Summary
Robert Philson (c. 1759 – July 25, 1831) was an Irish-American soldier and politician.
Philson was born in County Donegal, Ulster, Ireland, and immigrated to Pennsylvania with his uncle John Fletcher. They kept a store in Berlin, Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
In 1794, Philson was arrested for his involvement in the Whiskey Rebellion. He was sent to Philadelphia for trial, but he and his co-defendant, Herman Husband, were acquitted.[1]
Philson served as associate judge of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, for twenty years, and also served as a one-term congressman during the 16th United States Congress.
Philson was commissioned a brigadier general of the Second Brigade, Tenth Division, Pennsylvania militia on May 9, 1800, a position he held during the War of 1812.
Further reading edit
- United States Congress. "Robert Philson (id: P000316)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- The Political Graveyard
References edit
- ^ Wythe Holt, "The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794: A Democratic Working-Class Insurrection". Paper presented at The Georgia Workshop in Early American History and Culture, 2004, p. 79.