[Illustration: PITTSBURGH IN 1790
As sketched by Lewis Brantz
From Schoolcraft’s _Indian Antiquities_]
PITTSBURGH
A SKETCH OF ITS EARLY
SOCIAL LIFE
BY
CHARLES W. DAHLINGER
[Illustration]
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press
1916
COPYRIGHT, 1916
BY
CHARLES W. DAHLINGER
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
To
B. McC. D.
PREFACE
The purpose of these pages is to describe the early social life of
Pittsburgh. The civilization of Pittsburgh was crude and vigorous,
withal prescient of future culture and refinement.
The place sprang into prominence after the conclusion of the French
and Indian War, and upon the improvement of the military roads laid
out over the Alleghany Mountains during that struggle. Pittsburgh was
located on the main highway leading to the Mississippi Valley, and
was the principal stopping place in the journey from the East to the
Louisiana country. The story of its early social existence, interwoven
as it is with contemporaneous national events, is of more than local
interest.
C. W. D.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,
November, 1915.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--THE FORMATIVE PERIOD 1
II.--A NEW COUNTY AND A NEW BOROUGH 22
III.--THE MELTING POT 38
IV.--LIFE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 62
V.--THE SEAT OF POWER 90
VI.--PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AFFAIRS 114
VII.--A DUEL AND OTHER MATTERS 138
VIII.--ZADOK CRAMER 161
IX.--THE BROADENING OF CULTURE 184
INDEX 209
Pittsburgh
CHAPTER I
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD
Until all fear of Indian troubles had ceased, there was practically no
social life in American pioneer communities. As long as marauding bands
of Indians appeared on the outskirts of the settlements, the laws were
but a loose net with large meshes, thrown out from the longer-settled
country whence they emanated. In the numerous interstices the laws were
ineffective. In this Pittsburgh was no exception. The nominal reign of
the law had been inaugurated among the settlers in Western Pennsylvania
as far back as 1750, when the Western country was no man’s land, and
the rival claims set up by France and England were being subjected
to the arbitrament of the sword. In that year Cumberland County was
formed. It was the sixth county in the province, and comprised all
the territory west of the Susquehanna River, and north and west of
York County--limitless in its westerly extent--between the province of
New York on one side, and the colony of Virginia and the province of
Maryland on the other. The first county seat was at Shippinsburg, but
the next year, when Carlisle was laid out, that place became the seat
of justice.
After the conclusion of the French and Indian War, and the
establishment of English supremacy, a further attempt was made to
govern Western Pennsylvania by lawful methods, and in 1771 Bedford
County was formed out of Cumberland County. It included nearly all of
the western half of the province. With Bedford, the new county seat,
almost a hundred miles away, the law had little force in and about
Pittsburgh. To bring the law nearer home, Westmoreland County was
formed in 1773, from Bedford County, and embraced all of the province
west of “Laurel Hill.” The county seat was at Hannastown, three miles
northeast of the present borough of Greensburg. But with Virginia
and Pennsylvania each claiming jurisdiction over the territory an
uncertainty prevailed which caused more disregard for the law. The
Revolutionary War came on, with its attendant Indian troubles; and in
1794 the western counties revolted against the national government on
account of the imposition of an excise on whisky. It was only after the
last uprising had been suppressed that the laws became effective and
society entered upon the formative stage.
Culture is the leading element in the formation and progress of
society, and is the result of mental activity. The most potent agency
in the production of culture is education. While Pittsburgh was a
frontier village, suffering from the turbulence of the French and
Indian War, the uncertainty of the Revolution, and the chaos of the
Whisky Insurrection, education remained at a standstill. The men who
had blazed trails through the trackless forests, and buried themselves
in the woods or along the uncharted rivers, could usually read and
write, but there were no means of transmitting these boons to their
children. The laws of the province made no provision for schools
on its frontiers. In December, 1761, the inhabitants of Pittsburgh
subscribed sixty pounds and engaged a schoolmaster for the term of a
year to instruct their children. Similar attempts followed, but, like
the first effort, ended in failure. There was not a newspaper in all
the Western country; the only books were the Bible and the almanac.
The almanac was the one form of secular literature with which frontier
families were ordinarily familiar.
In 1764, while Pittsburgh was a trading post, the military authorities
caused a plan of the village to be made by Colonel John Campbell.
It consisted of four blocks, and was bounded by Water Street,
Second Street, now Second Avenue, Market and Ferry Streets, and was
intersected by Chancery Lane. The lots faced in the direction of Water
Street. In this plan most of the houses were built.
