History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 37

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 37

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plnces were procured for the purpose. That in Westmoreland County was repeatedly attacked in the night by armed men, who frequently fired upon it ; but, according to a report which has been made to this Department, it was defended with so much courage and perseverance by John Wells, an auxiliary officer, and Philip Reagan, the owner of the house, as to have been maintained during the remainder of the month."

164

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Soon after the destruction of Wells' house by the insurgents, a United States officer came into Fayette County to serve processes against a number of non- complying distillers, and also against Robert Smilie and John McCulloch, two persons charged with par- tieipation in the riotous attack on the house of Col- lector Wells in the previous November. "The mar- shal of the district," said Secretary Hamilton,1 "went in person to serve these processes. He executed his trust without interruption, though under many dis- couraging circumstances, in Fayette County ; 2 but while he was in the execution of it in Allegheny County, being then accompanied by the inspector of the revenue (Gen. Neville), to wit, on the 15th of July last ( 1794), he was beset on the road by a party of from thirty to forty armed men, who after much irregularity of conduet finally fired on him, but, as it happened, without injury either to him or to the inspector."

The attack on the marshal and Gen. Neville, how- ever, proved to be but the prelude to one of the most daring outrages that were committed during the eon- tinuance of the insurrection. The disaffected people were greatly incensed against Gen. Neville for accom- panying the marshal to assist in serving the processes, piloting him to the homes of his victims, as they stid. On this account the feeling against him became very intense and bitter.

On the day next following the attack on the mar- shal and inspector (July 16th ), at daybreak, " in con- formity with a plan which seems to have been for some time entertained, and which was probably only accelerated by the coming of the marshal into the survey, an attack hy about one hundred persons armed with guns and other weapons was made upon the house of the inspector (Neville), in the vicinity of Pitts- burgh. The inspector, though alone, vigorously de- fended himself against the assailants, and obliged with arms and accoutrements in good order. If any them to retreat without accomplishing their purpose.""3 volunteers shall want arms and ammunition, bring them forward, and they shall be supplied as well as possible. Here, sir, is an expedition proposed in which you will have an opportunity of displaying your military talents, and of rendering service to your country. Four days' provisions will be wanted; let the men be thus supplied." They had only postponed, and not abandoned, the execution of their plans. On the following day they reassembled in augmented numbers, amounting, as it was said, to fully five hundred, and on the 17th of July renewed their attack on Gen. Neville's house, which was then defended by a detachment of eleven men from the garrison of Fort Pitt. The result was that after a fight of about an hour's duration, in which one of the insurgents was killed and several wounded, while three of the persons in the house were also wounded, the defending party surrendered, and the in- surgents then burned the house to the ground, together with all the outbuildings, occasioning a loss of more than twelve thousand dollars. Gen. Neville had left the

1 Pa. Arch., 20 Series, vol. iv. p. 100.

" A meeting had been held at Uniontown, in pursuance of the sugges- tions made in March, 1794, at the hotel, as mentioned by Judge Addison, and at this meeting it was agreed by those present that no opposition would be made to the law in this county, provided Benjam'n Wells was displaced as collector.

Hamilton.

house before the commencement of the firing, and had sought a place of concealment at a distance, wisely concluding that this was the only way to save his life. On the night of the 19th of July he with the marshal who had come to serve the processes (having been re- peatedly threatened with death at the hands of the insurgents, and finding that no protection was to be expected from the magistrates or inhabitants of Pitts- burgh) made their escape from the place, fled down the Ohio, and proceeded to the East by a circuitous way, the usual routes over the mountains being known to be beset by their enemies.

