In many ways, Maggie Bailey was your typical girl
growing up on Pine Mountain just north of the Virginia Kentucky Boarder. She was born in 1904
on this rocky hillside farm where her pa barely scratched out a living from the poor rocky soil.
Like all mountaineers, they raised everything they ate and made everything they owned. Maggies
days were filled with helping her ma out in the house and her pa in the field, and tending to the
animals. Being the oldest of 6 young uns, it also fell upon the mountain girl to get her brothers
and sisters down to the one room school house when learning was in session. But by the time Maggie
was 12, she concluded her career learning the ways or reading and rthymatic, since pa needed
all the help he could get back at the homestead. Now, Money was scared back in those days all
across the mountains, and there was only a few ways hill folks could get their hands on some.
One was selling apples and chestnuts down in the valley and the other way was selling blockade
corn liquor. And with so many mouths to feed, backs to clothe, and feet to put shoes
on, Maggie pa did what he had to do to make ends meet. And to hear the locals tell
it, Maggies pa was quite crafty when it came to working the ole copper kettle under the
moonlight. Whether it was a special recipe of apple brandy or a concoction of white mule so
powerful that would make a fella hallucinate, his spirits were sought after by folks all
over Harlan County. From a young age, Maggie, spent many a night standing barefooted on a split
bottom chair with a long wooden paddle stirring her pas mash and keeping the fire box stocked with
plenty of firewood. Little did she know, her pa’s nightly schooling on the fine art of crafting
white mule would end up defining her life. By 1921, Maggie was 17, her father hired her
out to a local boarding house where she worked as a waitress in the kitchen to help supplement
the families income. These were exciting times, the newly built railroad brought
strangers from all over America to Harlan looking to make their fortune
in the coal boom that was underway. The roaring twenties were in full swing, and
the trains brought many strangers from far away cities who wore fancy clothes
while staying at the boarding house. It was here that Maggie met a professional gambler
and coal business man who dressed in a fancy suits and even had the first pocket watch that the
young girl had ever seen in her life. She told him about a business plan she had concocted,
that was sure to make her a fortune if she only had an investor. Although the business man was
reluctant, Maggie had a way about her and she eventually convinced him to give her thousands of
dollars to fund it. And what a genius plan it was, you see, coal towns were literally springing up
all over the county nearly overnight. Maggie had taken notice of the thousands of brawny men that
the rail road brought in each month. These same men emerged from the dark mines each evening
with a powerful thirst for something to knock the dust out of their guzzle. But you see, a
new law had swept America called prohibition, making alcohol illegal across the entire nation.
And that’s where Maggies plan came in. She knew exactly how to make her daddy’s white lightning.
Even better, during this time in history, the law frowned heavily on arresting women.
Heck it was illegal to search a woman, and if a fella did arrest a woman and bring
her to court the jury just knew no woman was capable of committing a felony and she’d
quickly be released and charges dropped. Indeed, it was the perfect plan and she quickly
rented a house on the outskirts of town where she turned it into a moonshine factory, capable
of producing hundreds of gallons untaxed liquor at a time. Before long, she began selling bulk
moonshine to speak easys that served her secret recipe. That’s right, she had a monopoly on the
entire market, and for the most part no one had a clue that a sweet young lady was making the potent
drink that would knock a grown man on his rear end. For the entire length of prohibition, Maggie
Baileys Moonshine reigned supreme in Eastern Kentucky. But the sudden end of prohibition
threatened to shut her operation down. Nearly overnight, legal taverns and distilleries sprang
up selling taxed liquor. Yet their product was something new that locals called red whisky.
