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LYNCHBURG, Tenn.
The barn is where Jack spent a lot of time as a little boy with his mentor Dan Call. The barn has always been used to store whiskey. In 1898 the barn caught fire with 150 barrels of whiskey inside and was rebuilt a few years later at the turn of the century. The structure sits on a spread of land today referred to as Dan Call's farm, where Call, his slave Nearest Green and young Jack Daniel first began distilling whiskey together in the late 1800's. Fawn Weaver, author and entrepreneur, purchased the property afer discovering its history as it relates to the Jack Daniel's story and Nearest Green, a slave who taught young Daniel how to distill.
About a year ago Fawn Weaver began working on uncovering more of the history behind the African Americans who taught and supported Jack Daniel in creating what is today a globally recognized whiskey empire. "For me it's very simple, it needed to happen," said Mrs. Weaver, an author and entrepreneur, who now lives part of the year in Tennessee and has purchased real estate in her efforts to thoroughly research the family ancestry of Nearest Green, a slave and Master Distiller who taught Daniel how to distill.
Mrs. Weaver says that as an African American she's been motivated by "knowing that someone did something so significant, but then it was forgotten. (And) So to be able to bring it back to life is a beautiful thing. "
Nathan Morgan for the New York Times