History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 39

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 39

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But notwithstanding the favorable report of the judges of election, it appears that the United States commissioners regarded the proceedings in Fayette County as being peculiarly unsatisfactory. In their report to the President" they said, "The county of Fayette rejected the mode of ascertaining the sense of the people which had been settled between the undersigned and the last committee of conference at Pittsburgh (September 1st). The standing committee of that county directed those qualified by the laws of the State3 for voting ut elections to assemble in their election districts+ and vote by ballot whether they would accede to the proposals made by the commis- sioners of the United States on the 22d of August or not. The superintendents of these election districts report that five hundred and sixty of the people thus convened had voted for submission, and that one hun- dred and sixty-one had voted against it; that no judge

1 See Pa. Archives, 20 Series, vol. iv. pp. 260, 261.

" Papers Relating to the Whiskey Insurrection ; Pa. Archives, Series 2, vol. iv. pp. 257, 258.

3 The agreement of the committee with the commissioners was, not that qualified vofers by the law of Pennsylvania ulone should vote on the proposition, but that the question should be submitted to " the citizens of the said survey of the age of eighteen years and xpwcurds."

1 4 It was in Allegheny County alone that the agreement with the com- missioners contemplaterl voting by election districts. In Fayette, Wash-

ington, and Westmoreland they were required to vote by townships.

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IIISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

or member of their committee had attended from the Fourth District of the county to report the state of the votes there, and that they are of opinion that a great majority of the citizens who did not attend are dis- posed to live peacgably and with due submission to the laws. But it is proper to mention that eredible and certain information has been received that in the Fourth District of that county (composed of the town- ships of Tyrone and Bullskin), of which the standing committee have given no account, six-sevenths of those who voted were for resistance. . .. The written assurances of submission which have been received by the commissioners are not numerous, nor were they given by all those who expressed a willingness to obcy the laws. In Fayette County, a different plan being pursned, no written assurances were giren in the manner required."

In regard to the non-compliance with the methods prescribed by the commissioners, the failure in Fay- ette County to signify the submission of the people by individual subscription to the terms, and the very light vote cast here, Mr. Gallatin, in a letter to Gov- ernor Mifflin,1 dated Uniontown, September 17th, said, " It was an effort too great, perhaps, to be expected from human nature that a people should at once pass from an avowed intention of resisting to the signing a test of absolute submission, and to a promise of giving active support to the laws. The change would be operated only by degrees; and after having con- vinced the understanding of the more enlightened, it was not so easy a task to persuade those whose preju- dices were more deeply rooted and means of informa- tion less extensive. The great body of the people, which consists of moderate men, were also for a time, from a want of knowledge of their own strength, afraid to discover their sentiments, and were in fact kept in awe by a few violent men. This was one of the prin- cipal reasons which prevented so many from attend- ing the general meeting on the day on which the sense of the people was taken, to which may be added, in this county, the unconcern of a great number of mod- crate men, who, having followed peaceably their oc- cupations during the whole time of the disturbances, did not think themselves interested in the event, and were not sufficiently aware of the importance of the question to the whole county. Although, however, all the warmest persons attended, we had a very large and decided majority amongst the voters, and a great many of those who had come with an intention of testifying their intention to resist. were convinced by the arguments made use of, though their pride would not suffer them to make a publie retraction on the moment, and they went off without giving any vote.

" A very favorable and decisive change has taken place since, and has indeed been the result of the event of that day. The general disposition now seems

to be to submit, and a great many are now signing the proposals of the commissioners, not only in the neighboring counties, but even in this, where we had not thought it necessary. We have therefore thought the moment was come for the people to act with more vigor, and to show something more than mere passive obedience to the laws, and we have in consequence (by the resolutions of this day herein inclosed, and which, we hope, will be attended with salutary effects) recommended associations for the purpose of preserv- ing order, and of supporting the civil authority, as whatever heat existed in this county was chiefly owing to what had passed in the neighboring coun- ties."

The resolutions referred to in the letter were those passed at a meeting of the township committees of Fayette County, held on the 17th of September, at Uniontown, and of which Edward Cook was chair- man. As stated by Mr. Gallatin, they recommended township associations in this and adjoining counties to promote submission to the law, and in their pre- amble recited that "It is necessary to shew our fel- low-citizens throughout the United States that the character of the inhabitants of the western country is not such as may have been represented to them, but that on the contrary they are disposed to live in a peaceable manner, and can preserve good order among themselves without the assistance of a military force." Evidently the opponents of the law had at last begun to realize that successful resistance to the government was hopeless, and that voluntary submis- sion was better than that enforced by infantry, car- alry, and artillery. But the knowledge came too late to prevent the exercise, or at least the menace, of the military power. Upon a full knowledge of the result of the meetings held on the 11th of September in the townships and election districts of the disaffected counties, the United States commissioners reported to the President, narrating the events connected with their mission, and concluded by saying that although they firmly believed that a considerable majority of the inhabitants of the four counties were disposed to submit to the execution of the laws, "at the same time they {the commissioners] conceive it their duty ex- plicitly to declare their opinion that such is the state of things in that survey that there is no probability that the act for raising a revenue on distilled spirits and stills can at present be enforced by the nsnal course of civil authority, and that some more compe- tent force is necessary to cause the laws to be duly executed, and to insure to the officers and well-dis- posed citizens that protection which it is the duty of government to afford. This opinion is founded on the facts already stated [the accounts of the unsatisfactory result of the township and district meetings], and it is confirmed by that which is entertained by many intelligent and influential persons, officers of justice and others, resident in the western counties, who have lately informed one of the commissioners that what-