On the 25th of July the United States mail, near Greensburg, on the road from Pittsburgh to Philadel- phia, was stopped by two armed men, who eut open the pouch and abstracted all the letters except those contained in one package. In connection with this circumstanee, it is proper to notice a circular addressed by Col. John Canon, David Bradford, Benjamin Park- inson, and others to the militia officers of the counties, dated July 28, 1794, as follows :

"SIR, -Having had suspicions that the Pittsburgh post would carry with him the sentiments of some of the people in the country respecting our present situ- ation, and the letters by the post being now in our pos- session, by which certain secrets are discovered hostile to our interest, it is therefore now come to that crisis that every citizen must express his sentiments, not by his words, but by his actions. You are then called upon as a citizen of the western country to render your personal service, with as many volunteers as you can raise, to rendezvous at your usual place of meet- ing on Wednesday next, and thence you will march to the nsual place of rendezvous at Braddock's Field,‘ on the Monongahela, on Friday, the first day of Au- gust next, to be there at two o'clock in the afternoon,

Many of the militia officers obeyed the directions contained in the circular, and marched their men to the appointed rendezvous. With reference to the readi- ness displayed by officers and soldiers to obey these orders, emanating as they did from no responsible au- thority, Judge Addison said that in consequence of the danger of Indian incursions having often ren- dered it necessary in this region to assemble the mili- tary force without waiting for orders from the govern - ment, "it had become habitual with the militia of these counties to assemble at the call of their officers, without inquiring into the authority or object of the

4 Braddock's Field was the place where the annual brigade musters were held.

165

THIE WHISKEY INSURRECTION.

call." This habit, well known to the contrivers of the rendezvous at Braddock's Field, rendered the exe- cution of their plan an easy matter. They issued their orders to the officers of the militia, who as- sembled their men, accustomed to obey orders of this kind given on the sudden and without authority. The militia came together without knowing from whom the orders originated, or for what purpose they met. And when met it was casy to communicate from breast to breast more or less of the popular frenzy, till all felt it or found it prudent to dissemble and feign that they felt it."

At Braddock's Field, on the appointed day, there gathered a vast and wildly excited assemblage, of which a good proportion was composed of militiamen and volunteers under arms. Fayette County was sufficiently represented on the field, though the num- ber from this was less than from either Washington, Allegheny, or Westmoreland. Among the great throng of persons assembled there, very few were fa- vorable to the government and to the execution of the law. Such as were there of this class had come to the rendezvous lest their absence might be made a cause for proscription.2 But they were compelled, out of regard for their personal safety, to conceal their real sentiments ; and some of them had even assumed the role of leaders, for the purpose (as they said after- wards when the insurrection had been erushed) of gaining the confidence of the disaffected multitude, and then by organization and judicious management to restrain them from proceeding to outrage and re- bellion. The Hon. Hugh H. Brackenridge was one of these, and there were some among the Fayette County leaders, whose course with regard to the in- surrection has been similarly explained. There were also present at Braddock's Field on the occasion re- ferred to some who went there merely as spectators, without any strong feeling on either side ; but by far the greater part were in full sympathy with the in- surgent cause, though probably few of them had any very definite idea of the object of the meeting other than to denounce excise-officers and the government, and to shout in wild acclaim, huzzahs for Tom the Tinker.3

1 Findley in his history of the insurrection says there were not more than twelve men from Fayette County at Braddock's Field on that day, but this statement seems very improbable when it is remembered that Cook, Gaddis, and several others of the prominent leaders of insurrec- tionists were residents of this county.

" Mr. Brackenridge, in describing the general feeling prevailing at that time throughont the western counties, says, " A breath in favor of the law was sufficient to ruin any man. It was considered as a badge of Toryism. A clergyman was not thought orthodox in the pulpit unless against the law. A physician was not capable of aulmministering medi- eine unless his principles were right in this respect. A lawyer could havo got no practice without at least concealing his sentiments if for the Inw, nor could a merchant at a country sture get custom. On the con- trary, to talk against the law was the way to office and ewolument. To go to the Legislature or to Congress you must make a noise against it. It was tho Shibboleth of safety, and the lalder of ambition."

