USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Allegheny in Allegheny County > Recollections of seventy years and historical gleanings of Allegheny, Pennsylvania > Part 25
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On the death of his father, young Nixon, then nine years of age, was left to his own resources. He first went to live with Mr. Robert Bell, a neighboring farmer, and when of sufficient age to learn a trade, chose that of a carpenter, and went to live with his uncle, Robert Lea, with whom he learned the art and mystery of the trade he had chosen. On the fulfilment of his engagement with his uncle, he started out as a journeyman, and worked for several years in the rural districts. In 1824 he settled in Allegheny.
His first engagement after he came to Allegheny was the building of the rolling-mill of Messrs. Cowan & Brown on the north-west corner of Penn Avenue and Cecil Alley, Pittsburg, the site of which is now covered by the Fourth Ward Public School House. His next important work was the erection of Messrs. Blake & Anderson's Rolling-Mill on the bank of the Allegheny River between Darragh Street and the outlet of the Pennsylvania Canal. This was the first rolling-mill erected in Allegheny.
He also built the Hurd & Howard Paper Mill on the bank of the Ohio River, on part of out-lot No. 20, in the "Reserve Tract opposite Pittsburg," now embraced within the limits of the Fifth Ward of the city of Allegheny.
For a number of years he was associated with Richard
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Dewhurst in the prosecution of the business under the name and style of Nixon & Dewhurst.
In all the varied operations in which he was engaged, he rendered entire satisfaction to all, both as to the kind of work- manship and the quality of the materials furnished.
He subsequently leased for a number of years a lot of ground on the bank of the Allegheny River, from the late Neville B. Craig, on the west side of the outlet of the Pennsylvania Canal, and erected a saw-mill thereon, generally known as the " Outlet Saw-mill." This he operated for about ten years, when it was destroyed by fire.
He was one of the first select councilmen elected in Allegheny, and was chosen president of that body in 1842. During his administration as mayor he was the first to establish a police- court in connection with that office. On his retirement from the office of mayor, he was again elected to the select council, which position he held for nine years.
In 1848 he was elected recorder of deeds, etc., for Allegheny County ; and after the expiration of his term of office, he engaged in the business of steamboating on the Ohio River.
A few years before his death he became aware that his eye- sight was rapidly failing, which unfortunately culminated, in 1856, in total blindness, and he was obliged to relinquish all work. He died on the twelfth day of December, 1858.
When quite a young man, he was a member of a military company called the Jackson Independent Volunteers, and was elected their captain. In politics Mr. Nixon was at first a Federalist, then a Whig and Anti-mason, and lastly a Republi- can.
He was a member of the first temperance organization in the county. He was strongly impressed with feelings averse to the system of domestic slavery. In early life he took an active and intelligent part in opposition to these great moral and social evils. Although modest and unassuming in his man- ners, yet he was ever ready to fearlessly disclaim against the destroying influence of the one, and the manifest injustice of the other.
He was a devout and humble lifelong Christian, connected
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with the Associate Reformed, afterwards United Presbyterian, Church.
He assisted in the organization, and was one of the first elders, of the Rev. John T. Pressly's congregation, the First Associate Reformed, now the First United Presbyterian, Church of Allegheny.
In 1851 he, with other members of the congregation, organ- ized the Second Associate Reformed Church, now the Third United Presbyterian.
Although Mr. Nixon possessed considerable natural ability, and was intelligent to a remarkable degree, he was a wholly self-educated man. The world was his school, and time his tutor.
He was married March 3, 1831, to Miss Rose Anna, daugh- ter of Charles Frow, late of Union township, Allegheny County. He had seven children, - two sons and five daughters. Two of his children, a son and daughter, died in infancy. His wife and five children - a son and four daughters - survived him. His eldest daughter, Harriet H., now deceased, was mar- ried to Col. Levi Bird Duff, formerly of the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was severely wounded at Petersburg, Va., losing a leg.
His second daughter, Mary C., is the wife of the Rev. Hunter Corbett, a Presbyterian missionary, who resides at Chefoo, China. The third, Cornelia C., is the wife of Samuel O. McKee, who is engaged in the railroad business at Wichita, Kan. The fourth, Agnes S., now deceased, was married to the Rev. Cyrus B. Hatch of the United Presbyterian Church, formerly of Allegheny, now a resident of Irwin, Westmoreland County, Penn.