At the outbreak of the Revolution, the proprietors of the province
were the cousins, John Penn, Jr., and John Penn, both grandsons of
William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. Being royalists, they had
been divested of the title to all their lands in Pennsylvania, except
to a few tracts which had been surveyed, called manors, one of them
being “Pittsburgh,” in which was included the village of that name.
In 1784 the Penns conceived the design of selling land in the village
of Pittsburgh. The first sale was made in January, when an agreement
to sell was entered into with Major Isaac Craig and Colonel Stephen
Bayard, for about three acres, located “between Fort Pitt and the
Allegheny River.” The Penns determined to lay out a town according
to a plan of their own, and on April 22, 1784, Tench Francis, their
agent, employed George Woods, an engineer living at Bedford, to do
the work. The plan was completed in a few months, and included within
its boundaries all the land in the triangle between the Allegheny and
Monongahela Rivers, extending to Grant Street and Washington, now
Eleventh, Street. Campbell’s plan was adopted unchanged; Tench Francis
approved the new plan and began to sell lots. Major Craig and Colonel
Bayard accepted, in lieu of the acreage purchased by them, a deed for
thirty-two lots in this plan.
Until this time, the title of the occupants of lands included in the
plan had been by sufferance only. The earlier Penns were reputed to
have treated the Indians, the original proprietors of Pennsylvania,
with consideration. In the same manner John Penn, Jr., and John Penn
dealt with the persons who made improvements on the lands to which
they had no title. They permitted the settlement on the assumption
that the settlers would afterwards buy the land; and they gave them
a preference. Also when litigation arose, caused by the schemes of
land speculators intent on securing the fruits of the enterprise and
industry of squatters on the Penn lots, the courts generally intervened
in favor of the occupants.[1] The sale was advertised near and far, and
immigrants and speculators flocked into the village. They came from
Eastern Pennsylvania, from Virginia, from Maryland, from New York, and
from distant New England. The pack trains carrying merchandise and
household effects into Pittsburgh became ever longer and more numerous.
Once that the tide of emigration had set in toward the West, it grew
constantly in volume. The roads over the Alleghany Mountains were
improved, and wheeled conveyances no longer attracted the curious
attention that greeted Dr. Johann David Schoepf when he arrived
in Pittsburgh in 1783, in the cariole in which he had crossed the
mountains, an achievement which until then had not been considered
possible.[2] The monotonous hoof-beats of the pack horses became less
frequent, and great covered wagons, drawn by four horses, harnessed
two abreast, came rumbling into the village. But not all the people or
all the goods remained in Pittsburgh. There were still other and newer
Eldorados, farther away to the west and the south, and these lands of
milk and honey were the Meccas of many of the adventurers. Pittsburgh
was the depository of the merchandise sent out from Philadelphia and
Baltimore, intended for the western and southern country and for the
numerous settlements that were springing up along the Monongahela
and Allegheny Rivers.[3] From Pittsburgh trading boats laden with
merchandise were floated down the Ohio River, stopping at the towns on
its banks to vend the articles which they carried.[4] Coal was cheap
and emigrant and trading boats carried it as ballast.[5] In Pittsburgh
the immigrants lingered, purchasing supplies, and gathering information
about the country beyond. Some proceeded overland. Others sold the
vehicles in which they had come, and continued the journey down the
Ohio River, in Kentucky flat or family boats, in keel boats, arks, and
barges. The construction and equipping of boats became an industry of
moment in Pittsburgh.
The last menace from the Indians who owned and occupied the country
north of the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers was removed on October 21, 1784,
when the treaty with the Six Nations was concluded at Fort Stanwix, by
which all the Indian lands in Pennsylvania except a tract bordering
on Lake Erie were ceded to the State. This vast territory was now
opened for settlement, and resulted in more immigrants passing through
Pittsburgh. The northerly boundary of the village ceased to be the
border line of civilization. The isolation of the place became less
pronounced. The immigrants who remained in Pittsburgh were generally of
a sturdy class, and were young and energetic. Among them were former
Revolutionary officers and soldiers. They engaged in trade, and as an
adjunct of this business speculated in lands in the county, or bought
and sold town lots. A few took up tavern keeping. From the brief notes
left by Lewis Brantz who stopped over in Pittsburgh in 1785, while on
a journey from Baltimore to the Western country, it appears that at
this time Fort Pitt was still garrisoned by a small force of soldiers;
that the inhabitants lived chiefly by traffic, and by entertaining
travellers; and that there were but few mechanics in the village.[6]
The extent of the population can be conjectured, when it is known that
in 1786 there were in Pittsburgh only thirty-six log buildings, one of
stone, and one of frame; and that there were six stores.[7]
Religion was long dormant on the frontier. In 1761 and 1762, when the
first school was in operation in Pittsburgh, the schoolmaster conducted
religious services on Sundays to a small congregation. Although under
the direction of a Presbyterian, the services consisted in reading the
Prayers and the Litany from the _Book of Common Prayer_.[8] During the
military occupation, a chaplain was occasionally stationed at Fort
Pitt around which the houses clustered. From time to time missionaries
came and tarried a few days or weeks, and went their way again.
