The Riot Before the Rebellion
- B.T. Cowden
- 5 hours ago
- 27 min read
A Closer Look at the 1786 Whiskey Riot of Washington County, Pennsylvania
In 1791, at the urging of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington’s fledgling administration enacted the nation’s first federal excise tax. The money gained from this tax was intended to be used to pay off massive debts incurred by the states during the Revolutionary War, which had been recently consolidated under the federal government. This was the first federal excise tax passed to attempt to raise funds to pay off some of this debt. It was not, however, the first time the whiskey distillers of western Pennsylvania would be visited by the good graces of the tax man; they were already quite familiar with him.
The western counties of Pennsylvania were already openly opposing taxation long before the beginning of the event historians today refer to as the Whiskey Rebellion. Blood was first spilled in defiance of Pennsylvania’s taxation on whiskey eight years before the Whiskey Rebellion culminated in the Battle of Bower Hill and the March on Pittsburgh in 1794. This fact is often excluded from books, documentaries, and discussions on the Whiskey Rebellion, yet it offers important context into the political climate leading up to the passage of the federal excise tax.
On paper, Pennsylvanians had been dealing with excise on whiskey and other domestically distilled liquors for most of the 18th century. In 1772, an act was passed that insisted on collecting excise on liquor distilled for retail, but not for personal use. A later amendment in 1782 adjusted the excise act language to “all such wine, rum, brandy and other spirits bartered, sold or consumed within this state, as are subjected to a duty by the said act.” This meant that even the lowliest farmer in Pennsylvania could not legally produce a drop of whiskey, even for private consumption, without first paying up. The rate set was four pence per gallon, on top of a required permit.it.
These early provincial tax laws were largely ignored by both the Pennsylvania-appointed collectors and the citizens living therein. Distilling whiskey became a way of life for western farmers, and often provided a significant portion of the income needed for survival on the frontier. There seemed to be a mutual understanding between collectors and farmers. For several years the distilling farmers west of the mountains successfully made and sold whiskey without bother, until William Graham came along.
The Tax Man Cometh… to Greensburg
Back in Philadelphia, William Graham had worked as an innkeeper at the Black Horse Tavern on Market Street. He had been in the innkeeping business since at least 1758 and seems to have abandoned the industry after the end of the Revolutionary War. Reasons as to why Graham left the tavern business have been deduced down to the assumption that he had fallen on hard times financially, and was forced to find a new line of work. Perhaps tax collection simply paid more? Graham would now be entitled to 1% of all excise he collected for the state. Regardless of the reason for his change in professions, he soon found himself employed as the excise collector for the western counties on April 7, 1785.
Graham was not the first man to hold this title. Those before him simply chose not to fulfill their obligations to collect the excise taxes owed by the distillers of Pennsylvania. Because other states were not attempting to collect any excise tax in the way Pennsylvania was, bordering counties were typically passed over in fear of violence. The collectors realized that these farmers would revolt against being shaken down, while their neighbors in Virginia and Maryland were being left alone. The very fact that the majority of western settlers were of Scots-Irish origin also influenced the hesitancy of would-be collectors. The populations of both Scotland and Ireland had displayed prolific disdain for excise taxes throughout their histories, leaving their descendents with a notable reputation.
Graham was either ignorant of this understanding, or aimed to outshine his predecessors and prove to his superiors that the taxes could in fact be collected. He set out in early 1785, traveling west until he reached Westmoreland County. Here he collected several taxes, and "succeeded equal to his expectations,” (Findley) until complaints about the manner in which he was collecting started to flood into the Westmoreland County court. Colonel Edward Cook, who had been a justice of the peace since 1777, heard the complaints about Graham and received a confession from him. Graham insisted that the local magistrates offer him protection while he collected. Colonel Cook did not see it that way, and explained to Graham “that if he did not consider himself to be bound by the laws in the discharge of his duty, he must not be surprised if the people did not regulate their conduct towards him agreeably to the laws.” (Findley) Congressman William Findley also admitted that “a person of a more fair character and greater discretion would have been necessary for the successful discharge of that trust, but such did not apply…,” essentially stating that William Graham did not have the proper reputation for such a position.
