A Record That Adds Color

        The "Cherry Wine Incident" occurred in May 1933 in Dayton, Tennessee, a small southern town that became famous in 1925 when it was the site of one of the most controversial court cases of the 20th century - The Scopes Monkey Trial, which pitted religion against science in the classroom regarding how evolution would be taught. This fact sets the stage for my story because William Jennings Bryan, a famous attorney and politician of that era was the attorney arguing for the biblical recount of evolution in this court case.

For this story, it is important to know that Williams Jennings Bryan was also well known for his stance against  drinking alcohol, and wanted it banned entirely in this country. He died just one week after this trial ended, and in 1930 the William Jennings Bryan University was founded in is honor in the same town -  Dayton TN.

My dad, Roscoe Hinch, lived just 17 miles north of Dayton, in Spring City, TN. He graduated high school in the spring of 1931, and that fall he enrolled in William Jennings Bryan University, just one year after it opened. He attended this college for his freshman and sophomore years. But in May 1933, something happened to end his stay there. 

My dad, Roscoe Hinch, age about 20

As you can surmise, this college had adopted Bryan’s stance against alcohol use, and this was made clear to their students. And let me also say that until I stumbled upon numerous newspaper articles about 11 students being dismissed from this school for consuming alcohol, I had no idea that this happened, or that my dad was one of those 11 students!

Briefly, here is what happened: in early May 1933, five students were found outside in the back of the dormitory drinking something in a glass that they had poured from a jug. A professor happened to walk past them and saw this. He asked what they were drinking, and one of them said  “a refreshing beverage.” Well, the professor took possession of the 1/2 gallon jug and took it to the science lab to be analyzed. It turned out to be cherry juice (from the cherry trees on campus), hops, and other ingredients, and it was between 8-9% alcohol. The students has mixed up this concoction about 10 days before. 

3 different Headlines in TN newspapers

After more questioning, six other students confessed to having drank the mixture as well. My dad was one of the initial five who were caught by the professor. After this incident was discovered, quite a feud started between the college board of trustees and the faculty as to what should happen to these 11 students, ranging from forgiveness, to being expelled, or to not getting credit for the spring quarter of classes, which had all but concluded by then. It was decided that if any of the students came back next fall and signed a pledge not to consume alcohol, only they would get credit for the spring quarter classes. 

I cropped out the names of the 11. Roscoe is front row, 4th from left.
Hoyt Murphy, mentioned below, is front row on left.

My dad, who was 22 at this time, must have been mortified that he would have to go back home and explain all this to his parents. His father was particularly strict. News articles, with names and photos about this event were on the front pages of all the newspapers in the area, including the Chattanooga and Knoxville newspapers for many days. Everyone knew everyone else, or at least knew of the families that lived in the area. So everyone would know that he was caught drinking and had to face the consequences. 

I have known for a while that there was a gap in his college years, but it wasn’t until I found out about this that it all made sense. Dad did not go back to Bryan College in the fall, or to any other college that entire next year. I don’t know exactly how he spent his time, and I don’t think his father made life easy for him. I’m guessing that he might have gotten a job for a year, or helped his dad on the farm. 

Now it’s the summer of 1934 (one year after the cherry wine incident) and I found evidence that dad “rode the rails” for an extended period of time with his brother Roy and another friend in the area, Thomas C. Swafford. I searched newspaper articles for Tom, and found a short article saying that he was home for the summer from the University of Tennessee in Memphis, studying pharmacy!  (When I was a kid I remember Dad briefly talking about being a hobo for a while, but could not remember any details.)

So what do you know!!!  That fall of 1934 Dad enrolled in the University of Tennessee in Memphis in the school of pharmacy! So maybe Tom Swafford talked him into enrolling. In the spring of 1939 Dad graduated with a degree in Pharmacy. And the rest is history, as they say. 

Chattanooga Times Oct 7, 1934 snippet - Dad to U of TN for pharmacy

One final interesting piece to all this is that one of the 11 young men also involved in the cherry wine drinking was a man named Hoyt Murphy. Growing up, I remember Mom and Dad mentioning his name quite often. He became a big real estate developer in Florida in his later years. But I never thought to ask Dad how he knew Hoyt. Well, when I first saw the names of these 11 college students, I recognized that name right away. Amazing that Dad and Hoyt had kept in touch all those years after college. I even found his name in my Mom’s old address book that I have held onto. 

And, since the newspapers published the names and home towns of each of these 11 young men, I created a Network on Ancestry in my tree. I was able to find them all, and what happened in their lives later on, even seeing photos of them later in life. It was actually quite emotional to find them, and know that they all shared that experience with my dad, including all serving in WWII. 

        One final thing to add is that when we moved to Brookside NJ in the late 1950's our street was on "Cherry Lane Road." We actually had cherry trees in our backyard too. I wonder now if living on that road for many years caused Dad to recall this cherry wine incident so many years ago. 

    Miss you Dad, and love you!