Die Schreckenszeit von 99

One of the strangest incidents in this region of the country was the so-called
Fries Rebellion, sometimes known under the name Hot Water War and in
this day and age, among the elderly, referred to as the The Horrors of 99.
Under the government of the second president of the United States John
Adams, who was appointed on March 4th, 1797 in Philadelphia, the Congress
passed several laws which were signed by the president but repelled by a vast
majority of people. These accursed laws were called Alien and Sedition Acts
and House Tax Act. They thought they needed to be opposed, as they
believed them to be both a danger to freedom and the constitution of their
country.
The political parties consisted 1. out of supporters of Adam's government, who
called themselves Federalists because they advocated a robust and
determined federal government and 2. out of supporters of Jefferson's
principles who called themselves Democratic Republicans and rooted for a
more folk-like government. Back then, the later so accursed name Federalist
did not have a negative connotation but received one only after the Horrors of
99 when the government was forced to uphold its authority with violence.
The hate directed towards England, with which we had only established peace
fifteen years ago, was a relatively common one among the people, and since
France had also overthrown its kingdom and declared themselves a republic
only a few years ago, many people felt a strong affection for this form of
government. When the government, who was not on good terms with France,
became fond of the idea of passing the Alien and Sedition Act, a vast
majority of civilians viewed it as an attack on the previously earned freedom.
After the Alien Act, the president could deport any non-citizen who he
deemed a threat to liberty and security of the United States under penalty of
imprisonment for not more than three years. This deportation law was
supposed to punish the misuse of speech and press. It imposed fines and
imprisonment over all of those who assembled to protest against any measure
of the government, or who attempted any wrong, scandalous or malicious

attack on the government of the United States, the house of congress, the
president, etc. by writing and speech.

These acts, including those for the establishment of a standing army and the
imposition of direct taxes and internal duties, were the main reasons for why
this great rebellion against President Adam's administration was sparked off.
The belief spread among the people that those acts were not constitutional and
therefore void. Thus, they thought one exercised a patriotic duty by opposing
these laws and that by doing so; one would save the freedom they had
previously earned with so much hardship.
The German inhabitants of Berts, Bucks and Northhampton Counties, which
also includes the later Lecha, were particularly eager to defend their so heavily
fought over freedom. The distribution of political messages only took place
very slowly, as newspapers and post offices were very underdeveloped. The
laws and measures of government were often misinterpreted, often so as a
result of the Republicans' blind zeal, and followed by steps that were able to
slow down the momentum of the government.
A part of the people held assemblies and united to erect liberty poles and thus
gamble with their lives. Another part backed up the government, cut away the
liberty poles and denunciated their rebellious neighbours. Hence, the
frustration grew more and more and a fierce factionalism divided civilians for a
long time. After the tax assessors came and began surveying property to
determine duty and started counting window glasses, the resentment surfaced
and turned into public outrage. Many inhabitants planned resistance and
warned tax assessors to stay away from their property, while the wives readied
themselves with boiling water to embrace them in a warm fashion. This rather
unpleasant greeting was the fate of some of the Federalist agents of the
government by virtue of which the phrase Hot Water War was coined. It has
been a common term for these incidents for a long time. Naturally, the
assessors could not take action under these circumstances and were haunted

from one region into another. In the case that one or another of the rebels was
arrested, secret assemblies had been held at which they united in order to free
the prisoner forcibly.