Not long after Graham expressed his anger in the court session with Judge Cook, he was met with even more trouble, this time at a place of his own lodging. One night at a tavern in Greensburg, an attempt was made to break into the tax collector’s private room. Throughout the night, local citizens pounded on his door and attempted to force it open. One of the intruders identified himself as Beelzebub, claiming he was on a mission to capture Graham and deliver him to a band of demons. With faces painted as black as the night, the intruders struggled as they tried to pull Graham from the room, but the tax collector drew his pistols and forced a standoff with the assistance of other patrons who shared his room. By morning, the last of the disguised men had fled the scene.
Again Graham went to the court and demanded these men be held accountable for their attempted assault, and again, nothing came from the hearing. The men, some of whom Graham allegedly recognized that night, all produced alibis. It was determined that the attackers had masqueraded as other acquaintances of the tax collector, and their true identities were never revealed. Soon after, posters were hung throughout the county offering a reward for Graham’s scalp.
Fed up with the aggression of the Westmorelanders, Graham had enough, and decided to move on to try collecting in Washington County. This would prove to be an even bigger mistake, one that would nearly cost him his life. Since the job had already proven to be dangerous, William Graham sought relief in the buddy system, bringing along one Richard Graham, likely a close relative. Richard was not commissioned as an excise collector.
The Tax Man Cometh… to Cross Creek
On April 7, 1786, only six days after a snowfall nearly a foot in depth had blanketed the region, the weather had begun to warm, melting the frigid snow into a muddy mess. William and Richard Graham wasted no time in taking advantage of the newly tolerable spring weather and set off for Cross Creek, a hub for rye whiskey distilling. About two miles from the village, the tax collectors were met with the beginnings of an angry mob.
The local farmers in this area were well informed about the plot to collect tax on their main commodity, and had seemingly orchestrated a plan to deal with the collector should he ever pay them a visit. They were prepared to undermine the laws of the new commonwealth, which most of them had fought to establish during the revolution. They recognized this tax as a new form of tyranny, sounding very similar to those previously imposed upon them under British rule. It had only been two and a half years since a war partly based on taxation had ended. They must have wondered if this new government would actually be an improvement over the one they had recently helped to overthrow.
The rioters, initially only a dozen in number, pulled the tax collector from his horse and “beat him with swords, clubs, sticks, and other offensive weapons.” William Graham undoubtedly sought to instill fear into these rioters with his pistols like he did in the Greensburg tavern, but upon reaching for them, he found the holsters to be empty. His pistols had been stolen away from him, broken, and thrown onto the ground. The rioters did not need them. They were here to send a message, and they needed the Grahams alive to send it for them.
Now that the excise man was unarmed, the rioters forced him down into the freshly thawed mud before shaving half his hair and queuing one side of his wig into a conspicuous ponytail. A corner of his cocked hat was cut off so this new humiliating hairstyle protruded out for all to see. The rioters then forced him to voice curses on himself while stomping his official commission papers into the ground. He was then physically beaten in the midst of the calamity by the riotous mob. Not even his horse was spared as a rioter took a pair of scissors and clipped off its tail and mane. Richard Graham and his horse fared no better, receiving the same unpleasant treatment.
In William Graham’s pocketbook, the rioters found 167 pounds, 11 shillings, and 10 pence which had been collected as excise from previous, more cooperative distillers. The rioters confiscated that amount, along with just over 107 pounds of the Grahams’ personal money before restraining the two men and forcing them back onto their horses. From there, they paraded the two mounted men east about 25 miles until they reached the Monongahela River, stopping at every distillery along the way to call upon more local farmers. By the time the commotion had reached the eastern border of the county, nearly one hundred angry farmers and distillers had joined in. This bold act of charivari paralleled a form of punishment known as riding the rail, which was common during the American Revolution, and later featured in artwork depicting the Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s.
William and Richard Graham were unaware that they had just become the first victims in what would soon become a national rebellion. They would eventually go into the history books as victims of “the first actual violence committed in resistance to the execution of the excise laws in Western Pennsylvania.” (Crumrine) About five months later, the armed uprising known as Shays’ Rebellion began in Western Massachusetts, marking 1786 as a year of unrest for the new and unproven United States. With the Revolutionary War at an end, citizens of the new American experiment were feeling the hardships of the collapsed economy, and showed little tolerance for the new taxes imposed upon them. Aggressive taxation was a major cause of the Revolution, after all, and concerned citizens were hopeful that their new government would not resemble the tyrannical entities of the old world. In their eyes, it was still too early to know which direction this new American government may go. With these actions against a state-imposed excise tax, it is no surprise that the rebellion against a federal excise tax later occurred with such an intensity that prompted George Washington to raise up arms against his own people, many of whom fought at his side in the War for Independence.
