David M. Beam

The middle son of David Beam, named after his father, David M. Beam (1833-1913) stayed at home and eventually took over the distilling operation begun by his grandfather Jacob. David M. Beam was born in January of 1833 in Nelson County, Kentucky right outside Bardstown. He married his wife Mary Ellen in 1859 and they had four boys; George Beam, Tom Beam, Jim Beam and Park Beam.

Then in about 1860, David M. Beam moved the family distillery from its original site to Nelson County, to take advantage of a new railroad line between Louisville, KY and Nashville, TN. It was at that time, "leveraging" the railroad that their bourbon became a national brand and they named it after their former distillery calling it "Old Tub Bourbon." As the Beams became more and more successful at getting Old Tub to all parts of the continent, they developed some new brands including “Pebble-Ford” and “Clear Springs.”

David M. Beam was inducted posthumously into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2009 in only its eighth class of inductees ever.

https://www.whiskeyuniv.com/b-david-m-beam