THE SEAT OF POWER
The year 1800 ushered in more than a new century in Pittsburgh. It
heralded the beginning of another era. The decade beginning with that
year will ever be memorable in the annals of the city. During those ten
years the foundation was laid on which the great industrial city was
subsequently built. In 1800 the population of Pittsburgh was 1565, and
in 1810 it had risen to 4768, an increase of 204 per centum, which was
the greatest percentage of increase that has ever taken place in its
history. This decade marked the dividing line between that which was
obsolete and that which was newly-born.
In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, ceded to the
United States the vast Louisiana Territory, whereby the area of this
country was more than doubled, and commerce between Louisiana and
Pittsburgh increased tremendously.
As far back as 1791, Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury,
had communicated to the House of Representatives his famous report of
manufactures. In this far-away community, with coal at its doors, and
iron in the near-by mountains, Hamilton’s new doctrine found willing
disciples and industry had more than a beginning. Soon after the close
of the Revolutionary War, iron ore was mined in the Juniata Valley,
and furnaces and forges established, and bar iron and castings made.
The iron was carried to Pittsburgh, partly on horseback, and partly by
water, down the Conemaugh and Allegheny Rivers. Small shops for the
manufacture of articles of iron were opened. Shortly afterward iron ore
was also mined in the counties of Fayette and Westmoreland and furnaces
and forges built and iron produced. The distance being shorter from
Fayette and Westmoreland Counties than from the Juniata Valley, iron
was thereafter brought to Pittsburgh only from the former districts.
The iron shops increased in number. Coal was the pole star which
lighted the way to their establishment. A writer who saw the advantages
of Pittsburgh with the eyes of a Münchhausen, writing of the value of
its coal, declared, that the blaze afforded “so strong a light, that in
winter, ... neither tailors, or other mechanics burn candles.”[137]
At the close of the eighteenth century, the black smoke of the iron
shops, the glass manufactory, the boat yards, the distillery, the
brewery, the tanneries, the brickyards, and the increasing number of
dwelling houses had already given the town a sombre hue. Industry went
forward with leaps and bounds, and manufactories on a larger scale were
set up. They were insignificant, if compared with even the medium-sized
establishments of to-day, but were large and important in the eyes of
people who, prior to the American Revolution, had been practically
prohibited from engaging in any manufacturing by their English masters.
Cotton mills were established, as were iron foundries, nail factories,
engine shops, a tinware manufactory, a pipe manufactory, and in 1808 a
second glass works, that of Robinson & Ensell.[138] The extent of the
plants can be gauged, when it is known that one of the nail factories
employed thirty men, the tinware manufactory twenty-eight men, and one
of the cotton mills twelve men.[139]
In 1804, the Bank of Pennsylvania opened a branch in Pittsburgh. A
stage line from Chambersburgh to Baltimore and Philadelphia was placed
in operation in the spring of 1803.[140] In 1804 this was extended to
Pittsburgh, the first coach from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia being run
on July 4th.
Religion was now keeping pace with the increase in population and the
growth in material prosperity. Hitherto those who were religiously
inclined were obliged to attend the services of either the German
or the Presbyterian church. Other churches were now brought into
existence. The Episcopalians formed an organization in 1805, under
the name of “Trinity Church,” and began the erection of their brick
octagonal building, on the lot bounded by Liberty, Seventh, and Wood
streets, which was a landmark in its day.
Ever since the English occupancy, the population had been Protestant in
religion, although Protestantism in the early days signified little
more than a stout opposition to Roman Catholicism. The Presbyterians,
who constituted the bulk of the English-speaking Protestants, had
looked askance when the Episcopalians, whom they regarded as closely
akin to Roman Catholics, formed their church organization. When it
was rumored that Roman Catholic services were to be held, they shook
their heads still more doubtfully. Prior to 1800 there was hardly a
professed Roman Catholic in Pittsburgh. In 1804, the number was still
so small that when the missionary priest and former Russian prince
and soldier, Demetrius Augustine Gallitzen, came and celebrated mass,
there were only fifteen persons present to assist.[141] In 1808, a
congregation was formed, and the next year a one-story brick chapel
was erected[142] at the southeast corner of Liberty and Washington
streets, Washington Street then extending to Liberty Street. The
site is now occupied by the entrance to the Pennsylvania Station.
