Very few non-distillers had an impact on the distilling industry that Harvey W. Wiley had on the industry. Wiley was born on October 18, 1844, in Jefferson County, Indiana. His parents were farmers and conductors on the Underground Railroad. In 1863, he enrolled at Hanover College for one year before joining the Union Army, where he served as a Corporal in the 137th Indiana Regiment. After the war, he returned to college and graduated in 1867 with a degree in humanities. He then earned his medical degree from Indiana Medical College in 1867. He taught Latin and Greek at Butler College in Indianapolis for a few years before attending Harvard University where after only a few months, he was awarded his B.S. in chemistry. Wiley then took a position at Purdue University where he taught chemistry. He was also appointed state chemist for Indiana.
In 1878, Wiley went to Germany and attended the lectures of August Wilhelm von Hofmann, a celebrated German chemist. He was appointed to the prestigious German Chemist Society, founded by Hofmann. Wiley returned to Indiana and his position at Purdue. In 1882, Wiley accepted the position of Chief Chemist in the United States Department of Agriculture. He remained in that position until 1912, when he resigned.
It was during his years as Chief Chemist that Wiley, a vehement supporter of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, made his decision on “what is whiskey.” He based his decision upon his reading of The Pharmacopoeia of the United States which included a definition of whiskey that excluded blended or rectified products from being considered whiskey. This pleased the straight whiskey distillers, but angered the blenders and rectifiers. The controversy continued until 1909 when President Taft made his famous “Decision on Whiskey.” This decision angered Wiley and he resigned his position as Chief Chemist. He took a job as the head of the laboratories of Good Housekeeping Magazine and remained there for 18 years. He died on June 30, 1930, the 24th anniversary of the signing of the Pure Food and Drug Act.
Wiley’s impact on the distilling industry was great during his term as Chief Chemist for the Department of Agriculture. You often see old signs and advertisements for “Pure Food Whiskey” meaning that the whiskey met Wiley’s definition of whiskey during the period between 1906 and 1909. He remained a proponent of straight whiskey as being the true whiskey for the rest of his life.
