Carlisle

During the presidency of George Washington one of the early major issues confronting him was raising taxes to pay the debt of the states incurred during the Revolutionary War. Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton in 1790 recommended an excise tax on domestically produced distilled spirits (the Whiskey Act of 1791).¹

The Pennsylvanians who led the Whiskey Rebellion were disproportionately affected by the 1791 excise tax on domestic liquor because the majority of western farmers were small-scale distillers, who also had the expensive disadvantage of having to transport their product over the Allegheny mountain

In a series of letters between Robert White and his Philadelphia supplier, John Mitchell, we learn something about White’s family, the names of the waggoners who hauled his goods from Philadelphia to Carlisle, the kinds of food and liquors he ordered, and the way business was conducted.

"'Black Jack’ was a famous cook,” wrote Jeremiah Zeamer, editor of the American Volunteer  newspaper. “He had a great reputation as a cook and caterer. Whenever in that part of the county there was a wedding, a dance, or a party of any kind for which a feast was to be prepared, ‘Black Jack’ was sent for to superintend the cooking and set the table, and so well did he do this that he was always in high favor with people who had appetites.”