Touring the Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery on Clinton Street is a wonderous experience. The history is palpable, with gorgeous vintage bottles, fascinating documents, and rich, heart-tugging stories. But what struck me most was the woman looking out upon the whole operation, from her large portrait painted on the production floor wall.
There’s an old saying, ‘behind every great man is a great woman.’ In the case of Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery, that woman is Louisa Nelson. Louisa was the wife of Charles Nelson, founder of the distillery in 1870, and an often-over looked part of the distillery’s story.
Charles Nelson came to America on a steamship with this mother, father, and younger siblings from Germany in 1850. However, in a tragic turn of events, their father didn’t make it and the family found themselves at the entrance to their new world, devastated and with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs. As the new head of the household, Charles parlayed his knowledge from the old family soap and candle factory into learning how to butcher and, finally, how to produce and sell whiskey.