Sunday, November 13, 2011

J.H. Kearns: His Sunny Side Saloon Had a Bloody Past

Seldom does a building dominate the story of a whiskey man and his organization. In the case of J. H. Kearns of Lebanon, Marion County, Kentucky, however, the site of his Sunny Side Saloon has been made memorable by a bloody Civil War battle.

Shown top right in more recent times, the building originally was the commissary for the Union garrison stationed in Lebanon. It stood directly across from the railroad depot. Both structures were direct targets of a major Civil War attack in 1863 by Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s Raiders.

During an intense and bloody day long conflict, Morgan’s youngest brother, Lt. Thomas Morgan, was mortally wounded. As he lay dying he was carried to “Sunnyside” the nearby home of a Presbyterian minister, shown right. Thomas initially was buried in Lebanon, but reburied later in the Morgan family plot in Lexington.

Angered by the death of his brother and the unwillingness of the garrison commander to surrender easily, General Morgan burned a number of buildings in Lebanon, including a frame house attached to the brick commissary. Amazingly the latter building escaped significant damage although Morgan’s Raiders emptied it of food and supplies.

Kearns was just over three years old at the time of Morgan’s Raid and obviously had no memory of it.  He was born “John Kerons,” son of Patrick and Mary Kerons, Irish immigrants, who lived and farmed in Loretto Precinct, not far from Lebanon.  His father appears from census records to have been fairly affluent and may have been able to give his son a start in merchant life.  With his wife, Katherine Smith Kearns, whom he married in 1878 or 1879, he fathered nine children of whom eight lived to maturity.  All had successful careers, including a Jesuit priest who became a college president.  None other than John H. entered the whiskey trade.

After the Civil War, the commissary structure was briefly a grocery store before being bought by Kearns in the late 1880s and named the “Sunny Side Saloon,”  doubtless a reference to the old mansion nearby.  By adopting so cheerful a name he apparently was heedless of the bloody history of the site.  The saloon soon became a favorite watering hole for the citizens of Lebanon.


Kearn’s saloon also sold whiskey to be taken off premises and he commissioned a wide series of ceramic jugs for that purpose. The few provided here demonstrate the breadth of formats he used. Kearns must have issued hundreds of jugs as they frequently come up for sale on auction websites.


Possibly seeking a more ready supply of whiskey for his saloon, in 1905 Kearns joined George R. Burks, the scion of a longtime Marion County distillery family in a whiskey-making operation in nearby Loretto, Kentucky.  Burks had revived a distillery that his great-grandfather had founded and in 1905 sold partnerships to Kearns and another local.  Shown here in an illustration, the partners called it the Burks’ Spring Distillery Company.  Under this new management, the partners allowed various liquor dealers claim proprietorship of the distillery and bottle its product. Among them was Thomas Smith & Sons of Boston.


In 1907 Kearn’s saloon business came to a screeching halt when Lebanon, under Kentucky’s local option laws, voted the town dry, and Kearns, like others local saloonkeepers, was forced to shut down his operations.  The action did not, however, affect the Burks Spring Distillery that continued to operate.  Perhaps in disgust, Kearns and his family moved to Louisville.  The 1900 U.S. Census found him there with wife, Kate, and seven of his children, ranging in age from 27 to 13 years old.  His occupation was given as “distiller - whiskey.”  Later that same year Kearns died at the relatively young age of 52 and was buried in St. Louis Cemetery, Louisville.

With the coming of Prohibition in 1919, the Burks’ Spring Distillery was sold to a Lebanon local who farmed the land and raised cattle. The distillery buildings were allowed to deteriorate but were not razed. When Bill Samuels Sr. founded Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto in 1953 he incorporated parts of the old Burks’ Distillery into his operation and subsequently restored some of the original structures. In addition, Kearns was forced to shut down his saloon.

The commissary building that J. H. Kearns turned into a saloon subsequently was put to other uses and still stands in Lebanon, with Kearn’s name emblazoned on the side. Nearby a memorial sign has been posted near the place where the young officer, Lt. Thomas Morgan, and others, both Yanks and Rebels, fell.  It is a continuing reminder of the bloody past that the ground of the Sunny Side Saloon enshrines.

