Stone Castle, Jacob Spears’ Home and Distillery:
Jacob Spears (1754 – 1825) was a man who engaged in several occupations. He was a farmer, distiller, dealer in bluegrass seed, and breeder of fine horses. As a distiller, he and two of his sons, Abraham and Noah, would load barrels of whiskey on flatboats at Cooper’s Run, which led to the Licking River and thence to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans where they sold the popular product.
Jacob was one of the first distillers in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Jacob Spears is credited with being the first to label his product as Bourbon whiskey, named for his home county.
Noah Spears made thirteen trips down the waterways to New Orleans and then walked back home, with a money bag strapped to his person along the Natchez Trace, in Indian territory, frequented by robbers.
