History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 77

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 77

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Gen. Lee received the committee with great polite- ness,3 and requested them to call on him in the follow- ing morning. At the appointed time he gave them his reply, which they embodied in their report, dated Uniontown, Nov. 1, 1794.ª It was as follows :

1 " Great indeed," says Findley, " was the difference between the com- plexion of this meeting and that which met at the same place on the 14th of August preceding, and this difference was in a great measure owing to a few men. Bradford, Fulton, Parkinson, Marshel, and others who had contrived and promoted the meeting at Braddock's Field had either secured an amnesty by submitting in due time or fled out of the country, and others, who perhaps had done neither, were ashamed to ap- pear at this meeting, though the terror of them and their friends had overawed the first; and a great number of respectable citizens attended at this meeting who did not think it prudent to countenance the first."

2 Papers Relating to the Whiskey Insurrection; Pennsylvania Ar- chives, 2d Series, vol. iv. p. 433.

3 The committee, however, were not very well pleased with their re- ception by Gen. Lee. One of their number, Mr. Findley, said (in his " History of the Insurrection," p. 199), " Indeed, though we were treated politely in other respects and employed to assist in the fixing of neces- saries for the army, and consulted about the ground on which it should encamp when it advanced farther into the country, yet we did not meet with that candour and frankness with which we had been treated by the President at Carlisle."

4 Penna. Archives, 2d Series, vol. iv. p. 437.

297

THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION.

"GENTLEMEN,-The resolutions entered into at the late meeting of the people at Parkinson's Ferry, with the various papers declaratory of the determination of the numerous subscribers to maintain the civil authority, manifest strongly a change of sentiment in the inhabitants of this dis- triet. To what cause may truly be ascribed this favorable turn in the public mind it is of my province to determine. Yourselves, in the con- versation last evening, imputed it to the universal panic which the ap- proach 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 be the sentiments of the people respecting the present competency of the civil authority to enforce the laws, I feel myself obligated 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 sovereignty of the Constitution and laws is unalter- ably established. In executing this resolution I do not only consult the dignity and interest of the United States, which will always command my decided respect and preferential attention, but I also promote the good of this particular district.

" I shall, therefore, as soon as the troops are refreshed, proceed to some central and convenient station, where I shall patiently wait until the competency of the civil authority is experimentally and unequivocally proved, No individual can be more solicitous than I am for this happy event, and you may assure the good people whom you represent that every aid will be cheerfully contributed by me to hasten the delightful epoch.

"On the part of all good citizens I confidently expect the most active and faithful co-operation, which in my judgment cannot be more effect- ually given than by circulating in the most public manner the truth among the people, and by inducing the various clubs which have 80 suc- cessfully poisoned the minds of the inhabitants to continue their usual meetings for the pious purpose of contradicting, with their customary formalities, their past pernicious doctrines. A conduct so candid should partially atone for the injuries which in a great degree may be at- tributed to their instrumentality, and must have a propitious influence in administering a radical cure to the existing disorders.

"On my part, and on the part of the patriotic army I have the honor to command, assure your fellow-citizens that we come to protect and not to destroy, and that our respect for our common government, and respect to our own honor, are ample pledges for the propriety of our demeanor. Quiet, therefore, the apprehensions of all on this score, and recommend universally to the people to prepare for the use of the army whatever they can spare from their farms necessary to its subsistence, for which they shall be paid in cash at the present market price; discourage ex- action of every sort, not only because it would testify a disposition very unfriendly, but because it would probably produce very disagreeable scenes. It is my duty to take care that the troops are comfortably sub- sisted, and I cannot but obey it with the highest pleasure, because I in- timately know their worth and excellence.

" I have the honor to be, gentlemen,

" Your most obedient servant, " With due consideration, " HENRY LEE."

This reply, or address to the people, was printed and circulated extensively in every part of the four counties.

