USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Volume II > Part 65
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In 1797, in connection with James O'Hara, Major Craig established the first glass works, erected west of the Alleghenies. He seemed destined to be linked with every important event in the history of our western frontier beyond the
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mountains. In 1798, when the trouble with France loomed large on our na- tional horizon, it was decided to erect two row-galleys at Pittsburgh, to be used on the lower Mississippi, and the duty of superintending their construc- tion devolved upon Major Craig. On May 25, 1798, he writes to the Secretary of War that the galley "President Adams" was launched on the 19th inst., and was then lying at anchor in the Allegheny, and that the keel of the second gal- ley, the "Senator Ross" is laid, the completion of which he reports on July 27, 1798, and the launching on April 5, 1799, the water being too low in the inter- val for her launching.
Major Craig was a strong Federalist, and soon after Jefferson became presi- dent was removed from office. During the War of 1812-14, his experience as a military officer, and the knowledge he had acquired in the military laboratory under Captain Coren, were again valuable to his country in preparing munitions of war for the north-western army. This was his last public service. In 1815 he removed to a valuable farm inherited by his wife on Montour's Island in the Ohio river nine miles below Pittsburgh, where he passed his latter days in comfort, dying June 14, 1826, at the age of eighty-four years. His remains were followed by a vast concourse of people to their last resting place in the graveyard of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, of which he had been one of the founders, and long a consistent member.
Major Craig had two brothers and one sister, in America, all of whom he survived. His brother James, a Philadelphia merchant, died there August 20, 1798, of yellow fever, John and Jane died in New York.
Major Isaac Craig married, February 1, 1785, Amelia Neville, born at Win- chester, Virginia, April 4, 1763, daughter of General John and Winifred (Old- ham) Neville. She survived him nearly a quarter of a century, dying on Mon- tour's Island, February, 1849.
General John Neville was son of George Neville, whose residence on a branch of the Occoquan, near the head of Bull Run, is laid down on a map in Sparks's "Life of Washington," and in Governor Pownall's, and Dry and Jef- ferson's maps of that section of Virginia. Ann Burroughs, the mother of the General, was a cousin of Lord Fairfax.
General Neville was born here, July 26, 1731. He was an early acquaintance of George Washington, and served under him in Braddock's expedition against Fort Duquesne in 1755. He subsequently settled near Winchester, Frederick county, Virginia, where he held the office of sheriff. He purchased land in what is now Washington and Allegheny counties, Pennsylvania, on Chartier's creek, then claimed by Virginia, and, erecting a dwelling thereon, removed there prior to the Revolution. He took part in Dunmore's expedition in 1774, and was selected as a delegate from Augusta county to the Provincial Convention of Virginia, which appointed George Washington, Peyton Randolph and oth- er delegates to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, but sickness prevented his attendance. On August 7, 1775, he was ordered by the Provincial Con- vention to march, with the military force of which he had command with rank of colonel, and take possession of Fort Pitt. On December 23, 1776, he was commissioned, under Virginia authority, a justice of "Yohoganie" County Court, but, owing to the distracted state of that section over the boundary dis- pute and his position under Continental authority, as commandant at Fort
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Pitt, he wisely declined the appointment. He was colonel of the Fourth Vir- ginia Regiment throughout the Revolution, and rendered valuable services in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey and South Carolina. He was elected to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania from Washington county, November II, 1783, and two years later to the responsible position of a mem- ber of the State Board of Property.