3 TOM THE TINKER was a name which the law-breakers not only used individually for purposes of disguise, but also applied to the iusnrgeht

As the rendezvous was but a few miles from Pitts- burgh, the people of that place were greatly alarmed lest the company assembled at Braddock's Field should, at the instigation of their leaders, march on the town and destroy it, in a spirit of revenge against a number of officers and friends of the government who lived there. A meeting of the inhabitants of the town had been held on the evening before the day of the rendezvous, at which "a great majority-almost the whole of the inhabitants of the town-assembled." It was announced to this meeting that a committee from Washington was present, bearing a message to the meeting. A committee of three was appointed to confer with the committee from Washington, and after their conference they reported "that in conse- quence of certain letters sent by the last mail, certain persons were discovered as advocates of the excise law and enemies to the interest of the country, and that Edward Day, James Brison, and Abraham Kirk- patrick are particularly obnoxious, and that it is cx- pected by the country that they should be dismissed without delay ; Whereupon it was resolved it should be so done, and a committee of twenty-one was ap- pointed to see this resolution carried into effeet. Also that, whereas it is a part of the message from the gen- tlemen from Washington that a great body of the people of the county will meet to-morrow at Brad- dock's Field, in order to carry into effect measures that may seem to them advisable with respect to the excise law and the advocates of it, Resolved, That the above committee shall at an early honr wait upon the people on the ground, and assure the people that the above resolution, with respect to the proscribed

Indy collectively, and to the secret and dreaded power of the organiza- tion, if organization it could be called. As to the origin of the name, Brackenridge says, " A certain John Heleroft was thought to have mado the first application of it at the time of the masked attack un William Conghran, whose still was cut to peces. This was humorously called mecurling his still. The members of contar must be tinkers, and the name collectively because Tom the Tinker." Advertisements were put up on trees and in other conspienous places with the signature of Tom the Tinker, alumnishing or commanding individuals to do or not to do err- tain things under the penalty of retribution at the hands of the mys- teninus Tom in case of non-comsplaner. Menacing letters with the same signature were sent to the Pittsburgh Gareite with orders to publish then, and the editor dared not refuse to comply, though he did so nuwillingly. Often the persons to whom these threatening notices were addressed were commanded to see that they were published in the Gus tle, atd they always complied; for they knew that refusal or neglect to do so would laing upon them the destruction of their property and endanger their lives.

"This Tom the Tinker," says Judge Lobengier, " was n new god added to the mythology at this time, and wassupposed to preside over whiskey stills and st 11-houses. Whoever stonily hurrahed for Tom the Tinker was of unquestionable loyalty with the whiskey boys; while those who could not were brawled as traitors to this tweew dleity and their country " Julgo Veech says of the mysterious god that it was supposed " his Olympus was on some of the hills of Mingo or Peter's Creek. But truly he was u minItiform deity, or at least he was Bijarran in his functions. His mundane recreations were to destroy the stills nud mills and burn the barns of complying distillers, and terrify others into non-comp.h.we. lle sometimes warned before striking, but the warnings and blows hele always in the dark and of diffientt detertion." Findley says it after- wards appeared that the term Tom the Tinker did not originste with John Holcroft as was first supposed.

166

IHISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

persons, has been carried into effect. Resolved also, That the inhabitants of the town shall march out and join the people on Braddock's Field, as brethren, to carry into effect with them any measures that may seem advisable for the common cause."

The Pittsburgh committee appointed at the meeting above mentioned reported to the leaders at Brad- dock's Field the resolutions which had been adopted, and that in pursuance of those resolutions some of the men most objectionable to the insurgents, viz. : Edward Day, James Brison, Abraham Kirkpatrick, and Col. Presley Neville, had been driven from the town and had fled down the Ohio. This had been done in deference to the demands of "Tom the Tinker," and the committee's announcement was made to the assemblage in the hope of dissuading the leaders from moving the forces into the town ; but it failed to have the desired effect, though it probably curbed their excesses to a great extent.

