Crowgey, Henry Gundry (1916–2012), was the author of Kentucky Bourbon: The Early Years of Whiskeymaking, published by the University Press of Kentucky in 1971. It is considered one of the outstanding academic works on the early history of bourbon and a model for historical writing on spirits in general.
Crowgey was born in Emory, Virginia. In 1936, he joined the United States Navy and became a pilot. He served through the end of World War II and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant commander. While studying to achieve his PhD in history from the University of Kentucky, he grew apples for twenty years in North Carolina. In 1967, he took a position teaching history at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington.
Kentucky Bourbon, which was based on Crowgey’s 1968 dissertation, was not only Crowgey’s best-known book but his only one. As a scholarly work, it has survived the years and is still in print. His research relied heavily on contemporary writing of those early years: letters, diaries, wills, newspaper articles, bills of sale. As one reviewer put it, “Crowgey got his hands dirty.” It is a deep look at the first fifty years of Kentucky bourbon that explores how whisky distilling advanced, how frontier folk drank their whisky, and how it was used as an early form of currency during the early years of the Republic.
But the real reason the book is still in print (and makes its author worthy of an entry here) is the way Crowgey artfully balanced academic thoroughness with engaging readability. Kentucky Bourbon was, and remains, a book for both scholars and aficionados.
See spirits writing and whisky, bourbon.
Crockett, Norman L. Review of Kentucky Bourbon: The Early Years of Whiskeymaking, by Henry G. Crowgey. Indiana Magazine of History 68, no. 2 (1972): 154–155.
“Dr. Henry Gundry ‘Harry’ ‘Gus’ Crowgey.” Bristol (VA) Herald Courier, November 6, 2012.
By: Lew Bryson