He was a member of the convention that ratified the Federal constitution and of the convention that adopted the Pennsylvania Constitution in 1789-90. In 1791 he was appointed inspector of United States Revenue for the Fourth District of Pennsylvania, at Pittsburgh, and held that position during the Whis- ky Insurrection of 1794, when his house and other buildings were besieged and burned to the ground by the mob. Judge Wilkeson, in his "Early Recollections of the West", has this to say of General Neville's attitude during the insur- rection ;
"In order to allay opposition (to the excise law) as far as possible, General John Neville, a man of the most deserved popularity, was appointed inspector for Western Pennsylvania. He accepted the appointment from a sense of duty to his country. He was one of the few men of wealth who had put his all at hazard for independence. At his own expense, he raised and equipped a company of soldiers, marched them to Boston, and placed them, with his son, under the command of General Washington. He was the father of Col. Presly Neville, the brother-in-law of Major Kirkpatrick, and the father-in-law of Major Craig, both of them officers highly respected in the western country. Besides Gen. Neville's claims as a soldier and patriot, he had contributed greatly to relieve the sufferings of the settlers in his vicinity. He divided his last loaf of bread with the needy; and in a season of more than ordinary scarcity, he opened his fields to those who were suffering with hunger. If any man could have executed this odious law, General Neville was that man".
He was appointed agent for the sale of lands at Pittsburgh under the Act of Congress, passed May 18, 1796. He died on Montour's Island, now Neville township, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, July 29, 1803, and was buried at the First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, where a tombstone, erected to his mem- ory, bears a lengthy inscription, in part as follows: "During his long life he filled many important offices both civil and military, in the former he was vir- tuous and disinterested, in the latter patriotic and brave. He enjoyed the friendship and confidence of the illustrious Washington. The day of his death witnessed the most pleasing tribute that can be paid to the memory of a mortal -the sincere regrets of his friends and the tears of the neighboring poor".
General Neville was, however, a consistent member of the Protestant Episco- pal church, and built a church of that denomination at his own expense, on the site of the present church of Woodville.
He married, August 24, 1754, Winifred Oldham, born in Virginia, 1736, died in 1797 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, daughter of John Oldham, by his wife Anne (Conway) Oldham, and granddaughter of Colonel Samuel Oldham, (1682-1762) of Westmoreland county, by his wife Elizabeth (Newton) Old- ham. General and Winifred (Oldham) Neville had two children: Presly Nev- ille, born September 6, 1755, and Amelia, wife of Major Isaac Craig.
Presly Neville was a distinguished military officer during the Revolution, reaching the rank of colonel, and was for some time aide-de-camp to the Mar- quis de Lafayette, taking part in most of the principal battles. He died on land granted him for his Revolutionary services, at Neville, Clermont county, Ohio. He married, October 15, 1782, Nancy, daughter of the celebrated Gen-
Neville Beraig
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eral Daniel Morgan, and they had fourteen children, said by H. M. Brecken- ridge in his "Recollections" to have been "as numerous and beautiful as the children of Niobe".
NEVILLE B. CRAIG, eldest surviving son of Major Isaac and Amelia (Neville) Craig, was born March 29, 1787, in the old redoubt erected by Colonel Bouquet in 1764, at Pittsburgh, used during Major Craig's occupancy of the post as of- ficer's quarters, and the only Colonial fortification now existing. He attended the Pittsburgh Academy and received some instruction in the classics from Rev. Robert Steel, a Presbyterian clergyman, prior to his entrance to the Col- lege of New Jersey, now Princeton University, in 1803. His collegiate course was, however, suddenly broken off by his becoming involved in a clash between the students and the local constabulary of Princeton. He applied for a mid- shipman's warrant in the navy, and it is said was only prevented from accom- panying his cousin, Merriwether Lewis, in his famous exploring trip to the Pacific, by the hope of receiving the appointment, long delayed and finally re- fused. He resumed his studies at the Pittsburgh Academy, and in 1807 began the study of law in the office of Alexander Addison, a Scotchman, graduate of the College of Aberdeen, and for twelve years president judge of the courts in the Pittsburgh district.
