A Colony Sprung from Hell: Pittsburgh and the Struggle for Authority on the Western Pennsylvania Frontier, 1744-1794

7. A Party Spirit Prevails

The American Revolution manifested itself differently along the frontier than it did in the eastern portions of the colonies. The issues that motivated protests and riots in Boston, Philadelphia, and Williamsburg were far removed from Pittsburgh and seemed mostly unimportant to local residents .The issues that moved people to action on the western Pennsylvania frontier were specific to the region and dramatically affected local responses to the revolution. In short, inhabitants of the region defined the revolution within a set a parameters familiar and important to themselves. It became, in part, another component in the long struggle for power and authority in the region. That is not to say that the ripples of revolution were not felt in Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities, but the revolution provided Pennsylvanians and Virginians with a new conduit through which they could attack their enemies, promote their immediate interests, and attempt to establish the supremacy of their authority at the expense of the other. The revolution did reorient the struggle in an important way. Provincial governments and eastern land speculators and merchants found their influence over the region increasingly marginalized during this time, allowing the local population to assume direction of the jurisdictional conflict. The result was an increasing emphasis on local power over state and national authority as the region’s inhabitants began to assert their own autonomy. The results were confusing and contentious, again plunging Pittsburgh and the frontier into chaos. With the culmination of Dunmore’s schemes, Virginia’s authority over the western Pennsylvania frontier was more concrete than at any previous time, providing the colony and its supporters an opportunity to resolve· 169 · Seven A Party Spirit Prevails 170 a colony sprung from hell the jurisdictional dispute in their favor. In early 1775, Virginians controlled Pittsburgh and held a treaty of cession from the Shawnees for the lands south of the Ohio River, advantages that Dunmore believed would validate Virginia’s claims to the region. Indeed, in February 1775 a Westmoreland County official lamented that the Virginians had “taken possession of most of the lands here and say they have the rights.” Yet nothing was certain. Dunmore had asserted power over Pittsburgh and subdued the Shawnees, but the governor had not yet imposed jurisdictional authority over the Pennsylvanians east of Pittsburgh. Westmoreland County still existed, and the court at Hannastown was in session. Dunmore apparently saw this as a minor annoyance and left it for John Connolly to resolve. As commander of the local militia, Connolly had the manpower to break Pennsylvania authority,but perhaps not the legitimacy to initiate police action.Dunmore attempted to rectify that by organizing the court of common pleas for the District of West Augusta, which convened inside the walls of Fort Pitt.The West Augusta court opened its first session in late February, with George Croghan presiding. By assuming his seat in district court, Croghan made clear his submission to Dunmore and his recognition of Virginia’s authority . Dunmore expected the Pennsylvanians to follow Croghan’s example.1 Connolly issued a proclamation in December 1774 authorizing Virginians to detain Westmoreland County officials or anyone advocating their authority, but Connolly coordinated more aggressive actions with the opening of the West Augusta court in order to dress his actions in the trappings of legitimacy. Nonetheless, his activities stretched the limits of lawful authority.In February 1775 Connolly’s militia raided Hannastown,smashed in the doors of the Westmoreland County jail, and freed several Virginians being held by the Pennsylvania authorities. When the Westmoreland County sheriff tried to intervene, the Virginians boldly proclaimed that they acted on the authority of the West Augusta court and threatened to shoot anyone who interfered. In the following months, Connolly’s troops intimidated and harassed Pennsylvania officials in the immediate vicinity of Pittsburgh. Aeneas Mackay, Devereux Smith, and Richard Butler repeatedly were arrested and charged with multiple counts of disrupting civil authority in Pittsburgh. Moreover, on Connolly’s personal orders, the Virginia militia destroyed Mackay’s stables,vandalized the homes of Smith and Butler, and confiscated supplies and livestock from all three. When Mackay’s wife protested, Connolly personally threatened to pull down her house and send her husband to Virginia in chains. On another occasion , Connolly’s men surrounded Butler’s home with drawn bayonets and a party spirit prevails 171 threatened to kill him or his family if any of them ventured into the street. Connolly claimed...