On this day in 1925 Andy Gamary was made to appear before the Noble County, Ohio, grand jury on felony charges. The story of how he got there is an odd one.
On September 3, 1925, a navy dirigible, or blimp, the Shenandoah, wrecked on Mr. Gamary’s farm near Ava, Ohio, as it was traveling on a tour of state fairs in that part of the country. On this farm Andy grew vegetables which he would sell to local stores or directly to customers who would come out to the farm and pick what they wanted. According to Mr. Gamary the crash damaged his harvest and what was left was trampled over by sightseers, out to gawk at the wreckage. On top of that his well was drained dry by firefighters trying to put out the fire caused by the crash, followed by sightseers pumping water to drink as they tramped around the Gamary farm. Things got so bad, in fact, the Ohio National Guard had to be called out to maintain order. As a result Andy Gamary had to find a new way of making a living.
What he chose was that old standby, moonshining. Apparently he took to that profession quite well, as evidenced by the fact that his appearance before the grand jury on the day after Christmas was the third time he had been there, each time charged with illegally manufacturing distilled spirits.
On this appearance officers testified that when they raided his place they found that he had taken his still to bed with him for safekeeping.