Mr. Craig was admitted to the bar, August 14, 1810, and on May 1, 1811, was married to Jane Ann Fulton, whose father had several mercantile estab- lishments or trading posts in that locality. Shortly after his marriage, his eye- sight failing him, he was temporarily incapacitated for following his legal pro- fession and took charge of a store, belonging to his father-in-law, at New Lis- bon, Ohio, where he remained for three or four years. In 1821 he was appoint- ed deputy attorney-general for Allegheny county, and filled that position for several years. About this time he began to take a lively interest in politics and to write for the Pittsburgh Gazette, edited by his accomplished cousin, Mor- gan Neville. He purchased the paper in 1829 and was its proprietor and editor until 1841. He was a controversial writer of ability, and an eloquent and caus- tic speaker in debate. He was elected to the state legislature in 1842, and was the Union candidate for Congress in 1843, but through a division of his party on state issues was defeated by his Democratic opponent. On January I, 1845, Neville B. Craig began a monthly publication known as the Olden Time, which was continued for two years. This periodical attracted much attention and it is often quoted as a high authority by the most eminent of late historians. In 1851 he wrote and published his "History of Pittsburg". In 1854 he pub- lished his "Memoirs of Major Robert Stobo", which is the historical basis of Sir Gilbert Parker's "Seats of the Mighty", and in the same year he wrote the "Sketch of the Life and Services of Major Isaac Craig" before referred to, a few copies of which he had printed for members of the family and intimate friends. In 1859 he published a reply to H. M. Breckenridge's "History of the Western Insurrection", entitled "An Exposure of a few of the many Mis- statements in", etc. In the same year he published "Registeres des Baptismes et Sepultures qui se sont fait au Fort Du Quesne", during the French occupa- tion.
Jane Ann (Fulton) Craig, the wife of Neville B. Craig, died January 14, 1852, in her sixty-third year, having been born August 11, 1789. She was the
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daughter of Henry and Isabel Fulton. They had nine children. After the death of his wife, Neville B. Craig resided alternately with his three surviving daughters, one of whom lived in Raleigh county, Virginia. His last days were spent with his youngest daughter, at his farm, "Bellefield," in Pitt township. Allegheny county, where he died March 29, 1863.
The Pittsburg Gazette under the administration of Neville B. Craig, was op- posed to the extension of slavery, and, in January, 1860, he was selected with- out his knowledge president of the "Church Anti-Slavery Society", formed in Pittsburgh. After reading the proceedings of the meeting and declaration of principles of the society he promptly declined to accept the position, stating that, "While I have long been an open and avowed Anti-Slavery man, my opinions have never been such as those expressed in the Worcester Declaration", of which the Church Society professed to be an auxiliary.
ISAAC CRAIG, sixth child and eldest son of Neville B. and Jane Ann (Fulton) Craig, born July 18, 1822, always took a lively interest in historical matters. The late Dr. Egle says of him; "Few men are deserving of more grateful recognition than Mr. Craig. As author and historian he is an authority on the history of Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley, etc".
Mr. Craig's long and useful life spent in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, was devoted to study and research, and he is the author of many historical papers. Though his published historical contributions were numerous and valuable, they alone give no adequate idea of the extent of his researches. He was con- stantly in correspondence with historical writers all over the country and al- ways ready to serve them by gathering facts, investigating mooted questions, correcting errors and revising proof-sheets of their books.
Bancroft, the historian, writing from Washington on March 12, 1879, said: "My dear Mr. Craig: I never venture to give an opinion to a man who under- stands the subject inquired about very much better than myself. It is to you, on a question relating to Western Pennsylvania, that I should come as my teacher and my guide".
He was vice-president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a member of the Chicago Historical Society, and the Virginia Historical Society; and, in right of his grandfather, Major Isaac Craig, was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati and of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution.
The maternal ancestry of Isaac Craig, was, like the paternal, of Scotch-Irish origin. Richard Fulton, of Paxtang, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, was born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1706, and died in Paxtang now Dauphin county, in 1774. He came to Pennsylvania in 1722, and settled on the banks of the Susquehanna below Harrisburg. He married Isabel McChesney; his daughter, Isabel, married Hugh Wilson; and their daughter, Isabel Wilson, married Henry Fulton, born 1768, in Cecil county, Maryland, died in Jeffer- sonville, Indiana, in 1824, and a distant relative of Richard Fulton, of Pax- tang, his wife's grandfather. They were the parents of Jane Ann Fulton, the mother of Isaac Craig. Isabel (Wilson) Fulton, the mother of Jane Ann, was born March 9, 1773, and died in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, August 1, 1832.