His son, Thomas L. Nixon, is a surveyor and civil engineer, and resides in Wichita, Kan.
In all the phases of his eventful life, both in Church and State, he was much admired for the goodness of his heart and the excellent qualities of his mind.
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JOHN PARK.
WRITING the memoirs of those who have long since passed away, especially in the absence of written testimony to guide in making up a truthful record, is a task by no means easy to accomplish. Facts collected from tradition, or gleaned from the unreliable recollections of others, must necessarily be received with some degree of caution. The writer is well aware of the extreme difficulty of avoiding mistakes ; and if any palpable errors in the computation of time should have crept into these memoirs, he can only plead guilty beforehand, offer- ing in extenuation, the assurance that he has at least done the best he could under the circumstances.
The subject of this sketch was born in the city of Belfast, county Antrim, Ireland, in the year 1760, and died in the borough of Pittsburg, March 20, 1808, in the forty-eighth year of his age. The writer was then in his infancy, consequently it is not to be supposed he could have any recollection of him. His knowledge is therefore derived from those who were best qualified to impart the necessary information. When a youth of fourteen years, he embarked with his father at the port of Belfast, some time during the year 1774, on a merchant-vessel owned by the latter, bound on a voyage to one of the West- India Islands (Curaçoa). Notwithstanding his extreme youth, he exhibited unusual abilities, which induced the father to appoint him his private secretary and supercargo of the vessel ; and when we take into consideration that the father was then engaged extensively in the commerce of Europe with the West-India Islands, the appointment of one so young to a posi- tion so responsible evinced a confidence highly creditable to the recipient.
A change, however, soon took place. During the voyage an unhappy misunderstanding occurred between the imperious
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father and impetuous .son, growing out of a mere difference of opinion in regard to some unimportant matter. This unpleas- ant state of affairs continued with no hope of a reconciliation ; and for this reason the father determined to change the course of the vessel, so as to touch at some convenient point on the American coast (probably New York), and there to cast adrift his youthful son. This unnatural and inexorable deter- mination was fully carried out. The boy never forgot the treatment received, and to the day of his death repudiated all and every attempt towards a reconciliation, as will more fully appear as we progress in these memoirs.
All nature seemed alive with joy : the stately ship glided through the bright waters of the broad Atlantic. The sun lit up with superior brilliancy the glorious scene, and not a cloud obscured the clear blue sky.
There was one, however, who occupied the quarter-deck, to whom nature's beauty seemed to have no charms, if we may judge from the gloomy frown upon his brow, and the apparent anger that gleamed from his eye as it roamed over surrounding objects.
The father had scarcely reached the age of fifty years. His face had evidently been at one time handsome, but the fierce struggles with the world had imparted lines which marred the traces of the comeliness of youth. As his experience in- creased, it seemed to impress him differently from others. There appeared but few signs of declining strength in his countenance ; imagination could scarcely picture that those stern features could ever soften into a smile : and time, instead of lessening his energies, had rather added additional force ; and the violent impulses of the man were more indomitable at fifty than they had been at an earlier age.
The vicissitudes of an eventful life, while they affected him intensely, failed to have that salutary influence upon his dispo- sition so desirable in the parent ; and, like the impetuous moun- tain torrent, his passions gathered strength and fierceness as they rushed on unchecked.
The frequent and impatient looks he directed towards the companion-way, gave evidence that he was expecting some
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one. Twice he essayed to enter, but as often paused : at length, however, when his patience had become well-nigh exhausted, the proud and impetuous son made his appearance.
For a brief space they mutually gazed upon each other in silence, the elder frowning with anger, and the son looking him calmly and respectfully in the face. The son had too often detected the angry cloud upon the parent's brow, to be awed by the tempest it portended ; and he stood up before him, collected almost to indifference, with a composure that irri- tated the sire more than, perhaps, the offence for which he was arraigned. The boy desired to know if he wished to see him. "No, sir, I do not wish to see you," replied the sire, in a hot and sarcastic manner. "I never wish to see you again. I would rather you were removed to some remote corner of the world, where your presence could never offend my eyes, and where reports of you rwayward conduct could never reach my ears."
