by: Marty Chrisman
Jessie Duke scattered the grain on the ground, as the anxious hens clucked loudly, anxious to be fed. Jessie was the patriarch of the Duke Family. Jessie was in his early sixties with shaggy white hair and full white beard. In spite of his age and the wrinkles on his face, Jessie was still as spry and active as ever. He was dressed in his usual attire, a pair of faded bib overalls and a red hunting cap.
The Duke family had lived on this land and in Hazzard County for five generations. Jessie lived on the farm with his niece, Daisy, and his two nephews, Bo and Luke. The three cousins had lived with Jessie since they were little things. Luke was the first one to come to live with Jessie and his wife, Martha. He had only been two years old when his parents were killed in a fire. Bo had come next, two years later, after his parents were killed in a car accident. He had only been 4 months old. Daisy had been the last one to come to live on the farm. She had come 4 years after Bo and was six years old at the time. Her father had been killed in a mining accident when she was a baby and her mother had recently died from cancer. Jessie and Martha, who had never been blessed with children of their own, had taken them in and loved as if they were their own. When Martha died, after over 35 years of marriage, Jessie would have gone crazy if it hadn’t been for them kids.
For years Jessie had supported his family by supplementing the meager income from the farm by making and selling the best moonshine in three counties. Making moonshine was a Duke family tradition, a trade he had taught the boys at a young age. As they grew older, the boys had helped more and more with the “family business”, finally helping deliver the shine to their loyal customers. When the boys were busted making a run and were looking at some serious time in prison, Jessie made a deal with the U.S. of A government. He would never make or transport moonshine again if his boys could come home instead of going to prison. The government agreed and Jessie had kept his word. He had never made another drop of shine since then. (Although he still kept a few jugs around for use in an emergency. Ya see, shine is not only good for drinking but also very good at numbing pain and sterilizing deep wounds.)