The Frontier Reaction
The local response to the riot struck a divisiveness between the citizens of the frontier, strengthening the foundation for political affiliations that would soon develop further with major events like the adoption of the U.S. Constitution and the outbreak of the Whiskey Rebellion. The one hundred rioters of 1786 had made it clear how taxation would be received on the Pennsylvania frontier, but they would not find unanimous support from all of their fellow frontiersmen. The rioters had committed a violent crime that would have to be answered with punishment should civility hope to prevail in the backcountry.
Dorsey Pentecost, justice and president of the Court of Common Pleas in Washington County, was amongst the most outspoken critics of this riot. Perhaps his disapproval simply stemmed from his judicial title. Whilst on the Washington County executive council in 1782, he had not shown such strong criticism for his Washington County peers after they had marched on the Moravian town of Gnadenhutten and committed one of the worst massacres in American history. He did, at least, suggest that women, children, and infirm, should no longer be murdered by the militia. Pentecost’s dramatic frustration with the riot can be seen in a letter to the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council, dated April 16, 1786:
“I have thought it my duty as a good citizen to give your honorable board information of this matchless and daring insult offered to government, and the necessity there is for a speedy and exemplary punishing being inflicted on those atrocious offenders, for if this piece of conduct is lightly looked over no civil officer will be safe in the exercise of his duty, though some gentlemen with whom I have conversed, think it would be best, and wish a mild prosecution, for my part I am of a different opinion, for it certainly is the most audacious and accomplished piece of outrageous, and unprovoked insult that was ever offered to a government and the liberties of a free people, and what in my opinion greatly aggravates their guilt is, that it was not done in a gust of passion, but cooly, deliberately, and prosecuted from day to day, and there appears such a dissolute, and refractory spirit to prevade a certain class of people here, particularly those concerned in the above job, that demands the attention of government, and the most severe punishment.”
Pentecost’s message was clear. He wanted the rioters to be punished severely. To what extent? Flogging? Death? His preference is never elaborated on, but his tone is urgent. If the rioters are not punished, then further acts of violence against excise collectors are almost certain to follow. What a great deal of foresight Mr. Pentecost had, but he did not stick around to see if his request would be granted. Later that same year, he abandoned his post as justice of the peace and left Pennsylvania to return to his home state of Virginia, which he had remained loyal to during the border disputes of the 1770s.
Other prominent citizens of the region could not disagree more with Dorsey Pentecost. John Neville, one of the wealthiest and most prominent residents of western Pennsylvania, had allegedly taken sides with the rioters, and even called for more violence. In a 1794 interview with Hugh Henry Brackenridge, rebel distiller William Miller claims that Neville “had been against the excise law as much as anybody,” and “when the distillers (the 12 rioters) were sued, some years ago, for fines, he talked as much against it as anybody.”
Miller further claims to have heard Neville say “They ought to have cut off the ears of the old rascal,” in response to the attack on William Graham; a bold choice of words from a man who would later take up the same post of excise collector, only this time under the employ of the federal government. In response to Neville’s later attempts to collect the excise and serve writs, his Bower Hill plantation was attacked and his mansion was burned at the height of the rebellion by William Miller and company. Neville managed to escape with his ears still attached.
The Court of Oyer & Terminer
Although threatened with death should he ever return to Washington County, Graham took his chances and returned to file suit. The twelve men who had started the riot were prosecuted at his demand. Brackenridge came to their aid to serve as council, just as he would later for 70 rebels in the Whiskey Rebellion. One of the dozen rioters charged was William Stewart, likely the same who had already been in a party represented by Brackenridge for having challenged George Washington in court only two years prior. The legal battle with General Washington was still ongoing and overlapped with the proceedings against the rioters. Brackenridge must have had his hands full representing a man who had both sued George Washington and was himself being sued for nearly starting a rebellion in only a span of 20 months.
On November 10, 1788 In the dark and cold log courthouse only just constructed a year prior, a session of the court of oyer & terminer convened. This was the fanciful name for what is now simply known as criminal court. Sentencing took place under justices William Augustus Atlee and George Bryan. The rioters had already been indicted for their crimes in an earlier hearing, and now faced their sentencing. Would the harshness of Dorsey Pentecost’s words impact the proceeding and bring forth a “most severe punishment?”
