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Elijah Craig




Craig was born in Orange County, Virginia in approximately 1738 . He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1771 , and was imprisoned briefly in South Carolina , apparently for disturbing the peace with his Sermon s. He then moved to what was then Bourbon County, Kentucky and settled in the area of Frankfort, Kentucky in 1785 . In 1777 , he became Pastor of Blue Run Church.

Craig was a shrewd Businessman and a local Magnate ; he built the first fulling-mill and the first Paper Mill in Kentucky, as well as the Distillery he founded in approximately 1789 in Georgetown, Kentucky . A recurring, if probably unverifiable, Legend credits Craig's distillery with being the first to age Corn Whiskey in new charred Oak Barrels , which is the decisive step in turning " White Lightning " into Bourbon Whiskey .

Craig died in Georgetown in 1808 .

Heaven Hill distilleries now produces a bourbon named after him which is considered to be one of the firm's premium products.