly damaged.  Bricks and other debris were propelled throughout the distillery complex.  More important, seven workmen were killed.  Two in the cooker room died instantly in the explosion;  three others, badly scalded by steam, died in the ambulance or later in the hospital, and later two others were found dead amidst the rubble.

Although Corning quickly rebuilt, he could not ward off disaster.  On the afternoon of a warm June day tragedy struck Franklin Corning a second time. Fire was seen billowing out of control from an 11-story warehouse containing some 30,000 barrels of aging whiskey.  The fire touched off explosions that caused the warehouse to collapse. The flames spread rapidly to adjacent buildings. An observer captured the scene:  “Torrents of blazing whiskey that were a foot deep spread quickly through gullies in the street and towards the river.  The burning spirits also spilled into the sewers….The flood of fire continued on its destructive course until it reached the stockyards.  Three thousand head of cattle in their pens were suffocated from the smoke and surrounding buildings that were completed a few months before were burned as well.”  This time fifteen men, including a worker who was visiting from another Peoria distillery, lost their lives in the fires and explosions. 

Although Franklin Corning must have been weighed down psychologically by the death of twenty-two workmen during the past eight months, the owner almost immediately announced plans to rebuild a second time.  Within a year the distillery once more was in full operation. Despite his efforts, however, Corning was not through with fire.  In April 1908 a blaze began on the fourth floor of a six-story mill building and spread to adjacent four-story elevators, engine and cooperage rooms, and threatened to engulf an eight story tower containing 125,000 gallons of whiskey.  By quick action Corning this time was able to save substantial whiskey from the flames.  As a result an original damage estimate of $750,000 ($18 million equiv.) was considerably reduced to $187,000 ($4.7 million).  Unlike the two previous disasters, this time no lives were lost.  A third time Corning repaired the damage and continued his distilling.  After overcoming those “torrents of fire,” Corning remained a well-recognized and regarded Peoria “whisky baron” until his death in 1915.

Note:  Longer posts on each of the three disaster prone whiskey men treated here can be found elsewhere on this blog:   William C. Patterson, January 7, 2018; George W.  Robson Sr., September 23, 2017; and Franklin T. Corning, January 26, 2016.

The Robsons' Old ‘76 Distillery — Plague of Finchtown?

Being a close neighbor to a pre-Prohibition distillery was, at best, a mixed blessing.  It provided employment but at a cost to its surroundings.  In addition to the constant danger of fire, air and water pollution from the plant posed a problem, particularly if, as often occurred, the distillery kept cattle or hogs on the premises to feed spent mash.  A case in point was the Robson’s distillery near Newport, Kentucky, located in a small settlement on the Licking River called “Finchtown,” shown on a map here.

A local resident in a letter to the Newport newspaper about 1880 described Finchtown as a “beautiful little community” and insinuated its ultimate incorporation as a town.  Among amenities he cited was a first class hotel with a highly able management.  The writer also noted proudly the “large and extensive distillery of G. W. Robson Jr. & Company.”

By 1876 work had been completed on the sprawling set of buildings owned by George W. Robson Sr. in Finchtown.  Warehouses with capacity for 28,000 barrels sat astride Licking Pike and the plant itself adjoined the river bank. The massive distillery, whose flagship brand was “Old ’76,” was producing large amounts of whiskey.  With other factories locating within its boundaries, Finchtown gave the appearance of thriving community.

On September 4, 1888, however, the residents got a rude awakening when an explosion rocked the community.  Around 10 p.m. as a night watchman was making his rounds on the third floor of the distillery, he was flattened by a blast from a still.  The force of the explosion collapsed the south wall of the distillery onto a boiler shed.  The watchman suffered severe burns but survived.  No other injuries were reported.

Assisted by his son, George Jr., Robson quickly rebuilt.  A 1892 underwriter’s report described the distillery as new and constructed of brick with a fire proof roof.   Now there were four bonded warehouses, also of brick and with fireproof roofs.  Two were joined but separated by a firewall.  One was located only nine feet northwest of the still.  In this restored state, the distillery continued to operate successfully.

In 1903, additional improvements were made.  Copper tanks were substituted for wooden tubs throughout the plant and an elaborate heating system was installed, one considered to be less susceptible to fire.  The Robsons issued a statement that cited how much the improvements had decreased the fire insurance rates on whiskey held in its warehouses.  The danger of another fire was seen as low by insurers.

That is, until January 24, 1907.  About 9 p.m. that day, a watchman came across a blaze, one that quickly spread out of control into the community.  As the flames raged, a popular saloon and the Finchtown drug store were consumed.  The fierce conflagration moved rapidly toward the warehouses that were at maximum capacity with aging whiskey.  As the flames engulfed the storage areas, the barrels are said to have exploded like rockets in the night sky.  Once again the distillery was rebuilt, as shown here in a photo.  Finchtown, however, would never be the same.

