Wigle tells story of Whiskey Rebellion in Scott Township
There once was a rebellion in Scott Township where citizens rose up and banded together against what they claimed was an oppressive government, one they felt was encroaching on their freedoms, liberties and livelihoods.
They torched homes and assaulted tax collectors, and they did it all in the name of whiskey.
In honor of the Whiskey Rebellion that culminated in July 1794 with the burning of John Neville’s home on Bower Hill, history buffs, whiskey enthusiasts and prospective residents gathered at Providence Point in Scott Township earlier this month to taste local spirits from Wigle Whiskey in Pittsburgh and learn about the rebellion that happened in their own backyard.
“You really are right in the middle of the Whiskey Rebellion,” Providence Point marketing director Eileen Moore told the group of roughly 40 seniors invited by mail to attend the event and a presentation on retirement home’s newest expansion project.
The rebellion began with an act against Col. John Neville, whose mansion was right down the road from Providence Point on Kane Boulevard. He was the area’s only enforcer of a new whiskey tax and thus the Rebellion’s first target. While his family hid at Old St. Luke’s Church near Carnegie, the rebels torched his home.
The rebellion spread throughout Western Pennsylvania. The Oliver Miller Homestead, now a museum in South Park, served as a meeting place of the rebels. Kinder’s Mill in Washington County was said to have been the site of a meeting of 29 residents who swore allegiance to the new Constitution at the end of the rebellion. Woodville Plantation, another of Neville’s properties, still stands in Collier Township and the Scott Conservancy maintains the Whiskey Boy trails on which the rebels once marched.
“Does anyone know who sponsored the whiskey tax?” Moore asked the audience.
“Trump!” shouted an attendee, before the whiskey even started flowing.
Actually, Alexander Hamilton was the man behind the tariff that inspired the uprising. He thought a tax on whiskey could help the fledgling nation recoup some of the costs of the Revolutionary War. But for Western Pennsylvanian farmers, the cost was too high and the payment too complex to comply.
“He was not a very popular person,” Wigle Whiskey’s Kallie Tomiczek said. “In fact, he was the villain of Philip Wigle’s story.”
Wigle, the namesake of Wigle Whiskey, was a “rebellious, not-so-nice person” who helped to lead the rebellion and made his mark on spirits in Pittsburgh. The folks at Wigle Whiskey began their distillery in the Strip District about five years ago to bring whiskey back to its roots. After the rebellion, whiskey production moved largely to Canada, where they were no whiskey tariffs, and Kentucky, where land was cheap.
Tomiczek brought four spirits and one cocktail for the guests at Providence Point to sample. Each sample was paired with a dish from the chef at Providence Point. Tomiczek described the differences in the distilling process between the wheat, the rye whiskey, a Pennsylvania bourbon and Landlocked Spiced, a special honey mead spirit that’s closer to rum than whiskey.
She advised the audience on the proper way to taste the complex flavors of the Pittsburgh-made spirits. First, open your mouth and nose and take a breath to experience the scent of the whiskey. Breathe it in. Then take a sip and hold it on your tongue. Let yourself taste all of the flavors and when it starts to tingle, drink it down.
“Or just knock it back,” she said.
Before the whiskey tasting, Moore presented information about the community’s new Hamilton Tower project. The building will be directly adjacent to Providence Point’s main building and will house 80 additional one- and two-bedroom units.
Occupancy is planned for early in 2019, but before they can break ground, they need to have 70 percent of the units reserved. Events like the whiskey tasting are being planned to entice prospective residents into making deposits and ensuring the project’s completion while giving them a taste of what life in the community is like.
But why name the new building after Hamilton, who was so hated in the region during the Whiskey Rebellion?
“Well, he deserves his moment, too,” Moore said.