Practically all the parishioners were Irish, and it was natural that
the new edifice should be named “St. Patrick’s Church.” The Methodists
organized a congregation at the same time as the Roman Catholics,[143]
and in 1810 erected a small brick building on Front Street below
Smithfield, opposite the lower end of the site at present occupied by
the Monongahela House.[144] The Baptists were growing in numbers and,
although lacking a church organization, met at one another’s houses,
and listened to the exhortations of traveling missionaries of that
faith.[145]
The Freemasons must be credited with a movement, inaugurated at this
time, which was to have a far-reaching effect. The meetings of Lodge
No. 45 in the taverns had been conducive of almost everything except
sobriety. The effects were degrading, and in many cases injurious, not
only to the persons affected but to their dependents as well. Also
the evil was growing, and was contrary to the expressed ideals of the
order. Practically all the leaders in the village, whether in public
or private life, had been or were still members of the lodge. Among
the older members were General Richard Butler and his brother, Colonel
William Butler, General John Neville, Judge Hugh Henry Brackenridge,
Captain Joseph Ashton, John Ormsby, Colonel James O’Hara, Captain
Michael Hufnagle, Major Isaac Craig, Senator James Ross, Samuel Ewalt,
and Captain John Irwin. Younger members were Dr. Andrew Richardson,
Dr. Hugh Scott, William Wusthoff, Anthony Beelen, Thomas Baird, James
Riddle, Tarleton Bates, Rev. Robert Steele, and Henry Baldwin. It
is not surprising that such men should sooner or later realize the
calamity which confronted the members of the lodge, and decide upon
eliminating the cause. The change was effected upon the completion of
William Irwin’s brick house, at the southwest corner of Market Street
and the West Diamond, just prior to the opening of the new century.
Thenceforth the meetings of the lodge were held in a room on the third
floor of this building, and the temptation to excessive drinking was
at least farther removed than when the sessions were being held in
the “Sign of the Green Tree.” This was the first practical temperance
movement in Pittsburgh.
Market Street was one of the narrowest streets in the town, but was
the principal commercial thoroughfare. Coincidentally it was called
“Main Street.” It received the name by which it has been known for
more than a century and a quarter, from the fact that the first market
house, erected in 1787, was located at the northwest corner of this
street and Second Street. In 1800 the street was bustling with life.
More drays and carts and wagons were moving over at least a portion of
the thoroughfare than is the case to-day. Intermingled with the other
vehicles were wagons from the country, drawn by oxen. In wet weather
the roadway was ground into mud and thin mire. The merchants generally
lived with their families in the houses where their business was
conducted. The street was noisy with children. Trees grew on the outer
edges of the foot-walks, and in the summer grass and weeds sprang up,
watered by the street wells and pumps that supplied the residents with
water.
Most of the prominent people lived on Market Street. Judge Hugh
Henry Brackenridge, although often absent from Pittsburgh in the
performance of his judicial duties, maintained his residence on the
street, until August 24, 1801, when he removed with his family to
Carlisle.[146] All but one of the physicians were located there. Here
the leading mercantile establishments were concentrated. Open spaces
still intervened between the houses, and there were gardens, inclosed
with fences painted white, in which flowers bloomed and vegetables
flourished, but the spaces were rapidly being built upon. Everywhere
the sounds of hammer and saw greeted the ear, and heaps of brick and
beds of mortar encumbered the street.
Public improvements were commenced: Market and Wood streets were
being paved, as was Chancery Lane from the Monongahela River to
Second Street. Front and Third streets were being graveled from
Market to Wood Street, as was also Diamond Alley.[147] The price of
land was advancing. The Penns had sold most of the lots fronting on
Market Street, in 1785, at the average price of ten pounds each in
Pennsylvania currency, a pound being equal to two dollars and sixty-six
and two-thirds cents in United States money of the present value. The
lots were of varying dimensions: some had a front on Market Street of
one hundred and sixty feet, and a depth of eighty feet, while others
had fronts of from fifty-six to eighty feet, and were of different
depths. In 1789 and 1790, respectively, two lots were sold for fifty
pounds each. In 1791, two others were sold for one hundred and twenty
pounds each. In 1793, a lot on the East Diamond, where values had not
appreciated to the same extent as on Market Street, was sold for one
hundred pounds. After 1800, the lots began to be subdivided, and still
higher prices prevailed, and they continued to advance year by year.
