USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 23
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Finally, in June, 1794, Jolin Wells, a son of the collector, was made deputy for Westmoreland county, and actually opened an office in the private residence of Philip Reagan, on the Big Sewickley, and not far from his father's house near Connellsville. Both Wells and Reagan had charge of the office. The likelihood is that Reagan knew the sentiments of the community, and was to stand guard over the office. At all events, he at once converted the house into an old-fashioned blockhouse, with portholes, and barred doors and windows. They also employed a few men to assist them in defense, though these were hard to procure, for the sentiment among the good and bad people of the community was decidedly on the other side. The warm nights of June had scarcely ar- rived till the new blockhouse was put to a test. It stood several nightly at- tacks, and each night the attacking party grew more formidable. Finally, a large band of armed citizens gathered round it and began firing. The fire was returned by Reagan and his forces, and this was kept up for several hours. Fortunately no one was hurt on either side, and the crowd repaired to Reagan's barn, which they burnt to the ground, and then repaired to their homes.
In two or three days the whole community was thoroughly aroused, and a
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small army almost, numbering not less than two hundred and fifty, went to renew the attack. Reagan, under a sort of an armistice, hield a conference with their leaders. Knowing that they would soon overpower his small party, he proposed to surrender if they would grant him honorable terms, and also as- sure him that his property and person should not be destroyed or injured. In return for this he was to give up his commission, and forever wash his hands of excise tax in the future. These arrangements were put in writing, each party taking a copy. Then Reagan came out, and brought with him a keg of whisky. Upon the whole, it was too much of a victory to pass over without properly celebrating it, and a great many of the vietors became intoxicated. Later in the celebration it was proposed that Reagan was escaping too easily, and that he should be set up as a mark to be shot at. Others, who were op- posed to this, were bent on giving him a good coat of tar and feathers, for they had brought an abundant supply of these materials with them. Others, who were more honorable, said that he should go unmolested as was stipulated in the agreement when he surrendered. This controversy was finally settled by agreeing that the party should go and capture Wells, and that he and Reagan. should then both be tried by a court martial and tried together. So they set out for his residence to capture Wells, but fortunately he was not at home. This enraged them still further, and they burned his house to ashes, with all its con . tents. They also posted a few of their party in ambush to capture him on his return. But during all this, Reagan escaped, and the mob having recovered from the effects of too much whisky, let Wells go.
Shortly after this tearing up of the Westmoreland office about one hun- dred and fifty men from our county, emboldened by this success, went to Somerset county and attacked Captain Webster. They destroyed his com- mission, and made him promise never to act as collector of excise tax again. They made him accompany them part of the way home, and also mount a stump and give three cheers for "Tom the Tinker," that being the popular name of the day used to personate the opponents of the law. It probably originated with a distiller who would not join the opponents of the law, and had his still cut into pieces by the mob. This they called. mending, that is, "tinkering" the still. So many anonymous letters from the outlaws were signed "Tom the Tinker."
It is difficult now to appreciate the extent of this uprising, or the rapidity of its growth. Reason was thrown to the winds. Many ministers took the side of the people, though they did not encourage mob violence. No minister could have retained his pulpit had he sustained the excise law. The lawyer was popular if he defended the rabble, and not otherwise. No man's property was safe if his neighbors even suspicioned that he was against them. In their general opposition they were led by the best men in the community, who, however, never sanctioned mob violence. Findley, Smiley, Bracken- ridge, Cook, Young, Ross, Bradford, Holcroft and others were all in sympathy
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with any legitimate methods of opposing the execution of the law. They prob- ably laughed at head-shaving, and were not entirely cast down when the exciseman was clothed in a coat of tar and feathers.
