Lem Motlow (November 28, 1869 – September 1, 1947) was an American businessman, politician, landowner and Tennessee Walking Horse breeder. He was the owner of Jack Daniel's, and he served in the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

and the Tennessee Senate.

Early life

Motlow was born on November 28, 1869, in

Moore County, Tennessee Moore County is a county located in the south central part of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,461, making it the third-least populous county in Tennessee. It forms a consolidated city-county government w ...

, near Lynchburg. His father was Felix Motlow and his mother, Nettie Josephine Daniel. He had four brothers. His maternal uncle, Jack Daniel, was the eponymous founder of the whiskey manufacturer.

Career

Motlow began his career by working for his uncle. He inherited Jack Daniel's in 1907. Due to Prohibition, he was unable to sell whiskey from 1920 onward. As Lynchburg was a market town for mules at the time, Motlow sold harnesses instead. Motlow sued the Moore County court to be able to reopen his distillery after the end of Prohibition in 1933, but he was only able to do so in 1938. To reduce the powers of the county court, Motlow decided to run for office. He was elected as a member of the

in 1933, and as a member of the Tennessee Senate in 1939. By 1947, Jack Daniel's was the only whiskey distillery in Tennessee, then a dry state. Motlow owned thousands of acres in Moore County and Coffee County, where he bred Tennessee Walking Horses. His horses competed in the

Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration (TWHNC), sometimes known as the Celebration, is the largest horse show for the Tennessee Walking Horse breed, and has been held annually in or near Shelbyville, Tennessee since its inception in 19 ...

in Shelbyville.

Personal life and death

Motlow was married twice. He married his first wife, Clara Reagor, in 1895, and they had a son, J. Reagor Motlow. She died in 1901, and he married Ophelia Evans, with whom he had three more sons: Cliff Conner Motlow; Dan Evans Motlow; and Robert Motlow. They also had a daughter, Mary Avon Boyd. Lem Motlow suffered a stroke in 1940. He died of cerebral haemorrhage on September 1, 1947 in Lynchburg, at age 77. He was buried in the Lynchburg cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Motlow, Lem 1869 births 1947 deaths People from Lynchburg, Tennessee People from Coffee County, Tennessee Businesspeople from Tennessee Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee state senators 20th-century American landowners Tennessee Walking Horse breeders and trainers