 Because food storage was always an issue for people of this time, any surpluses could be converted to whiskey and then used as currency.The operation on the hill overlooking the Catoctin was well sited for distilling spirits and sending them to market via Catoctin Creek and the Potomac River.The 1816 inventory of Jacob Carnes' late father, Abraham, lists debts to John Hamilton, who built a mill further south on Catoctin Creek.