The long intervals between the religious services were periods of
indifference. An awakening came at last, and the religious teachings
of early life reasserted themselves, and the settlers sought means
to re-establish a spiritual life in their midst. The Germans and
Swiss-Germans of the Protestant Evangelical and Protestant Reformed
faiths jointly organized a German church in 1782; and the Presbyterians
formed a church organization two years later.
The first pastor of the German church was the Rev. Johann Wilhelm
Weber, who was sent out by the German Reformed Synod at Reading.[9] He
had left his charge in Eastern Pennsylvania because the congregation
which he served had not been as enthusiastic in its support of the
Revolution as he deemed proper.[10] The services were held in a
log building situated at what is now the corner of Wood Street and
Diamond Alley.[11] Besides ministering to the wants of the Pittsburgh
church, there were three other congregations on Weber’s circuit,
which extended fifty miles east of Pittsburgh. When he came West
in September, 1782, the Revolutionary War was still in progress;
Hannastown had been burned by the British and Indians in the preceding
July; hostile Indians and white outlaws continually beset his path.
He was a soldier of the Cross, but he was also ready to fight worldly
battles. He went about the country armed not only with the Bible, but
with a loaded rifle,[12] and was prepared to battle with physical
enemies, as well as with the devil.
Hardly had the churches come into existence when another organization
was formed whose origin is claimed to be shrouded in the mists of
antiquity. In the American history of the order, the membership
included many of the greatest and best known men in the country. On
December 27, 1785, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Free and Accepted
Masons, granted a charter to certain freemasons resident in Pittsburgh,
which was designated as “Lodge No. 45 of Ancient York Masons.” It was
not only the first masonic lodge in Pittsburgh, but the first in the
Western country.[13] Almost from the beginning, Lodge No. 45 was the
most influential social organization in the village. Nearly all the
leading citizens were members. Toward the close of the eighteenth
century the place of meeting was in the tavern of William Morrow, at
the “Sign of the Green Tree,” on Water Street, two doors above Market
Street.[14] Although not a strictly religious organization, the order
carefully observed certain Church holidays. St. John the Baptist’s day
and St. John the Evangelist’s day were never allowed to pass without
a celebration. Every year in June, on St. John the Baptist’s day,
Lodge No. 45 met at 10 o’clock in the morning and, after the services
in the lodge were over, paraded the streets. The members walked two
abreast. Dressed in their best clothes, with cocked hats, long coats,
knee-breeches, and buckled shoes, wearing the aprons of the craft,
they marched “in ancient order.” The sword bearer was in advance; the
officers wore embroidered collars, from which depended their emblems
of office; the wardens carried their truncheons; the deacons, their
staves. The Bible, surmounted by a compass and a square, on a velvet
cushion, was borne along. When the Rev. Robert Steele came to preach in
the Presbyterian Meeting House, the march was from the lodge room to
the church. Here Mr. Steele preached a sermon to the brethren, after
which they dined together at Thomas Ferree’s tavern at the “Sign of the
Black Bear,”[15] or at the “Sign of the Green Tree.”[16] St. John the
Evangelist’s day was observed with no less circumstance. In the morning
the officers of the lodge were installed. Addresses of a semi-religious
or philosophic character, eulogistic of masonry, were delivered by
competent members or visitors. This ceremony was followed in the
afternoon by a dinner either at some tavern or at the home of a member.
Dinners seemed to be a concomitant part of all masonic ceremonies.
By the time that the last quarter of the eighteenth century was well
under way, the hunters and trappers had left for more prolific hunting
grounds. The Indian traders with their lax morals[17] had disappeared
forever in the direction of the setting sun, along with the Indians
with whom they bartered. If any traders remained, they conformed to
the precepts of a higher civilization. Only a scattered few of the
red men continued to dwell in the hills surrounding the village, or
along the rivers, eking out a scant livelihood by selling game in the
town.[18]
A different moral atmosphere appeared: schools of a permanent character
were established; the German church conducted a school which was taught
by the pastor. Secular books were now in the households of the more
intelligent; a few of the wealthier families had small libraries, and
books were sold in the town. On August 26, 1786, Wilson and Wallace
advertised “testaments, Bibles, spelling books, and primers” for
sale.[19] Copies of the Philadelphia and Baltimore newspapers were
brought by travellers, and received by private arrangement.
