The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1892-04-20
Always Made the Stuff.
History os the Illicit SIM In this
Region


because Of its almost impenetrable woods,
its caves and ravines that promise safety to
the Moonshiner" from the prying eyes CT
spoilers, detectives and revenue officers.
The Moonshiners" are mostly small far
niers, bat make no pretent.ons 70 oultivat-
ing their barren acres, further than 70 raise
little rye. Whilst the people are willy and
sscreiiye 50 fa- as the "MOORshiner bust
ness is concerned. sill they are not half SO
bad ss they are painted. As class they are
intensely ignorant and live in the crudest,
most primitive way.
Their homesiare built Of rongh, axe-heSn
slabs, and they rarely contain more than one
room; used for al household purposes. The
lo. IS devoted to. sleeping purposes The
only animals they raise are hogs fat;ened on
the stops Of the still The principal food Is
rye bread and salt pork. Strangers seeking
hospitality would be welcome II they had
any thing to ofer, bat their larder IS gen.
orally exhausted al the end Of day. and
feed for horse is u1obiAinable. In the val
ley at the foot OF the mountains, the way
hser finds the thrifty German farmer with
his big red barns, whose hospitality Is pro-
verbal, presenting startling contrast to the
denizens of the mountain only few miles
away
During the stirring days Of the war, jon
a.Ean C. Hochsteiles came TO this county
from Washington county. near the West
Virginis line, where he had been inducted
into the mysteries ofthe " MoolshineT busi-
ness he located in the mountain two or
three miles back Of the nov historicshsmlet
OF Trent. Hochste.ler vas then a man Of
. years, q typical backwoodsnan, bat with
a good deal Of natural shTewdness. one Of
MS first enterprises was to erect an ulicit
still: and the next was 70 establish the
oaih-bouud fraternity called the Freund-
ssholf. every member Of which was sworn
to secrecy with biood-curdling oath, and
sp-inkled with the rsgenerating dew Of
Hoehstetler's Illicit still. U0eh sietlers ex-
ample was followed til tie mountain side
Was dotted with illicit stills, and every mem
Der Of the E" Freundschoftr owned one The
establishment Of this society vas som
nOised among the farmers along the adjoin-
ing boarasrs Of Fayst,e and Wessmorelaad,
but they were all afraid Of the Moon
shiners and would not give them away.
As the years passed BY the noonshinsrs~
become bolder until there were placcs only
4 few miles from Somerses where a man
could lay down a coin and = bottle, walk
OF and coming back in = Little while would
fad bis bottle mirAculcusiy Glled with
dew
Everything moved along smoothly until
Miller and Hoohsteiler got into a quarrel
and then there vas 4 rupture al
along tie line. Miller vas supp.Anring
HOehstetlsr as leader OF the " Frsaad-
schoa." To get even the latter established
another secret organization aud named il
the New Constitution
The ons'ituGoa was drawn up in formal
style. the articles we're numbered aud in one
Of tbem each member was bound to compass
the death Of any msa whom HOchstetler
designated es an enemy Of the order. As 10
grammar and orthography il was remark
bic composition, aud Would MAKE entertain
in. reading If = copy oould be procured al
tbs DAY. The members pretended to have
no iears Of local ofticisls, bat stood in nor
tsl terror Of L. 5 Revenue officers, and to
guard against any interruption Of their lie
gal trzfic, they established an elaborate sys-
tenn Of pass words and signals by Shich
any threatened inroais on tteir secrecy
could be rapidly passed from one house to
another.
But Miller was too smart f0r Hoehstetler
and acquired such influence over these Law
less people that Hochsieiler became jealous
Of his power. This jealousy grew from day
TO day Until il finally resulted in Hoehste;-
Ter giving information 10 the government
against Miller and Others as Illicit distillers.
aai Hochstetler's murder followed as con-
sequence Of this sction on his part.
But to go back % the beginning Of the IL
licit making Of whiskey in western Penn
sylvania, we dnd that it dates almost with
the establishment Of the federal govern
ment- As early as 1850, untaxei whiskey
seemed to have been made all through the
counties Of Washington, Fayette, WeStmore-
land aud Bedford. tSOmerset county had
no, then been organized.] The original set
tiers OF this region seemed to labor under
the delusion that rye was the only crop that
could be produced in this high, cold latitude,
and to make i, marketable and profitable ii
was thought bes; 10 convert it into whisksy,
a. it was an easy matte. to evade the collec-
ton Of the tax which was then levied By
the State.
The state law leyying = tax on distilled
spirits was repealed, and in 1871 Congress
passed general excise Law, which Was de-
fed Is the State law had been, and finally
resulted in what IS known in the history OF
the State as the q Whiskey Insurrection."
A man by the name OF David Bradford
came 10 Washington county in I7sl, from
Maryland; was admitted to the bar and sf-
tsrwsrd elected TO the legislature, and be
come the leader in the war against the ex-
else tax. Under his leadership the feeling Of
the opPOnsnts Of the whiskey tar became
so em5ittsrei that force OF some 500 was
mustered 81 BrzddOck's Field, BY Bradford,
in 1895, threatening to move on Pittsburgh
and burn the town, because it was looked
on as the headquarters Of the excise men.
Bradford did march his men to Pittsburgh,
but they did nothing more than get drunk,
set FIRE to the tOEu hall aud the house Of
one Of its prominent men, and march on
through.
The anti-ezcise people had now assumed
50 bold front that Washington called for
1900 troops. which were placed under the
command of General Lee, e. Light Horse
Harry and advanced as far as Bedford,
where a consultation was held with the
Pennsylvania authorities, and It vas decid-
ed TO allow the people Of the counties Of
Washington, Allegheny, WestnoreIand and
F4yette to decide whether or not they
should obey the laws and end all these
troubles A vote Ess taken in September,
1923, and the people decided BY large ma
jority 10 hold out against the whiskey tar,
although such men as Gallstin and Breckin-
ridge eOun.eled submission.
President Washington had now Joined
General lee at Bedford, and be ordered the
army to advance. Part Of il marched
through Somerzet and ezmpsd at Mt. P.ess-
ant the other portion took the old Brad
dock route and went into camp at ferry on
the MoEong.hels river. In small parties
the troops secured the whole region. Those