Isaac Craig married, January 12, 1847, Rebecca McKibbin, daughter of Hon- orable Chambers McKibbin, and had ten children.
NEVILLE B. CRAIG, eldest son of Isaac and Rebecca (Mckibbin) Craig, was
Neville Do. Craig
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born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, December 1, 1847. He received his early education in the private schools of his native city and had passed through the first part of his junior year at the Western University in Pittsburgh, when he left that institution to enter the academic department of Yale, where, after taking the third sophomore and second senior mathematical prizes, he gradu- ated in 1870. For some months afterwards he was a law student in the office of A. M. Brown, at Pittsburgh, but in September, 1871, resumed his studies at New Haven, as a student of civil engineering at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, graduating a second time in 1873. Two weeks before com- pleting his course in civil engineering he began his life work as an aid on the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and for more than a quarter of a century afterwards continued in the almost uninterrupted practice of his profes- sion, along the Atlantic Coast, through the whole Mississippi Valley, in ten dif- ferent states of the Union, on the mountains and plains of Mexico, across the Andes in the Republic of Colombia, and through the vast primeval forests of Brazil. In his long professional career, Mr. Craig has, in addition to his ser- vice with the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, had prominent com- missions in the service of seven different railways, two of them in Mexico, one in the Republic of Colombia, one in Brazil, and three in the United States. He has served, altogether, about fourteen years in the Department of Public Works, of Philadelphia, and took part in the triangulation of the state of New York, under James T. Gardner, director. He was four times in the service of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, was six times engaged upon riv- er and harbor improvements under the United States Army Corps of Engi- neers, and took part in many important surveys under this department.
One of the most memorable enterprises with which he was connected was an unsuccessful effort, in 1878, to construct a railway around the falls and rapids of the Upper Madeira river, near the western boundary of Brazil, so as to con- nect navigable waters above and below the falls and establish a great commer- cial highway between interior Bolivia and the principal seaports of the world. The expedition was the result of a great international scheme to exploit the vast and fertile territory drained by the Amazon and its tributaries, of world- wide consequence, but of special importance to the United States. The corps of engineers employed was of unquestioned ability, but the expedition failed on account of legal and financial complications, and partly because of the almost in- superable difficulties involved in exploring tropical forests and jungles. In 1907, Mr. Craig, at the request of the Madeira and Mamore Association, com- posed of the survivors of the expedition, wrote its history, which was published by the J. B. Lippincott Company, under the title of "Recollections of an Ill- fated Expedition to the Headwaters of the Madeira River in Brazil". This history atracted immediate attention both in this country and Eng- land, and was considered one of the chief literary achievements of a year of great literary activity. A modern critic of prominence has said of it ;- "The work reads like a romance of adventure and there is no tale of recent travel or exploration that has greater fascination". In rec- ognition of the permanent service of this narrative to geographical literature, the Royal Geographical Society, of London, elected the author, Mr. Neville B. Craig, a Fellow of that society, an honor only conferred on persons of high
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achievement. Mr. Craig is a member of the Society of the Cincinnati and of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution, in right of his great-grand- father, Major Isaac Craig, and is also a member of many other associations of a social, intellectual, patriotic and semi-political character.
He married, January 1, 1880, Margaret E., daughter of Daniel and Mar- garet (Coffee) Sullivan, of Boston, Massachusetts. They had five daughters, viz: Margarita, born November 25, 1880; Winifred Neville, September 23, 1882; Edith Oldham, July 22, 1884; Rebecca Eleanor, June 23, 1888, died Au- gust 2, 1898; Lillian, June 2, 1889, died September 4, 1889.
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