American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Stampless cover, 1p, 8 1/4 x 13 1/2 in. (creasing at folds, small tears and chipping at edges, light soil). Addressed to Mrs. Mary McCorkle, East Nottingham Town, Chester County [PA].

Writing from President George Washington's headquarters at Carlisle, PA, William McCorkle describes for his mother events associated with the suppression of the violent tax protests of the Whiskey Rebellion. The letter reads, in part: "...I am now in Carlisle & having to start for Shippensburgh tomorrow morning which is 21 miles [.] we lay two Days at Lancaster we are all in good spirits...None of us Knows when we will Return exactly...there will be nothing to do but gow A little further and frighten them A little more as there is men Coming in to camp beging for Mercy there is not one now in arms but what is fled there is some about this town fled to the Mountain for shelter. The Philadelphia Light Horse has shott a man stabbed another with their bayonet of these insurgents...the Philadelphia & Jersey troops is gone before us the army enjoys all a good state of health...." McCorkle closes his letter "Give Honour to our County as Long a we Do Live and Laugh all those to scorn [wh]o shall say any thing against Government or the Laws of the Land."

The Whiskey Rebellion began in 1791, but reached its climax in 1794 when a force of disaffected tax protesters attacked and destroyed the home of a tax inspector. President George Washington acted swiftly to quell the growing rebellion, gathering an army of approx. 12,000 militiamen, including William McCorkle, to disperse the rebels.

[With:] Small archive of approx. 22 items including letters, documents, receipts, and other ephemera associated with the McCorkle family of Chester County, Pennsylvania, ca 1761-1813. Documents seem to indicate that James McCorkle (?-1780) and Mary Todd McCorkle immigrated from Ireland ca early 1760s and settled in Pennsylvania. Group includes a letter written by John McCorkle to his brother James McCorkle from "Patapsco [MD] Encampment July 2nd 1813" during the War of 1812. Content primarily relates to the soldier's anticipated discharge.