Moonshine Runs from Dawsonville to Nankipooh

The Nankipooh Enquirer

"Covers the South like Sorghum Syrup"

Editor and Chief Bascomb Biggers

Ace Reporter Scoop Biggers

bascombbiggers@bellsouth.net 

Moonshine Runs from Dawsonville to Nankipooh

By: Scoop Biggers

There have been a whole bunch of stories told, and written about the Moonshiners running white lighting from Dawson County down to Atlanta back in the 40’s and 50’s.  Why some of those old boys are famous, like Raymond Parks, Red Vogt, Lloyd Seay, and Roy Hall.  Of course Dawsonville became really famous for fast cars and hot drivers after “Awesome Bill Elliot” from Dawsonville came on the scene.

But maybe you didn’t know about some of the moonshine runners from other parts of Georgia.  For instance during the 50’s and 60’s there was a lot of white lightening hauled from stills in the hills around Pine Mountain in Harris County, down to Columbus in Muscogee County.  My cousin Norman Biggers made a few of those runs as a teenager, but his most famous police chase was on Halloween night 1964, and he wasn’t hauling shine that night.

He and his buddy Joe Holland were driving back to Nankipooh from Columbus after going to a costume party at the church in town.  They were both dressed as cowboys.  Norman was driving a 1964 Pontiac Tempest Custom Coupe with a 326 cubic inch V8 pulling 285 horsepower.  They were headed north on U.S. Highway 27, and as you near Nankipooh, there was a mile and a half straightaway where you could really open it up.  As they crested the hill right before the straightaway, Norman saw a car parked in front of an old barn.  “Is that the cops?” he asked Joe.  Joe said “no”, and Norman put the pedal to the metal, and said, “Well, if it is, they are going to have to catch us”.  Halfway down the straightaway at about 120mph they saw a car behind them with a flashing red light.

Now Norman knew the road well, and knew that at the end of the straightaway there was a sharp left turn. As he approached the turn he switched off his lights and locked down the brakes and put the car into a power slide as he turned the wheel at about 50mph.  Just as the Pontiac made the turn, the Muscogee County police interceptor saw them and the driver hit the brakes too late and slid the big 1963 Ford across the road and into a ditch.  When he saw this, Norman stopped and backed up to see if the policeman was alright.

The big Ford backed out of the ditch and pulled up behind the Pontiac and the county policeman got out and walked up to Norman’s window.

“Ok, boy, let’s see your flying license”, he said.  After looking at the seventeen year old’s license, he said. “Boy, how fast were you going?”

Norman said, “I guess about 80.” The cop said, “Hell Boy, I had the hand of the speedometer hid past 120 on the 390 interceptor, and I wasn’t even catching up to you! So why did you stop?”  “Because I thought you might be hurt” said Norman.  “That’s what I thought”, said the policeman, “so because of that, I’m going to give you a ticket for doing 65mph in a 50mph zone and you can pay a fine and not go to court.”  Years later, Joe Holland said that night was still the most scared he had ever been in his whole life. 

After that little race, and a lot of soul searching, Norman Biggers never raced the police again, and he never hauled another drop of shine neither.  But he swears to this day that he still likes a little taste every now and then, when he can find some.  Some say that good corn liquor is the best that money can buy, when it’s made right.