Most folks thought this was the end of Maggies operation since only men were allowed to own
liquor businesses. Yet Maggie was now 31 years old and had been running liquor for 14 years
as a independent business woman. Now heck she had used the money to pay for all her siblings
schooling and pay off her pa’s farm. She wasn’t about to just up and quit so she did something
unthinkable. That’s right, in April of 1934, she be came the first woman to be obtain a legal
liquor license and named her place “Megs Place”. She could sell legal red whiskey just as good
as any man. But the folks in appalachia didn’t care too much for this new whiskey, what they
wanted was good ole moonshine. And before long, Maggie Bailey was selling legal whiskey
out the front door and Mountain Dew out the back door. All the way thru the Great
Depression her business thrived. So much so, that eventually federal revenuers wanted to
have a look see at what made “Megs Place” so special. So in 1941, armed with a search warrant,
federal agents burst in and and seized 150 gallons of moonshine and promptly sentenced
Maggie Bailey to 2 years in federal prison. They shut down her entire operation and seized
all her equipment, making sure to put end to this moonshine mistress. On the day Maggie was
to report to prison she first stopped by her sisters house to tell her good bye and she let
a suitcase there and told her she would pick it up when she got out. Just like that, they hugged
and Maggie spent the next two years locked behind bars. But I tell you this, she put that time to
good use, she spent the entire time incarcerated, studying the law, particularly the 4th amendment
dealing with search and seizure. She became an expert on that law, determined to never get
caught red handed again, and as it turns out, this knowledge would define the rest of her life
and leave the law helpless to stop her ever again. By 1945, Maggie was back on the streets and up
to her old habits again, first thing she did was stop by her sisters and pick up that suitcase
which just so happen to have 80,000 dollars cash in it. She used that money to buy a house on
the outskirts of Harlan intent on reopening her business. Yet there were two problems, the
first was she could no longer get a liquor license because of her felony and the bigger problem was
Harlan county was now a dry county. That’s right, no alcohol of any kind was allowed.
But you see, Maggie Bailey was a red blooded Appalachian mountain gal who was use to
solving problems when others would simply give up in the face of adversity. She quickly
hire several runners who would make daily trips back and forth to neighboring counties,
returning each time with trunk fulls of beer, wine and whiskey. “Megs Place” was back in
business, this time operating more as a drive thru. Folks would simply pull up in the back
yard, place their order, and off they went. For the next three decades, Megs Place sold
illegal liquor 7 days a week. And the law was furious and desperate to stop her, during the
1940s and 50s, Megs Place was raided 62 times, each time the law would find liquor in different
places, mostly hidden in junk cars or in various out buildings. Each time she was arrested, the
charges would be dropped because the search warrants wouldn’t specifically authorize the
search of her new hiding place. And even when the law had solid evidence, the jury would simply
find her not guilty. You see, by now Maggie Bailey was an older woman and had become a pillar of the
tight knit community, she had paid for college for several of her neighbors kids, and many times,
folks who didn’t have anything to eat would knock on her door and she would cook them a hot meal.
And Maggie knew every one of her customers, each visit to her house, visitors would have to sit
a spell as she asked how yer momma was doing and when was the last time your daddy came to town.
She refused to sell to kids, drunkards or women. After all, Maggie had her good image to keep
up.Even folks with political aspirations would pay a visit to Maggie asking for her vote, because
if she supported you, the entire county would. Still, the police raids continued all the way
thru the 1960s, and in 1965, a routine raid on Megs Place resulted in a discovery that
would make headlines all across the nation. A score of deputy sheriffs and highway patrol
were busy confiscating over 200 cases of beer and 50 cases of whisky when one cop decided to have
a look in Maggies closet. Hidden in the corner, he saw 14 brown paper bags and a dozen
old socks. And wouldn’t you know it, everyone of them were filled with hundred
dollar bills, The cops claimed there was 480,000 dollars cash was hidden in her
closet. Oh that’s hogwash! Maggie claimed, It was 372,841 dollars and not a penny more. I
know, since I count it every single night! You see, Aside from helping others, Maggie had
saved ever dime she ever made. You see, she never bought clothes and only wore second
hand clothes from her sister. She never owned an automobile or went to a movie. Even
with all that money she still She kept hogs, chickens and a milk cow and
raised all her own food. The IRS quickly took note of the large
pile of cash and noticed that Maggie had never paid income tax and they sued her for
1.37 million dollars. But the IRS was about to find out what the police already knew, that
you couldn’t beat Maggie in court. Astonishing, Maggie was able to negotiate all the way down
and paid only 18,000 dollars in a settlement. The law had pretty much given up on stopping her.
Every time she was arrested, the sweet old lady would show up in court with her printed dress
and baby blue sweater and the charges would be dropped. So Megs Place kept right on raking in
the dollars, thru the 70s, the 80s, and even the 1990s. Astonishingly, Maggie Bailey began her
moonshine career at age 17 and she continued to sell moonshine and bootleg liquor all the way
until she was 95 years old! A career of 78 years! In total, she was arrested 114 times with the
last time being when she was 79 years of age. But amazingly, she was only convicted 1 time before
she became a legal expert in the 4th amendment. Maggie Bailey, one of the most
courageous and defiant Appalachian moonshiners in history died peacefully
in 2005 at the age of 101 years old. So my friend, next time you crack
the seal and pour yourself one, tip one back in honor of Maggie
Bailey, the Appalachian legend.
