Agriculture and Farming

Agriculture and Farming. . , Agriculture in Garrett County has a long broad history and is extremely present in today's society. The farmer-distiller was a familiar figure in nineteenth century Maryland., Getting a ton of corn to market was expensive and the return could be low. The same ton turned into whiskey might bring ten times the return. With abundant fields of rye, wheat and corn, recognition spread that a good way to add value to a ton of grain was to turn it into gallons of whiskey. With good roads and ready markets in Washington and Baltimore, North Central Garrett County area farmers and immigrants from Europe founded distilleries and whiskey brands that often bore their names. One such was Melky Miller Maryland Rye Whiskey., Melchior J. (Melky) Miller was the native-born son of a German immigrant and farmer who arrived in the United States in the early 1830s, part of a great wave of German immigrants looking for good land and opportunity. In 1875, Melky Miller purchased a farm along a tributary of South Branch Bear Creek, just southeast of Accident, Maryland. He also bought out the rather crude equipment of a small distillery from Joel Miller, in the Cove area of Garrett County, and moved it to his farm. Like many other distillery owners, Melky was not a distiller himself; he hired professionals to operate the business. His three sons, William, John, and Charles, learned the trade from these experts, eventually replacing them. In 1902 Melchior sold the distillery to his sons. William continued as distiller, while John and Charles established a wholesale and retail whiskey business in nearby Westernport, Maryland. The town was so named because it was the western most navigable port on the Potomac River. Whiskey could be sent downstream by boat to Cumberland where it could either continue down the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to Washington or be carted by wagon over the National Road to Baltimore or later go by railroad. Reflecting the new owners, the company changed its name to M.J. Millers Sons Distillery. The boys had an evident genius for business and soon built Melky Miller's Maryland Rye Whiskey into a highly respected local and regional brand. Although production was relatively small - only 29 bushels of grain processed daily according to Federal records - the quality of the company's whiskey was high. The firm also was noted for the artistic design of both the jugs and the bottles in which it marketed its products., The passage of the Volstead Act in 1919 brought the family business to a close. In 1920 all of the bonded stock in the Accident warehouses was transferred to government concentration warehouse in Cumberland. The distillery itself was closed and left to decay. In Accident, Maryland the foundations for the Bonded Warehouses of the distillery can still be seen 200 feet south of the Miller Road, ½ mile east of the Brethren Church Road intersection.