Note: After this post appeared in 2011, I received an email that began thus:  Hello Jack Sullivan, this is Wendell Grayson in Springfield, KY and I grew up in Lebanon and have now grown to 71 years old. I've been a history buff my entire life and  the Sunnyside Saloon building has always been special to me. Mr. Grayson was kind enough to provide additional information about Kearns and his saloon as well as point up one or two serious errors in the original text.  I am grateful to him for his continuing help and have incorporated his information into this article.





















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17 comments:

  1. hello my name is nathan keirns are last name was kearns before the move to the usa in think 1856
    my email is nathankeirns@yahoo.com if you can tell me more about the kearns last name i would thank you for your time

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  2. Dear Mr. Kearns: Sorry to be so long in responding. Had thought an email would do it. But was mistaken. J. H. Kearns has attached considerable interest because of his whiskey jug and I hope to write more about him and his business. Jack

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  3. trying to find a value for the brown glazed j h kearns jug , have seen several of the white on ebay but no brown jugs can you help rpoore13@hotmail.com

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    1. the brown glaze scratch advertising is a tough one to find, rarely comes up for sale - my opinion 1000-1500 for a one to three gallon size - significantly more for a quart, half gal, four or five gal size

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  4. This is so interesting, where can I find more info on Lebanon Ky. and it's ties with the Civil War? My family is from Lebanon, and I spent allot of time as a kid down there on my grandparents farm, It's beautiful country and let's hope it stays that way ,
    ps. Im going to find the St. Louis cemetary and visit John Kearns.
    Danny from Louisville.
    Dcmm7189@gmail.com

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  5. Dear Danny: I wish I could be of more help but have no one source on Lebanon in the Civil War. Your plans to see the area sound great.

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  6. Dear Mr. Sullivan J.H. Kearns was my great grandfather. I have not traveled to Lebanon, KY but would love to go in the very near future. Can you please tell me if the inscription "Sunny Side Saloon" is still visible on the outside walls of the building. I am fortunate to have in my collection two of the old jusgs from the Sunny Side

    Thank you

    Kevin Kearns

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  7. Kevin: As shown in the photo above, I believe that the "ghost sign" from the Sunny Side Saloon is still visible. I envy you the trip. Was in the vicinity several years ago but did not get to Lebanon.

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  8. I am a direct descendent of Charles Burks, and am going to bring back our old bourbon whiskey from so many years ago, and hopefully it will in the market in 2022, known as Burks Spring Bourbon.

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    1. Hi my name is Joseph burks I am also a great descendant. I can’t wait to see this whisky back in stores bringing back our legacy of great whisky. Please keep me posted

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  9. Unknown: Thanks for being in touch on your plans for reviving the Burks brand of whiskey from KY. Several other whiskey men descendants like you, e.g. Magnus in DC, are already up and running. If I can help, let me know. My email is jack.sullivan9@verizon.net

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  10. Hi! Great post! My sister and I just purchased Sunny Side Saloon and would love to feature this blog post, or any new ones relevant to Sunny Side or the area, on our web page. Our Facebook page and web site will document the restoration and remodeling process as we prepare to open the upstairs as a vacation rental. The downstairs will be commercial space or venue rental. If you are interested in collaborating, please contact me at stay@sunnysidesaloon.com. You can also check out our Facebook page, Sunny Side Saloon. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.

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  11. Sunny Side Saloon: Great to hear from you! Delighted to hear your plans for the Sunny Side. Feel free to use any of the photos in my article in your promotion. If you use some or all of my text I would appreciate a reference to this website. Will be in touch via your website as well.

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    1. Mr Jack - another great article, good to reconnect. Sad to report but in my opinion that smaller pour spout jug is a new stencil on an old jug and I've never heard of an example like the tan glaze jug with the blue blurred stencil - I have seen many newer reproduction miniature Sunny Side Saloon jugs over the past ten plus years, but unaware of any authentic miniatures. Hopefully we can meet up at a bottle show soon - Keep in touch! Bill

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    2. Bill: Great to hear from you after these several years. Your information is disturbing. I was not aware of Kearns repros. As for future bottle shows, at 86 and limited mobility I do not get to any but Baltimore.

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  12. Thank you! We have given your blog shout outs as has the Marion County tourism office. Please check us out at www.sunnysidesaloon.com. We also have a Facebook page that has more regular updates.

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  13. The Sunny Side gang: Thanks for your notice and best wishes on your enterprise!

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