To this unfeeling remark, there was no reply made. The son well knew that nothing he could say would mitigate the wrath of his unreasonable father. "By your waywardness and disobedience you have crushed out the confidence and affection I had for you," continued the proud parent. "Your conduct is alike disgraceful to yourself and to me." -"I have not dis- obeyed you or violated your confidence in this matter. You accuse me unjustly and without proper thought ; and if you will do me the favor to listen patiently for a moment, I think I can convince you that I am entirely innocent." - " I will not hear you : I cannot believe you, sir. You are guilty of this offence, as well as many others. Innocence, with you, was never con- sidered a minute. Your whole life has been one of insubordi- nation." -"But, sir, although I may have committed grave errors, I may be innocent of this one," replied the son. "Do not attempt to palliate your conduct, or reason with me !" exclaimed the imperious sire. "Bear it in mind, sir, when in after-years your shortcomings shall have involved you in trouble, that I have not caused your ruin ; that I have taken all the pains a parent could bestow upon a most obedient child, and what has been the result ? How have you requited me ?" -" But, father, if you would permit me to explain "- " Call
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me not 'father'!" interrupted the parent. " You are no son of mine : from henceforth I disown you. There runs not a drop of my blood in your veins, no, not one drop! The tie between us is forever severed !" and as he concluded, he com- menced pacing the deck, muttering the incoherent ravings of uncontrollable passion. This outburst of a father's wrath was borne at first by the son with the utmost humility ; but when the father disowned and denied him, his blood boiled, and he trembled in every limb from excessive agitation. His features worked convulsively, and the great tears sprang up in his clear blue eyes ; but with one mighty effort he controlled his feel- ings ; and though appearances indicated repose, it was an omi- nous stillness that obliterated the color from his cheek until long after that eventful interview.
The father at first failed to observe the struggles of the sen- sitive son, and continued his perambulations of the deck for some time. When his rage had well-nigh exhausted itself, and he had discovered the effect which his conduct had aroused in the breast of his son, he became more considerate, and his countenance assumed a mílder, but still gloomy, expression. Whether it was that he was softened by the appearance of penitence which his wayward boy had never evinced on former occasions, or whether it was that his conscience rebuked him for his unnecessary and unfeeling violence, is a problem that none but himself could have determined. There is no doubt but that one or the other exerted a powerful influence over him at the time.
In a much milder tone than he had previously used, he said, "You proposed to explain away your recent offence ; I hope you will be able to do so ; you have now the opportunity ; pro- ceed, sir." The son answered, "The time for explanation has passed away. I cannot now oblige you. I could have cleared up the matter to your entire satisfaction had you per- mitted me when I first proposed it. I do not deem it my duty to attempt it now." The father, as if in doubt as to the proper course to pursue, pondered a while. At first he was disposed to exhibit his former anger ; but when he encountered the calm, defiant spirit of his son, he became convinced that such a course
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would be productive of disastrous consequences. Veiling his vexation as much as possible, he again requested an explanation of the cause of their misunderstanding, and promised that he would accord to him his sincere forgiveness. This proposition was met on the part of the youth with a ghastly smile. Said he, "Forgiveness? And for what, sir?" It was not in the power of the father at that moment to reply to the calm though withering interrogatory had his life depended upon the effort. He was confounded ; and the color even came to that cheek, hardened by the storms of fifty winters. A painful silence ob- tained which he was unable to break. Twice he strove to do so, but the words died upon his lips ; and the proud, haughty, iron-hearted parent stood humbled before his injured son.