The head of this insurgent group opposing the House Tax was John Fries of
Milford, Bucks County. He was born in Hatfield Township, Montgomery County,
born in approximately 1750, married Mary Brunner of Whitemarsh at the age of
20, and moved to Milford, Bucks County, five years later. There he built a house
on John Galloway's property at Boggy's Creek. He lived in a log house
belonging to William Edwards on Sunnytown Street at the time of the outbreak
of the riots. He had served as a soldier in the Freedom War and was, according
to Gen. Davis, author of the History of Bucks County. He was a man of good
judgment, albeit enjoying only little education. His neighbours had a high
opinion of him, and because of his eloquence, he knew how to lead the people.
He was a master of his craft but worked as a Vendu-Creyer. It is believed that
he died in the year of 1820.
The rebellion against the assessors came into being under his lead, and it was
supported by other outstanding men. This rendered the collection of the House
Tax nearly impossible. The boisterous demeanour of Jacob Eierly, appointed by
the president to collect direct taxes in Northhampton County, only made things
worse. He switched party allegiance from Republican to Federalist after the first
of both appointed him into state legislature in 1796. This circumstance in
combination with these frowned upon laws poured oil into the fire. Direct taxes
were even more hated than in the current generation, which covers the
expenses of the federal government with indirect tax.
The Marshall of Northhampton County named Nicholls then said: If you don't
obey, I will make use of violence. He sent out his henchmen and incarcerated

17 rebels, some of which were granted bail, but the others were confined in
Bethlem and prepared for trial. This purge took place during the first days of
March 1799. As soon as word spread out to Bucks County, Fries gathered his
loyalists around him and took off on the 7th of March to liberate the prisoners.
Members of other companies joined them in this effort so that in total about
140 armed men surrounded the inn where the prisoners were kept in. Captain
Fries went into the house the marshal was in and demanded the prisoners be
let free. The marshal gave in and decided that resistance would be in vain. The
prisoners were released reluctantly, and everybody went home peacefully.

However, the story did not end here. The consequences of these events had
almost cost some lives. President Adams sent out his armed forces to catch the
ringleaders. These soldiers left Lancaster on 1st of April and marched toward
Reading, where they chopped down several liberty poles and spread fear
among the insurgent locals. As the troops rode, marched and reached
Northampton and Bucks Counties, the ones who felt guilty of a crime had
already fled and hid on hills and in barns. The era of horror had now been rang
in, and while foot soldiers roamed around intruding houses and stables,
thrusting their bayonets into beds and hay to find those who tried to hide, the
cavalry searched the hills and valleys. Denunciated by traitors, the people who
were sought after were partly found and incarcerated or handed themselves
over to the arm of the law. John Fries was discovered in a swamp near
Bunkerhill on the farm belonging to John Kichlein and imprisoned. His position
was given away by his loyal dog Whisty who had followed him everywhere he
went.
The prisoners were awaiting their interrogations, and the soldiers returned
home. In Reading, though, many people acted out their desire for revenge on
Jacob Schneider, publisher of the Eagle, because he published controversial
articles. They grabbed him, ripped his clothes off and dragged him to the
commanding officer who pronounced the sentence that he shall receive 25
whippings on his bare cheeks. They had already lashed him a couple of times

when several members of Capt. Leiper's Philadelphian company entered the

market house where this shameful event took place. They stopped further
lashes.
Today it is not easy, yes in many regards purely impossible, to describe the
scenes that took place after the troops of the government appeared in this area
by

virtue

of

which

these

times

had

received

their

telltale

name

Schreckenszeit. The behaviour of the soldiers in the event described below

might have had a significant impact on all the others. This is what they tell:

When the government agents arrived in Millerstown (now Macungie), they were
mainly searching for Mr Jacob Schffer, the 26-year old son of Michael Schffer,
who lived at his parents' house and took a significant part in the rebellion
against the house taxes which he vigorously opposed and deemed illegal.
When word of their arrival spread to him, he rushed home, saddled his horse,
filled the saddlebags with food and fled to Lecha Mountain, which, at that time,
was still somewhat wild and sparsely inhabited. Soon thereafter, soldiers
surrounded the house and demanded that he be handed over. When they told
them that he was not present, they furiously entered and occupied their home.
They poked through the bed sheets with their pitchforks to assure themselves
that he was not hidden under them and did the same in the barn where they
poked hay and straw to make out his hideout. They grabbed a farm boy and
threatened to hang him if he did not give away the location of the young man.
After he had promised that he did not know, they really did tie a noose around
his neck and pulled him up the barn beam, but lowered the rope when he was
close to suffocation. They gave it a couple of tries until they convinced
themselves that the boy did not know, after which they let him go. Then the

soldiers fed their horses and moved on.

