Philip Alston (counterfeiter)
Encyclopedia
Philip Alston was an 18th century counterfeiter both before and after the American Revolution
in Virginia
and the Carolinas before the war, and later in Kentucky
and Illinois
afterwards. He is associated with Cave-in-Rock and John Duff
, as well as an early settler
of Natchez
and the Cumberland
and Red River
valleys in Kentucky
and Tennessee
.
, and by 1773, in Virginia
as well. With authorities targeting counterfeiters in North Carolina
and as well as the neighboring colonies of Virginia
and South Carolina
, the brothers fled in 1772 or 1773 to Natchez
on the Mississippi River
about 200 miles upriver from New Orleans.
speculator and planter
, and, in 1776, possessed some of the finest palatial mansions in that gay city."
Under the overall leadership of John Blommart on April 22, 1781, Alston, his brother John, other settlers as well as allied Choctaw
, led an uprising against Spanish authorities which controlled Natchez at the time. Soon after they captured Fort Panmure
, the rebels split into pro-American and pro-British factions. Alston, his brother and John Turner wanted to execute the Spanish garrison and raise the American flag. Led by Blommart and Thomas Hutchins, the other side won the argument and sent the garrison away. Meanwhile Spanish forces defeated a British attack on Pensacola
which had been expected to relieve the settlers at Natchez. On June 23, Spanish soldiers retook Fort Panmure without firing a shot, capturing Blommart and Alston's brother John. Other leaders had fled, Hutchins to the Carolinas and Philip Alston to the Cumberland Valley where he had already established a second home.
Before he fled Natchez, Alston supposedly stole a crucifix from the Catholic Church.
Alston also appears in Spanish records as Phelipe Alston
, the first governing document for the settlers of the Cumberland Valley, which places him in the Cumberland Valley even before he flees Natchez. He may have been living at Mansker Station near modern-day Goodlettsville, Tennessee
.
Following his escape from Natchez, Alston and John Turned joined Chickasaw
leader James Logan Colbert and a mixed roving band of Natchez refugees, Cumberland settlers and Chickasaw numbering around 600 who attacked Spanish shipping on the Mississippi River
in 1781 and 1782. The Pennsylvania Gazette, a colonial newspaper in Philadelphia reprinted a letter in the fall of 1783 that identified Alston as both the "famous money counterfeiter" but also a leader of the band raiding Spanish shipping on the Mississippi.
About 1783 or at least by the summer of 1784, Alston moved northwest and settled in modern-day Logan County
, Kentucky
where he built Alston's Station, or fort, near the Red River below the mouth of the Big Whippoorwill. He farmed in the summer of 1784 and manufactured salt at Moate's Lick that autumn, assisted by old John Stuart. "He traded his salt for skins and then traded the skins off at Natchez or the Eastern States for goods, and he also became the first merchant. Shortly afterwards he and James Dromgoole did business together". In 1795, the settlers around Alston's Station included Jesse and Wm. Green, Dromgoole (also spelled Drumgole), Stuart and Matthew McClean.
By 1786, Alston began counterfeiting again. Alston and Drumgole celebrated Independence Day that year by stealing back one of Alston's former slaves named King who had been sold out of his estate seized by Spanish authorities when he fled in Natchez earlier in the decade. The complaint lists him as the "robber" which may be a reference to the crucifix story.
By 1788, Logan County residents rose up against Alston's counterfeiting and banished him from the county. Later that year or in 1789 he moved to the area of Alston's Creek in northern Logan County but didn't remain there long. Fearing for his safety, he moved around quite a bit over the next two years, first to Alston’s Lick, in now Muhlenberg County
, and shortly thereafter to Livingston County
and finally to Henderson County
, all in western Kentucky
, before crossing the Ohio River
into Illinois
in 1790.
