St Clair Cemetery, Mt Lebanon, Allegheny Co, PA

Search for cemetery records in Saint Clair Cemetery, PA at by entering a surname and clicking search:

Restrict search to

Surname

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Higher Taxes Lead to Angry Mob at the Miller Place in Allegheny County

Recently, a reader requested information on the MILLER family that I talked about in my blog on "Tax the Whiskey?". The blog entry provided a little information about the Whiskey Rebellion which took place in southwestern Pennsylvania some 215 years ago.

At the time, the fledgling government needed money to pay its debts, so Alexander Hamilton decided it was time to tax the whiskey. The good folk in Pennsylvania were opposed to this move, as trading whiskey was the typical way to do business. Cash was a rare way to buy something back then.

Funny, but in writing this, I could almost change the year and a few words, and I'd be talking about today.

Anyway, back to the past. The farm on which the shot was fired during the flaring tempers of the Whiskey Rebellion was the Oliver Miller Homestead. The home is located in South Park in Allegheny Co, and is now a museum. I've been there and felt the presence of my past. I should, as it was a family home.

The house was built by Oliver Miller, who was born in Antrim, Ireland, and emigrated to Cecil Co, Maryland. He and his family came to Pennsylvania around 1770.

Oliver died in 1782, and left the farm to son James who married Mary SMITH. Mary SMITH was my aunt as her sister married my 4th greatgrandfather.

To answer the question proposed by a reader takes some digging. Oliver was the son of Alexander MILLER who died 1765 and is buried in Northampton Co, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Mary, had several children.

I trust this information will lead my reader to find the answer of her genealogy question. Let me know!

No comments: