Rumrunners and Revenuers: Prohibition  in Vermont; 184 pages with 62 photographs, illustrations, and drawings; published  by New England Press; $16.95

reviewed by Richard Creaser

Scott Wheeler has done Vermont historians a  wonderful service with his book Rumrunners and Revenuers: Prohibition in Vermont. The book captures an era in history that touches on the social  fabric of that past age and this modern one. Many books have been written dealing  with Prohibition and the Great National Experiment‚ as it was called. Few of them looked at that era through the eyes of those who lived it.

The importance of the book is magnified when one considers that eyewitnesses to that time are slowly disappearing. The further removed from those original sources and engaging characters, the more difficult  it becomes to accurately portray life in the Roaring Twenties.

Just as importantly, Mr. Wheeler’s book  steers away from the two-party stance that many books on Prohibition take. This is not a collection of tales from super cop federal agents like the "untouchables." Neither is it a body of stories drawn exclusively from the gangsters and rumrunners  themselves. Instead, Mr. Wheeler focuses on the broader effects Prohibition  as a law and rumrunning as a lifestyle had on otherwise ordinary Vermonters.

The book itself is divided into chapters that  allow the featured personalities a chance to relate their stories and express their perspectives on that age. The chapters are then interspersed with archival records gleaned from period newspapers and other sources, illustrating the tales  of the characters themselves.

The subjects of his interviews are given latitude  to express themselves, and they do so, often in understated eloquence like Roger  Miller of Newport when he recounted, "My fear of being caught by my mother was greater than my fear of being caught by the police."

Rumrunners and Revenuers illustrates one of the key aspects to ensuring that history is recorded without distilling  it to a lifeless, bland essence. By featuring real people and combining their  collective experiences, Mr. Wheeler has managed to bring history to vivid life.

This book tells us that Prohibition was not  simply a doomed war between federal agents and clever criminals. It was a social struggle that had an enormous effect on the lives of people who never drank an illegal drop nor smuggled back a case of malt liquor in a burlap sack.

The book also rides a fine line between humorous anecdotes, social discourse, and reflective tragedy. For every Keystone Cops  car chase over back roads in Albany, there were just as many crashes that left lawmen and lawbreakers alike, dead or injured.

Barbara Grush and her sister Arlene Barnes tell a powerful story of dealing with the aftermath of a man’s death. On  October 8, 1926, Captain Edward Billings Webb of the U.S. Customs Service was  shot dead by a smuggler in Colchester. Captain Webb was the father of Mrs. Grush  and Mrs. Barnes.

"The sisters were very young when their father was killed. Barnes, the younger of the two sisters, has no memory of her father, while the only real memory Grush has of him is that each night after work her  father would walk into the house with a surprise for each one of his children stuffed in his pockets."

The plight of the now fatherless sisters, their  only brother, and widowed mother forms the centerpiece of the chapter. Excerpts  from the incident culled from the Burlington Free Press speak of the  incident with an eerie, clinical detachment. The testimony and recollections of the two women help readers understand that the war on alcohol was not fought  exclusively between cops and crooks.

The book has its share of humorous anecdotes such as the stories of cultural lawbreaking among Barre’s Italian immigrants shared by Nelia Spinelli or the French-Canadian farmers turned bootleggers recollected by Anatole Duquette of Barton. To them, alcohol, taken in moderation, was a vital part of their culture and family tradition. The introduction of a law against it was simply ridiculous.

These simple, honest folk suddenly found themselves  classified as criminals simply because they enjoyed a glass of wine or an occasional nip of moonshine with breakfast. These are not the monolithic villains and gangsters  commonly associated with Prohibition. They rode horses, plowed fields, and held dances in their kitchens. They didn’t drive Packards or fire Thompson machine guns at business rivals and policemen.

Readers looking for a litany of car crashes, gun fights, and high-speed chases will be sorely disappointed with this book. There are stories dealing with just that subject matter throughout the book, but Mr. Wheeler has wisely chosen to focus the spotlight on ordinary people  in an extraordinary time.

Rumrunners and Revenuers puts a human  face on a fascinating period in time by recording history as it happened. Drawn  from stories told by law enforcement officers, recreational lawbreakers, and  witnesses to the period, Mr. Wheeler has assembled a strong collection that sheds much needed light on an almost forgotten chapter of Vermont’s varied history.

The book is available in select bookstores.  Mr. Wheeler will be holding a book signing at Northern Lights Bookshop in St.  Johnsbury on Wednesday, December 18.

Rumrunners and Revenuers

by Richard Creaser

Newport — Sitting across from him it is easy to see that the subject itself excites him. He speaks about the book in rapid-fire prose, his words bringing to life stories, memories 70 years old. The past is alive in his mind and his words.

He is Scott Wheeler and the object of his passion is his book Rumrunners and Revenuers, a collection of stories gathered from the people who lived them.

"We are so rich in history here in the Northeast Kingdom," he said, "and most people don't even know it. That's why I wanted to write this book."

Other authors have tackled the issues and aspects of the Volstead Act, more popularly known as Prohibition, on the national scale. Several of these books even touched on regional involvement during Prohibition's 13-year run from 1920 until it was repealed in 1933, he said. This book will be the first to focus on Vermont's role in that turbulent period.

"This book began because I had a relative who served time in a federal penitentiary for Prohibition violations," said Mr. Wheeler. "That's what started it all."

Mr. Wheeler began the book as a series of articles published in the Chronicle. The three-part series even won an award from the New England Press Association. That initial series, coupled with a great deal more research, spawned the book.

"This book isn't just a collection of stories from bootleggers," Mr. Wheeler said. "I wanted to make sure both sides were represented, because that's how it happened."

The book attempts to view Prohibition from all sides without lending too much weight to either the lawmakers or the lawbreakers, he said.

Maintaining that balance was important to provide readers with the broadest possible view of that age.

"There were people who bootlegged for money. Some of them did it to help them get by without ever really meaning to break the law. Of course, there were those that did it professionally, the gangsters."

The book consists of the stories of 14 Vermonters who lived through Prohibition. Their eyewitness accounts form the backbone of the book. The chance to record those stories was the primary motivation behind the project, said Mr. Wheeler.

"There's this saying that old Vermonters don't like to talk," he said. "I can tell you that that just isn't true.

"They just won't talk unless they know they are being listened to."

With many of the participants and witnesses to that age advancing in years, the opportunities to hear their stories are growing short. Translating that oral tradition into a written record is important not only to preserve those memories, but also to allow others to benefit from that hard-earned wisdom, Mr. Wheeler said.

"There is a wealth of knowledge and experience out there. I'm not doing this for me, to promote my own ego," he said. "This is about preserving history as told by the people who lived it."

In writing this book, Mr. Wheeler hopes to counter some common myths about Vermont and cross-border smuggling. He is particularly adamant about ensuring that everyone take notice of the rich historical tradition that exists here.

Many parallels exist between the Vermont of the 1920s and '30s and today, he said. The smuggling works both north and south now, but many of the same roads and tricks are still being used.

"Cross-border drinking has been around for a long time," he said. "I've talked to people in their nineties who used to cross into Canada to go drinking. Instead of hopping into their cars, they rode horses.

"There has been a long history of drinking and dying. This isn't something new."

Watching aspects of the stories repeat themselves in this modern age is the lesson Mr. Wheeler learned researching the book. Presenting these stories to a wider audience should help expand that lesson further, he said.

"If history is boiled down to a bunch of facts and dates, it's probably not all that important and people will forget it," he said. "By looking at history through the eyes of these people, it comes alive, and that is an interesting thing."

Taking the time to "humanize" history will make the subject more appealing and accessible to people, said Mr. Wheeler. Being able to attach a name and a face to it allows people to connect with the story better. This new way of bringing history to modern relevance is crucial in drawing young people to the subject.

"When I was in school, history wasn't taught the way I think it should be taught. You need stuff to bring history alive," he said.

"In another life, I guess I would like to come back as a history teacher. Right now, I have too much going on."

Mr. Wheeler's transition from child to mill-worker to writer is as compelling as the stories recorded in his book. That journey began many years earlier when he was a boy.

"The house I grew up in was a one-room schoolhouse built in 1826. My father was an antiques dealer," he said. "I guess you could say I was surrounded by history my whole life.

"When I was younger I used to call those antiques junk. Now I know better."

History had long been a passion for Mr. Wheeler, even though scholarly pursuits had never been his strong suit. Throughout his school years he never quite suspected that an author lay waiting inside him.

"If you were to ask them, I don't think any of my teachers would have thought that I'd ever write a book," he said. "Let's just say I wasn't a straight-A student."

His transition from blue-collar worker to writer happened in the midst of personal tragedy. One of Mr. Wheeler's twin sons nearly died in the parking lot of the hospital. It was that incident that made him realize that he wanted — needed — to do something else with his life.

"Seeing your own kid die and then have this amazing second chance, I was determined to do what I wanted to do," he said. "I wanted to do something for me and everyone at the same time."

Mr. Wheeler's sons are now 16 years old. The two boys, an 11-year-old daughter and Mr. Wheeler's wife form the backbone of his writing and research projects, he said. Even their attitudes towards history have changed over time, altered perhaps by his infectious enthusiasm for the subject.

"When my wife graduated she said, 'I'm never going to take another history course again.' Now she's right there with me with everything I'm doing," he said. "I am truly blessed to have a family that more than tolerates my passion for history. They've taken an active part in helping me preserve it."

Preserving Vermont's history is something Mr. Wheeler takes very seriously.

He is also the founder and publisher of a monthly historical periodical, The Kingdom Historical, as well as the online publication at www.thekingdomhistorical.com. The monthly magazine provides readers with glimpses into the past from what Mr. Wheeler calls "some of the most historically knowledgeable people in the Northeast Kingdom."

"There are so many groups out there working hard to preserve our history and historical traditions," he said. "From the Orleans County Historical Society to the Civil War Roundtable and even my magazine, we are all trying to preserve something that might otherwise be lost."

Only by keeping an unbiased account of the past can we hope to see where we are headed as a society, said Mr. Wheeler. It is important to remember to acknowledge that history comes from a number of sources, no matter how humble.

"Most people have fascinating stories but they don't think it's important enough to tell," he said. "We need to take the time to listen to them, to tape record their stories. There's so much we can learn from one another."