In 1794 the law was modified by Congress, but nothing short of a general repeal would satisfy the people. Some of the outlaws were indicted before the courts, but able lawyers defended them, and no jury could be found to all agree to convict them, no matter what the evidence might be. A number of distillers who had not complied with the law were finally summoned to be tried in the United States courts at Philadelphia. General Neville and the marshal of the district went to serve a summons on a distiller named Miller. A furious outbreak followed, which was due more to Neville's presence than to the serving of the summons, for others had been served before this. Men came from the surrounding harvest fields and chased them out of the country. The same day a military meeting was being held at Mingo Creek, in Wash- ington county, to draft men for service against the Indians. The report of chasing the marshal and Neville soon reached this meeting, seven miles away, and a mob at once took across the country for the marshal's house. When they arrived they demanded a surrender of his commission, his papers, etc., which was refused. A general battle began at once. The inmates of the house were better armed and better protected than the attacking party. Six of the mob were wounded, and one man was shot dead. On this the besiegers retired, but only to better prepare for another attack. A meeting was called, and all good citizens were warned to "strike for freedom," or be "forever enslaved," etc. In response a large meeting was held at Mingo Creek meeting-house, the purpose of which was to avenge the outrages of the previous day. They appointed three men as their leaders, and Major McFarlane, an old and experienced Revolutionary, officer, was elected com- mander of the forces. In the meantime United States soldiers were collected by the marshal to guard General Neville's house. The mob marched at once to his house and demanded his papers and commission. This, of course, was refused. Then the women were allowed to pass from the house unmo- lested, and the battle began. The regular soldiers defending the house were in command of Major Kirkpatrick. It is hardly fair to say that McFarlane commanded the insurgents, for they very soon reached that degree of ex- citement that the commander was impotent. Early in the fight, Major Mc- Farlane stepped from behind a large tree to confer with Major Kirkpatrick. As he did so he was shot, and died immediately. The death of their leader only added fuel to the fire. The barn and out-houses, with all their harvested crops, were at once set on fire, and Kirkpatrick and his soldiers were allowed to retire.
When this became more generally known, lawlessness became the rule, even in our own county. The United States mail carrier was waylaid within a mile of Greensburg by two men, who perhaps had no other motive in view
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than to show their contempt for the authority of the government of the United States. They broke open the mail bags and rifled their contents, not for financial gain, but to show that the people, and not the government, held complete sway. After this trouble at Neville's, and the Greensburg mail robbery, a public meeting was called for by David Bradford, of Washing- ton, who claimed to be a leader of the united forces of the four counties. This meeting was held at Braddock's Fields, the location of which is well known. The call was that all should come armed, and provided with four days' rations. About sixteen thousand citizens actually came together on the day appointed, though thousands came through curiosity, and with neither arms nor rations. David Bradford was chosen commander-in-chief of the forces, and Edward Cook was his chief lieutenant. Bradford's idea was to besiege the town of Pittsburgh and burn the houses of the leading citi- zens interested in sustaining the law, such as Neville, Gibson, Brison, Kirk- patrick, etc.
Hugh Henry Brackenridge was then the most gifted and eloquent lawyer in Western Pennsylvania. He had defended free of charge many of the ringleaders of this insurrection who had been indicted heretofore, and was thoroughly trusted by all of them. When he and his friends saw that no power would prevent them from marching to Pittsburgh, they tried to induce them to go in a peaceable and orderly manner. "Let us go there to show them that we are not a mob, as they believe us to be, but that we are law-abiding citizens who are only asserting our rights," etc. "Let us march through the town, turn around and come out again, and encamp on the banks of the river in peace, then we will have won the people of Pittsburgh to our side." Cook advocated the same behavior on their visit, and the mob could not well turn a deaf ear to the advice of either of them, particularly to the ad- vice of Brackenridge. The inhabitants of Pittsburgh were greatly alarmed, but their fears were allayed on the arrival of the army, for they had, indeed, very largely been governed by Brackenridge's advice. Had they attempted to burn the buildings marked by Bradford for destruction,. the citizens of Pittsburgh would have fired on them, and undoubtedly a general conflagra- tion and slaughter would have ensued. As it was, there was little harm done. Some one in the night set fire to Kirkpatrick's barn, and we believe this was the only damage done the town. In a day or so the greater part of the army was disbanded, or disbanded itself, and peace and quiet again reigned in the four counties.
