Pursuant to an Act of Congress dated Dec. 21, 1814, all persons "using or causing to be used any still or boiler or other vessel...used...for the purpose of distilling spirituous liquors" were subject to a tax on the spirits they distilled. To ensure collection of the tax, distillers had to keep books of account "which shall be open at all times between the rising and setting of the sun" to inspection by the "collector of internal duties" and to post a $1000 bond. From a collection of distiller's bonds at the N.J. Historical Society, we learn there were three distillers in Warren at the time: David Ruckman, Thompson Brown and Archibald Coddington. Particulars respecting each, taken from the bonds, are as follows: David Ruckman: Bond dated 11/16/1815; co-signers, Joseph Ruckman and Nathaniel Ruckman; distilled 119 gallons 3 quarts "from domestic material" on Dec. 19, 20, 21 and 22, 1815. Thompson Brown: 9/25/1815; George Brown and Jonathan Willet; 598 gallons domestic from April 4-19, l816. Archibald Coddington: 4/2/1816; John Smith and Josiah Eaton; 81 gallons from domestic from April 1 to June 30, 1816. Most likely, Ruckman, Brown and Coddington were distilling brandy from fermented cider in copper boilers, as the stills were known in those days. The copper still and worm coil, usually made of lead, were products of skilled artisans, but the rest of the processing was done using improvised materials in small stillhouses or barns. The new brandy was aged in barrels, then consumed by the farmer himself, or sold to neighbors, or, occasionally, sent to nearby towns for sale. By 1830, when temperance societies made their first appearance, there were 388 distilleries in New Jersey. [Ref: N.J. H.S., MS 957, used with permission; Weiss, Life in Early New Jersey (l964)] |