Norway, June 1882. Five-year-old George Remus watches his father carry their belongings up a gangplank bound for America. Frank Remus — an orphan who married his mentor's daughter — is leaving everything for the promise: work hard, build something, give your children a better life.

It won't work out that way.

Prussia, 1849. Frank Remus orphaned as an infant when cholera swept Friedeberg. Taken in by a wool miller. Frank fell in love with the miller's daughter Marie and married her in 1872.

They boarded the Fitlington for America. New York to Baltimore to Milwaukee — highest percentage of foreign-born residents in the country. Then Chicago when George was eight. No matter where they went, Frank couldn't hold a job. Nine to eleven dollars per week when he found work. Beer gardens became an escape. George watched his father wither.

At fourteen years old, George dropped out and became the family's main support. His three sisters. His brother Herman, who'd die in an asylum at just 22. All of it fell on George.

He distanced himself from his alcoholic father. Found substitute connection in obsessive endurance swimming. Swore off alcohol after seeing what it did to Frank.

A physician later diagnosed George as "emotionally unstable" and "devoid of normal emotional reaction."

This reveals the origin of the mind that built a bootleg empire. The weight either breaks you or forges you. For Remus, it taught him you rely only on yourself, rules are negotiable, and loyalty runs one direction — up to those who depend on you, never down to those who failed.

Within five years, he owned two pharmacies. Within ten, he was one of the nation’s most heralded criminal defense attorney. Within thirty, he had built an illegal bourbon empire worth hundreds of millions...billions in today’s money.

Tales of the Bourbon King is based on the research and writing of Bob Batchelor, Assistant Professor of Communication, Media, & Culture at ⁠Coastal Carolina University⁠.

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