After Jacob had already spent several days in the mountains, his food supplies
were dwindling whereupon he, because he did not dare to go home, rode to
Trexlertown and refilled his supplies at William Haines' Inn (now administered
by Mr Noder). They wanted to convince him to stay, but he had felt a healthy
mistrust and therefore rode away. And Jacob was correct. Soon enough
henchmen were on his tracks and surrounded the inn. On the same night, Jacob
travelled to Marytown and kept out of sight at his Uncle Jacob Haals' place,
until he was out of danger and able to return home. Back then, his brother was
taken captive and died as a prisoner in Morristown.
In a recent conversation I had with my friend Charles Wittman of Oberhausen, I
asked

him

to

tell

me

stories

he

had

heard

and

seen

during

the

Schreckenszeit. Here is what he so generously shared with me:

The underlying cause of these incidents was the refusal of General

Washington's

administration to support the Frenchmen in their war against

England, who thought, for their great help in the war of independence, were
entitled to a service in return. Their Jacobean ambassadors were sent to this
place to awaken sympathies among our people in favour of their revolution
which caused trouble and turmoil so that the government (under John Adams)
passed the notorious Alien and Seditions Acts to regain control of the
situation. General Washington, with the heart and voice of a Federalist,
vigorously opposed any meddling in foreign affairs. We had only just gained
independence, the entire country was poor and had almost no trade or
revenues of any kind of which one could have covered the necessary expenses.
It was, therefore, advised, by virtue of patriotism and sound politics, to keep
one's hand of this issue. The Republicans and the Democrats by no means, to
help the French because they thought we owed them for their service. Yet

Washington, whose first concern was the well-being of his fatherland, believed
it to be best to avoid entanglements with foreign affairs, which under present
circumstances was surely the wisest thing to do.
After Washington's term, John Adams became president, who beat Thomas
Jefferson with 71 to 68 electoral votes. Eleven other candidates received the
other electoral votes, which amounted to a total of 138. Thomas Jefferson, with
the next highest number of votes, became vice-president. And then came the
downfall of the Federalist party. After peace had been established between
England and France, the latter waged war against our trade fleet, partly
because we denied them our help against England and partly because of other
grudges. President Adams and his politically harmonising Congress now had
the means to start this conflict. With an empty treasury, without a credit and
supplies of any kind, there was no way of scratching up the money, but for
imposing direct taxes. The people, which of course was impoverished by the
revolutionary war, met the tax assessors at their windows with fierce distrust,
and it is not surprising that many of them made a stand against them. Arrests
by the United States Marshal followed, and the prisoners were brought to
Bethlehem and incarcerated in what now is the Eagle Hotel.

To free what they believed to be unlawfully incarcerated prisoners, Fries, Hnn,

and Getman assembled a big company in Bucks and Montgomery Counties and
began their march to Bethlehem. They shortly rested at Schmidt's old tavern,
which stood where now Mr Knau' apartments stand, near Morgan Berson's
hotel. They reinforced them there, whereupon they went up to Salzburg
Centre, where Mr Mohn was hosting a party and signed up new recruits. After
the group had accumulated enough striking power, they went to Bethlehem
and accomplished the freeing of the prisoners. The three leaders mentioned
above were trialled, handed over and condemned to be hanged for treason
against their government. However, their wives accomplished to have

