John Neville (general)

According to family tradition, Joseph had a brother George who was kidnapped from England as a boy, brought to Virginia, and married Hannah Burroughs, a cousin of Lord Fairfax of Cameron[1] however this has been disputed by his descendants and is not supported by historical documents.

As a local militia officer, he joined forces led by General Edward Braddock and Virginia colonel George Washington in the French and Indian War.

[6] In 1776, local residents offered Neville a commission as a Yohogania County justice, but he declined and continued his work as officer in charge of Fort Pitt.

Surveyors Mason and Dixon established the Mason-Dixon line dividing Maryland (whose charter nominally ended at the Appalachians), and Pennsylvania.

"[5] After the war, Neville accepted a job as an inspector of revenue under the excise laws, so he was ineligible to hold office in Virginia.

The tax effectively favored large distillers, most of whom were based in the east, who produced whiskey in volume and could afford the flat fee.

Western farmers who owned small stills did not usually operate them at full capacity, so they ended up paying a higher tax per gallon.

[9] This incident persuaded President George Washington to take the drastic action of leading a militia force of 13,000 men into western Pennsylvania to squelch the uprising.

This response marked the first time under the new Constitution that the federal government had used a strong military presence to exert authority over the nation's citizens.