After a stay of a few days at Uniontown and Mount Pleasant respectively, the two columns of the army moved on in obedience to the general orders of the commander-in-chief, as follows :

" HEADQUARTERS,

" UNION (BEESON'S) TOWN, Nov. 2, 1794.

" The army will resume its march on the morning of the 4th, at the hour of eight, when a signal-gun will be fired. They will advance in two columns, composed of the respective wings. The right column will take the route by Lodge's to Budd's Ferry, under the command of his Excellency Governor Mifflin, who will please to take the most conven- ient situation in the vicinity of that place for the accommodation of the troops and wait further orders. The left column will procced on the route to Peterson's, on the east side of Parkinson's Ferry, under the orders of Major-General Morgan; they will march by the left in the following manner: Light corps, cavalry, artillery, Virginia brigade,

Maryland brigade, the baggage to follow each corps, and the public stores of every kind in the rear of the Virginia brigade, Ou the first day the light corps and artillery will march to Washington Bottom, fourteen miles; the Virginia brigade to Peterson's farm, twelve miles ; the cavalry under Major Lewis will move with the commander-in-chlef; the bullocka to precede the army at daylight. On the second day the column will proceed to the camp directed to be marked out between Parkinson's and Budd's Ferries.

"Should Brigadier-General Smith find the second day's march rather too much. he will be pleased to divide the same into two days. The quartermaster-general will immediately take measures for the full sup- ply of forage and straw at the different stages. The commissary will place the necessary supply of provisions at particular intermediate stages where issues will be necessary ; guards over the straw as soon as the van reaches the ground, and to see the same fairly divided amongst the troops. [Here follows the assignment of straw to each brigade, to the cavalry and artillery, and directions for making out the pay-rolls for one month's pay from the commencement of service.] The inspector and muster-master-generals of the respective line will also make pay-rolls for the general staff, to be countersigned by the commander-in-chief previous to payment. HENRY LEE.

" By the Commander-in-Chief,

"G. H. TAYLOR, Aide-de-Camp."

Under these orders the left wing marched from Uniontown, and the right wing from its camps at Mount Pleasant, Bonnett's, and Lobengier's, at the appointed time, and moving to the vicinity of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers, in West- moreland County, went into camp at the place desig- nated, between Parkinson's and Budd's Ferries. From his headquarters, "near Parkinson's Ferry," on the 8th of November, the commander-in-chief issued an address or proclamation to the inhabitants of certain counties lying west of the Laurel Hill, in the State of Pennsylvania, the tone of which was a little after the manner of a conquering chieftain addressing the people of a subjugated province. "You see," he said, " encamped in the bosom of your district a numerous and well-appointed army, formed of citizens of every description from this and the neighboring States of New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, whom the vio- lated laws of our common country have called from their homes to vindicate and restore their authority. . The scene before your eyes ought to be an in- structive one; it ought to teach many useful truths, which should, for your own happiness, make a deep and lasting impression on your minds. . . . Those who have been perverted from their duty may now perceive the dangerous tendency of the doctrines by which they have been misled, and how unworthy of their confidence are the men by whom, for personal and sinister purposes, they have been brought step by step to the precipice from which they have no escape but in the moderation and benignity of that very government which they have vilified, insulted, and opposed. The friends of order may also perceive in the perils and evils that have for some time sur- rounded them how unwise and even culpable is that carelessness and apathy with which they have permitted the gradual approaches of disorder and anarchy."