1 Pennsylvania Archives, iv. 316.

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THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION.

ever assurances might be given, it was in their judg- ment absolutely necessary that the civil authority should be aided by a military force in order to secure a due execution of the laws."

The commissioners' report caused the President to decide, unhesitatingly, to use the military power, and to extinguish the last vestige of insurrection at whatever cost. In taking this course he had (as he afterwards said to a committee from these counties) two great objects in view : first, to show, not only to the inhabitants of the western country, but to the entire Union and to foreign nations, that a republican gov- ernment could and would exert its physical power to enforce the execution of the laws where opposed, and also that American citizens were ready to make every sacrifice and encounter every difficulty and danger for the sake of supporting that fundamental principle of government ; and, second, to effect a full and com- plete restoration of order and submission to the laws in the insurrectionary district. In pursuance of this determination the forces were promptly put in motion, and on the 25th of September the President issued a proclamation, which, after a preamble, setting forth that the measures taken by government to suppress the lawless combinations in the western counties had failed to have full effect; that "the moment is now come where the overtures of forgiveness, with no other condition than a submission to law, have been only partially accepted; when every form of concilia- tion not inconsistent with the well-being of govern- ment has been adopted without effect," proceeds,-

" Now, therefore, I, George Washington, President of the United States, in obedience to that high and irresistible duty consigned to me by the Constitution, ' to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,' de- ploring that the American name should be sullied by the outrages of citizens on their own government, commiserating such as remain obstinate from delu- sion, but resolved, in perfect reliance on that gracious Providence which so signally displays its goodness towards this country, to reduce the refractory to a due subordination to the law : Do hereby declare and make known that, with a satisfaction which can be equaled only by the merits of the militia summoned into service from the States of New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, and Virginia, I have received in- telligence of their patriotic alacrity in obeying the call of the present though painful yet commanding necessity ; that a force which, according to every rea- sonable expectation, is adequate to the exigency is already in motion to the scene of disaffection; that those who have confided or shall confide in the pro- tection of government shall meet full snccor under the standard and from the arms of the United States ; that those who, having offended against the laws, have since entitled themselves to indemnity, will be treated with the most liberal good faith, if they shall not have forfeited their claim by any subsequent con- duct, and that instructions are given accordingly. . . . "

The forces called out for the exigency amounted to about fifteen thousand men, in four divisions, one division from each of the States of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, as before mentioned. The .Virginia and Maryland troops (commanded respectively by Gen. Daniel Morgan, of the former State, and Brig .- Gen. Samuel Smith, of Baltimore) formed the left wing, which rendezvoused at Cumber- land, Md. The right wing (which was rendezvoused at Carlisle, Pa.) was composed of the Pennsylvania troops, commanded by Governor Mifflin, and those of New Jersey, under Governor Richard Howell, of that State. The commander-in-chief of the whole army was Gen. Henry Lee, Governor of Virginia, the "Light-Horse Harry" of Revolutionary fame, and father of Gen. Robert E. Lee, the Confederate com- mander in the war of 1861-65.

In his instructions from the President, the com- mander-in-chief was directed to " proceed as speedily as may be with the army under your command into the insurgent counties, to attack and as far as shall be in your power to subdue all persons whom you may find in arms in opposition to the laws. You will march your army in two columns from the places where they are now assembled, by the most convenient routes, having regard to the nature of the roads, the convenience of supply, and the facility of co-opera- tion and union, and bearing in mind that you ought to act, until the contrary shall be fully developed, on the general principle of having to contend with the whole forec of the counties of Fayette, Westmoreland, Washington, and Allegheny, and of that part of Bed- ford which lies westward of the town of Bedford, and that you are to put as little as possible to hazard. The approximation, therefore, of your columns is to | be sought, and the subdivision of them so as to place the parts out of mutual supporting distance to be avoided as far as local circumstances will permit. Parkinson's Ferry appears to be a proper point towards which to direct the march of the columns for the purpose of ulterior measures.