In 1790 he was at Cave-in-Rock with John Duff
, though for what purpose is not recalled definitively in the histories. Though Alexander Finley, the normally-reliable author of the 1876 History of Russellville, Kentucky, tells us that Alston became a "fast friend and disciple of the notorious counterfeiter, Sturdevant
", the Sturdivants didn't arrive at Cave-in-Rock for another generation. Duff was the counterfeiter in the area in the 1790s and some believe that's when Duff became a disciple of Alston and learned his counterfeiting skills.
According to Finley, Alston soon moved back to Tennessee and "from there to Natchez, where he found his old enemies, who became his fast friends. He rose in the estimation of these Spaniards until he was appointed an empresido of Mexico. When in the midst of his success and returning fortune death stepped in and sealed his fate.
Besides meeting with Duff in 1790, Alston was also working with James O'Fallon in the Yazoo land scandal
, which among other things had it been successful would have settled a large group of Americans in southern Mississippi aligned with the Spanish. By September 16, 1790, O'Fallon had completed the organization of the Yazoo Battalion, expected to be raised to secure the land. Both Alston and Drumgold (Drumgoole) were listed as captains of riflemen.
Alston fades out of the American records in the 1790s which may have been due to joining with the Spanish colonial government in the lower Mississippi Valley. On Jan. 22, 1793, he sold goods to his son-in-law John Gilbert in Logan County, Kentucky, and appeared there six years later on October 22, 1799, to prove another deed involving Gilbert. One account notes Alston and his son Peter
also practiced their counterfeiting operation at Stack Island in the lower Mississippi River
about 170 miles upriver from Natchez. This would have been around 1799, in conjunction with the river pirates who operated off the island under the leadership of Samuel Mason
, formerly of Cave-in-Rock.
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and the Carolinas before the war, and later in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
afterwards. He is associated with Cave-in-Rock and John Duff
John Duff (counterfeiter)
John Duff was a counterfeiter, hunter, and scout who assisted in George Rogers Clark's campaign to capture the Illinois country for the American side during the Revolutionary War. He had been leading a group of hunters returning from Kaskaskia, Illinois, when intercepted by Clark's soldiers near...
, as well as an early settler
Settler
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...
of Natchez
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
and the Cumberland
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...
and Red River
Red River (Tennessee-Kentucky)
The Red River, long, is a major stream of north-central Tennessee and south-central Kentucky and a major tributary of the Cumberland River....
valleys in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
Early history
In 1770-1771, he and his brother John Alston were wanted for counterfeiting in North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, and by 1773, in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
as well. With authorities targeting counterfeiters in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and as well as the neighboring colonies of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, the brothers fled in 1772 or 1773 to Natchez
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
about 200 miles upriver from New Orleans.
Natchez
Upon arriving in Natchez Alston became "a prosperousProsperous
Prosperous is the second album by Irish folk musician Christy Moore, released in 1972. His first album, Paddy On The Road was recorded by Dominic Behan in 1969 and has long been out of print...
speculator and planter
Planter
Planter may refer to:*A flower pot or box for plants**Jardinière, one such type of pot*A person or object engaged in sowing seeds**Planter , implement towed behind a tractor, used for sowing crops through a field*A coloniser...
, and, in 1776, possessed some of the finest palatial mansions in that gay city."
Under the overall leadership of John Blommart on April 22, 1781, Alston, his brother John, other settlers as well as allied Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
, led an uprising against Spanish authorities which controlled Natchez at the time. Soon after they captured Fort Panmure
Fort Rosalie
Fort Rosalie was a French fort built in 1716 in the territory of the Natchez Native Americans. The present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi developed at this site. As part of the peace terms that ended the Natchez War of 1716, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville required the Natchez to...
