“Applejack and Wrath Moonshiners in Jail”
U.S. Marshals bring in a pair of Harrison County Farmers. One of them is Peter Roth who threatened Revenue Collector Platt. Being a Moonshiner, Peter had a double floor in his house with a hidden cellar that contained 16 barrels of Applejack brandy. Headlines with my great grandfather’s name and county where he was born prompted me to read the article it was confirmed it was about my great-grandfather. I found several articles about this incident, eventual arrest, trial, and prison sentence. I researched at the Indiana State Archives for his prison record, and it was very descriptive of his personal appearance although no photograph. The prison record intake form described Peter as having had numerous scars, old healed fractures, large-framed, ruddy complexion, and a reddish beard.
The Indianapolis News, Indianapolis Indiana, 9 Dec 1891, Sat • Page 6 Newspapers.com
Offers of compromise rejected by Grand Jury Prosecutor
The Indianapolis News Indianapolis Indiana 09 May 1892, Monday Page 2 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85560110/federal-grand-jury-may-09-1892/
The revenuers were making raids in Harrison County in the fall of 1891. Under threat of arrest, farmers voluntarily turned in undeclared apple and peach brandy on which they had failed to pay taxes. It was common for farmers to supplement their income by producing peach and apple brandy, which was legal before prohibition. Our country’s first Commander in Chief George Washington broke in his first still in 1797. The Revenuers visited Peter’s farm on December 18, 1891, and found an uncooperative distiller under the influence of his apple brandy. The officers decided to leave, and they returned on the 21st to raid and arrest Peter Roth and his assistant. The officers confiscated 18 barrels of apple brandy that Peter stored in a false cellar under his house. Peter and Phillip Rhinehart, Peter’s employee, were incarcerated in New Albany overnight and transported to Indianapolis by train. Peter paid the bond for his cohort Phillip. [2] The records I have found so far are not clear about how long Peter was in Jail. The grand jury refused to make a deal with him and instead indicted him in May 1892. [3] I found reference to a petition that friends and family in Harrison County were signing and circulating to be delivered to President Grover Cleveland asking for clemency dated April 25, 1893. The article about the petition stated Peter had served half of his sentence, which would have been about six months. I have not found the actual petition. [4 ] I want to think friends from St Mary’s and the German community were trying to do all they could to help Anna Barbara and their children