President Adams pardon them which was due to their conciliatory petitions.
Many of my readers will remember how the eternal editor of The Independent
Republican, Erwin W. Htter, would publish a huge gallow before an important
election off which all of the three sentenced were hanging down from. Just to
scare us Whigs! Since the Democrats now have an overwhelming majority in
this county, this caricature is not in use anymore. These incidents have dealt
the deathblow to the Federalist party. The strict measures of the federal
administration - that is sending out cavalry to imprison all those citizens who
opposed the law and showed criticism of government's authority caused an
unimaginable public outrage. Here (in Oberfaucon) people were worked up
thoroughly and to bid defiance against the administration openly, people
erected a large liberty pole on the property of what is now known as Keller's
tavern. But as the soldiers came to arrest them, they found virtually no one
every single one of them had already fled up Lecha Mountain where they hid
out. One patriot finally got sick and tired of the life as a nomad: He took his axe
and chopped the inauspicious liberty pole down. None of them could make out
the culprit. And I believe that no other living person knows who committed this.
It was one 1 A.M. during the night, when John Philip Wint, a friend of mine who
deceased a long time ago, Grandfather of Abner H. Wint in Allentown, rode
along when he heard blows of an axe. He halted to make out the perpetrator
and recognised one of his neighbours. The man holding the axe was in such a
shock when he was caught in the middle of this, in particular by a Federalist
like Mr Wint. He did not know what to say. Mr Wint then said: Do not be
frightened Han Willem (Schffer), I won't give you away. And he stayed truth
to his words until long after the lumberjack's death.

While I was keeping my store running, where Mr Wint visited me often, he told
me when we were by ourselves:
Charles, have you ever heard who chopped down the liberty pole, which was
the reason for why my men from the neighbourhood fled up the mountain so
they wouldn't get caught by the cavalry? I denied knowledge of such incidents

and pointed out that nobody seemed to know. Well, said Mr Wint - I know of
it, and I am the only one, except the culprit himself. It was Han Willem Schfer
who passed away a long time ago. He then went on describing me in detail
what had happened that night, and he told me that I was the only person with
whom he shared this secret. As this indecent liberty pole was lying on the
ground, the refugees, who had soaked up some wisdom on their way, split up
and went home without getting bothered all too much.
These, my dear friend, are some quickly arranged memories of what people
told me whose bodies are now all six feet under. With great delight have I had
conversations in which we shared memories of earlier days. Peace be with
them!
C. Wittman.
Lanart, 4 5 '86
About the interrogation for treason,
which began on the 15th of May 1799 in Philadelphia and ended with the
conviction of John Fries and others, which the following excerpts will provide
further information on, including reported events and the people involved.
These judges were officially sworn in:
William Jolly, Philadelphia
Anthony Entberth, Philadelphia
Alerander Fullerton, Philadelphia
John Singer, Philadelphia
Samuel Richards, Philadelphia
Joeseph Harnton, Philadelphia
Samuel Mitchell, Bucks County
Richard Leedom, Bucks County
Gerardus Wynloop, Bucks County
Philip Walter, Northhampton County
John Roth, Northhampton County
Samuel Sitgreaves, Esq. of Easton, lead the interrogation on behalf of the
United States and pressed charges against the prisoner in front of the jury. He