, the rebels split into pro-American and pro-British factions. Alston, his brother and John Turner wanted to execute the Spanish garrison and raise the American flag. Led by Blommart and Thomas Hutchins, the other side won the argument and sent the garrison away. Meanwhile Spanish forces defeated a British attack on Pensacola
Pensacola
Pensacola is a city in the western part of the U.S. state of Florida.Pensacola may also refer to:* Pensacola people, a group of Native Americans* A number of places in the Florida:** Pensacola Bay** Pensacola Regional Airport...
which had been expected to relieve the settlers at Natchez. On June 23, Spanish soldiers retook Fort Panmure without firing a shot, capturing Blommart and Alston's brother John. Other leaders had fled, Hutchins to the Carolinas and Philip Alston to the Cumberland Valley where he had already established a second home.
Before he fled Natchez, Alston supposedly stole a crucifix from the Catholic Church.
Alston also appears in Spanish records as Phelipe Alston
Post-Natchez History
On May 13, 1780, Alston signed off on the Cumberland CompactCumberland Compact
The Cumberland Compact was a forerunner of the Tennessee State Constitution, signed on May 13, 1780, by settlers when they arrived on the Cumberland River and settled Fort Nashborough, which would become Nashville, Tennessee...
, the first governing document for the settlers of the Cumberland Valley, which places him in the Cumberland Valley even before he flees Natchez. He may have been living at Mansker Station near modern-day Goodlettsville, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
Following his escape from Natchez, Alston and John Turned joined Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
leader James Logan Colbert and a mixed roving band of Natchez refugees, Cumberland settlers and Chickasaw numbering around 600 who attacked Spanish shipping on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in 1781 and 1782. The Pennsylvania Gazette, a colonial newspaper in Philadelphia reprinted a letter in the fall of 1783 that identified Alston as both the "famous money counterfeiter" but also a leader of the band raiding Spanish shipping on the Mississippi.
About 1783 or at least by the summer of 1784, Alston moved northwest and settled in modern-day Logan County
Logan County, Kentucky
Logan County is a county located in the southwest area of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 26,573. Its county seat is Russellville...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
where he built Alston's Station, or fort, near the Red River below the mouth of the Big Whippoorwill. He farmed in the summer of 1784 and manufactured salt at Moate's Lick that autumn, assisted by old John Stuart. "He traded his salt for skins and then traded the skins off at Natchez or the Eastern States for goods, and he also became the first merchant. Shortly afterwards he and James Dromgoole did business together". In 1795, the settlers around Alston's Station included Jesse and Wm. Green, Dromgoole (also spelled Drumgole), Stuart and Matthew McClean.
By 1786, Alston began counterfeiting again. Alston and Drumgole celebrated Independence Day that year by stealing back one of Alston's former slaves named King who had been sold out of his estate seized by Spanish authorities when he fled in Natchez earlier in the decade. The complaint lists him as the "robber" which may be a reference to the crucifix story.
By 1788, Logan County residents rose up against Alston's counterfeiting and banished him from the county. Later that year or in 1789 he moved to the area of Alston's Creek in northern Logan County but didn't remain there long. Fearing for his safety, he moved around quite a bit over the next two years, first to Alston’s Lick, in now Muhlenberg County
Muhlenberg County, Kentucky
Muhlenberg County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 31,499. The county is named for Peter Muhlenberg. Its county seat is Greenville....
, and shortly thereafter to Livingston County
Livingston County, Kentucky
Livingston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 9,804. Its county seat is Smithland. The county is named for Robert R. Livingston...
and finally to Henderson County
Henderson County, Kentucky
Henderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1799. As the latest census data update of 2010, the population was counted 46,250. The county seat is the City of Henderson. The county was named for Colonel Richard Henderson who originally purchased of land...
, all in western Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, before crossing the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
into Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
in 1790.
In 1790 he was at Cave-in-Rock with John Duff
John Duff (counterfeiter)
John Duff was a counterfeiter, hunter, and scout who assisted in George Rogers Clark's campaign to capture the Illinois country for the American side during the Revolutionary War. He had been leading a group of hunters returning from Kaskaskia, Illinois, when intercepted by Clark's soldiers near...