" When arrived within the insurgent country, if an armed opposition appear, it may be proper to publish a proclamation inviting all good citizens, friends to the constitution and laws, to join the standard of the United States. If no armed opposition exist it may still be proper to publish a proclamation exhorting to a peaceful and dutiful demeanor, and giving assu- rances of performing with good faith and liberality whatsoever may have been promised by the commis- sioners to those who have complied with the condi- tions prescribed by them, and who have not forfeited their title by subsequent misdemeanor. Of those persons in arms, if any, whom you may make prisoners, leaders, including all persons in command, are to be delivered to the civil magistrates, the rest to be dis- armed, admonished, and sent home (except such as may have been particularly violent and also influen- tial), causing their own recognizances for their good

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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

behaviour to be taken in the cases which it may be deemed expedient. ... When the insurrection is subdued, and the requisite means have been put in execution to secure obedience to the laws, so as to render it proper for the army to retire (an event which you will accelerate as much as shall be consistent with the object ), you will endeavor to make an arrangement for attaching such a force as you may deem adequate, to be stationed within the disaffected counties in such a manner as best to afford protection to well-disposed citizens and the officers of the revenne, and to sup- press, by their presence, the spirit of riot and opposi- tion to the laws. But before you withdraw the army you shall promise, on behalf of the President, a gen- eral pardon to all such as shall not have been arrested, with such exceptions as you shall deem proper. . . . You are to exert yourself by all possible means to preserve discipline among the troops, particularly a serupulous regard to the rights of persons and prop- erty, and a respect for the authority of the civil mag- istrates, taking especial care to inculcate and cause to be observed this principle,-that the duties of the army are confined to attacking and subduing of armed opponents of the laws, and to the supporting and aid- ing of the civil officers in the execution of their func- tions.

" It has been settled that the Governor of Pennsyl- vania will be second, and the Governor of New Jersey third in command, and that the troops of the several States in line on the march and upon detachment are to be posted according to the rule which prevailed in the army during the late war, namely, in moving towards the seaboard the most southern troops will take the right, in moving towards the north the most northern troops will take the right. .

In addition to his military duties as commanding officer of the expeditionary forces, Gen. Lee was also charged to give countenance and support to the civil officers in the execution of the law, in bringing offenders to justice, and enforcing penalties on de- linqnent distillers, and "the better to effect these purposes" the judge of the United States District Court, Richard Peters, Esq., and the attorney of the district, William Rawle, Esq., accompanying the army.

President Washington, with Gen. Henry Knox, Sec- retary of War, and Gen. Alexander Hamilton, Secre- tary of the Treasury, left Philadelphia on the 1st of October, and proceeded by way of Harrisburg to the headquarters of the right wing of the army at Car- lisle. From that place, on the 11th he went to Cham- bersburg, and thence by way of Williamsport to Fort Cumberland, where he arrived on the 14th, and where he reviewed the Maryland and Virginia troops, com- posing the left wing; after which he proceeded to Bedford, Pa. (which was then Gen. Lee's headquar- ters), reaching it on the 19th, and remaining there two or three days, then returning cast, and arriving at Philadelphia on the 28th.

In the mean time, after the departure of the Hon. James Ross, United States commissioner, from Pitts- burgh and Uniontown, carrying with him to Phila- delphia the reports of the elections of the 11th of September, the people of the four counties began to realize that the results of those elections might very probably be regarded as unsatisfactory by the govern- ment, and that very unpleasant consequences might ensue by the ordering of the military forces into this region. Upon this a general feeling of alarm became apparent, and spread rapidly. A meeting of the Com- mittee of Sixty (otherwise termed the Committee of Safety ) was called and held at Parkinson's Ferry on the 2d of October, Judge Alexander Addison being their secretary. At this meeting William Findley, of West- moreland, and David Redick, of Washington County, were appointed a committee to wait on the President of the United States and to assure him that submission and order could be restored withont the aid of military force. They found the President on the 10th of Oc- tober at Carlisle, where he had come to review the troops of the right wing of the army, as before men- tioned. They there had several interviews with him, in which they informed him of the great change that had taken place; "that the great body of the people who had no concern in the disorders but remained quietly at home and attended to their business had become convinced that the violence used would ruin the country ; that they had formed themselves into associations to suppress disorder, and to promote sub- mission to the laws." In reply to this, the President said that as the army was already on its way to the western counties, the orders could not be connter- manded, yet he assured the delegates that no vio- lence would be used, and that all that was desired was to have the inhabitants of the disaffected region come back to their allegiance.

This reply was final and ended the mission of the committec. They returned and made their report at another meeting of the Committee of Safety, which was held at Parkinson's on the 24th of October, and of which Judge James Edgar was chairman. At this "meeting of the committees of townships of the fonr western counties of Pennsylvania and of sundry other citizens" it was resolved, "First,-That in our opinion the civil authority is now fully competent to enforce the laws and punish both past and future offenses, in- asmuch as the people at large are determined to sup- port every description of civil officers in the legal dis- charge of their duty.

