To George Washington from “Incog.,” 10 June 1795
From “Incog.”
Philad. June 10th 1795.
Dear Sir,
The Supreme Judiciary of the United States have passed sentence of death on two of the Western Insurgents. Execution to be done on the 17th inst.1 I have never seen either of the men; nor do I know any thing about them more than what I have heard, viz. “That they were the simple blind-led tools, of Prime Movers who have eluded justice either by flight, or by availing themselves of Governmental clemency—That one of them has a wife and six children the other a wife and four children[”]—Now Sir, there is no man on earth who can restore these husbands and fathers to the endearing and unoffending connections of wives and children but yourself. Of the propriety or impropriety of pardoning these unfortunate offenders you are the judge I am not—While I write I feel pain both on their and your account and at the same time that negative pleasure of not being subjected to the conflict which your duty on the one hand and your humanity on the other must necessarily excite.
May He who has made his Angels encamp around you and I, He who has made his ministers defend us against such flagrant evils, may he direct you in this instance to that decision which will most promote the public good, give you the greatest tranquility here, and add one other act to those for which I ardently pray you may be the subject of that joyful sentence of approbation “Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joys of thy Lord!”2 I am your affectionate friend and Humble servt
Incog.
ALS, DLC:GW.
1. Philip Vigol (Weigle) and John Mitchell were among the 150 men arrested in response to the western Pennsylvania insurrection against the excise tax. For Mitchell’s arrest, see Daniel Morgan to GW, 19 Jan., and William Bradford to GW, 9 March. Legal proceedings began at the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on 4 May. There, Attorney General William Bradford charged thirty-five prisoners with treason for levying war against the United States by acts of forceful resistance against the excise. Ten individuals stood trial, including Vigol and Mitchell.
Vigol, a yeoman from Fayette County, Pa., entered a plea of not guilty. Witnesses placed him in the group that ransacked the homes of two revenue collectors, including Benjamin Wells, and forced them to relinquish their offices. Vigol was also identified as one of the insurgents at Couch’s Fort prior to the attack on inspector John Nevill’s home and as a participant in threats made to Marshal David Lenox (see Henry Knox to GW, 4 Aug. 1794, n.3, and Alexander Hamilton to GW, 5 Aug. 1794, and notes 47–50). Court-appointed attorneys William Lewis and Moses Levy argued that Vigol acted under duress and that the indictment erred regarding the dates of the offenses and the number of participants. The jury deliberated for five hours before it reached a verdict of guilty, delivered on 23 May.
Mitchell’s trial took place on 25 May and lasted eleven hours. Prosecutors identified him as one of the participants who robbed the Pittsburgh mail on 26 July 1794. Witnesses placed Mitchell at the gathering at Couch’s Fort and said that he assisted in the burning of Nevill’s home and participated in the march to Braddock’s Field (see GW to Knox, 8 Aug. 1794, n.2, and Hamilton to GW, 12 Aug. 1794, n.1). Mitchell’s court-appointed attorneys, Edward Tilghman and Joseph Thomas, argued that his actions amounted to less serious charges than treason, but within fifteen minutes the jury returned a verdict of guilty.
Both men were sentenced to be hanged on 17 June, and they were the only two individuals convicted of treason. For a summary of their trials, see Francis Wharton, State Trials of the United States during the Administrations of Washington and Adams … (Philadelphia, 1849), 175–84; John D. Lawson, ed., American State Trials (St. Louis, 1919), 11:631–46; Richard A. Ifft, “Treason in the Early Republic: The Federal Courts, Popular Protest, and Federalism during the Whiskey Insurrection,” in The Whiskey Rebellion: Past and Present Perspectives, Steven R. Boyd, ed. (Westport, Conn., 1985), 172–82, 192–97; and Mary K. Bonsteel Tachau, “Treason and the Whiskey ‘Insurrection,’” in Historic U.S. Court Cases: an Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., John W. Johnson, ed. (New York, 2001), 34–36.
Supreme Court Justice William Paterson, who presided over the two trials, sent brief narratives of the two cases to Edmund Randolph via the attorney general on 6 June, “at the request of the President” (DLC:GW). GW issued stays of execution on 16 and 17 June and pardoned the two men on 2 Nov. 1795 (see Vigol Stay of Execution, 16 June, and n.1).
2. This statement is taken from Matthew 25:21, King James Version.