Letter to Members: From the Whisky Rebellion to Eastern State Penitentiary

FROM THE WHISKY REBELLION TO EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY W elcome to the fall issue of The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. We hope that you will enjoy the articles in this issue as well as the online-only original records that accompany them. Gale Ion Harris enlightens us about David Bradford, a leader in the Whiskey Rebellion, and his parents and siblings. His father, James Bradford, was born in Ireland and was among the early settlers in the Chartiers Creek area in North Strabane Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Look for Part II in the next issue of PGM, which will deal with David Bradford’s own career and family. In another of our ongoing series of bible records, we look at pages from the Keeney Family Bible. Abel Keeney’s name appears on a silver plate on the outside of the bible with the date 1820. According to his granddaughter, who donated the photocopies to GSP in 1928, he made the entries, starting with a notation of his own birth in 1792; the final entries date from the late 1800s. Donn Devine shares the story of three brothers – Thomas, John, and Francis Baldwin – who came to America in 1682 and settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Lines of descent from John and Francis are well documented, but nothing is known of some of Thomas’s mid-18th century descendants. Donn’s article discusses two ongoing studies and the use of DNA to help identify the descendants. Working in collaboration with the American Philosophical Society (APS), we’re pleased to offer you a transcription of the records of 519 inmates from Eastern State Penitentiary, 1836-1840. The prisoners ranged in age from 15 to 71 and most were men, although there were a few women. Crimes ranged from murder to “placing coins on a railroad track.” If you’ve ever visited Eastern State and wondered about the people who were housed in the isolated cells, you can’t help but be moved as you learn some of their names and histories. The penitentiary, which opened in 1829 and closed in 1971, currently operates as the non-profit Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc., and offers tours, exhibits, and programs. (If interested in learning more about the prison, visit their website at http://www.easternstate.org/.) --The Publications Committee 82 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 49 (2014) © Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania