Jack Daniel, who was born Jasper Newton Daniel in September 1850 in Moore County, Tennessee, was one of 12 children (or 13, depending on the source). Childhood wasn't easy for Jasper and his siblings; when he was 7 years old, his mother, Lucinda Daniel, passed away.
At the age of 10, his father decided it was time for Jasper to leave home, learn a trade and go to work. He was put under the guidance of family friend and Lutheran minister, Rev. Dan Call, who owned a dry-goods store in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Young Jasper became an apprentice to Call, and it wasn't long before his diligence, work ethic and business aptitude became apparent.
Call's most popular product was a whiskey he distilled on the Louse River near the store. He employed the traditional "sour mash" method, along with a complex filtering method known as the "Lincoln County process," which other distilleries in Tennessee usually abandoned because of the time and money involved. Call taught Jasper the duties of store keeping as well as the whiskey-distilling process and Jack, as he came to be called, eventually became a formidable brewmaster, able to rival the talents of his employer.
Call and Jack kept their business running during the Civil War, but in 1863, Call was pressured by his congregation to cease his whiskey operation. He submitted to his ministerial duties and decided to hand the distillery over to Jack when the boy was only 13 years old.
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is one of the most recognized and best-selling liquors in the U.S. and around the world--a reported 7.5 million cases were shipped in 2005, and it's estimated that 10 million will ship in 2009. It's also prevalent in media and popular culture having appeared in numerous books, songs and films.
Jack Daniel's served as the right hand to a diverse group of musicians ranging from Frank Sinatra (who supposedly was buried with a flask of it) to Lynyrd Skynyrd to Slash and was Al Pacino's best friend in his unforgettable role in the film "Scent of a Woman."