One of the most prominent of the leaders of the insurgents was Col. David Bradford, of Washington, who at the meeting (or more properly muster) at Braddock's Field made the proposition to march to Pittsburgh and attack the garrison stationed there. This proposition was warmly entertained by the more hot-headed, but was finally abandoned. Bradford, however, insisted that the militia and volunteers should be marched to the town, and in this he was seconded by Brackenridge, who, despairing of success in opposition to the project, conceived the idea of guiding and controlling the lawless movement by ap- parent acquiescence. "Yes," said he, "by all means let us go, if for no other reason than to give a proof to our opponents that we are capable of maintaining the strictest order, and of refraining from all excesses. Let us march through the town, muster on the banks Pennsylvania Infantry. Cavalry. 4,500 500 of the Monongahela, take a little whiskey with the New Jersey. 1,500 500 people, and then move the troops across the river." Maryland .. Virginia ... 200 3,000 The plan was adopted. Officers were appointed,- 2,000 300 David Bradford and Edward Cook, generals, and Col. 11,000 1500 Gabriel Blakeney, officer of the day,-and under their command the entire body moved over the Mononga- hela road to Pittsburgh. On their arrival there, they were received as the guests of the town, or rather as the guests of the principal citizens, who by a little finesse, after treating them freely to liquor, succeeded in inducing the main body to cross the Monongahela without doing any damage. On reaching the south side of the river, however, they set fire to the buildings of Maj. Kirkpatrick, on the bluff opposite Pittsburgh, and succeeded in destroying his barn at that place, though the dwelling was saved. Meanwhile a part of the men not included in the body which had been enticed across the Monongahela had become somewhat riotous in Pittsburgh, and set fire to the town residence of Maj. Kirkpatrick. It had been their intention to de- stroy his house, as well as those of Neville, Gibson, and others, but the consummation of this design had been prevented largely by the interference of Col. ' prominent leaders in the insurrectionary movement.

Edward Cook, of Fayette County,1 and Bradford, of Washington, two of the principal leaders. It they had succeeded in doing this, there is little doubt that the principal part of the town would have been burned.

An account of the turbulent proceedings at Brad- dock's Field and Pittsburgh was forwarded without delay to the State and national authorities, and on the 7th of August the President of the United States issued a proclamation, reciting in its preamble that " combi- nations to defeat the execution of the laws laying duties upon spirits distilled within the United States, and upon stills, have from the time of the commence- ment of those laws existed in some of the western parts of Pennsylvania, . . . that many persons in the said western parts of Pennsylvania have at length been hardy enough to perpetrate acts which I am ad- vised amount to treason, being overt acts of levying war against the United States ;" and commanding "all persons being insurgents, as aforesaid, and all others whom it may concern," to disperse and retire peace- ably to their respective abodes on or before the 1st of September following ; moreover, warning all persons. " against aiding, abetting, or comforting the perpe- trators of the aforesaid treasonable acts, and requiring all officers and other citizens, according to their respective duties and the laws of the land, to exert their utmost endeavors to prevent and suppress such dangerous proceedings." At the same time the Presi- dent called for troops to be raised and equipped in the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey, and to be held in readiness to march at shortest notice, for the purpose of suppressing the insurrection and enforcing the law. The quotas of the States were assigned as follows :

Artillery. 200

Total

5,20€

100

2,100

130

2,350

3,30

430

12,95(

On the same day Governor Mifflin, of Pennsylvania issued his proclamation directing that the State's quota of men be armed and equipped as speedily as pos sible, "and to be held in readiness to march at a mo ment's warning," and a second proclamation wa:

1 Concerning this affair, the following card was published in the Piltr burgh Gazette: "We, the undersigned, on behalf of ourselves and th great body of the column that marched from Braddock's Field on th 2dl of August, 1794, think it necessary to express our disapprobation o the disorderly proceeding of those of the troops who were concerned i setting fire to the house of Abraham Kirkpatrick, on the hill opposit the town of l'ittsburgh, also of the attempt made by others of buruin his Imouse in the town, as these arts were not within the sentence of th committee of volunteers in Dradblock's Field, and therefore there conl be no authority for carrying them into effect. We consider it as blemish on the good order of the march of the column through the tow of Pittsburgh and their cantonment in the neighborhood of it. It Ina been endeavored to be removed as much as possible by repaying. th tenant of Kirkpatrick's his dumages." The signatures to this card explanation and disclaimer were headed by that of Edward Cook, Fayette County, which was followed by those of fourteen others, a

167

THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION.

issued, calling together the Assembly of the State in special session. Previously (on the 6th of August) the Governor had appointed Chief Justice MeKean and Gen. William Irvine to proceed immediately to the disaffected counties, to ascertain the facts in refer- ence to the recent acts of violence and lawless gather- ings, and, if practicable, to induce the people to sub- mit to the law.

