The Whiskey Rebellion July 31,2018

Copyright © 2018                               John F. Oyler 

July 31, 2018

The Whiskey Rebellion

For history buffs in this area, July is Whiskey Rebellion month. Two hundred and twenty-four years ago this month farmers in western Pennsylvania decided that the new excise tax on the production of whiskey was unfair and onerous and decided to protest. Eventually their confrontation with federal officials led to several fatalities and the complete destruction of General John Neville’s Bower Hill plantation. In response President Washington dispatched an army of thirteen thousand soldiers here to quell the rebellion.

This year there were major celebrations of these events in Washington, Pa., at the Oliver Miller Homestead in South Park, and at Woodville Plantation. We went to Washington for their festival the first weekend and to the Miller Homestead the second weekend. The Woodville event was scheduled at the same time as the one at the Miller Homestead. Since it was similar to one we had witnessed last year, we chose to go to South Park instead.

Washington’s Festival was staged at two venues – downtown Washington and at Washington Park (Schneider’s Fort). We went to the downtown celebration and had an excellent experience there. They re-enacted a number of Whiskey Rebellion incidents using Maiden Street between Strawberry and Maiden as a stage.

We especially enjoyed the re-enactment of Albert Gallatin’s well-known speech to a convention of the rebels at Parkison’s Ferry (now Monongahela) on August 14, 1794, in which he persuaded them to reject David Bradford’s pleas for violence in favor of negotiating with the federal officials. The gentleman re-enacting Gallatin was excellent as were the folks in his audience.

Bradford is indeed a controversial figure. In some accounts he is depicted as a power-mad demagogue who wanted to be emperor of a new nation west of the Alleghenies; others describe him as a highly competent attorney representing a class of people with legitimate complaints. At any rate we know he had to escape down the Ohio River to avoid prosecution, but that President Adams pardoned him in 1799.

Our tour of the David Bradford House was an eye-opener. If John Neville was the wealthiest man the area, Bradford must have been a close second. The handsome stone house must have been a sharp contrast to its log cabin neighbors. And the magnificent interior furnishings further emphasize that contrast.

An added bonus to our visit was the musical entertainment being provided at several different locations. We heard three outstanding groups – Devilish Merry, the Wayward Companions, and Bill Gorby and the Musical Mercenaries. It was especially interesting to hear their different approach to the folk music genre.

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit the Schneider’s Fort site and the military re-enactments there; next year we will go there first!

The following weekend we went to the Oliver Miller Homestead and witnessed another impressive re-enactment, the attempt of federal Marshall David Lenox to serve a writ on farmer William Miller that required him to appear in Federal court in Philadelphia for failing to pay the excise tax on his still. 

This re-enactment seemed even more relevant when we were able to see the actual still that was involved and to appreciate the consequence of the excise tax on the average farmer. We were told that Miller’s still had a capacity of thirty gallons and that the tax was three dollars a month for each month the still was operated.

Whiskey was sold for fifty cents a gallon in western Pennsylvania and for a dollar a gallon in Philadelphia; apparently it was quite expensive to transport it by pack train over the mountains. In either case three dollars appears to have been a significant burden for the Millers, especially since it had to be paid in cash. In their barter economy very little cash was circulated.

In an effort to quantify the significance of three dollars in that time and environment I looked into some family history. We have the original record of the purchases at the village store for the family of my great great grandfather, Daniel Smith for the full year 1833. Like the Millers and their neighbors, the Smiths were nearly self-sufficient, producing almost all their needs on their own farm.

Their shopping list included coffee, sugar, tobacco, whiskey, one yard of flannel, salt, pepper, camphor, turpentine, a blank book, etc., all items that they could not produce themselves. They lived near Quincy, south of Chambersburg. Their total bill for 1833 was $53.27, which they settled every two months with “cash”. 

Based on this I assume they had some source of income. Perhaps they sold farm products – eggs, milk, or ham. Perhaps they performed work for others; a laborer could make seventy-five cents a day in 1833. A reasonable assumption would be that three dollars represented a week’s work as a laborer. Is that a big enough burden to justify the violence that erupted in the Whiskey Rebellion?

Perhaps these people were inherently rebels, Scotch-Irish folks with a long-lived dislike of the English Crown. They certainly were an independent lot, with vivid memories of their recent successful Revolution and full awareness of what was happening in France in the 1790s. I suspect this attitude magnified the significance of Mr. Hamilton’s excise tax. 

It is easy to understand the farmers’ anger, which was compounded by the general opinion that the federal government was not doing enough to protect them against the hostile Indians. It is also easy to understand the collapse of their resistance when the large federal army finally arrived. 

I have had very little success determining if any of the settlers in our immediate region were involved in the revolt. We know Christian Lesnett stayed out of it, because of his respect for John Neville. So far I have been unable to get a copy of the list of sixty farmers to whom Marshall Lenox served writs; that would be of some help.

A tour through the Oliver Miller Homestead is always worthwhile; this one was not an exception. We were particularly impressed with the baking that was being done in their outdoor oven. The ladies re-enacting the baking certainly appeared to be having a good time. 

I never fail to notice something that I had overlooked in previous visits. This time it was a full-size copy of the map of the Black Horse Trail, in much better shape than the ones our Society possesses. I have requested a copy for us; I would like to superimpose it on a 2018 map and confirm just what its actual route was.

We are indeed fortunate to live in an area with such a rich historical heritage and which is peopled with so many people committed to preserving and celebrating it.