The late 18th Century in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the nation, were turbulent times of change. The Revolutionary War was over, and a new Federal Government had been established, but times were uncertain. The frontier line edged along the western limits of Greene, at the time part of Washington County, and Indian attacks stemming from the tragic murder of Chief Cornstalk years before were still an ever-present threat.
The new Federal Government was in a great deal of debt, stemming from the Revolutionary War, and government debt meant taxes. In 1791, upon a report of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton an Excise Tax was passed. Ten to twenty-five cents would be taken by the new Federal Government for every gallon of domestic distilled liquor. It was thought that the revenue brought in by the excise tax would alleviate the burden of the debt assumed by the government from the various states, accrued over the time since independence was declared in 1776.
At that time, nowhere else in the United States could as many whiskey stills be found amongst the populace as here in western Pennsylvania. Nearly all of them were individually owned and provided a great deal of income to farmers whose only method of liquidating their excess crops was by converting them to whiskey to be sold or traded over the Allegheny Mountains in eastern Pennsylvania.
Inspectors were created by the Federal Government and were paid, by account of the frontier settlers, exorbitant salaries. Soon protests would erupt, and a large-scale rebellion would erupt. Inspectors and tax collectors would be tarred and feathered, and farmers refused to register their stills. The Federal Government promised to seize all shipments of whiskey on packhorses being sent over the Allegheny Mountains for sale elsewhere. The local citizens petitioned the government, and the tax on whiskey was lowered, but otherwise their cries went unheard.
The Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania was the first major test of the new Federal Government. Prior to this time, the Federal Government had not applied a direct tax on the people and had funded itself largely from tariffs from international trade, and though the burden placed on the citizens of western Pennsylvania by this excise tax was great, it did stick. The Whiskey Rebels would also stick to their guns.
In July of 1794 a militia of local farmers formed at Braddock’s Field to bring a stop once and for all on the Excise Tax. President George Washington would respond by issuing a proclamation demanding that the rebels disperse. He invoked the Militia Act of 1792, allowing him to use local militias to bring an end to the rebellion. Nearly thirteen thousand militiamen were brought in from surrounding states to end the rebellion. While no real battle ensued, about 150 rebels were arrested, two of which were convicted of treason.
The Reverend John Corbly, a resident of Garards Fort, also known for the massacre of his family at the hands of the Indians in 1782, is perhaps the most well-known person from this corner of Pennsylvania to have taken part in the Whiskey Rebellion. Corbly was one of the most outspoken participants from this area and had drawn the attention of the Federal Government as a leading rebel. The Reverend John Corbly was brought under suspicion and was marched to Philadelphia. He was tried and found not guilty of treason but was found guilty of lesser charges.
Corbly was born February 25, 1733, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in the small but mighty English Nation. Little is known of his early life, but he must have been born of very humble origins as it is recorded that at the age of 14, he indentured himself into voluntary servitude to pay for his transport to the colonies in the Americas. He faithfully served out his time in Pennsylvania, and at around age 18 moved to Winchester, Virginia.
Not long after he arrived in Virginia, he became acquainted with a young lady by the name of Miss Abigail Bull who soon became his first wife. John and Abigail would settle in Berkley County, Virginia. There he would find the second, and perhaps most important love of his life, The Gospel of Christ. The Elder John Garrard, a minister of the Baptist faith was a prominent and zealous preacher of the Gospel in that area. When Garrard came to know the young John Corbly, the state of his soul and salvation became an important topic. Elder Garrard must have had an unforgettable effect on Corbly, as at once he converted to Christianity and his life was consecrated to bringing others to the Baptist faith.
The now Reverend John Corbly took the commands of the scripture seriously and began preaching the Gospel with such zeal that other denominations would persecute him in his efforts. He suffered many trials and tribulations, assaults, beatings and even was arrested and placed in the Culpepper Jail sometime around 1768. But Corbly’s faith was strong, and he preached even during his confinement.
This time in prison however, along with the recent death of his wife Abigail, may have led to Corbly’s desire to find a new home where he could freely preach the Word as he saw fit. In 1769 or 1770, Corbly, like so many others in the Colony of Virginia, would make the hard trek to the lands near the Monongahela River. He found a tract of land near the head waters of Whitely Creek where many of his friends and acquaintances were soon to settle. Among that early group of settlers were many members of the Garrard Family, no doubt relations of Corbly’s old friend Elder John Garrard. Corbly would marry his second wife Elizabeth. She was killed in the attack in 1782. Less than a decade later that Corbly would play his role in the Whiskey Rebellion.
John Corbly was pardoned for his activity in the Whiskey Rebellion in November in 1794, along with all the other rebels arrested in 1794, including the two found guilty of treason, and the Whiskey Rebellion would be over.
This test of the Federal Government would cement the idea that the newly established constitution did indeed have the authority to enact laws and taxes and maintain the union of the states, and the aftermath of this time proved that the new nation would stand united. The Whiskey Rebellion is now commemorated each year by a festival held in Washington, PA each July.
