John Neville ( general ) John Neville ( July 26 , 1731 – July 29 , 1803 ) was an American military officer , land speculator , and state official who served in the French and Indian War , American Revolutionary War and , as a tax collector , was a central figure in the Whiskey Rebellion . He was the father of Presley Neville . Personal and public life . Neville ' s parents were George Neville , who was kidnapped from England as a boy , and Ann Burroughs , a cousin of Lord Fairfax of Cameron . He was born in Virginia on his father ' s estate near the head of Bull Run ( Occoquan River ) . In 1754 , Neville married Winifred Oldham , also of a prominent Virginian family . Outside of his military service , he was sought - after for government appointments . He was sheriff in Frederick County , Virginia , and although he was appointed the Augusta County delegate to the Virginia Conventions , illness prevented his participation . In 1776 , he was offered a commission as a Yohogania County justice , but he declined and continued his work as a soldier in Pennsylvania . In 1783 , Neville was elected to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania from Washington County . As a result of his family connections over the course of his life , Neville was " as close to being an aristocrat as republican America west of the Alleghenies would allow . " Military Service . Neville served with British General Edward Braddock during the French and Indian War , and fought in Dunmore ' s War in 1774 . Commandant at Fort Pitt when the Revolutionary War began , Neville served in several regiments of the Virginia Line , rising to the rank of colonel and seeing action at Trenton , Princeton , Germantown , and Monmouth . At the end of the Revolutionary War he was awarded a brevet promotion to brigadier general . After the war , Neville was an inspector of revenue under the excise laws , which the newly formed United States Congress imposed on distilled spirits to help pay for the cost of the Revolutionary War . There were two methods of paying the whiskey excise : paying a flat charge or paying by the gallon . The tax effectively favored large distillers , most of whom were based in the east , who produced whiskey in volume and could afford the flat fee . Western farmers who owned small stills did not usually operate them at full capacity , so they ended up paying a higher tax per gallon . Thus , large producers ended up paying a tax of about 6 cents per gallon , while small producers were taxed at about 9 cents per gallon . Events climaxed in 1794 , according to Alexander Hamilton , when shots were fired at Neville and a U . S . Marshal he was escorting through the area to summon to court farmers who had not paid the tax . On July 16 , 1794 , a group of men surrounded the Neville mansion , demanding to see the US Marshal . The confrontation led to Neville ' s shooting of one of the protesters . This further angered the people , and the next day , over 500 again surrounded the home . At least one more protester died , and Neville ' s home , " Bower Hill " , was burned to the ground . This incident persuaded President George Washington to take the drastic action of leading a militia force of 13 , 000 men into western Pennsylvania to squelch the uprising . This response marked the first time under the new Constitution that the federal government had used a strong military presence to exert authority over the nation ' s citizens . In 1802 , the tax was repealed . Legacy . He is buried in Pittsburgh ' s Allegheny Cemetery . Neville built two mansion - style homes near Pittsburgh . The first , " Bower Hill " , was burned in 1794 during the Whiskey Rebellion , and the second , " Woodville " , survives today ; owned by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation , it is a National Historic Landmark . Neville Island , Pennsylvania , is named after Gen . John Neville .