The President, on the day next following the issuance of his proclamation, appointed James Ross, United States senator, Jasper Yeates, associate judge Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and William Bradford, Attorney-General of the United States, commissioners on the part of the United States, with full instructions and ample powers, to repair forth- with to the western connties, for the purpose of con- ferring, at their discretion, with individuals or bodies of men, "in order to quiet and extinguish the insur- rection."

Before the great demonstration at Braddock's Field, the anti-excise leaders issued a call (in the latter part of July 1) for a meeting of delegates from the western counties, to meet at Parkinson's Ferry, on the Monon- galela (now Monongahela City), " to take into con- sideration the situation of the western country." And from the muster-place at Braddock's Field, Col. (Maj .- Gen.) David Bradford issued the following cir- cular :

" To the Inhabitants of Monongahela, Virginia :

"GENTLEMEN,-I presume you have heard of the spirited opposition given to the excise law in this State. Matters have been so brought to pass here that all are under the necessity of bringing their minds to a final conclusion. This has been the ques- tion amongst us some days, 'Shall we disapprove of the conduct of those engaged against Neville, the excise-officer, or approve ?' Or, in other words, 'Shall we suffer them to fall a sacrifice to Federal persecution, or shall we support them?' On the result of this business we have fully deliberated, and have deter- mined, with head, heart, hand, and voice, that we will support the opposition to the excise law. The crisis is now come, submission or opposition : we are determined in the opposition. We are determined in future to act agreeably to system; to form ar- rangements guided by reason, prudence, fortitude, and spirited conduct. We have proposed a general meeting of the tour counties of Pennsylvania, and have invited our brethren in the neighboring counties iu Virginia to come forward and join us in council and deliberation in this important crisis, and conclude upon measures interesting to the western counties of Pennsylvania and Virginia. A notification of this

kind may be seen in the Pittsburgh paper. Parkin- son's Ferry is the place proposed as the most central, and the 14th of August the time. We solicit you by all the ties that an union of interests can suggest to come forward and jom us in our deliberations. The cause is common to us all. We invite you to come, even should you differ with us in opinion. We wish you to hear our reasons influencing our conduct."

The events of the first two days of August at Brad- dock's Field and Pittsburgh and of the two or three suc- ceeding weeks, seemed to mark the culmination of the popular frenzy on the subject of the excise law, and from the 15th of July to the last of August was the period of the greatest excitement that exhibited itself during the insurrection. During the interval of time between the great muster at Braddock's and the day appointed for the meeting at Parkinson's Ferry, great numbers of " liberty-poles" were erected by the in- surgents in various parts of the four counties, and upon these were hoisted flags, bearing such inscrip- tions as " DEATHI TO TRAITORS," "LIBERTY AND NO EXCISE." Few persons were found hardy enough to refuse assistance in the erection of these poles, for to do so was to be branded as an enemy to the cause, and a fit subject for the vengeance of Tom the Tinker.

A number of these "liberty-poles" were raised in Fayette County. One was at New Salem, one at New Geneva, one at Masontown, on which a very beautiful silk flag was raised. One was at the old Union Furnace, in Dunbar township, and one at the market-house, in Uniontown. At the raising of this pole, about one hundred men under command of Capt. Robert Ross came in from German (now Nicholson) township to assist. Another pole was raised on the Morgantown road south of Uniontown, on the farm of Thomas Gaddis, who was of the principal leaders of the whiskey boys in this county. The pole at this place and the one in Uniontown were ent down by Gen. Ephraim Donglass in defiance of all threats and intimidation. That which had been erected at New Geneva met the same fate at the hands of Mrs. Eliza- beth Everhart (wife of Adolph Everhart ) and two or three other women of equal determination. The others named stood bearing their threatening flags and inscriptions until the tide of insurrection began to turn before the menace of military force, and then those who had raised them were glad enough to see them fall, and to deny all agency in their erection.

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 37

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314