Evidently not.
Each rioter was found guilty of “unlawfully riotously and routously” assembling, disturbing the peace, and assaulting a collector of excise for the commonwealth. Their necks were saved but their wallets were not. For the above charges Joseph Wells, William Stewart, Samuel Agnew, and James McClellan were met with the largest fines at 50 pounds each. Josiah Gamble alone was fined 40 pounds, while the remaining rioters were each fined 35 pounds. It was then recommended that each rioter be released on bail at the cost of 100 pounds each, with two sureties of 50 pounds each, a costly sum very few frontiersmen could hope to afford.
The rioters were found not guilty of stealing the money from William Graham. Perhaps they redistributed it into the community in a sort of frontier Robin Hood-esque manner, leaving no evidence to convict upon? Perhaps the frontier jury simply chose to be sympathetic to the rioters? Such a jury would have been mostly composed of frontier farmers not much different than those who were accused. Public opinion in this time seemed to be in favor of the rioters, as even some of the wealthiest western citizens like John Neville showed them support at first. The divide between rich and poor was as evident on the frontier as it was in the eastern cities, and this sentiment showed through other earlier examples like the January, 1783 riot in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, in which rioters seized and returned property confiscated by a local constable. Could the whiskey rioters have acted in a similar manner?
After the trial, the rioters were met with more solidarity from the community when they devised a petition to send to the Supreme Executive Council. In this petition, they claimed that they had only started the riot because of William Graham’s aggravating conduct. It was Graham’s fault, the rioters claimed, that the entire ordeal took place. Furthermore, the fines imposed on the rioters were so hefty that even if each rioter sold off his entire estate, he could not manage to come up with half of the required amount. Their innocent wives and children would be reduced to ruin. The tone of the letter is desperate. Even if the rioters did not see the riot as their fault, they were “truly sorry for having been inconsiderately engaged in an act so obnoxious to the laws which they have ever heretofore reverenced and obeyed.”
The letter was submitted to five justices of the peace of Washington County, who endorsed it and added their own recommendation that the council should remit the fines. Justices Henry Taylor, John Hoge, William McFarland, WIlliam Parker, and William Smiley all signed the petition and forwarded it to the council, where it was read on March 5, 1789. By March 12, a decision to remit the fines was agreed upon by the council and the rioters were officially pardoned of their charges.
Consequences of the Riot
Having learned their lessons, the rioters returned home to their farms, relieved and humbled. Their entire lives had almost been ruined. An unfortunate reality still faced them; the whiskey tax was still in effect, and if they wanted to continue doing business without being arrested again, they would have to pay this tax. However, thanks to their efforts, it was confirmed that the frontier was indeed too volatile to collect within, and now there was proof. John Craig, Esquire took over William Graham’s post after the latter resigned in frustration. Craig was not an affluent Philadelphia native like his predecessor, but a citizen of Washington County. This seemingly mattered very little to the distillers of Washington County. A precedent had been set by the clemency offered to the original dozen rioters, and now not a single distiller would hand over a shilling in excise. Craig’s attempts to collect were futile, and he was removed from his position without incident.
No further known attempts to collect state excise on whiskey took place in Washington County. Further attempts were made in Pittsburgh by a collector simply known as Hunter, who filed suit against 70 delinquent distillers. His attempts also failed, and he was left with no other choice than to give up, resign, and go home.
On January 30, 1787, a general Patriotic Convention was held in Washington County to vote and decide on local political matters. After narrowly voting against the creation of what would become Allegheny County, the committee introduced a motion to boycott all liquor not produced in the counties of Western Pennsylvania, with the exception of certain wines. They agreed that importing any further liquor west of the mountains would ruin their own market, and if the excise collectors returned, there would soon be no cash left on the frontier. The need for cash was apparent in the western counties, and admitting that the primary means to get cash from their lands was through whiskey distillation, the convention urged local judges to enforce tavern rates to encourage domestic whiskey distillation, further urging farmers to only sell their produce for cash. Present at this convention were John Hoge and David Bradford representing Washington, James Bradford and Samuel Agnew (rioter) representing Strabane, Matthew Ritchie and John Hughes representing Cecil, Samuel Jefferies and John McDonald representing Robinson, John Hamilton representing Nottingham, James Innes representing Fallowfield, and William Smith representing Hopewell.
