David Bradford (lawyer)
Encyclopedia
David Bradford was a successful lawyer and deputy attorney-general
for Washington County, Pennsylvania
in the late 18th century. He was infamous for his association with the Whiskey Rebellion
, and his fictionalized escape to the Spanish-owned territory of West Florida
(modern-day Louisiana
) with soldiers at his tail. He was later pardoned by President John Adams
for his actions. Today, his family's home in Washington, Pennsylvania
is a national landmark and museum.
and Pennsylvania
. It wasn't until March 28, 1781 the drawing of the Mason-Dixon Line
officially gave this land to Pennsylvania. Washington County was erected out of Westmoreland County
at that time, and Washington
, the county seat, was laid out by David Hoge later that same year. The following year, 1782, David Bradford, who was born in Maryland
about 1760, came to town. Court records indicate that in April 1782 he was the sixth attorney to be admitted to the Washington County Bar Association
. A brilliant young lawyer, he quickly established a very successful practice, and by 1783 he had been appointed deputy attorney-general for Washington County.
David Bradford had important family connections in town. One of his sisters, Agnes, had married John McDowell, a prominent local attorney; another sister, Jane, had married Col. James Allison, a lawyer who had settled in the Chartiers Valley in 1774. Both McDowell and Allison were elders in the Rev. John McMillan's Chartiers Church, and they also were among the first trustees of both Canonsburg
and Washington Academies. David Bradford joined his brothers-in-law as a trustee of Washington College (now Washington & Jefferson College
), and was appointed a member of the building committee. He was instrumental in building McMillan Hall
at Washington College, which is one of the oldest surviving educational buildings in the nation and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Bradford also became active in political affairs, and by 1791 he was becoming more and more absorbed in the escalating protest over a whiskey tax which had been levied by the federal government
that year, and the general treatment of Western Pennsylvanians by the East.
, an insurrection that was caused, in part, by the lack of federal courts (which necessitated trips to Philadelphia for trial), large numbers of absentee landlords, conflicts with American Indians
, and, most importantly, the high excise tax
on whiskey. President George Washington
ordered 13,000 troops to the Washington, Pennsylvania area as the first test of the power of the new government. When the militias arrived in Monongahela, Pennsylvania
, they began arresting suspected rebels. Among those who had warrants out for their arrest was Bradford.
. A touch-and-go gun battle with his pursuers went on all night but he managed to slip through by staying close to the opposite shore of the river.
"The next night Bradford encountered the skipper of a keelboat who was also fleeing the region for his part in the rebellion. Just as they were about to depart for New Orleans the following morning, the boat was boarded by a party of soldiers. The crew of the keelboat helped to disarm the troops and throw them in the river, pelting them with lumps of coal from the cargo aboard the boat. As the soggy soldiers sloshed ashore the keelboat headed downriver to freedom."
Once Bradford reached Louisiana
, he sent for the rest of his family.
to what is now Portsmouth, Ohio
and (possibly later) to Spanish West Florida (New Orleans). According to the former historical collections director at Washington and Jefferson College, Charles M. Ewing, Federal authorities were most likely not too anxious to catch Bradford, as they did not want a difficult situation on their hands. Bradford apparently didn't even want to leave, but was persuaded to do so by some of the other leaders of the insurrection, who for their own reasons, wanted him out of the way.
David Bradford was discovered by some of the troops while he was on a coal barge not far from Pittsburgh, en route to Spanish lands. The ship's captain, a Captain Keene, and crew, apparently saw to it that Bradford was not bothered by the troops. Keene later was involved in the Aaron Burr conspiracy and lived for a while near Bradford in Louisiana
.
In 1797, David completed a home, the now famed "Most Haunted House in America", The Myrtles Plantation
in St. Francisville. His wife, Elizabeth, and children joined him shortly thereafter. He soon became a wealthy planter. After being pardoned by President John Adams
in March 1799, he returned to Washington, Pennsylvania at least once, in 1801, to officially sell his house.
In Testemony whereof. I have hereto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed this ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thou. and seven hundred and ninety-nine, and in the Twenty-third year of the Independence of the said United States
John Adams, By the President, Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State."
in 1788, which, by frontier standards, ranked as a mansion. The handsome stairway was solid mahogany; the mantel-pieces and other interior furnishings, imported from Philadelphia, were transported across the Alleghenies at considerable expense. The David Bradford House
was declared a National Historic Landmark
in 1983.
