Category: Water Under the Bridge

Two hundred and twenty-five years ago the brand new United States government faced its first major domestic crisis when a large group of farmers in western Pennsylvania rose up in opposition to an onerous excise tax on the production of whiskey, threatening armed rebellion. We have been aware of this momentous event for many years, but continue to be eager to learn more about it. Fortunately there are a number of local organizations dedicated to enhancing our understanding of this significant bit of our heritage, primarily in the form of memorial festivals. Thanks to fortuitous scheduling this year we were…

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My talents as a grandfather were severely tested last month when my seventeen-year old grandson Ian McCance visited me for two weeks. I had a wonderful time and hope that it was equally rewarding for him. The primary reason for his visit was a week spent at Jazz Camp at Duquesne. Unlike me, Ian is a very competent musician, playing trumpet in both his high school band and their jazz band. He had a good experience at camp at Duquesne last year and was happy to have the opportunity to return this year. This is a lot of fun for…

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It was my privilege recently to attend a presentation in South Fayette’s “local authors” series which featured my brother, Joe, and his book, “Almost Forgotten”, a record of the men from the Bridgeville and South Fayette area who lost their lives while serving in the military. He began his talk with an explanation of how the project that led to the book began. In 2004 he attended a Memorial Day weekend service at Bethany Church in which the pastor focused on honoring our ancestors. Joe commented that it would be appropriate to mention the men from the church who had…

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The final presentation in the Bridgeville Historical Society’s 2018/2019 program series dealt with the very first robbery of a Brink’s armored truck in history. It occurred on March 11, 1927 in Bethel Park on what is now Brightwood Road, close to its intersection with Route 88. The speaker was Courtney Williams, a multi-talented Bethel Park High School teacher. One of her responsibilities is directing the school’s dramatic production each Fall. In 2017 she decided to write her own play, based on an actual event that had taken place in her community. The result was “The Heist”, a fictionalized version of…

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Most of the time when we report on current events, it is “after the fact”, and our readers frequently comment that they wish that had known about the event early enough to attend it. Consequently this week we are going to discuss a future event, one which we are eagerly anticipating. Each summer Woodville Plantation sponsors a re-enactment of the signature event of the Whiskey Rebellion, the Battle of Bower Hill, in mid-July. This year that will take place at Woodville Plantation on July 20 and 21. We have seen this several times and can confirm that it warrants attendance….

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My grandson, Ian McCance, has just finished his junior year in high school, in Fort Collins, Colorado, and is beginning to think about college. So far he had visited three universities in Colorado – Colorado State University, Colorado University, and Northern Colorado University. This month’s agenda included a trip to my alma mater, Penn State. I was happy to accompany him, his sister Claire, and his mother on this trip. Although I enjoyed my years at State College immensely and was originally a strong supporter of the school, we gradually became estranged as the years passed. Our first disagreement involved…

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Seventy-five years ago each summer the epicenter of activity for us teenage boys living on “Hilltop” was the side porch of the Rothermunds’ home on Chartiers Street. Bob, Dick, and Ron were always in the midst of organizing some exciting activity. It might be touch football or one hoop basketball on Lafayette Street, or softball in Crums’ field. One summer we were more ambitious; we organized the “Hilltop Hellcats” and trudged down to the high school to play baseball against “Wagners’ team” eaxh day. Our uniform was a black ball cap, with “HH” emblazoned on the front in chalk. If…

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For its May program meeting the Bridgeville Area Historical Society welcomed back one of its favorite speakers, Todd DePastino, and was rewarded with an entertaining presentation on the Whiskey Rebellion. His talk turned out to be an excellent complement to the Society’s recent “Second Tuesday” workshop which focused on George Washington’s role in that significant event. Mr. DePastino is a legitimate historian, gifted with the ability to place specific events in context with the overall trends in history when they occurred. In this case he described the Whiskey Rebellion as merely one event, albeit a very relevant one, in a…

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“Where Go the Boats?” was of my favorites in “The Child’s Garden of Verses” when I was small, an early indication of a life-long fascination with creeks. “Away down the river, a hundred miles or more, other little children shall bring my boats ashore” appropriately describes the feeling all young children have whenever they are presented with the opportunity to play in a small creek. Whether it be tossing rocks and creating splashes, or floating “Pooh sticks” under a bridge, or building tiny dams and bridges, children cannot resist creeks. One of the highlights of our family’s annual visit to…

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The final workshop in the Bridgeville Area Historical Society’s series on George Washington’s influence on Western Pennsylvania focused on the Whiskey Rebellion and Washington’s key role in it. No one was surprised when Washington was elected our first President in 1788. When available revenue was insufficient to support the cost of running the new government, Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton proposed a tax on the production of Whiskey. It was passed on March 3, 1791. The excise act immediately met opposition from all the settlements west of the Alleghenies. In this area an aggressive group of protestors chose to take…

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