On September 21, 1791, the rioters formally won their fight, and the state excise tax was repealed, meaning no Pennsylvania distillers would ever have to pay a tax again… or so at least they may have thought. Six months earlier the federal excise tax had been passed, and for that, the frontier distillers of Pennsylvania would raise hell.
After 240 years, the story of the riot has faded into obscurity. Because the event produced no immediate consequences of national significance, it gradually slipped from the historical narratives, surviving primarily in the memory of the local community. No mention of it can be found in any contemporary newspapers. The fact that Brackenridge and Findley both included the events of April 7, 1786 in their books detailing the Whiskey Rebellion, or Western Insurrection as it was known to them, shows us that the public likely perceived this event as part of the wider insurrection, and not an earlier, isolated incident.
It is possible that news of the riot never reached the federal government, and there is no evidence that Alexander Hamilton was ever aware of it. If he had been, he may have approached the idea of a federal excise tax with a bit more caution.
Who were the Rioters?
Only the twelve rioters who were charged have been identified. Because none of the attackers at the Greensburg tavern were identified, a case should be made that these twelve men are the first whiskey rebels, setting in motion an eight year movement that nearly ended in civil war.
Aaron Lyle
Aaron Lyle was born in Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania, November 17, 1759. He was 26 years old at the time of the riot.
Lyle was described as “a man above medium height, well built, of fine personal appearance, of nervous sanguine temperament, and of cheerful disposition.” As a younger man, he was “naturally of quick, violent temper,” as evidenced by his participation in the riot. During the Revolutionary War, he first served in the 2nd Pennsylvania regiment flying camp and later in the 6th company, 2nd battalion of the Northampton County, PA militia under his brother Captain John Lyle.
After the war, he settled in Mount Pleasant Township, Washington County, on a tract of land adjacent to fellow rioter William Campbell. Lyle signed the oath of allegiance on September 11, 1794, and served as witness for the Cross Creek Township vote to continue or end the rebellion, alongside William Rea and Thomas Patterson.
Lyle was elected to serve in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1797-1801. He then served a term as a Pennsylvania state senator from 1802-1804, and then returned to the House of Representatives from 1805-1806. Next he served as Washington County Commissioner from 1806-1809 and finally concluded his political career as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1809-1817. He also served as a trustee for Jefferson College for nearly 20 years. He died at his home in Cross Creek on September 24, 1825. In his obituary he was described as “sincere, gentle, amiable, and kind,” with the author stating that he had “never once seen him in anger, or heard him use language of violence or reproach.” Perhaps Mr. Lyle had gotten all of his anger out during the riot.
In 1915, Andrew Lyle Russell, a 2nd great-grandson of Aaron Lyle, published a novel set during the Whiskey Rebellion loosely based on the life of Aaron Lyle. In the book, The Freighter, Russell includes a reference to the riot against William Graham. This book was recently republished by North Vandalia Press.
Samuel Agnew
Samuel Agnew was born in York County, Pennsylvania, around 1729. He was around 57 years old at the time of the riot.
In 1780, after marrying Mary Johnson, the couple moved to what would eventually become Mount Pleasant and Chartiers Townships, Washington County. Their homestead was situated along George’s Run in the vicinity of present-day Red Fox Road and PA State Route 18. Agnew registered three enslaved people under his ownership between 1782-1800.
By 1782, Agnew served in the 4th battalion, Washington County, PA militia, under Cpt. Charles Bilderback and Cpt. Andrew Swearingen. Around this time, he seems to have been living in Strabane Township, having paid taxes there in 1781 and 1783. He was elected to represent Strabane Township and attended the 1787 Patriotic Convention that discussed the new tax and proposed changes to the local economy to attempt to save the whiskey market.
In 1788, Agnew was elected as a justice of the peace. He was then elected to his first term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he served from 1802-1806 as a Democratic-Republican.
He was of the Seceder religion and belonged to the Chartiers Presbyterian Church and likely later belonged to the Mount Pleasant Township Seceder Church, where he was laid to rest in 1819.
Samuel Agnew’s son, Samuel Agnew, Jr., was implicated in the Whiskey Rebellion in the deposition of Margret M. Faulkner. Along with rioter James McClellan, who stood on Faulkner’s porch and insulted and threatened her.
William Stewart
William Stewart was born in Paxtang, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in 1757. He was 29 years old at the time of the riot.