"Second,-That in our opinion all persons who may be charged or suspected of having committed any offense against the United States or the State during the late disturbances, and who have not entitled themselves to the benefits of the act of oblivion, ought immediately to surrender themselves to the civil au- thority, in order to stand their trial; that if there be any such persons among us they are ready to surrender themselves to the civil anthority accord-

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ingly, and that we will unite in giving our assistance to bring to justice such offenders as shall not sur- render.

" Third,-That in our opinion offices of inspection may be immediately opened in the respective coun- ties of this survey, without any danger of violence being offered to any of the officers, and that the dis- tillers are willing and ready to enter their stills.

" Fourth,-That William Findley, David Redick, Ephraim Douglass, and Thomas Morton do wait on the President with the foregoing resolutions."

The four committee-men appointed by the meeting to carry the renewed assurances to the President met at Greensburg preparatory to setting out on their mission, but at that place they received intelligence that the President had already left Bedford for Phila- delphia, and that the army was moving towards the Monongahela, and thereupon they decided to await the arrival of the forces, and to report the action of the meeting to the commander-in chief, as the Presi- dent's representative.

There was no delay in the movement of the army. The New Jersey and Pennsylvania troops, composing the right wing, marched from Carlisle on the 22d of October, and proceeded by way of Bedford, across that county and Somerset, and along the road skirting the northeastern part of Fayette, to what is now Mount Pleasant, in Westmoreland, at which place the ad- vance brigade arrived and encamped on the 29th. The centre corps (of this wing) encamped on the farm of Col. Bonnett, in Westmoreland, near the line of Fayette County, and the rear went into camp at Lo- bengier's Mills on the 30th. At these places they re- mained encamped about one week. Following is an extract from a letter1 written from the rear brigade, dated Jones' Mill (in Westmoreland, near the north- east line of Fayette County), Oct. 29, 1784: "I am distressed at the ridiculous accounts sometimes pub- lished in our papers. I assure you that there has not been a single shot fired at our troops to my knowl- edge. The whole country trembles. The most tur- bulent characters, as we advance, turn out to assist us, supply forage, cattle, etc. From Washington we hear of little but fear and flight; a contrary account as to one neighborhood (Pidgeon Creek) has been sent down, but no appearance of an armed opposition, and this the only part of the country where the friends of government are not triumphant. Our army is healthy and happy ; the men exhibit unexpected fortitude in supporting the continued fatigues of bad roads and bad weather."

The left wing of the army moved from Fort Cum- berland on the 22d of October, and took the route marched over by Gen. Braddock thirty-nine years be- fore, to the Great Meadows, and from there to Union-

town, at which place Gen. Lee arrived on the last day of October, and the main body of the left wing came up and encamped there the same evening.

The committee-men, Findley, Redick, Douglass, and Morton, who, as hefore mentioned, had been met at Greensburg with the intelligence of the departure of the President from Bedford, which decided them to wait the arrival of the army, went to the head- quarters of the right wing at Bonnett's farm on the 30th of October, and presented the resolutions of as- surance to Secretary Hamilton, who accompanied the division of Governor Mifflin, The secretary examined them and returned them to the committee, with the re- mark that, " for the sake of decorum, it would be best to present them to the commander-in-chief." This was what the committee had intended to do, and learning that Gen. Lee was then at or near Uniontown they immediately left for that place, and arriving there on the 31st of October, laid the business of their mission before him, he having full power to act in the name of the President. Secretary Hamilton also came over from the right wing, and arrived at Uniontown on the same evening.

Gen. Lee received the committee with great polite- ness,2 and requested them to call on him on the follow- ing morning. At the appointed time he gave them his reply, which they embodied in their report, dated Uniontown, Nov. 1, 1794.3 It was as follows :

"GENTLEMEN,-The resolutions entered into at the late meeting of the people at Parkinson's Ferry, with the various papers declaratory of the determina- tion of the numerous subscribers to maintain the civil authority, manifest strongly a change of senti- ment in the inhabitants of this district. To what cause may truly be ascribed this favorable turn in the public mind it is of my province to determine. Yourselves, in the conversation last evening, imputed it to the universal panic which the approach of the army of the United States had excited in the lower orders of the people. If this be the ground of the late change,-and my respect for your opinions will not permit me to doubt it,-the moment the cause is removed the reign of violence and anarchy will return.

" Whatever, therefore, may he the sentiments of the people respecting the present competency of the "civil authority to enforce the laws, I feel myself ob- ligated by the trust reposed in me by the President of the United States to hold the army in this country until daily practice shall convince all that the sover- eignty of the Constitution and laws is unalterably es- tablished. In executing this resolution I do not only

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 39

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