gave a condensed speech about the sequence of events that took place during
the House Tax Rebellion and promised that he would present proof of how John
Fries had been the ringleader and waged war against the laws of the United
States.
Judge William Henry of Nazareth was the first witness. He came to Bethlehem
on the evening on the 6th of March in order to be at the marshal's side on the
next day, where he had planned to persuade the people who might have come
to free the prisoners to do otherwise. He talked about the arrival of two men
called Kiefer and Paulus who were armed and therefore arrested by the
Marshall. They said they were at a gun range and came to look and do what
was best for their country. David Schfer, Jacob Klein, Philip Desch, Henry
Schantweiler and others followed them. Some of them had blades and pistols,
and Schfer and Klein stated after being asked by the marshal: We are free
people, and we can take our weapons everywhere we like to. For the first time,
the witness saw the entirety of their strike force marching up the street. A
couple of them mounted on horses leading the infantry. The infantry walked
twice around the house and stationed right in front of it. One of them pointed
at it with his pistol as if to shoot someone. Others yelled: Hand them over!
John Fries walked up and down and was very energetic. Captn. Sthler and
Capt. Jarrett commanded their men with drawn swords. There must have been
not less than 400 men in this crush of people. The marshal only had about 14
or 15 people, among them also commissioner Eierly, assessor Balliet, and other
assessors. I knew 12 or 13 of the prisoners who immediately left the house
after surrendering.
William Barnet testified: I was ordered to come to Bethlehem by the marshal.
We crossed the Lecha and encountered cavalry which came from Millerstown.
Soon thereafter, a company with firearms arrived. We could not convince them
to return to from where they had come. They went onwards and said that they
wanted to free prisoners that the marshal had taken captive. If they had done
any wrong, they should have been interrogated in Northhampton County and
not dragged to Philadelphia.

John Barnet testified: I was ordered to come Bethlehem by order of the marshal
who wanted me to help him. At 10 A.M. we heard that 20 to 30 men had
assembled at a tavern about 3 to 4 miles away from Bethlehem. Four men John Mohallen, William Barnet, Christian Roth and Isaac Herzel two federalists
and two prisoners were sent there (without success). Soon after that a group of
cavalry and two companies of soldiers equipped with firearms, amounting to a
total number of 130 to 140 men, came. Capt. Jarret's arrival was celebrated by
the crowd after they had lined up in a row in the courtyard. Then he entered
the tavern and spoke to the marshal. The companies kept strict discipline while
four of us guarded the stairs- two upstairs and two downstairs. Fries came in
and wanted to speak to the marshal. We were given the order to usher him in.
Fries demanded the prisoners that were held on the second floor be freed.
Christian Winters testified: I was one of the guards at the stairs and I carried a
gun. I warned the people that wanted to come upstairs not to go there. I always
had my finger on the trigger, so the people backed off. One of the folks was
called Henny who called me a damned stamper and tried to punch me but
missed. I had called him a retard. Fries was with the marshal. After that, the
prisoners came down, and I was released from my duties.
Christian Roth testified: I was one of the four who tried to negotiate with the
rebels. They said they would not allow that Schwantweiler and other prisoners
would be hauled off to the Philadelphian prison. They would rather bail tenfold.
Colonel Nicholls, the marshal, testified: He received warrants from the district
attorney between the 20th and the 26th of February with the order to go to
Northampton County and execute them. He arrived in Nazareth on the 1st of
May and travelled to Lecha Township on the next day accompanied by Eierly in
order to arrest the suspects. We found twelve of them on the same day but the
other ones we could not find. Five of them surrendered themselves to us
voluntarily. We then went to Bethlehem, where we met up with Col. Balliet.
From there, we travelled to Macungie Township, unobstructed in our work, until
we reached the house of George Seider, who greeted us with his baton which
forced us to move on. When we arrived in Millerstown, we towed our horses at
the house of the honourable gentlemen Mr Buskirk and walked to Georg

Schffer's house. He was not home. We went back to the middlemost tavern in
Millerstown where many people had gathered.

Eierly and I went over to

Schantweiler followed by about 50 people. Balliet showed me the man. I

followed Schantweiler into the crowd and laid my hand on his shoulder. I told
him that I was marshal of the United States for the Pennsylvanian district and
that he was my prisoner. He jumped back and looked distraught. He shouted
that he would do the marshal no harm, but Eierly and Balliet were but damned
cut-throat villains.
The people began to yell: Fight, fight! Among them was a man called David
Schffer who appeared to be radical. I opened my great coat to be able to draw
my pistols in the case of an emergency. The people calmed down a little but
stripped off Balliet's cockade. I ordered Schantweiler to follow me to Bethlehem
and then to Philadelphia, but he said he would not go. He told me that his
father had fought the stamp act and the house taxes and that only Tories and
government agents supported these laws. But he promised that he would
voluntarily come to Bethlehem and see me.