Fire was not the only hazard to Finchtown presented by the Old ’76 Distilling Company.  When the plant was first constructed the Robsons received permission to dig three tunnels below the train tracks into the Licking River.  The tunnels allowed water to be pumped into the distillery to facilitate the production of whiskey.  By that method some 250,000 gallons of water daily were being drawn from the Licking. 

The tunnels also allowed the distillery to discharge into the waterway 3,000 to 4,000 gallons a day of “hot slop” waste material.  The facility also was feeding 350 head of cattle on premises with the spent mash.  According to a 1913  Kentucky health department report:  “The cattle pens cause considerable pollution of the banks and stream.”

Although the Robson’s distillery was not the only Finchtown factory contributing to the fouling of the Licking River, it was pictured as the major culprit.  The report continued:  “Just below the distillery…several fish were observed floating near the surface nearly dead from the lack of oxygen in the river.”   Although not part of the report, odors from the cattle pens also were wafting through Finchtown’s “beautiful little community.”

Meanwhile the Robsons, father and son, were employing 45 men in manufacturing from 15,000 to 30,000 barrels of whiskey annually.  George Washington Robson Sr. was born in 1813 in Pittsburgh, one of four children of John and Mary Robson.   Of his early life details are scant but Cincinnati business directories indicate that with his brother, William, he was managing a factory that made brass fittings and steam pipe fittings.  This activity apparently resulted in his interest in the liquor industry.   With a co-inventor, George Sr. is credited with an improved still that heated mash with a series of steam-pipes deployed within the still itself through the use of an enclosing jacket and an internal chamber for steam.

After moving to Cincinnati, during the late 1830s at about 26 years of age,  George Sr. married Mary Ann Brack, a native Ohioan.  Their firstborn in 1840 was a son whom they named George Jr.  Six other children would follow, three of them sadly dying in infancy or childhood.  George Jr. would attain maturity and be a partner with his father in their highly successful Finchtown distillery, maintaining corporate offices across the Ohio River in Cincinnati.

Through the years, the Old ’76 Distilling Company produced a myriad of brands including “Finchtown,” ”Charles Frank,” "General Lacey,” "Geo W. Robson,””Lacy," "Licking Bourbon,” "Lord Lytton Gin,” "Metropolitan Club,” “Medallion,” "Old '76 Banner,” "Old 33,” "Old 76," "Old Lacey,” "Old Liberty,” "W. T. Hewitt,”, "Willmore Rye,”, and “Woodruff."  The Robsons bothered to trademark only three brands:  Woodruff in 1905 and Metropolitan Club and Medallion in 1906.  Medallion was the company’s flagship brand, advertised widely and featured on giveaway items such as shot glasses.  

Another Robson giveaway seemingly was an oblique allusion to the given names of father and son — George Washington.  Their Old ’76 Distillery, itself a name reflecting the American Revolution, provided to saloons and restaurants serving its products a wall sign that shows a winsome young woman serving a drink from a wicker-covered bottle to George Washington.  Structures in the background left appear to be a primitive still.  

As he aged George Sr. turned more and more responsibility over to his son.  The company became G W Robson Jr & Co. The founding father died in 1899 at the age of 86.  By that time George Jr. had married, his wife the former Clara B. Newman, born in Covington, Kentucky.  The couple would have two sons and three daughters.  To house this family about 1868 George Jr. contracted with a Cincinnati-based architect to build them a Queen Anne-Romanesque Revival style house in  Bellevue, Kentucky.  Shown here, the Robson home was the first large scale residence in what would become a desirable bedroom community across the Ohio River,  a mere three miles from downtown Cincinnati.

As he aged George Jr.’s health began to deteriorate.  After what was described as “ a lingering illness,” he died in March 1909, at his Bellevue home.  He was 68 years old.  After a funeral service at the residence, he was buried at the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, where his father and mother also were interred.  Subseqently managed by non-family members, the Robsons’ distilling company continued to produce whiskey until shut down by National Prohibition.

As Bellevue was flourishing, the five square blocks of Finchtown were waning.  Some observers blamed the fires and pollution.   While other local industries had contributed to those problems, the Robsons' distillery, as the largest enterprise, frequently was fingered as the cause.   In the 1890s and 1900s, Finchtown addresses were identified as such but listed under Newport, Kentucky.  The name stopped appearing in the 1920s and in 1938 the area was annexed to Newport.  

Over time all but one of the structures of the Robson’s Old ’76 Distillery were pulled down, until today there is virtually nothing to remind anyone of the 42 years when it was a major source of American whiskey and perhaps brought a “plague” of fire and pollution to the neighborhood.  As one writer noted:   “Today it is hard to visualize the location of the former community of Finchtown.  Even the street that was the center of the community, Finch Street, no longer exists.”  The 2015 Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky in its entry on Finchtown observed:  “Most of the streets of Finchtown are gone and forgotten, just as most of its history is.”  Perhaps this post can help.