The general then proceeded to recommend to the people to manifest their good intentions by taking and subscribing an oath (the form of which he prescribed)

298

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

to support the constitution and obey the laws, and by entering into associations to protect and aid all government officers in the execution of their duties. He further recommended to all men able and willing to do military duty, and truly attached to their gov- ernment and country, "to array themselves into regiments, one for each county, and to place them- selves under such officers as may be selected by the Governor of the State, known to be firm friends to order and right, upon the express conditions of hold- ing themselves in constant readiness to act in defense of the civil authority whenever called upon, receiving for their services the same pay and subsistence as is allowed to the militia of the United States when in actual service." He then concluded his proclamation as follows : "In pursuance of the authority vested in me by the President of the United States, and in obedience to his instructions, I do moreover assure all who may have entitled themselves to the benefit of the amnesty proffered by the commisioners hereto- fore sent by him to this district, and who may not have forfeited their title by subsequent misconduct, that the promise will be faithfully and liberally ob- served, and that all possible endeavors will be used to prevent injury to the persons or property of peace- able citizens by the troops, whose sole province it is to subdue those, if any there should be, hardy enough to attempt an armed resistance, and to support and aid the civil authority as far as may be required. To the promulgation of these, my orders, I with pleasure add my assurances that every exertion will be made by me-and, from my knowledge of the officers and soldiers of the army, I am persuaded with full suc- cess-to carry these wise and benevolent views of the President into complete effect."

The entire army remained in the neighborhood of Parkinson's Ferry for about ten days, after which the main part of the troops moved down the Mononga- hela River, and on the 15th of November a detach- ment was marched from the vicinity of Parkinson's to the town of Washington, accompanied by Secretary Hamilton and Judge Peters, and taking with them a large number of prisoners which had been taken in the eastern part of Washington County. All the prisoners taken by the army, excepting three, were taken in that county and Allegheny, under Gen. Lee's special orders,1 issued for that purpose to Gen. Irvine and other officers.

1 The following are extracts from Gen. Lee's orders to Gen. William Irvine:

" HEAD QUARTERS NEAR PARKINSON'S FERRY, " November 9th, 1794.

"SIR,-From the delays and danger of escape which attend the pres- ent situation of judiciary investigations to establish preliminary pro- cesses against offenders, it is deemed advisable to proceed in a summary manner in the most disaffected scenes against those who have notori- ously committed treasonable acts; that is, to employ the military for the purpose of apprehending and bringing such persons before the judge of the district [Judge Peters], to be by bim examined and dealt with ac- cording to law; to you is committed the execution of this object within that part of Allegheny County to which you are advancing. . . . The

The time indicated in these orders (Thursday morning, November 13th) was the time when most of the arrests were made by the military. During the night following these arrests the prisoners suffered greatly from cold, wet, hunger, and other causes, and on this account it has been called by Brackenridge and others "the terrible night," though why that term was applied to the night of the 13th more than to that of the 14th does not appear, as the condition of the prisoners was fully as bad on the latter as on the former night. The various histories of the insur- rection have given so much of notoriety to these arrests and the manner in which they were made that it seems proper to mention them here at some length. The Rev. James Carnaban, afterwards President of Princeton College, but at that time a student in the academy at Canonsburg, gave the following account of some of them :

" Companies of horsemen were scattered in different directions over the country, and as there was no oppo- sition, it was thought the army were about to return. On the night of the 13th of November,2 a frosty night, about one o'clock, the horse was sallied forth, and be- fore daylight arrested in their beds about two hundred men. A company of Virginia horse were stationed for several days near Canonsburg, and I give the man- ner of their proceedings as a sample of what probably occurred in other places. About two o'clock in the morning they surrounded the house where I lodged, and some came in and ordered my landlord, an old

persons apprehended ought to be leading or influential characters or particularly violent. You will find a list (No. 3) ; this paper comprehends witnesses. The individuals are to be brought forward and treated as such. Direct all who may be apprehended by you to be conveyed to your camp until further orders. Send off your parties of horse with good guides, and at such a period as to make the surprises, however distant or near, at the same moment, or intelligence will precede them and some of the culprits will escape. I presume the proper hour will be at day- break on Thursday morning, and have therefore desired the operation to be then performed in every quarter.

" I have the honor to be, sir, " With great respect, " Your most obedient servant,

" HENRY LEE."