The crowd clamoured and

celebrated their freedom as we left the house. We arrested Adam Stephen,

Herman Hartman and Daniel Eberly and where accompanied by a constable.
When we returned home on the 6th of March, I heard that there was a plan to
free prisoners in Bethlehem. As an immediate consequence, I consulted Mr
Balliet, Mr Eierly, Mr Horsefield and General Braun. I sent Mr Weed across the
mountain to arrest Pastor Eierman and Mr Fuchs. As a consequence, I
summoned a prison guard, but I was not allowed to arm it. Judge Henry too
explained to me that he did not have the right to gather an armed force. The
prison guard was composed of men coming from the neighbourhoods of
Bethlehem and Easton. (Witness then describes how he arrested the first two
gunmen. He thought that they would all come scattered and in small amounts
so that it would be easy to deal with them. He presents how the entire striking
force appeared Capt. Fries leading the infantry with drawn sword which
finally resulted in the liberation of the prisoners)
Philip Schlauch testified: Fries said to his men after returning from his
conversation with the marshal: Brothers, the marshal won't free the prisoners.
We have to take them. However, we don't want to harm anyone. We have to

pass 4 to 5 guards, and I demand to take the first hit. When I fall, you have to
try as best as you can to succeed."
Esq. Joseph Horsefield testified: He showed the marshal where the people that
were supposed to be captured lived.

Many people from Bethlehem and the

surrounding area had gathered peacefully on the 7th of March. At 11 A.M., Mr

Diron of Emmaus reported that there was an army, composed of infantry and
cavalry, assembling at Ritter's tavern only six miles away from Bethlehem. (He
goes on to describe what has been mentioned above and then continues:) I
went downstairs and saw a bunch of armed men in front of the door who were
trying to squeeze themselves in. I fought my way through the crowd and heard
two men say: If Henry and goddamn Eierly were here, I would tear them to
pieces! I thought that what they uttered was hardly anything I didn't know
already and withdrew. I asked Mr Levering, the innkeeper, to close the door of
his venue and he followed my advice. The group reformed and besieged the
doors again. They pounded their rifles on the ground and screamed wildly. I
begged the marshal to release the prisoners, for heaven's sake, before blood
was spilt."
Jacob Eierly, the tax commissioner of the district, mainly testified and
confirmed what has already been said: My districts included the Counties of
Northhampton, Luzerne, and Wayne. My work was unobstructed in the last two.
For each of my districts, I appointed an assessor for the collection of tax, but
many people rejected my offer to take office. Mr Horne refused to serve in
Allentown which is why I ordered Mr Balliet to recruit intending to compensate
for our lack of people. Assessor Nicholas Michael, working in Hamilton
Township, was forced to flee one night to save his skin. The resistance was
fierce in that area. Mr Heckewelder, the assessor in Obermildford, wrote me a
letter about how he was asked to refrain from collecting taxes by a township
assembly. Such being the case, I went there together with Judge Henry and
found 60 to 70 people assembled in John Schmeter's house. Approximately
twenty of them wore French cockades (red, white and blue) attached to their
hats. I was told that people there didn't believe that such a law actually
existed. The resentment towards Mr Heckewelder was fierce because of the
liberty pole. We were unable to execute the law in these areas for a long time.