He was one of at least nine children born to a long line of Scottish Covenanters. William’s father Hugh and his brother Samuel were the first of this line to immigrate to the British Colonies from Glasgow in 1735.
This is likely the same William Stewart who was among the settlers recruited by George Croghan and Edward Ward to occupy a tract of land contested by George Washington on Miller’s Run around 1773. Stewart had also claimed 140 acres in Peters Township, but seems not to have pursued a legal title to either land. By 1783, he was operating a whiskey distillery on his Miller’s Run homestead.
During the Revolutionary War, Stewart served in the 4th battalion, 4th company, Washington County, PA militia under Captain David Reed.
Stewart married Martha Walker in 1785. In 1782, Martha was kidnapped along with her siblings James and Mary in a raid carried out on Gabriel Walker’s cabin near Ewing’s Fort, along Robinson’s Run. Two other siblings were murdered and her family house was burned. The three siblings were held captive in Fort Detroit territory until the end of the war, when they were returned to Philadelphia.
Very little trace of William Stewart can be found after he moved to Allegheny County. He constructed a large house for his family, not far from the original settlement of his wife’s family in Robinson Township, Allegheny County. He died intestate on March 29, 1829 and his burial details are unknown. His stone house was demolished in the 1970s.
William Campbell
William Campbell was born in 1738 and was about 47 years old at the time of the riot.
He took out a patent for a land tract in Mount Pleasant Township, where he had settled in 1772 before being displaced by attacking Native Americans. Along with his land in Mount Pleasant, he also owned a tract in Hopewell, and eventually purchased tracts in Kentucky.
During the Revolutionary War Campbell served in the 4th battalion, 6th company, Washington County, PA militia, under Cpt. Henry Graham. He registered two enslaved people in 1782.
During the Whiskey Rebellion he signed the oath of allegiance on September 11, 1794 in Cross Creek Township.
His first run for Washington County Commissioner in 1798 was a success, and he served with James Brice and Joshua Anderson.
Upon his death in 1801, he freed his enslaved woman named Hagar Govence. Govence owned her own land and lived as a freedwoman until her death in Smith Township, 1854. Both Campbell and Govence are buried in Cross Creek Cemetery. Aaron Lyle served as executor to Campbell’s will.
James Ross, Jr.
James Ross, Jr. was born around 1750 near Winchester, Virginia. He was around 36 years old at the time of the riot.
This James Ross is not related to the more prominent Washington County James Ross, Esq., who served as US senator. Because Senator James Ross also had a son named James Ross, Jr., information on this lesser known Ross is difficult to verify.
Ross, Jr. was living in Smith Township with his wife Mary in 1781. He is alleged to have served in Lord Dunmore’s War before leaving Virginia. During the Revolutionary War, he served in the 4th battalion, 4th company, Washington County, PA militia, under Captain David Reed. In 1782, he was involved in both the Sandusky Expedition and the Gnadenhutten Massacre.
Ross’ daughter Isabel married Ralph Cherry, son of Thomas Cherry of Cherry’s Fort.
His death details remain a mystery, and he is buried in an unmarked grave in the old Mount Pleasant Seceder cemetery in Hickory.
Joseph Wells
Details of Joseph Wells’ early life are unknown.
During the Revolutionary War, Wells served in Timothy Downing’s 3rd battalion, 3rd company, Washington County, PA militia.
He was part of the very large Wells family that resided in the settlements around the present-day border between western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He owned 500 acres in Hopewell Township by 1783. He also owned lands in and around Ohio County, West Virginia, where he lived for some time. He sold some of his land on Cross Creek to prominent Presbyterian preacher Joseph Smith (1736–1792). That land was then sold to steamboat inventor Robert Fulton, where he established a farm for his family.
In 1784 Wells purchased several articles of clothing from the deceased Benjamin Smith, a relative of Rev. Joseph Smith. He served as administrator for the estate of Patrick McGaugher in 1793 in Washington County.
Wells seems to have been living in Mingo Bottom, West Virginia by 1788. Very little is known about him and his death and burial details are currently a mystery.
Samuel Hanna
Samuel Hanna was born in Cumberland Township, Pennsylvania, in 1762. He was about 24 years old at the time of the riot.
From at least 1781-1783, he was living in Strabane Township. He was married to Elizabeth Duncan Hanna. He served as an administrator to the estate of his father-in-law John Duncan in 1790.