In July, 1786, John Scull and Joseph Hall, two young men of more than
ordinary daring, came from Philadelphia and established a weekly
newspaper called the _Pittsburgh Gazette_, which was the first
newspaper published in the country west of the Alleghany Mountains. The
partnership lasted only a few months, Hall dying on November 10, 1786,
at the early age of twenty-two years;[20] and in the following month,
John Boyd, also of Philadelphia, purchased Hall’s interest and became
the partner of Scull.[21] For many years money was scarcely seen in
Pittsburgh in commercial transactions, everything being consummated in
trade. A few months after its establishment, the _Pittsburgh Gazette_
gave notice to all persons residing in the country that it would
receive country produce in payment of subscriptions to the paper.[22]
The next year there were printed, and kept for sale at the office of
the _Pittsburgh Gazette_, spelling books, and _The A.B.C. with the
Shorter Catechism, to which are Added Some Short and Easy Questions
for Children_; secular instruction was combined with religious.[23]
The _Pittsburgh Gazette_ also conducted an emporium where other
reading matter might be purchased. In the issue for June 16, 1787, an
illuminating notice appeared: “At the printing office, Pittsburgh,
may be had the laws of this State, passed between the thirtieth of
September, 1775, and the Revolution; New Testaments; Dilworth’s
Spelling Books; New England Primers, with _Catechism_; _Westminster
Shorter Catechism; Journey from Philadelphia to New York by Way of
Burlington and South Amboy_, by Robert Slenner, Stocking Weaver; ...
also a few books for the learner of the French language.”
In November, 1787, there was announced as being in press at the
office of the _Pittsburgh Gazette_ the _Pittsburgh Almanac or Western
Ephemeris for 1788_.[24] The same year that the almanac appeared,
John Boyd attempted the establishment of a circulating library. In
his announcement on July 26th,[25] he declared that the library would
be opened as soon as a hundred subscribers were secured; and that
it would consist of five hundred well chosen books. Subscriptions
were to be received at the office of the _Pittsburgh Gazette_. Boyd
committed suicide in the early part of August by hanging himself to a
tree on the hill in the town, which has ever since borne his name, and
Scull became the sole owner of the _Pittsburgh Gazette_. This act of
self-destruction, and the fact that Boyd’s name as owner appeared in
the _Pittsburgh Gazette_ for the last time on August 2d, would indicate
that the library was never established. Perhaps it was the anticipated
failure of the enterprise that prompted Boyd to commit suicide.
The door to higher education was opened on February 28, 1787, when the
Pittsburgh Academy was incorporated by an Act of the General Assembly.
This was the germ which has since developed into the University of
Pittsburgh. Another step which tended to the material and mental
advancement of the place, was the inauguration of a movement for
communicating regularly with the outside world. On September 30, 1786,
a post route was established with Philadelphia,[26] and the next year
the general government entered into a contract for carrying the mails
between Pittsburgh and that city.[27] Almost immediately afterward a
post office was established in Pittsburgh with Scull as postmaster, and
a regular post between the village and Philadelphia and the East was
opened on July 19, 1788.[28] These events constituted another milestone
in the progress of Pittsburgh.
Another instrument in the advancement of the infant community was
the Mechanical Society which came into existence in 1788. On the
twenty-second of March, the following unique advertisement appeared
in the _Pittsburgh Gazette_: “Society was the primeval desire of our
first and great ancestor Adam; the same order for that blessing seems
to inhabit more or less the whole race. To encourage this it seems to
be the earnest wish of a few of the mechanics in Pittsburgh, to have a
general meeting on Monday the 24th inst., at six P.M., at the house of
Andrew Watson, tavern keeper, to settle on a plan for a well regulated
society for the purpose. This public method is taken to invite the
reputable tradesmen of this place to be punctual to their assignation.”
Andrew Watson’s tavern was in the log building, at the northeast corner
of Market and Front Streets. Front Street was afterward called First
Street, and is now First Avenue. At that time all the highways running
parallel with the Monongahela River were designated as streets, as they
are now called avenues. The object of the Mechanical Society was the
improvement of the condition of the workpeople, to induce workpeople
to settle in the town, and to procure manufactories to be established
there.
The society was more than local in character, similar societies being
in existence in New York, Philadelphia, and in the neighboring village
of Washington. At a later day the Mechanical Society of Pittsburgh
produced plays, some of which were given in the grand-jury room in the
upper story of the new court house. The society also had connected with
it a circulating library, a cabinet of curiosities, and a chemical
laboratory.
REFERENCES