The following, purporting to be a letter from Gen. Lee to Gen. Mor- gan, is in possession of Judge Cranmer, of Wheeling. It does not have the appearance of a letter of instructions from a commanding general, but it may have been such. It is given for what it is worth, viz .:

"DEAR SIR,-Biggs went away yesterday charged with instructions relative to the Ohio culprits. Dick's is sent to Morgantown with similar instructions; you will receive herewith the plan and business as it re- spects the county of Washington.

" Mr. Williams tells me that the people will not thresh out their wheat and therefore that the army may be reduced to want unless they are im- mediately made so to do. This furnishes an excellent pretext on the present occasion. Your horse can be assembled for the purpose of visit- ing the farmers with orders to insist on their getting out their grain. In executing this order publicly they can well accomplish the other business-farewell.

" Yours, "HARRY LEE, "11th Nov., 1794, H. Quarters,"

2 Dr. Carnahan is evidently mistaken in the date. He gives the im- pression that the arrests were made in the night of the 13th and morn- ing of the 14th. They were made in the morning of the 13th, most of them between three o'clock and sunrise.

299

THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION.

man, to rise and guide them to a neighborhood about had great-coats, others had blankets on their shoul- ders. The countenance of some was downcast, mel- ancholy, dejected; that of others stern, indignant, manifesting that they thought themselves undeserving such treatment. Two Philadelphia horsemen rode in front, and then two prisoners, and so two horsemen and two prisoners alternately throughout a line ex- tending perhaps half a mile. I have more than once seen gangs of fifty or sixty negroes tied to a long rope, eight miles distant, where he was well acquainted. He had no horse. They inquired where a horse could be found. He named two or three places. They wanted a guide to the stables. The old man had no servant in the house. Two boys belonging to the academy lodged in an upper chamber. The older one, of an impetuous temper, had talked big in favor of the insurgents, and he believed the horsemen had come to arrest him, and he lay trembling in bed. two and two opposite to each other, and marched to a The younger, more considerate, had always con- distant slave-market ; but their anguish and indigna- tion was not to be compared to that manifested by i these Western men. If these men had been the ones chiefly guilty of the disturbance, it would have been no more than they deserved. But the guilty had signed the amnesty, or had left the country before the army approached. It has been estimated that be- tween one and two thousand men, with rifles in their hands, had withdrawn, and remained absent until the army left the country." demned the insurgents. Conscious of innocence, he jumped up and ran down-stairs, half dressed, to see what was going on. The horsemen slapped him with their scabbards, and ordered him to show them the stables. He had to go, and run about a quarter of a mile without shoes, frosty as it was. No horse was to be found at the first stable, and then he had to run as far in a different direction, and happily found a horse. The epithet 'young insurgent,' with additional hard | words, were liberally applied, with an occasional slap to quicken his steps. This lad was afterwards the Rev. Dr. O. Jennings, of Nashville, Tenn.

" In justice to the Virginia, Maryland, and Phila- ! delphia horsemen, it must be said they made arrests and treated their prisoners with as much gentleness - and humanity as practicable. Yet we can easily im- agine what terror seized mothers, sisters, and wives when their sons and brothers and husbands were taken out of bed and carried off, they knew not whither. That night was afterward called 'the dreadful night.'

" A large number of prisoners from Washington County were collected together at the county town, and taken thence to Pittsburgh under guard. The object in taking them to Pittsburgh was that they might be examined by a district judge, so as to ascer- tain which of them ought to be taken to Philadelphia for trial. I saw them on their way as they entered Canonsburg, and were placed in a large upper room in the academy to lodge for the night. They were conducted by the Philadelphia and New Jersey cav- alry. The contrast between the Philadelphia horse- men and the prisoners was the most striking that can be imagined." Then, after describing the splendid appearance of the Philadelphia troopers, with their fine blue uniforms and flashing sabres, and all mounted on beautiful bay horses, superbly capari- soned and glittering with silver trappings, he pro- ceeds, "The prisoners were also mounted on horses, of all shapes, sizes, and colors; some large, some small, some long tails, some short, some white, some , black, some fat, some lean, some of every color and form that can be named. Some had saddles, some blankets, some bridles, some halters, some with stir- rups, some with none. The riders were also various and grotesque in their appearance. Some were old, some young, some hale, respectable-looking men; others were pale, meagre, and shabbily dressed. Some !