This may be the same Samuel Hanna who was charged with treason in 1795 after the Whiskey Rebellion, only to later be pardoned. After the Whiskey Rebellion, Hannah moved to Ohio with his family. By 1816, he was working in the tanning business with James Wilson in Steubenville. He died in 1842 in Cadiz, Ohio and is buried in Crabapple Cemetery, Belmont County, Ohio.
John Donnell
John Donnell was likely born around 1749 in Virginia. He was about 37 years old at the time of the riot.
In 1776, he left Winchester, Virginia, and settled on 400 acres in Cecil Township along the banks of Miller’s Run.
His name can be found spelled in several variations throughout records, such as: Donnell, Daniel, O’Donald, and O’Donnell. His signature on the petition is faded, but appears to read Donal or some other variation. On the written trial report, his name appears as O’Donald.
During the Revolutionary War, he served as an ensign in Captain Robert Miller’s 4th battalion, 7th company, Washington County, PA militia. By 1800, Donnell had four enslaved people registered under his ownership, Cloe, Elisha, Jean, and Pero.
A signature reading John O’donald appears on the September 11, 1794 oath of allegiance in Cecil Township, but does not appear to match the signature on the court petition, making verification of this rioter difficult.
Donnell died in 1832 and is buried in Chartiers Hill Cemetery.
John Rankin
John Rankin was born in Winchester, Virginia in 1754.
He was part of the well documented Rankin family of Smith and Mount Pleasant Townships, who settled along with the Cherry family, building Cherry’s Fort. John’s brother Zachariah was killed by a rabid wolf in 1784. Another brother, Thomas, was an officer present for both the Sandusky Expedition and the Gnadenhutten Massacre. Despite the Rankin family owning several enslaved people, John himself did not.
The Rankins also managed Hogeland’s Fort, which was built on land contested by Lund Washington, a distant cousin of George Washington. In 1786, some of the Rankin family was ejected from Lund’s land in a court case.
John Rankin signed the September 11 oath of allegiance during the Whiskey Rebellion in Chartiers Township.
He served as a lieutenant of the 4th company, 4th battalion, Washington County, PA militia under Captain David Reed during the Revolutionary War. He died of an illness in 1788, managing to write a will before his demise. Although not verified, he is likely buried in the now lost Cherry’s Fort burial ground, where his brother Zachariah was previously laid to rest.
James McClellan
James McClellan was reportedly born around 1748 in Ireland. He was around 38 years old at the time of the riot. His name also appears in some records as McClelland, while his signature shows as Mclellan.
He settled in Mount Pleasant Township just south of George Washington’s Miller’s Run tract. During the early settlement of the county, a road was built heading west from Canonsburg and it ran through McClellan’s land just east of where the Hickory Tavern was established in present-day Hickory, Pennsylvania.
James was implicated in the Whiskey Rebellion in the deposition of Margret M. Faulkner. Along with Samuel Agnew, Jr. and John Hucheson, he stood on Faulkner’s porch and insulted and threatened her.
In Sherman Day’s 1843 Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania, a claim is made that a sheriff of York County, William McClelllan was an old friend of James and visited his house during the Whiskey Rebellion. The sheriff was sent west to aid in making arrests against the rebels. During the visit, Thomas Spears, a notable whiskey rebel, visited James’ house to seek refuge from the authorities. The sheriff acknowledged that both men were friends with James, and therefore did not arrest Spears.
He signed the September 11 oath of allegiance during the Whiskey Rebellion in Chartiers Township.
He died in 1829 and is buried in an unmarked grave in the old Mount Pleasant Seceder cemetery in Hickory.
Robert Ralston
Robert Ralston was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1768. He was about 18 years old at the time of the riot. He also had a father named Robert, whose early life is unknown. It is not clear which of the two were in the riot.
Robert Ralston had a tract of land patented in Cecil Township, Pennsylvania in 1786. His land was located near the present-day line between Washington and Allegheny Counties, near the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
At the urging of Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Ralston was one of the men tasked with layout out the plans for a road from Canonsburg to Pittsburgh, which would later take up the name of Black Horse Trail, after the tavern in Canonsburg.
He signed the September 11 oath of allegiance during the Whiskey Rebellion in Cecil Township.
The younger of the two Robert Ralstons moved further west into Ohio, where he died in 1854.