The Act of Congress of July 6, 1785, established a national currency,
the unit being a dollar, equal in value to the Spanish milled dollar.
The Spanish milled dollar had been in circulation in this country
for many years, and was the expressed unit in the paper money and
other obligations, authorized by Congress since the first year of the
Revolution. The United States mint, however, was not authorized until
the passage of the Act of Congress of April 2, 1792, and the first
coinage of silver and gold did not take place until two years later.
During this interval the circulating medium was mainly Spanish silver
money and the consideration mentioned in conveyances was usually in the
Spanish milled dollar. In 1801, a lot having a front on Market Street
of thirty feet and a depth of seventy feet, was sold for six hundred
and twelve dollars and fifty cents; in 1803, a lot having a front
of forty-six feet and a depth of seventy feet was sold for thirteen
hundred dollars. In 1804, an undivided fourth interest in a lot having
a front of fifty-six feet, and a depth of one hundred and seventy-five
feet, was sold for eight hundred and seventy-five dollars. In 1805,
a half interest in a lot also having a front of fifty-six feet, and
a depth of one hundred and seventy-five feet was sold for twelve
hundred dollars. In 1806, an eighth interest in a lot having a front
of fifty-six feet, and a depth of one hundred and seventy-five feet,
was sold for two hundred and seventy-five dollars. In 1807, a sixth
interest in a lot having a front of fifty-six feet, and a depth of one
hundred and seventy-five feet, was sold for six hundred and sixty-six
dollars and sixty-six cents.
Most of the houses were built on land leased from the owners, or on
lots subject to the payment of ground rents, which accounted to some
extent for the inferior quality of the improvements. The number of
brick houses on Market Street was still so limited that the merchants
were fond of referring to the fact that the establishments conducted by
them were located in a “brick house” or “next door to,” or “across the
street from,” a “brick house.”
A majority of the merchants and professional men on the street were
young, or at least had not arrived at middle age. Like all the men
in new communities, they were possessed of unbounded energy, which
found vent in their business affairs, in a desire for pleasure, and
in an inordinate ambition for political preferment. Perhaps it was
owing to this cause, that the number of town and other offices were so
numerous. The town officers were a chief burgess, a burgess and four
assistant burgesses, a town clerk, a high constable, two assessors,
and two supervisors. The duties of the assistant burgesses were to
assist the chief burgess and the burgess in the performance of their
duties.[148] The justices of the peace were even more plentiful than
the town officers. They were appointed by the governor and held office
during good behavior, which was practically for life. Appointments were
constantly made, usually as a reward for party fealty, and there being
a dearth of deaths among those in office, the number of justices of the
peace had become inordinately large. There was also a cause peculiar
to Pittsburgh, for the craving for office. The legislative acts of the
borough were performed at Town Meetings held in the court house by
the “Burgesses, Freeholders, and Inhabitants, householders,” at which
all the male adults whether citizens or aliens[149] who had resided
in the place for a year, had a voice. In 1800, there were nearly two
hundred qualified electors who had a right to participate in the Town
Meetings,[150] and practically the entire number were politicians. A
desire for the glare of public life developed, and the creation of
offices resulted.
Considering the extent of the town and the number of the inhabitants,
the stores were numerous, there being, in 1803, forty-nine stores and
shops.[151] The explanation was that much of the trade of Pittsburgh
was with travelers passing through the place, and with settlements
farther west and south. The travelers were frequently delayed for long
periods. Owing to the lack of a sufficient stage of water in the
rivers, as high as a hundred boats, each carrying an average of twelve
emigrants, were sometimes tied up along the Monongahela River between
Pittsburgh and New Geneva, and as many more along the Allegheny.[152]
The various supplies required while there and for the further journey
were furnished by the merchants of the town.