John Romig, an assessor in Millerstown, told me that he wouldn't continue his

work for 500 pounds because the people were so furious. In Trexlertown, I
received a report from Heidelberg, Weienburg, Lynn and Lowhill. These were
all districts in which assessor Bobst could not do his job. Our hands were tied in
these townships where, with few exceptions, everyone defied the law. We could
only continue our work after the troops had arrived.
Jacob Oswald testified: I worked as an assessor for Lynn Township. I started
surveying houses when I arrived on the ninth plantation in December 1798, but
people interrupted my work. I had heard that they were planning on holding a
township assembly, so I chose to take copies of the Constitution, Washington's
Proclamation and orders and laws of the Congress with me in a view to show
them to the western rebels from 1794 (reference to Whiskey Rebellion). They
claimed that the Congress had no right to demand taxes of them and wanted
me to wait until the lower townships and Philadelphia had started paying them.
We couldn't assess their property up to the point that our troops came.
Simultaneously, they also cut away the liberty poles.
Samuel Thun of Upper Milford testified: I was a trumpet player in Captain
Jarret's cavalry company which assembled at Gie' Inn, three miles away from
Bethlehem, by order of Lieutenant John Fogel on the 7th of March. Me, Henry
Sthler, Adam Stahlnecker, old Schwarz and his two sons were about half a
mile away from Gie' Inn when we encountered a gun company approximately
thirty men strong. We were short of a captain and thus in disagreement about
whether to continue or not. We finally elected Andreas Schiffert as our leader
and all marched towards Bethlehem. Schiffert stepped down from his office as
soon as we reached the Lecha because he wanted to return home.
Andreas Schiffert of Salzburg said that he heard from John Huber that Jarret's
cavalry, to which he belonged to, was gathering at Martin Ritter's. After he had
gone there, they told him that they had a plan to free the prisoners, but he
rejected their effort and wanted to go home. He followed them because rumour
had it that Fogel would be at Gie'. They appointed him leader of their group as
Fogel did not show up, but he only agreed under the condition that they vowed
to be obedient. He resigned as they reached the bridge, and he only followed

them two hours later to see what had happened.

John Dillinger testified: I live in

Upper Milford about six miles away from

Millerstown. People talked about how the marshal was planning on coming,
arresting some folks and bringing them to Philadelphia. They didn't want us to
admit when an innocent had been taken captive. Capt. Sthler came to my
house on the 6th of March and told me that Schantweiler, who administered a
tavern in Millerstown, had been incarcerated. Sthler said that he had to go
there tomorrow morning, and he asked me if I would follow him. Many people
went there. (witness has entered a conditional plea)
William Thomas of Bucks County testified: I went to Jacob Huber on the 6th of
March and met Capt. Kuder on my way there. He said that I would have to
follow him back to the mill where his company was assembling. I followed him
to John Fries' Inn. John Fries and Kuder sent out two horsemen, by the name of
John Getman and Conrad Marts, to hunt down the assessors. Later, the
company marched towards Qukertown armed with rifles and batons. The
assessors came there too. Fries confronted them fiercely as they had surveyed
houses in spite of his warning not to. He inspected their paperwork, and they
had to endure a stream of abuse. They were called Tories and Stampers. The
company marched to Millerstown on the next day. Before we got there, young
Marts told us that the prisoners were in Bethlehem, and everyone had gone
there. Immediately, some of the people wanted to return home, but John Fries
and the old Marts said that keeping in mind we already came this far, we
should continue to Bethlehem and have a look at what's going on there. And
that's what we did. A liberty pole stood at Ritter's house, which is where we fed
the horses. Some of the cavalry and gunmen came to a halt at the bridge gate
right in front of Bethlehem because it was shut and therefore impassable. Fries
rode to the custom house and spoke to an officer. After that, he yelled: Now,
boys, follow me! And we followed him. It is about twenty miles from Marts'
house to Bethlehem.
Georg Mitchell of Lower Milford testified: After the events in Bethlehem, a
meeting had been held at Marts' house where it was agreed upon to submit to
the law collectively. The President's Proclamation arrived on the 15th, and on
the evening it was taken and read out to Friedrich Henny. I asked him if he