Josias Gamble
Josias (also spelled Josiah) Gamble was possibly born in Pennsylvania around 1756. He was around 30 years old at the time of the riot.
By 1781 he owned 268 acres in Cecil Township and was operating a grist mill on land adjacent to Col. George Morgan’s famous Morganza farm by 1783.
During the Revolutionary War he served under Captain Robert Miller’s Company, 4th battalion, Washington County, PA militia.
It seems that Gamble did not live in Cecil Township for long, and soon moved to present-day Brooke County, West Virginia, retaining his Cecil lands. He was elected as a magistrate there, but resigned in 1787.
In 1793, he advertised a sawmill and gristmill for sale on the Chartiers Creek, two miles below John Canon’s mill. The same year, he served as a witness to the will of one William Long, along with fellow rioter John Donnell.
In 1799, 3.5 acres of his land in Cecil Township, which now featured three different mills and a two story log house, was seized in court at the behest of John Struthers, to whom Gamble was indebted.
Josias Gamble, along with Samuel and Henry Gamble, were sued in Brooke County, West Virginia due to debt. The Gamble surname seems to have fit these men well.
Gamble’s death details are unknown.
Excise Collectors: William & Richard Graham
Very little is known about the Grahams. Were they brothers? Father and son? No context can be found in the case documents to give us a clue as to who exactly they were. William lived for some time on a plantation in Charlestown Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. His property was situated along the Schuylkill River, bordering the present-day boundary of Valley Forge National Historic Park.
One of the earliest clues to William Graham’s provenance stems from a license for a public house granted to him in 1758 in Charlestown Township. The name and fate of this public house are not known. This happened 26 years before Graham took on his role as excise collector, meaning he was likely a young adult, possibly born sometime before 1740.
In 1767 an ad ran in the Pennsylvania Gazette of a runaway indentured servant girl named Nancy, who was requested to be returned to Graham at the Black Horse Tavern, Market Street, Philadelphia. This was followed by another similar ad the following year, after William Graham’s own servant had escaped from his plantation in Chester County. Graham’s servant was an Irishman who was, shockingly, prone to drinking.
Under at least one instance in 1774, William Graham served as an attorney for Pennsylvania governor John Penn, who was meticulous enough to clarify that Mr. Graham was an “innholder” in court records.
By 1786, both William and Richard Graham owned land in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County. Very little is mentioned of their whereabouts after the riot, and it remains unclear whether or not they stayed in western Pennsylvania or returned east.
References
Bacon, E.M. Supplement to the Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts, United States: Geo. H. Ellis, 1896
Brackenridge, H.H. Incidents of the Insurrection in the Western Parts of Pennsylvania, in the Year 1794, United States: John M'Culloch, 1795
Centenary Memorial of the Planting and Growth of Presbyterianism in Western Pennsylvania…, United States: Benjamin Singerly, 1876
Clemency Files, 1789 A - 1790 M, Records of Pennsylvania’s Revolutionary Governments 1775-1790 (Record Group 27), PA State Archives
Creigh, A. History of Washington County… United States: B. Singerly, 1871
Crumrine, Boyd, Ellis, F., Hungerford, A. N. History of Washington County, Pennsylvania…, United States: L.H. Everts & Co., 1882
Dallas, A.G. History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. United States: L.H. Everts & Co., 1882
Findley, W. History of the Insurrection in the Four Western Counties of Pennsylvania in the Year M.DCC.XCIV, United States: Samuel Harrison Smith, 1796
Forrest, E.R. History of Washington County, Pennsylvania. Vol. 1. United States: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1926.
Guffey, A.S. Colonel Edward Cook and Other Historical Papers, United States, 1941
Hazard, S. Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania… Vol. 16, United States: Theo Fenn & Co, 1853
Hazard, S. Pennsylvania Archives Vol .10, United States: Joseph Severns & Co., 1854
McFarland, J. F. 20th Century History of the City of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens, United States: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910
Mitchell, J.T., Flanders, H.The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania From 1682 to 1801 Vol. 10. United States: Clarence M. Busch, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1896.
Mitchell, J.T., Flanders, H.The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania From 1682 to 1801 Vol. 8. United States: Clarence M. Busch, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1896.
Slaughter, T.P. The Whiskey Rebellion: Frontier Epilogue to the American Revolution, United States:Oxford University Press, 1986
“Pennsylvania Weather Records, 1644-1835.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 15, No. 1, United States: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1891
