Amos Owens

Amos Owens (ca. 1822 – 1906), aka The Cherry Bounce King, was a nineteenth and early twentieth century moonshine producer who lived in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Of Irish descent, his grandfather fought in the Battle of King's Mountain in the Revolutionary War. He was renowned for the mixture of whiskey, honey and cherries and "eople from all over the South visited him to taste his celebrated beverage."

During this time, he also developed his renowned "cherry bounce", a liqueur consisting of corn whiskey, cherries, and either sourwood honey or sugar water.

Civil War years

Like many other moonshiners from western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and Kentucky, Owens joined the Confederate Army during the Civil War, fighting in the Battle of Bull Run and later serving in the 56th North Carolina Regiment. During the War, he served time in Union stockades. When he returned home to Cherry Mountain, he vowed never to pay the federal excise tax on distilled spirits which President Lincoln had reintroduced in 1862 to help fund the Union's war efforts.

Post-Civil War years

For a number of years, Owens hosted an annual celebration on the second Sunday of June that included as much food and cherry bounce as a person could consume for 25 cents. Activities during the celebration included boxing, dancing, "gander pulling", and dog fighting. After the celebration ended each year, Owens often buried the proceeds. During this time, his cherry bounce became popular across much of the Southeast, reaching as far west as the Mississippi River "where bartenders kept a few jugs in the luxury paddle wheelers that plied the river from Cincinnati to New Orleans."

Owens often used a telescope to spot IRS revenue agents before they reached his stills. However, he was not always successful in evading the agents. Over the course of his more than fifty years distilling spirits, Owens spent time in the federal penitentiary three times, and appeared in court four times for illegal distilling activities. He last appeared in court for illegal distilling at the age of sixty-eight. Following this last appearance, evidence suggests he ceased all distilling activities.