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Retired lawman Dennis Vess says he enjoyed his career chasing moonshiners from Mississippi to Virginia. “For me, that was the perfect job.”
Photo by Carroll Foster/Hoteyephoto.com
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After writing a book about his adventures as a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Dennis Vess built this replica moonshine still near his home in Gaffney.
Photo by Jeff Hammond
Dennis Vess
AGE: 79
HOMETOWN: Born in Converse, he currently lives in Gaffney
CO-OP CONNECTIONS: Vess is a member of Broad River Electric Cooperative and Laurens Electric Cooperative.
CAREER PATH: Before becoming an ATF agent, worked as a state trooper for the South Carolina Highway Patrol near Aiken
LATEST PROJECT: Writing a second volume of his adventures as an ATF agent. For details, email Dennis Vess or call (864) 487-4512.
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Retired lawman Dennis Vess can’t help but smile when he recalls his first day on the job as a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. He had just rigged an illegal moonshine still with dynamite and was crouched behind a pine tree when a bone-jarring explosion launched about 30 55-gallon barrels of corn mash into the air.
For the next decade, the South Carolina native chased moonshiners from Mississippi to Virginia and helped destroy more than 200 other stills. Vess, who joined the ATF after a six-year tour with the South Carolina Highway Patrol, quickly became known for his ability to second-guess what moonshiners were up to.
“For me, that was the perfect job,” he says. “I looked forward to going to work every day. I enjoyed working with my partners.”
To commemorate his rough-and-tumble days in law enforcement, Vess recently built a replica still near his Gaffney home and recorded his memories in the self-published book, The Moon Always Shines. Originally written for his granddaughters, the book brought Vess back into contact with his old life.
Last fall, he was selling copies at the Moonshiners Reunion and Mountain Music Festival in New Prospect when two men—their manner and dress suggesting they knew a thing or two about backwoods distilling—walked up to him and eyed the book real hard.
“Mister, didn’t you ever feel guilty ’bout arresting those moonshiners?” asked one of the men.
Vess smiled his lawman smile and replied, “Well, they were all grown men, and they all knew exactly what they were doing.”