Animated Shorts

In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and beyond, the nation’s founding included voices of dissent. Neighbors fought neighbors. Others struggled for daily order in the midst of chaos.

The Doan Gang—one of the Revolution’s fiercest opponents—sprang from the turmoil in Bucks County. As outlaws, they targeted the Revolutionary movement in multiple ways. They were guilty of spying on the Continental army, delivering secret messages to the British, and stealing military correspondence sent through the mail.

Bucks County was an important crossroads for captured British soldiers who were held in nearby prisons. Many prisoners escaped with the help of the Doan Gang, who smuggled them across the county and over the Delaware River to safety behind British lines. Smuggling also involved sheltering, feeding, and clothing the prisoners, as well as avoiding Revolutionary militias.

Across Pennsylvania, Doan Gang members stole horses and invaded homes. Using threats and physical violence, they coerced their victims—as well as their victims’ families—to hand over their money and property. 

These violent activities created an atmosphere of terror - one that war-torn residents knew only too well. During the American Revolution, home invasions and property seizures were common. As the Doan Gang’s robbery spree continued, this terror would spread.

On the evening of June 5, 1783, the Doan Gang robbed a number of tax collectors and local citizens including tax collector John Tucker.

The atmosphere of terror created by the Doan Gang’s slew of robberies spurred Bucks County residents and Pennsylvania government officials into action. The Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania—a group of elected officials who enforced state laws—issued a large reward for the capture of Gang members.

In August of 1783, a local posse led by Colonel William Hart tracked three of the Doans to a remote dwelling known as “Halsey’s Cabin,” along Bucks County’s Tohickon Creek. A dramatic shoot-out ensued, with deadly results.

Not all of the Doans' schemes were politically motivated, some were fueled by loyalty their family, rather than the King of England.

Following the death of Moses Doan at the Halsey Cabin shoot out, a note was found in his pocket. It revealed a plot to kidnap Frederick A. Muhlenberg, the first speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The note demanded the release of Joseph Doan, Jr. from prison or else the attack would be carried out.

By 1784, almost all Doan Gang members had been driven westward, captured, or killed. The most serious charge faced by some was “outlawry,” for which the punishment was death. Some Gang members received lesser sentences. Others, due to persuasive petitions and political calculations, were even pardoned. But as pressure mounted, Abraham and Levy Doan were hanged on September 24, 1788.

Other captured Doan Gang members faced a variety of punishments including branding, the pillory, and hard labor. Such sentences that inflicted physical pain and public shaming were common criminal penalties in the eighteenth century.