The stores were usually what is termed “general stores,” where
everything necessary for the use of pioneer families could be
purchased. Only a few establishments dealt in special lines. On the
shelves were articles that at present are suggestive of the day in
which they were sold. Taken in connection with the dress of the people,
the food they ate, their churches, their societies, their work, and
their amusements, they form a more or less complete outline picture
of the time. Items which stand out in relief are Franklin stoves,
chimney hooks, window weights, brass and stock locks, brass and iron
candlesticks, snuffers, horse fleams, iron combs, iron buttons, knee
buckles, powder flasks, American and German gunpowder, bar lead and
shot, wallowers for Dutch fans, and cards.[153] The sale of cards was
an industry of importance in agricultural communities. At present
the name is confusing. The civilization of the day had not developed
business or visiting cards, and if playing cards were intended they
would have been so designated. The cards sold in Pittsburgh were
brushes with wire teeth used in disentangling fibers of wool, cotton,
and hemp, and laying them parallel to one another preparatory to
spinning. In 1794, the advertisement of Adgate & Co., “at the card
manufactory, corner of Market and Water Streets,” appeared in the
_Pittsburgh Gazette_.[154]
The occupancy of Market Street began at Water Street. Some of the
early settlers were still living in the houses where they began their
business life. Samuel Ewalt was among the earliest merchants on the
street. His store was at the northeast corner of Market and Water
streets. He owned the entire block on the easterly side of Market
Street, between Water and Front streets, his land extending eastwardly
a considerable distance.
On Water Street, one lot removed from the west side of Market Street,
was the home of Colonel Presley Neville. While a very young man,
living in his native Virginia, he had served as an officer in the
Revolutionary War. During this period he married the eldest daughter of
General Daniel Morgan. In Pittsburgh Colonel Neville held many public
positions. He had been inspector of the Allegheny County brigade of
militia, agent for the United States for receiving and storing whisky
taken in kind for the excise, a member of the Legislature,[155] and
was now surveyor of Allegheny County,[156] and was engaged in selling
town lots, and lands in the adjacent townships.[157] In 1803, he was
a candidate for chief burgess, but his vote was a tie with that of
his opponent, Colonel James O’Hara, who had also been an officer in
the Revolution The determination of the case being with the governor,
the decision was in favor of Colonel O’Hara,[158] but under the law
Colonel Neville became burgess.[159] Below Colonel Neville’s house, at
the northwest corner of Water and Ferry streets, was a large two-story
frame building set in a garden. This was the town house of General
John Neville, the father of Colonel Neville. Like his son, he was a
former Revolutionary officer; he had been Inspector of the Revenue
under the excise law, during the Whisky Insurrection. The burning
of his country home by the Insurgents was one of the events of the
short-lived revolt. On Water Street, one door above Redoubt Alley, was
the frame tenement house of Major Isaac Craig. The building had become
historic. It was here that Alexander Hamilton, Judge Richard Peters of
the United States District Court for Pennsylvania, together with the
United States District Attorney, and the United States Marshal, who
accompanied the army of General Lee into Western Pennsylvania, held
court and interrogated Hugh Henry Brackenridge, and others suspected of
fomenting the Whisky Insurrection.
West of Major Craig’s home, a short distance east of West Alley,
was the large frame dwelling of Colonel O’Hara. O’Hara was the most
enterprising citizen in the town, and an important factor in its early
development. At one time he was engaged in almost a dozen enterprises.