The Myrtles Plantation was built in 1794 by General David Bradford and was called Laurel Grove at the time. General Bradford lived there alone for several years, until being pardoned for his role in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1799. He then moved his wife Elizabeth and their five children to the plantation from Pennsylvania.
United States Deputy Attorney General
United States Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. In the United States federal government, the Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department of Justice, and may act as Attorney General during the...
for Washington County, Pennsylvania
Washington County, Pennsylvania
-Government and politics:As of November 2008, there are 152,534 registered voters in Washington County .* Democratic: 89,027 * Republican: 49,025 * Other Parties: 14,482...
in the late 18th century. He was infamous for his association with the Whiskey Rebellion
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion, or Whiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States in the 1790s, during the presidency of George Washington. Farmers who sold their corn in the form of whiskey had to pay a new tax which they strongly resented...
, and his fictionalized escape to the Spanish-owned territory of West Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
(modern-day Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
) with soldiers at his tail. He was later pardoned by President John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
for his actions. Today, his family's home in Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Pittsburgh Metro Area in the southwestern part of the state...
is a national landmark and museum.
Political life
Throughout the early 18th century, what is now Washington County was claimed by both VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. It wasn't until March 28, 1781 the drawing of the Mason-Dixon Line
Mason-Dixon line
The Mason–Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It forms a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and...
officially gave this land to Pennsylvania. Washington County was erected out of Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 369,993 people, 149,813 households, and 104,569 families residing in the county. The population density was 361 people per square mile . There were 161,058 housing units at an average density of 157 per square mile...
at that time, and Washington
Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Pittsburgh Metro Area in the southwestern part of the state...
, the county seat, was laid out by David Hoge later that same year. The following year, 1782, David Bradford, who was born in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
about 1760, came to town. Court records indicate that in April 1782 he was the sixth attorney to be admitted to the Washington County Bar Association
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
. A brilliant young lawyer, he quickly established a very successful practice, and by 1783 he had been appointed deputy attorney-general for Washington County.
David Bradford had important family connections in town. One of his sisters, Agnes, had married John McDowell, a prominent local attorney; another sister, Jane, had married Col. James Allison, a lawyer who had settled in the Chartiers Valley in 1774. Both McDowell and Allison were elders in the Rev. John McMillan's Chartiers Church, and they also were among the first trustees of both Canonsburg
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Canonsburg is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Pittsburgh. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 1802....
and Washington Academies. David Bradford joined his brothers-in-law as a trustee of Washington College (now Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College, also known as W & J College or W&J, is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, in the United States, which is south of Pittsburgh...
), and was appointed a member of the building committee. He was instrumental in building McMillan Hall
McMillan Hall (Washington & Jefferson College)
McMillan Hall is a building on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. Built in 1793, it is the only surviving building from Washington Academy...
at Washington College, which is one of the oldest surviving educational buildings in the nation and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Bradford also became active in political affairs, and by 1791 he was becoming more and more absorbed in the escalating protest over a whiskey tax which had been levied by the federal government
Federal government
The federal government is the common government of a federation. The structure of federal governments varies from institution to institution. Based on a broad definition of a basic federal political system, there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and...
that year, and the general treatment of Western Pennsylvanians by the East.
The Whiskey Rebellion
By 1794, Bradford had become a prominent figure in the Whiskey RebellionWhiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion, or Whiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States in the 1790s, during the presidency of George Washington. Farmers who sold their corn in the form of whiskey had to pay a new tax which they strongly resented...
, an insurrection that was caused, in part, by the lack of federal courts (which necessitated trips to Philadelphia for trial), large numbers of absentee landlords, conflicts with American Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, and, most importantly, the high excise tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
on whiskey. President George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
ordered 13,000 troops to the Washington, Pennsylvania area as the first test of the power of the new government. When the militias arrived in Monongahela, Pennsylvania
Monongahela, Pennsylvania
Monongahela, colloquially called "Mon City," is a Third Class City in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area, located approximately south of the city proper. The population was 4,761 at the 2000 census...
, they began arresting suspected rebels. Among those who had warrants out for their arrest was Bradford.
Bradford's legendary escape
According to Harriet Branton's book, David Bradford and His House, Bradford was at home on October 25, 1794, when he was warned of the approach of a cavalry unit with orders to capture him. Bradford leaped from a rear window of his house onto his waiting horse, galloping off into the night. With the soldiers in hot pursuit of him (there was a price of $500 on his head), Bradford made it to McKees Rocks, where he traded his "faithful grey horse" for a skiff and set out down the Ohio RiverOhio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
. A touch-and-go gun battle with his pursuers went on all night but he managed to slip through by staying close to the opposite shore of the river.
