James C. Crow

When the business faltered, he moved from Philadelphia to Kentucky around 1820 and began working as a distiller at the invitation of Willis Field at his Grier's Creek distillery, utilizing his scientific and medical training to experiment and develop his whiskey making process.

Crow negotiated his remuneration to be one-eighth of the distillery's annual whiskey production as payment, similar to what millers took as compensation for grinding farmer's grain.

[5] Crow did not rejoin the Pepper distillery until the 1840 season as construction occupied the Glenn's Creek farm site between 1837 and 1838, and a severe drought affected agricultural output from 1838 to 1840.

He spent the 1855–1856 distilling season dividing his time between the Thomas Edwards, Newt Henry and Anderson Johnson distilleries on Glenn's Creek.

He then scratched over the chalk with an iron hook, C-R-O-W, etching ownership of his whiskey barrels that represented his future income.

[14] The W. A. Gaines Co. name, the brand, and the Old Crow Distillery were acquired in 1934 by National Distillers from American Medicinal Spirits Corporation, four months after Prohibition's repeal.

[20] He was described as having a sturdy build, wide frame, broad forehead and clean shaven, with blue eyes and a sandy complexion.

[21] Crow was purported to have one of the largest personal libraries in Kentucky at that time, covering a wide range of subjects, and possessed a hydrometer and saccharometer among his scientific instruments; he pursued chemistry as a hobby.