Whiskey Rebellion’s history stretches into Greene County

You won’t find any Whiskey Rebels from Greene County while looking through the history books detailing the region’s infamous Whiskey Insurrection.
That’s because the rebellion that raged in Western Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1794 over the federal government’s decision to tax grain alcohol had been quashed by the time Greene County broke away from Washington County and formed Feb. 9, 1796.
But that doesn’t mean there weren’t any rebels living in these hills.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
This memorial erected for the Rev. John Corbly in 1963 is located at the Garards Fort Cemetery and lists many of his achievements. It makes no mention of the role he played in the Whiskey Insurrection.
The Rev. John Corbly, the Baptist preacher who’s better known for surviving the attack by natives who killed his wife and three children near Garards Fort, was one of those rebels.
Fed up with the federal government’s Excise Whiskey Tax of 1791, coupled with its lackadaisical response to security concerns on the frontier after the Garards Fort massacre on May 10, 1782, Corbly quietly conspired with his fellow frontiersmen to push back against the tax.
“They’re not wealthy farmers,” says Clay Kilgore, director of the Washington County Historical Society and one of the organizers of the annual Whiskey Rebellion Festival in Washington. “They’re poor and not in the business to make a lot of money. They’re trading goods on the barter system, and (the federal government) is taxing their money. Whiskey is their money in a lot of ways.”
Corbly established 30 Baptist churches in the western parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and that barter system helped to pay many preachers at the time, says William Miller, a Garards Fort native and Corbly descendant.
“Even the Baptists took a sip now and then,” Miller says. “Some of the circuit-riding preachers were paid in whiskey.”
As one of Washington Academy’s first trustees, Corbly was introduced to the insurrection’s leader, David Bradford, also a school trustee, in the late 1780s. But besides attending a few meetings with other rebels at Mingo Creek, Miller thinks Corbly’s involvement in the actual rebellion was limited. He was appointed to form a committee while meeting with other conspirators in Brownsville, and he may have even spread news of the insurrection while traveling around the region preaching.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
William Miller, a descendant of the Rev. John Corbly, stands in front of the historic Corbly house that was built near Garards Fort in 1796 just after Corbly was released from federal custody after being accused of participating in the Whiskey Insurrection that swept through Western Pennsylvania in the early 1790s.
“They’re not getting anything from their taxes. He was pretty strong in expressing that sentiment,” Miller says. “It seemed like he was a minor player, but on a fundamental standpoint, he was pretty outspoken with the Whiskey Act.”
And that’s what got Corbly swept up in the federal government’s crackdown.
Nearly 13,000 troopers commanded afar by President George Washington descended on Western Pennsylvania to crush the armed resistance in October 1794. Corbly and several others were arrested Nov. 13, 1794, by Capt. John Dunlap. At age 61, Corbly and 19 other prisoners were marched to Philadelphia in brutal winter conditions, arriving in the U.S. capital at the time on Christmas Day 1794.
“They were in pretty bad shape – the guards and the prisoners – when they arrived,” Miller says, adding they were paraded before Washington. “That was his only chance to see the president.”
John Mitchell and Phillip Weigel (or Vigol) were convicted of treason June 15, 1795, although petitions were sent to Washington to spare their lives. Not wanting to fracture the new nation, Washington pardoned the two men on July 10, 1795.
Meanwhile, Corbly spent several months in prison before a grand jury returned an “ignoramus” indictment, meaning he should not be charged with any crimes. However, he later was accused of conspiracy to levy war against the United States government when the grand jury returned a “true bill” to the charge on May 11, 1795. He spent the next 11 months awaiting trial before prosecutors decided to drop the charge against him on April 4, 1796.
“After he got to Philadelphia, he wrote a letter (home) trying to say how well they were treated,” Miller says. “I think the intent was to get him off on a lighter sentence.”

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
The historic Corbly house was built near Garards Fort in 1796 just after the Rev. John Corbly was released from federal custody after being accused of participating in the Whiskey Insurrection that swept through western Pennsylvania in the early 1790s.

The Rev. John Corbly was one of the rebels taken to Philadelphia in 1794. Corbly is listed as being from Washington County since Greene County didn’t form until about two years later.
His release came less than two months after Pennsylvania officially created a new county named after Revolutionary War hero Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene, meaning Corbly left his home in Washington County a Whiskey Rebel and came home to Greene County a free man. Col. John Minor of Greene Township traveled to Philadelphia to escort Corbly back, although the two never found each and Corbly eventually made it home safely.
Greene County boasts other connections to the Whiskey Rebellion.
Thomas Sedgwick, a justice of the peace, and Col. William Crawford were arrested with Corbly and taken to Philadelphia, but released nearly a year before Corbly.
Thomas Hughes, who lived in what is now Jefferson, was accused of being part of the “blackened party” that attacked the home of Capt. William Faulkner.
John Badolet of Greensboro was a friend of Albert Gallatin and went to meetings in Pittsburgh in August 1982.
Joseph Carr helped to return the body of James McFarlane after his death during the rebel attack on John Neville’s house near Pittsburgh.
Kilgore, the historian and Whiskey Rebellion re-enactor, notes farmers in the northern and southern parts of 18th century Washington County faced the same issues.
“Life south of Ten Mile (Creek) was really the same as north of it,” Kilgore says. “It’s still the frontier.”
Miller’s research into Corbly’s role in the Whiskey Rebellion prompted him to ask Kilgore to be the featured speaker as this year’s 87th annual Corbly family reunion in Garards Fort. The June 24 reunion will begin with a 9:30 a.m. service at John Corbly Memorial Baptist Church in Garards Fort, followed by Kilgore’s program.
“We try to cover a different aspect of Corbly’s life every year,” Miller says. “The Whiskey Rebellion is one of the highlights since he was involved in that.”