About this time the more conservative citizens of the four counties began to see the inevitable result of this opposition, if not in some way gotten under control. A meeting was therefore called for at Parkinson's Ferry on August 14th, 1794. This was attended by two hundred and sixty delegates from the four western counties. Edward Cook was made chairman of the meeting. and Albert Gallatin secretary. They, as usual, protested in a series of reso-
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lutions against the excise law and against taking offenders to Philadelphia, three hundred miles away, for trial, etc. The meeting was the most con- servative held yet in the district. There were some very eloquent addresses made by such men as Gallatin, Brackenridge, Rev. Edgar and others, and a slow proceedure by purely legal methods was the trend of their remarks. It is now generally supposed that these men and many of the delegates were there for the purpose of manipulating the convention, and to thus gain, by clever management and wholesome advice, what could not be gained by open opposition to the rabble. The whole force of the insurrection was here represented by two hundred and sixty delegates, and by the manage- ment of Brackenridge and his friends their power was delegated to one representative from each township, which reduced them to sixty delegates. Then these sixty delegates appointed a committee of twelve who would thereafter represent them and serve as a standing committee in the future. The newly constituted committee could therefore bind the four counties, and could be much more readily handled by the conservative leaders than a larger body could be. It was certainly a master stroke on the part of the managers, and went far towards a re-establishment of order in the excited community. The committee of sixty met at Redstone on September 2nd, and the standing committee of twelve was ready at any time to meet a similar committee appointed by the government or the state.
About this time Governor Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, appointed Justice Mc- Kean and General William Irvine to investigate matters in the four counties, and to report the situation as soon as possible. He also ordered that the Pennsylvania troops be equipped for service at once, and issued a call for an extra session of the General Assembly. The capital of the United States was then in Philadelphia, and President Washington was not slow to act in a matter of this magnitude. On August 7th he issued a proclamation commanding all insurgents to lay down their arms before September Ist, or abide the consequences. He also began to raise an army, and in a few days had 12,950 men ready to march at a moment's notice. They were largely from the drilled soldiers of the Revolution, and were recruited from Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. The President appointed James Ross, Jasper Yates and William Bradford to represent the government and to confer with a like delegation, should one be appointed, representing the insurgents. Governor Lee, of Virginia, commanded the troops raised by Washington, and the Governors of the several states com- manded the troops sent out by them. The President himself, as commander- in-chief of the army, arranged to accompany the troops, and with him were General Henry Knox, Secretary Hamilton and Judge Peters, the latter judge of the United States district court of Pennsylvania. The army set out from Philadelphia on October Ist, and President Washington, leaving a few days later joined them at Carlisle. There he met William Findley, Ephraim
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Douglass and Thomas Morton, who were appointed to represent the insur- gents in a conference with the President. It is probable that Washington learned for the first time at Carlisle from these three representatives of the conciliatory movements that were in progress, and of the actions of the committees referred to above. Washington came on west with the army as far as Bedford, where he arrived on October 19th. There he remained for two or three days, and then went back to Philadelphia, reaching that city on October 28th. It is often claimed that he came on west and was in Westmoreland county, but the claim is entirely unfounded. From the fact that he came west at all and then returned without coming near the real seat of war, it is supposed that he learned on the way that the backbone of the insurrection was broken by the conciliatory meeting, and the uprising of the loyal and conservative citizens. It will be remembered that news did not travel rapidly at that time.