would be able to distribute them to the others and advised him to address a
petition to the President.
James Chapman testified: I was the chief assessor and responsible for twelve
Townships (in Bucks). Only Lower Milford resisted fiercely. The people there
appeared to deem the law invalid and thought of the assessors as frauds. They
believed that they would fill anything but the treasury with the money
collected. (witness then describes the events mentioned above)
John Roderick and Cephas Childs, assessors in Bucks, gave further testimony
about the resistance in Lower Milford. The latter mentioned that he was abused
by several drunk men until Fries came to his defence.
Judge Peters too gave testimony about his work and approved a written
confession which the prisoner signed on the 6th of April in presence.
In this document, John Fries acknowledges and underlines his role in the
rebellion against the assessors and the liberation of their prisoners. He
believed that the laws for assessment and the collection of direct taxes was not
homogeneously distributed among citizens and therefore unlawful. He could
not say who first came up with the plan to free the prisoners. On his way to
Bethlehem, he was supposedly asked to be head of the group. That is why he
lead the assault. Apparently, he did not have any weapons but only demanded
of them not to shoot until he gave the order. He was worried that, in the heat of
the moment, people would be so angry that blood was going to be spilt.
Judge Henry was called again and reported on the assembly in Trexlertown
(15th of January), the place Capt. Jarret and his cavalry had rested in, where
the eight or nine witnesses who had been interrogated were trembling in fear
of violent rioting. The witness described the distances between the locations by
order of the court. It takes ten to twelve miles from Trexlertown to Lower
Milford, thirteen from Lecha to Lower Milford, thirty-one from Hamilton to Lower
Milford and sixteen from Bethlehem to Lower Milford.
Mr Dallas, defending lawyer of the prisoner, gave an impressing speech in

favour of him and tried to show that everything Mr Fries did should not be
considered treason according to the Constitution. He called several witnesses
so as to prove his reasonable and good behaviour. Advocate Ewing too gave a
speech for the defence. He was followed up by lawyer Sitgreaves, again,
against the defendant. Then Advocate Lewis in favour of the accused and
Advocate Rawle against him. Eventually, the laws that referred to treason had
been carefully examined from every angle.
Judges Peters and Iredell spoke to the jury, whereupon they withdrew for about
three hours and returned with the verdict of guilty.
The interrogation was held between 30th of March until 9th of May. Because
one of the jurymen had expressed a bias against the prisoner, a second
investigation was approved. It started on the 24th of April, 1800, in Morristown
and ended on the 2nd of May with the same result. He was condemned to be
hanged by Judge Chafe. At the same time, the judge realised that his words
should apply to Georg Getman and Friedrich Hainy who had been found guilty
of treason. Their interrogations had also been completed.
Other people were sentenced by the court some for treason and others for
conspiracy and the liberation of prisoners. These are the penalties:

names
Henry Jarret
Conrad Marts
Valentin Kuder
Jacob Eierman
Henry Schantweiler
Michael Schmeier
Henry Schmid
Philip Desch
Jacob Klein
Herman Hartman
Philip Ruth
John Eberhard
John Huber
Christian Sachs
John Klein Jr.

prison term
two years
two years
two years
one year
one year
nine months
eight months
eight months
eight months
six monts
six months
six months
six months
six months
six months

fine
1000 thaler
800 thaler
200 thaler
50 thaler
150 thaler
400 thaler
200 thaler
150 thaler
150 thaler
150 thaler
200 thaler
100 thaler
150 thaler
200 thaler
100 thaler

names
Daniel Klein
Jacob Klein
Adam Breich
George Memberger
George Getman
William Getman
Abraham Schanz
Henry Memberger
Peter Hger
Abraham Samsel
P. Huntsberger
Peter Gabel
Jacob Gabel

prison term
six months
six months
six months
six months
six monts
six months
four months
four months
four months
three months
three months
two months
two months

fine
150 thaler
150 thaler
150 thaler
150 thaler
100 thaler
100 thaler
100 thaler
100 thaler
100 thaler
50 thaler
50 thaler
40 thaler
40 thaler