"The next night Bradford encountered the skipper of a keelboat who was also fleeing the region for his part in the rebellion. Just as they were about to depart for New Orleans the following morning, the boat was boarded by a party of soldiers. The crew of the keelboat helped to disarm the troops and throw them in the river, pelting them with lumps of coal from the cargo aboard the boat. As the soggy soldiers sloshed ashore the keelboat headed downriver to freedom."
Once Bradford reached Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, he sent for the rest of his family.
The real escape
Contrary to popular legend, Bradford did not leap from a rear window to escape arrest. Rather, he left Washington at a leisurely pace and went to Pittsburgh. From there he took a coal barge down the Ohio RiverOhio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
to what is now Portsmouth, Ohio
Portsmouth, Ohio
Portsmouth is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Scioto County. The municipality is located on the northern banks of the Ohio River and east of the Scioto River in Southern Ohio. The population was 20,226 at the 2010 census.-Foundation:...
and (possibly later) to Spanish West Florida (New Orleans). According to the former historical collections director at Washington and Jefferson College, Charles M. Ewing, Federal authorities were most likely not too anxious to catch Bradford, as they did not want a difficult situation on their hands. Bradford apparently didn't even want to leave, but was persuaded to do so by some of the other leaders of the insurrection, who for their own reasons, wanted him out of the way.
David Bradford was discovered by some of the troops while he was on a coal barge not far from Pittsburgh, en route to Spanish lands. The ship's captain, a Captain Keene, and crew, apparently saw to it that Bradford was not bothered by the troops. Keene later was involved in the Aaron Burr conspiracy and lived for a while near Bradford in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
In 1797, David completed a home, the now famed "Most Haunted House in America", The Myrtles Plantation
Myrtles Plantation
The Myrtles Plantation is an antebellum plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the plantation is a bed and breakfast, and it offers historical and mystery tours.-History:...
in St. Francisville. His wife, Elizabeth, and children joined him shortly thereafter. He soon became a wealthy planter. After being pardoned by President John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
in March 1799, he returned to Washington, Pennsylvania at least once, in 1801, to officially sell his house.
President Adams' pardon
"To all persons to whom these presents shall come, Greetings. Whereas David Bradford, late of the county of Washington in the State of Pennsylvania, attorney at law, has in his petition declared his contrition, and sincere repentance of all his errors and misdeeds in relation to the late insurrection in the western parts of the State aforesaid, committed or done against the United States of America, and has implored a pardon for the same, and whereas the sufferings of the said David Bradford an exile in a foreign land, and separated from his wife, his children and his former friends, during the space of more than four years, have already been great, and whereas the restoration of peace, order and submission to the laws in the said Western parts of the said State render it necessary to make examples of those who may have been criminal, the principal and of heinous punishment being the reformation of offenders and the prevention of crimes in others, for these and other good cause, I—John Adams, President of the United States of America, have granted, and by these presents do grant unto the said David Bradford a full, free, absolute and intire pardon for all treasons, suspicions of treasons, felons, misdemeanors and other crimes and offences by him committed or done against the United States, in relation to the Insurrection aforesaid hereby remitting and releasing all pains, and penulties by him incurred by reason of the promises.In Testemony whereof. I have hereto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed this ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thou. and seven hundred and ninety-nine, and in the Twenty-third year of the Independence of the said United States
John Adams, By the President, Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State."
Home
Bradford built the first stone house on South Main Street in Washington, PennsylvaniaWashington, Pennsylvania
Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Pittsburgh Metro Area in the southwestern part of the state...
in 1788, which, by frontier standards, ranked as a mansion. The handsome stairway was solid mahogany; the mantel-pieces and other interior furnishings, imported from Philadelphia, were transported across the Alleghenies at considerable expense. The David Bradford House
David Bradford House
David Bradford House, in Washington, Pennsylvania was the home of David Bradford, a leader of the Whiskey Rebellion.It is designated as a historic public landmark by the Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation.-History:...
was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1983.
The Myrtles Plantation was built in 1794 by General David Bradford and was called Laurel Grove at the time. General Bradford lived there alone for several years, until being pardoned for his role in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1799. He then moved his wife Elizabeth and their five children to the plantation from Pennsylvania.
External links
- The Bradford House The Bradford House Online
- The Whiskey Rebellion A History of the The Whiskey Rebellion
- The Myrtles Plantation The Myrtles Plantation Online