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Research notes

Research notes: George Garvin Brown and Old Forester

Sources for Brown’s life, the 1870 launch of Old Forester in sealed bottles, the disputed name, Brown-Forman, and the Prohibition-era medicinal permit.

Updated

Brown

  • Born Munfordville Sept. 2, 1846; Louisville 1862; Male High School; wholesale drug salesman; first president National Liquor Dealers’ Association 1894; anti-Prohibition book 1910; died 1917, buried Cave Hill. Eky419
  • 1870: J. T. S. Brown and Brothers with half-brother J. T. S. Brown Jr.; Brown-Forman name adopted 1890 for partner and bookkeeper George Forman. Eky419

Old Forester

  • Sealed glass bottles against adulteration; signed labels; trademarked; first sold in pharmacies. Eky416 Eky419 WP OF
  • Name: usual account Dr. William Forrester; ExploreKYHistory notes others claim Nathan Bedford Forrest. Flagged as contested. Eky416 WP OF
  • One of six Kentucky brands bottled for medicinal use during Prohibition. Eky416
  • Cut from brief: ‘at first about 90 proof’ (not in sources). ‘First bottled bourbon’ kept only as ExploreKYHistory’s claim.

Place

  • Old Forester Distillery at 119 W. Main St., its 1880s home, on Louisville’s Whiskey Row. WP WR

Timeline

  1. 1846 Brown born in Munfordville. Eky419
  2. 1870 Old Forester launched in sealed bottles. WP OF Eky419
  3. 1890 Firm renamed Brown-Forman. Eky419
  4. 1917 Brown dies. Eky419
  5. 1920 Prohibition; medicinal permit. Eky416 WP OF

People

  • George Garvin Brown Founder of Old Forester and Brown-Forman
  • J. T. S. Brown Jr. Half-brother and first partner
  • George Forman Bookkeeper and partner

Open questions

  • Primary evidence for the 1870 first bottling (trademark filing, ads).
  • No people.json entry yet for George Garvin Brown.

Sources

Secondary sources