[Granville-Hough] 1 Oct 2009 - Pot Likker

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Sullivan Hollow Likker or Liquor. 

Mark A. “Mack” Sullivan, a Sullivan 
grandson, loved a good joke or play on words as much as anyone. He was 
once called before a Grand Jury in Raleigh to testify about making 
liquor in Sullivan’s Hollow. “Oh yes, everyone makes it, some with 
turnip greens, some with peas, some with collards, whatever is in 
season; and it is indeed delicious. We always add a piece of salt pork 
to the pot to give flavor. We eat it with corn bread. We actually call 
it pot likker.”
To which the Grand Jury pointed out that the liquor they were interested 
in was distilled liquor. And of course Mark could say: “Well, you asked 
me what I knew, and I told you about the pot likker we make in my house. 
If you want to know about some other kind of liquor, you will have to 
talk to someone who knows about it.”
Mark’s story got around. After that, the Smith County Grand Jury could 
find no Sullivan or witness from Sullivan’s Hollow who knew anything 
about any kind of liquor except pot likker. All were eager to describe 
how they made it at their houses.
Those following these stories can refer back to Jan 4 and the story of 
the Sullivan descendant, Bud Aaron, who carried the custom of pot likker 
served with cornbread into Shreveport, Louisiana. I can testify from 
frequent experience that pot likker and corn bread is one of the most 
satisfying suppers you can have after a day of hard work.

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I found I had an email that Stan Hough died Monday in 
England. He was a WW II English veteran who was interested in genealogy, 
and he, Max Huff, and I had formed a relationship of Hough researchers, 
not knowing or expecting that we were at all related. When yDNA testing 
became available, we discovered we had the same Viking yDNA and had to 
be related fairly recently, within ten generations, more or less. May 
God bless his family.