The following account of the capture of a large number of prisoners on Mingo and Peters Creeks by Brig .- Gen. Anthony M. White, of New Jersey, and their brutal treatment at his hands, is related by Findley in his "History of the Western Insurrec- tion ;" but it is not improper to say here that his statements may have been a good deal exaggerated, as there is to be seen through all his narrative an unmistakable disposition to place in the worst pos- sible light every occurrence or act done by the army, particularly all which could by any assumption be supposed to have been authorized, encouraged, or countenanced by Secretary Hamilton or executed by Brig .- Gen. White.

"On Thursday, the 13th of November, there were about forty persons brought to Parkinson's house, by order of Gen. White. He directed to put the damned rascals in the cellar, to tie them back to back, to make a fire for the guard, but to put the prisoners back to the farther end of the cellar, and to give them neither victuals nor drink. The cellar was wet and muddy, and the night cold; the cellar extended the whole length under a large new log house, which was neither floored nor the openings between the logs daubed. They were kept there until Saturday morning, and then marched to the town of Washington. On the march one of the prisoners, who was subject to con- vulsions, fell into a fit, but when some of the troops told Gen. White of his situation he ordered them to tie the damned rascal to a horse's tail and drag him along with them, for he had only feigned having the fits. Some of his fellow-prisoners, however, who had a horse, dismounted and let the poor man ride. He had another fit before he reached Washington. This march was about twelve miles. The poor man who had the fits had been in the American service during almost the whole of the war with Great Britain.

" Having heard much about this inhuman business, and having occasion last summer [1796] to go to Wash-

300

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ington, I traveled that road for the first time that I had ever been in that settlement and lodged a night at the place. The plantation is the property of Ben- jamin Parkinson, but rented by him to a Mr. Stock- dale, who keeps tavern at it, and who seems to be a decent man, and one against whom there is no charge. He not only confirmed what I have stated above, but added a variety of other particulars equally shocking. Stockdale was forbid, on the peril of his life, to ad- minister any comfort to his neighbors, though they were perishing with cold and famishing with hunger. The general treated the prisoners as they arrived with the most insulting and abusive language, causing them all to be tied back to back except one man, who held a respectable rank, and who, however, was said to be one of the most guilty in his custody. One of the nearest neighbors, who had a child at the point of dying, and observing that they were bringing in the whole neighborhood prisoners, without regard to guilt or innocence, went and gave himself up to Gen. White, expecting, as he was conscious there was no charge against him, that he would be permitted to return to his family on giving bail, but he also was inhumanly thrown into the cellar, tied with the rest, and refused the privilege of seeing his dying child ; nor was he permitted to attend its funeral until after many entreaties he obtained that liberty, accompanied with the most horrid oaths and imprecations.

" The most of these prisoners were found to be in- nocent men, and were liberated. There were but three sent to Philadelphia for trial; one of them, after having been dismissed at Pittsburgh, and per- haps having taken a hearty grog, through joy at regaining his liberty, expressed himself unbecom- ingly to some of the light-horsemen. He was after- wards pursued near thirty miles, and taken to Phila- delphia; but there was no cause of action found against him at the court. He had served with ap- probation in the army during the war; his name was Samuel Noy.

" A captain, with a detachment of the army, who took a number of prisoners in the southern part of Washington County, is asserted to have driven his prisoners like cattle, at a trot, through creeks, up to their middle in water, and to have impounded them in a wet stable at night, and otherwise to have mal- treated and insulted them ; though this fact has been confidently asserted, and never contradicted, yet not having the vouchers for it before me, I shall pass it over without being more particular.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 77

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1216

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216