He was also the largest owner of real estate both in Pittsburgh, and
Allegheny County, resident in the borough. Among the older merchants
were William Christy, John Irwin, and William Irwin. They had formerly
been partners, but the partnership had long since been dissolved,[160]
and each now had a store of his own. Christy’s establishment was at
the northwest corner of Market and Water streets. He sold all kinds of
cloths and velvets, cassimeres, corduroys, and flannels, teas, sugar,
and “common groceries of every denomination.”[161] During the Virginia
régime, he was a lieutenant in the Pittsburgh militia, and in 1802
was town clerk.[162] Adjoining Christy’s store was that of Dr. Andrew
Richardson. Richardson was a physician. At this time physicians not
only prescribed medicines, but prepared and sold them, and Richardson
was no exception. His advertisement reads like that of a latter-day
druggist: “Oil of Vitriol. I have for sale at my medical store a
quantity of oil of vitriol which I will sell low for cash. Also a
variety of drugs and medicines which I will sell wholesale or retail at
the same terms.”[163]
He was prominent in many respects. Besides being a physician, he was
a justice of the peace, and a leader in politics. In January, 1800,
Governor McKean appointed him Register and Recorder of Allegheny
County in place of Samuel Jones, his Federalist father-in-law,[164]
but he soon relinquished the office. He was likewise a prominent
Freemason, being secretary of Lodge No. 45, and was well known as a
public speaker. At the dinner given on the first anniversary of the
inauguration of President Jefferson he was one of the two presiding
officers.[165] On St. John the Evangelist’s Day, December 27, 1798, he
delivered an oration before Lodge No. 45, which was considered of such
importance that the lodge procured its publication in the _Pittsburgh
Gazette_.
The style was florid. Richardson was high in the councils of the
Republican party, yet his argument was that of a Federalist. It was
a panegyric on Freemasonry, and an expression of hope for universal
peace and love. Opening with a review of the conflict convulsing Europe
he launched out into a severe denunciation of the course that France
was pursuing. “Already hath nation arisen against nation in lawless
oppression,” the orator proclaimed. “Already hath our infant country
been threatened with a final subjugation.” Continuing he asked: “And
who are those who dare to usurp a superiority over us? The French! Once
the boast of history, the pride of the smiling page; but now a band
of robbers, dead to every feeling of humanity, lost to every virtue;
a band of robbers whose lawless acts have drawn upon them the just
resentment of our virtuous brother, the illustrious Washington, who,
though loaded with the oppressive weight of sixty-six years, stands
ready once more to unsheath his conquering sword to save his country
from rapine and murder. Shall he stand the war alone? No, every Masonic
heart will rush like lightning to his standard, with him conquer, or
with him die!”[166]
Richardson’s outspoken views appear to have caused an estrangement with
the local Republican leaders, and in 1801, when he was a candidate
for the State Senate, they were arrayed against him. He was charged
with the unpardonable sin of reviling Thomas Jefferson, the idol of
American public life. The _Pittsburgh Gazette_ and the _Tree of
Liberty_ contained frequent references to the incident. Richardson
himself published a card, which was at once evasive and apologetic. He
was accused of having three years before drunk a toast, “Damnation to
Jefferson and his party,” in Marie’s tavern. He admitted having been in
the tavern on the occasion referred to, but added: “This much I will
say, that if such a toast was given by me, it was improper, and I must
have done so on the impulse of the moment. I cannot say whether it was
given at all.” The Republican tide was too strong and he was defeated,
and was again defeated in 1802, when a candidate for representative to
the Pennsylvania House of Representatives,[167] and he met with a like
fate when a candidate for the same office in 1803.[168] In August of
1809 he died, a disappointed man.[169]
In the same block with Dr. Richardson, at the southwest corner of
Market and Front streets, were the cabinet-makers and upholsterers,
Dobbins & McElhinney.[170] Directly across Market Street from Dobbins
& McElhinney, was the establishment of the Chevalier Dubac. The sign
gave no inkling of the noble birth of the proprietor, reading simply,
“Gabriel Dubac.”[171] He had recently removed to this corner from
Front Street.[172] He has been described as the most popular citizen
of the village.[173] With his wines, dry goods, and groceries, he sold
confectionery. His dog “Sultan,” and his monkey “Bijou,” were the joy
of the children. He was an accomplished scholar, and possessed most
polished manners. When he closed his shop and entered society, he
was the delight of all with whom he associated. He was in the habit
of dining on Sundays at the home of General Neville. When the French
princes, the Duke of Orleans, afterwards Louis Philippe, King of
France, and his two brothers, the Duke of Montpensier and the Count of
Beaujolais, visited Pittsburgh in 1797, it was the Chevalier Dubac who
assisted in making their stay agreeable.
REFERENCES