The United States commissioners and those appointed by the state and also those on the part of the insurgents appointed by the Parkinson Ferry meeting, all met in Pittsburgh on August 20. The commissioners had no power to compromise, and refused to make any recommendations for the postponement of the trials of those who had been summoned east, or for par- dons for those who had committed crimes, until they had been fully assured of a sincere determination on the part of the people that they would there- after obey and assist in the execution of the laws. The committee on the part of the people presented their grievances as to the injustice of the excise .law, and also the new grievance, viz .: the injustice of being taken three hundred miles away from home for trial in a strange land and by a strange jury. They were in session about a week, and then adjourned to Brownsville, where they met on August 28. There they held a two days' session. Brackenridge and Gallatin both talked long and with more even than their usual eloquence in favor of law and order, and in favor of a com- plete submission of the people to the provisions of the excise tax law. Brad- ford spoke in favor of forcible resistance, but he failed to carry the com- mittee with him. They were afraid to vote openly lest they be ill-treated by their neighbors, who were still in favor of resistance. So each delegate was provided with a piece of paper on which was written the two words, "yea" and "nay." They tore off the one word and destroyed it, while they voted the other, thus securing an absolutely secret ballot. The result of all this was a final decision to submit the matter to the people. They were to have an opportunity to sign a paper pledging loyalty to the government and its laws, and for that purpose the polls were to be open on September 11th, which was the last day given for them to submit. But many of the remote sections did not learn of this decision, and therefore thousands did not turn out at all. It was no small matter, it must be remembered, to circulate this decision over our four large counties in that day of slow travel. In some-
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places a lawless element prevailed, and the polls were broken up. Many, however, refused to sign this pledge of allegiance. Bradford came over and signed, and urged the people to do the same. Nevertheless, from all these circumstances, the signatures were very few compared with the population, or with the number of men in revolt. The commissioners had gone east, .all except James Ross, who remained here to carry the report back to Wash- ington, at Philadelphia. The result did not by any means satisfy the Presi- dent, and he determined at once to send the army to the west.
Then the sixty township delegates met on October 2nd and drafted reso- lutions explanatory of the meager number of signatures to the allegiance papers. The burden of their explanations was that it was owing to want of time, and in proof of the general feeling in the community, they, the repre- sentatives of the district, resolved to submit, and so severally pledged them- selves. They appointed Findley and David Reddick, the latter from Wash- ington county, to wait on the President and the Governor. They met Wash- ington at Carlisle on October 10, as has been above stated, and with them were delegates Douglass and Morton, who. with Findley, composed the other delegation. Their purpose in presenting the matter to the President was with the hope that after learning the true situation here-that is, after being made familiar with the real change of sentiment-he would not permit the army to march further west. They tried, therefore, to prove the genuine- ness of the change of sentiment, and to show that the meagerly signed al- legiance papers did not fairly represent the situation. President Washington heard them patiently, but declined to stop the progress of the army, inasmuch as it was then nearing the seat of war. He assured them that there would be no violence done by the soldiers, and that all that was necessary on the part of the people was to show a genuine evidence of their return to their former allegiance to the United States government and its laws. A rapid change was taking place all over the survey, but particularly here in We t- moreland. Shortly before this a man's property and person were not safe if he was even suspicioned by the Greensburg people. To illustrate: Colonel Gibson came to Greensburg, and, having been guilty of no offense except that he tried to have the people remain loyal to the law, he should have been safe anywhere. Yet his arrival was scarcely known until he was waited on by a body of men who ordered him to quit the town within half an hour. He was concealed in the house of General William Jack. Yet in October our people had so far backed down that they were almost falling over each other in order to sign the allegiance papers.
When Findley and Reddick came back to Westmoreland from their visit to President Washington, they called a meeting of the committee for Oc- tober 24th to report the result of their mission. Many citizens' meetings were held in all parts of the four counties, so that the delegates who were to meet ·on the 24th could know for a certainty that there was a change of sentiment
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generally, and could act accordingly. They also wanted these expressions. made public before the army should reach here. One of these meetings was. held in Greensburg on October 22d. They drafted resolutions and in no un- certain sound set forth their disposition to sustain the law. David Marchand,. afterwards a member of Congress, was president of the meeting. The resolu- tions adopted here were as follows :
I. Resolved, As the sense of this meeting, that it is the duty of every good citizen to yield obedience to the existing laws of his country.
