Isn’t this the same area of Pennsylvania where the Whiskey Rebellion took place?
Per Wiki:
Throughout counties in Western Pennsylvania, protesters used violence and intimidation to prevent federal officials from collecting the tax. Resistance came to a climax in July 1794, when a U.S. marshal arrived in western Pennsylvania to serve writs to distillers who had not paid the excise.
The alarm was raised, and more than 500 armed men attacked the fortified home of tax inspector General John Neville.
Washington responded by sending peace commissioners to western Pennsylvania to negotiate with the rebels, while at the same time calling on governors to send a militia force to enforce the tax. With 13,000 militia provided by the governors of Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, Washington rode at the head of an army to suppress the insurgency. The rebels all went home before the arrival of the army, and there was no confrontation.
About 20 men were arrested, but all were later acquitted or pardoned.
At that time cash was very scarce on the frontier. Spirits were often used in lieu of cash. The distillers of this area would have paid the tax in spirits, but the Federal Gov’t. demanded (non-existant) cash.
Also, as the biggest distiller of spirits in those then United States, Washington had a vested interest in keeping down the competition.