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There appears to be no concensus on how James Thompson and the Glenmore distillery fits into the pre-pro landscape. The accuracy of the version below is uncertain. 1849: A distillery was established two miles east of Owensboro by Richard and Will Monarch. It was known as the R Monarch and produced the brands "R Monarch", "Kentucky Tavern", and "Glenmore" 1892: Insurance underwriter records 1892 suggest that the distillery property included a cattle shed and a single iron-clad warehouse with metal or slate roof, located 101 ft east of the still. 1893: In April, the warehouses were destroyed by fire (Insurance Records). 1898: Glenmore Distilleries enters bankruptcy and in 1900, R Monarch died. 1901: The Monarch distillery is put on the auction block and Jas. Thompson & Bro., wholesalers from Louisville, buy it for $30,000. Thompson's brother-in-law, H.S. Barton was made master distiller and manager, positions he held until 1919. The plant, one of the largest in the state at that time, had a capacity of 5500 bu. 1924: Jas Thompson died and his sons, Col. Frank B. and James P. Thompson, assumed leadership, with Frank becoming chairman and president. The Thompsons maintained the Glenmore as a concentration warehouse, bottling and distributing medicinal whiskey during Prohibition.
At that time, it was being operated by Glenmore Distilling Co.
The Thompson family continued to control the company into the 1970s.