2. That we discountenance all illegal acts of violence from whatever motive, and that for redress of grievances the privilege and right of the citizen is to petition and remon- strate if necessary.
3. That we will support the civil authority and all officers in the lawful exercise of their respective duties, and assist in securing for legal trial all offenders against the laws when called upon.
4. That the citizens of this town and township will give no opposition to the open- ing of an office of inspection therein, should the same be contemplated by the govern- ment. and that we will use our endeavors to remove improper prejudices, and recom- mend a peaceable and general submission.
5. That a copy of the preceding resolutions be given to one or more of the deputies of the town or township who are to meet at Parkinson's Ferry on Friday the 24th inst.,. together with a copy of the assurance paper, signed by the citizens of this meeting, in order that the same may be laid before the members of the said committee, and that another copy may be made out for publication in the Pittsburgh Gazette, and that the same be attested by the chairman and clerk of the meeting.
Four hundred and twenty citizens of Greensburg and vicinity signed these- resolutions. Similar resolutions were adopted in all parts of the four counties and, as may be supposed, when the convention met all was harmony. The. same committee was appointed to carry this general expression of sentiment to President Washington. They started at once for Bedford, but, learning that Washington had left there for Philadelphia, they went to Uniontown to confer with General Lee, whose advance forces had reached there. Lee- was a brave officer of the Revolution, and a most refined and cultured gen- tleman. He treated the committee with great courtesy, and assured them that the soldiers would respect the rights and property of the citizens, and asked them to pass that word over the four counties as rapidly as possible. All the General required was allegiance to the law. He asked of the people that they be only as active in restoring law and order as they had formerly been in raising a disturbance. The report of this conference with General Lee was printed and rapidly circulated throughout the four counties, and greatly allayed the fears of the people, who had great fear of the approaching army, for they remembered too well, and to their sorrow, the visits of the British army a few years before this. Books were now opened at nearly all of the offices of the justices of the peace, so that the people might take the oath of
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allegiance. A day was fixed for the entry of stills, and, almost without an exception, the distillers reported them as required by law. It indeed seemed that the people were, as General Lee requested, as anxious to sustain the law as they had formerly been to oppose it.
The army came on west, most of them marching as far as Pittsburgh. But all was quiet, and thousands were daily taking the oath of allegiance. So, on November 17th, orders were given for the return of the troops. In a few days all were gone except a small battalion under General Morgan, which it was thought best to have remain all winter in the vicinity of Pitts- burgh. One company was stationed at Greensburg and one at Uniontown.
While the army was passing through here it became its duty to hunt up and arrest men who had been most active in raising this disturbance, as well as distillers who had failed to make their reports as required by law. Most of those who were arrested were guilty, but Judge Peters, perhaps in every case where he could do so without stultifying himself, ruled that they were not guilty of any offense against the government. Some who had been ar- rested were released after a hearing, and others were sent to Pittsburgh. While confined there, some were released, because they had influential friends, it is said, while others, no more guilty than they, were sent to Philadelphia for trial. There they were confined nearly a year before they were tried. This was a great injustice to them, and particularly does the injustice appear when it is learned that nearly all were eventually acquitted. Two were convicted from Westmoreland county. Probably by even a fair construction of the law all might have been found guilty of treason, for they had levied war against the United States, had incited and engaged in rebellion and in- surrection.' John Mitchell was the leader of those who robbed the maij near Greensburg. He was convicted and sentenced to be hanged, but was afterwards pardoned by the President. The other conviction was for arson, he being the one who had set fire to Wells' house. After being sentenced to be hanged it was learned that he was a very ignorant man, and was sub- ject to epileptic fits. Washington first reprieved and then pardoned him.
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