In the fall of 1944, one night well before midnight because nobody had gone to bed yet, a car pulled up in front of our house at Deerfield Plantation.

Several men came up the walkway with flashlights and spread out in the front yard.

While my father greeted them to see what they wanted, another vehicle drove up into the backyard and now there were armed men at the front and the rear of the house.

In response to my father’s greeting, “What can I do for you fellows?” they stated that the local “Fire Towers” had reported a still at this location and that they were Federal Revenue Agents.

My dad agreed to show them his still.

We got lanterns lit and led them out past the garden, the garage and a barn to the still.

My dad offered to give them a sample and they agreed.

After all of them had tasted a sample, they all agreed that it was the best tasting sugar cane molasses they had ever tasted!

To give credit to the mill crew, the cook was Mr. Gordon Rymer of Rosetta, and local community members from Deerfield, Kingston and Garden City filled the positions as skimmers, firemen, mill grinders, cane handlers and canners.

Cane Syrup from Deerfield was shipped by Railway Express, located on Main Street in Natchez, to several states.

In the 1930s, the mill was situated on the bank of the Homochitto River with 14 acres of LSU “CO-290” variety sugar cane. In the 1940s, the U.S. Corps of Engineers straightened the crooked river, and within the next two years those 14 acres went to the Gulf of Mexico.

Stubble of that field was transplanted to hill land free of flooding by the river.

This is another story for our Veterans Home for Natchez book.

Please let us have your story too.

 

Erle Drane is the Veterans’ Service Officer for Natchez.