Prior to
Prohibition, Atherton was a sour mash and sweet mash whiskey distiller. He entered this profession early on in his career. His stepfather, Marshall Key (1806–1877), was highly influential in his life and this guardianship encouraged many high-profile distillery ventures, enabling him to build his first distillery at the age of 26.
J. M. Atherton Company was founded in 1867, although the Atherton whiskey brand was marketed from November 30, 1866. His stepfather, Marshall Key was his first business partner and they engaged in making sweet mash whisky for the next 8 years. It is likely there were other investors. Cochran & Fulton, a wholesale liquor dealers from Louisville purchased his stepfathers interests in the Atherton distillery in 1875. However, Atherton remained the sole owner of the A. Mayfield Distillery Company which produced sour-mash whisky. Cochran & Fulton acquired a 50% share in operations but not the property assets. Eventually by 1880 the wholesale liquor dealers became Cochran, Fulton and Atherton. The partnership was eventually dissolved and a settlement reached. His portfolio of whiskey brands included: “Atherton” (from 1867), “Mayfield” (from 1869), “Windsor“, “Clifton“ and “Howard”, “Carter” and “Kenwood”, “Brownfield” and “Baker”. Atherton incorporated his business in 1881, as president and his son as vice president. At the age of 41, in 1882 he had acquired a total of four distilleries within
LaRue County, which combined, made him the biggest
Bourbon producer in the United States. His two distilleries in Athertonville were Mayfield and Atherton, and were located on opposite sides of Knob Creek, a short distance from
Knob Creek Farm, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. The other distilleries were William Miller & Co, named after his bookkeeper, which produced fire copper whisky under the Windsor brand, and S. O’Brien & Co, named after his distiller, which produced sour-mash under the Clifton brand. In 1882 he relocated J. M. Atherton Company headquarters to
Whiskey Row, Louisville on 125 W Main St. This historic area of the city is now referred to as
West Main District, Louisville. At the height of its capacity the company used 2,200 bushels of grain and produced 6,600 gallons of Whiskey. His maximum storage capacity at
Athertonville, Kentucky was 150,000 gallons. As a distiller and as a director of the Distillers and Cattle Feeders' Trust (more commonly known as the Whisky Trust), Atherton was subject to some controversy when the
Whiskey Ring scandal erupted and was first reported in the New York Times in 1882. His son
Peter Lee Atherton (1862–1939) entered the family business in 1883, although legally he had been company Vice President two years prior at the age of 18. He was a founding director of the
Kentucky Distillers Association. He opposed constitutional prohibition and in 1886 was a founder and first president of the National Protective Association. The whiskey scandal continued for the following decade with Atherton testifying to a congressional committee headed by
William Windom on July 27, 1888. During his testimony
Henry Smith, representative for Wisconsin asked whether the cheep rectifier whiskeys made by large scale mid-Western manufacturers had any redeeming qualities. Atherton responded with sarcasm: Over a 10-year period the number of employees increased to 200, making the company the largest employer in
LaRue County. Other business enterprises followed. The Atherton Hotel opened in the 1890s, and
Athertonville, Kentucky grew up around this location, with a courthouse and a school. Soon after, the town was named in his honor. Anti-alcohol fervor ran strong and dry forces successfully promoted
Prohibition as a solution for many societal ills. This movement had been gathering pace for nearly a century, during his own fathers lifetime. There was a growing need for medical purposes and the public needed to be protected by counterfeiting. The
Bottled in bond act also had implications, when brands like
Old Forester, owned by
George Garvin Brown who previously blended bourbon sourced from Atherton's distilleries, as well as other neighboring distilleries like Mattingly and Mellwood, abided by the law and began bottling in bond. Ultimately the never-ending campaign by the dry forces movement was a factor when he made a business decision in 1899 to dispense of his controlling stock in the J M Atherton Company. Atherton eventually sold all his stock in J. M. Atherton Company to the Kentucky Distilleries & Warehouse Company in 1899, in order to focus on his real estate business. This was reported in the New York Times on May 12, 1899. Atherton continued to represent “community interest”, of the distillers, his business partners, and former employees, even after he diversified his business interests, writing letters to newspapers arguing against the
Eighteenth amendment. {{cite web |url=http://filsonhistorical.org/research-doc/atherton-family-papers-1901-1939/ He witnessed first hand the momentum of the
Temperance movement gathering pace leading up to Prohibition; the immediate loss of jobs and the impact on the local economy. Agents raided the prestigious
Pendennis Club, of which he was a founding member, confiscating large amounts of alcohol. There was also an increase in the acts of lawlessness, like thefts of whiskey from private establishments by gun-wielding bandits. Prohibition was enacted in 1919, and would remain in place the rest of his life. Although prohibition continued until December 5, 1933, one year after his death, LaRue would remain a
dry county. ==Banker, railroads and real estate==