, though for what purpose is not recalled definitively in the histories. Though Alexander Finley, the normally-reliable author of the 1876 History of Russellville, Kentucky, tells us that Alston became a "fast friend and disciple of the notorious counterfeiter, Sturdevant
Sturdivant Gang
The Sturdivant Gang was a multi-generational group of counterfeiters whose criminal activities took place over a 50 year period from Colonial Connecticut to the Illinois frontier. Although they did not follow the same frontier settlement pattern as most of the "Ancient Colony of Horse-Thieves,...
", the Sturdivants didn't arrive at Cave-in-Rock for another generation. Duff was the counterfeiter in the area in the 1790s and some believe that's when Duff became a disciple of Alston and learned his counterfeiting skills.
According to Finley, Alston soon moved back to Tennessee and "from there to Natchez, where he found his old enemies, who became his fast friends. He rose in the estimation of these Spaniards until he was appointed an empresido of Mexico. When in the midst of his success and returning fortune death stepped in and sealed his fate.
Besides meeting with Duff in 1790, Alston was also working with James O'Fallon in the Yazoo land scandal
Yazoo land scandal
The Yazoo land scandal, Yazoo fraud, Yazoo land fraud, or Yazoo land controversy was a massive fraud perpetrated from 1794 to 1803 by several Georgia governors and the state legislature. They sold large tracts of land in what is now the state of Mississippi to political insiders at very low prices...
, which among other things had it been successful would have settled a large group of Americans in southern Mississippi aligned with the Spanish. By September 16, 1790, O'Fallon had completed the organization of the Yazoo Battalion, expected to be raised to secure the land. Both Alston and Drumgold (Drumgoole) were listed as captains of riflemen.
Alston fades out of the American records in the 1790s which may have been due to joining with the Spanish colonial government in the lower Mississippi Valley. On Jan. 22, 1793, he sold goods to his son-in-law John Gilbert in Logan County, Kentucky, and appeared there six years later on October 22, 1799, to prove another deed involving Gilbert. One account notes Alston and his son Peter
Peter Alston
Peter Alston was the late 18th Century and early 19th Century counterfeiter and river pirate, who is believed to be Little Harpe's associate and partner in the murder of notorious outlaw leader Samuel Mason in 1803. He was the son of the colonial-era counterfeiter Philip Alston associated with...
also practiced their counterfeiting operation at Stack Island in the lower Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
about 170 miles upriver from Natchez. This would have been around 1799, in conjunction with the river pirates who operated off the island under the leadership of Samuel Mason
Samuel Mason
Samuel Mason or Meason was a Revolutionary War militia captain on the frontier, who following the war, became the leader of a gang of river pirates and highwaymen on the lower Ohio River and the Mississippi River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries...
, formerly of Cave-in-Rock.
Family
Philip Alston was the son of Solomon and Sarah Ann "Nancy" (Hinton) Alston. He's believed to have been born in South Carolina, but moved with his family to North Carolina at an early age. He's also believed to have been married in 1765 in North Carolina, although the name of his wife is not known. Alston genealogists list five children:- Frances Alston, born about 1766, who married James D. Dromgoole (1758–1818) in 1782.
- John McCoy Alston, born in 1767, and is likely the John Alston that proved the 1799 deed. Philip Alston's wife was Mildred McCoy.
- Philip Alston, Jr., who is the recipient of a number of slaves in the 1799 deed.
- Elizabeth Elise Alston, who married John Gilbert.
- Peter AlstonPeter AlstonPeter Alston was the late 18th Century and early 19th Century counterfeiter and river pirate, who is believed to be Little Harpe's associate and partner in the murder of notorious outlaw leader Samuel Mason in 1803. He was the son of the colonial-era counterfeiter Philip Alston associated with...
, the counterfeiter and river pirate, some identify as Little Harpe's partner in the murder of Samuel MasonSamuel MasonSamuel Mason or Meason was a Revolutionary War militia captain on the frontier, who following the war, became the leader of a gang of river pirates and highwaymen on the lower Ohio River and the Mississippi River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries...
.