The son saw the anguish of the father. He felt his own triumph too ; and although it was a proud moment, he was too generous to take advantage of his position. He could not injure the feelings of a father who had failed to spare his. He was affected, however, and in a proper spirit resumed, " In consideration of the declaration you have made at this time, I can no longer remain under your care and protection. The obligations I am under to you are very great, and can never be obliterated from my memory. I feel that the debt can never be repaid. Yet I am not wanting in gratitude, though I have seemingly been in rectitude ; and that my unfor- tunate though involuntary errors may not in the future disturb your equanimity, I shall perpetrate them in another clime. It has been my misfortune to offend you, never my intention, sir. My every wish was to please you. I would have ulti- mately done better : it has been my study to please you ; and if I have failed, it is not that I am unwilling. The events of to-day, however, render it unnecessary for me to continue in trying to please you. I feel that I can have no further claim on your affection. Every consideration in our relation except the feeling that binds one man to another, you have disowned." As he concluded, he withdrew from the quarter-deck, to mingle with the sailors, leaving his father motionless with amazement.
The son, although a youth in years and experience, yet pos- sessed all the feelings and qualities of one of maturer years ;
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and had these been more fully developed, age could only con- firm them, not change their general nature in any other man- ner. Like all youths who are restrained in their actions, he was wild and irregular when freed from the immediate influ- ence of thraldom, and had frequently indulged in a series of frolicsome and mischievous pranks, one of which gave rise to the scene just described, and in which he was entirely innocent of intentional wrong. These erratic ebullitions were more the momentary caprice of a sanguine and happy temperament than the exercise of vitiated and corrupt impulses.
In fact, there were so many contradictions in his character, that it took a long acquaintance and some penetration to under- stand him. Of a restless disposition, there were times when he settled down in a thoughtful and studious mood ; and when he took hold of a subject that involved a difficulty, it was not laid aside until it was thoroughly understood. It would natu- rally be supposed that a youth so ardent would be habitually social and communicative, but with him it was entirely the reverse. He avoided company, indulged in long and solitary rambles, and was remarkable for his taciturnity : nor was he, as might be inferred, selfish, vain, or cold-hearted ; for there never existed a more generous, disinterested, or affectionate being when events transpired to call these virtues into action. His taciturnity did not arise from any want of those social feel- ings that endear us to each other, but rather from the failure to meet with those whose disposition harmonized with his own. His reticence was not caused by a dislike to meet with others, but rather from an inclination to commune with his own thoughts ; and if he avoided society, it was not from any an- tipathy to it, but rather that solitude had more to interest his thoughts, and less to annoy his tender sensibilities.
These distinctions may be considered too finely drawn, but those who study human nature will not deny their existence. In short, he was somewhat of an enigma, whom but few under- stood, and none could properly appreciate on limited acquaint- ance. During all this interview his apparent calmness was a concealment of feeling. After leaving the presence of his father, it burst forth with additional violence, in consequence
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of being for the time restrained. This mighty tempest, though heart-rending while it lasted, was of short duration; like the tornado, prostrating in its violence, but continuing only for a brief period. The vessel having arrived in port, with a sor- rowful heart he prepared to leave it. Pursuing his way a short distance, he paused, and, turning about, gazed long and wist- fully backwards. Resuming his sad and uncertain course, he cast behind home and friends, and looked hopefully forward to the future. What pleasing reflections does that one word "home" give birth to! Let it be grand or humble, it is ever associated with the dearest memories of life. It is one of the few things, that, amidst the changes of life, we still remember with joy ; and the memory becomes more and more endeared to us as time increases the gap between it and ourselves.
The old homestead, the tree that first shaded us, the stream we first angled in, and the landscape that first greeted our infant eyes, make their impress upon our minds, the bright and pleasing hues of which are as lasting as life itself.
Pausing in the highway of life, memory leads us back to that blessed place, when youth and innocence were our happy lot. It is our earliest impression, and the last to fade from our memory ; and when we have acted our part in the great drama of life, though we may have been successful beyond our most sanguine expectations, fortunate beyond desire, gained the admiration and applause of the world, and the satisfaction of ourselves, we still look back and find no place so like paradise as our first home, and no moments so productive of happiness as those spent within its sacred walls. This wayward and unhappy son had alienated himself from those endearments that he was fated never to experience on earth again, and sun- dered one of the most sacred obligations of humanity, -the sympathy between parent and child. From all these he wan- dered, to commence a new and doubtful career, to enter upon business where there is so much uncertainty, selfishness, and deceit. He was determined, persevering, and ambitious, - qualities that always befriend us, and which often prove more efficient than personal influence : the latter only directs the road to fame, while the former guide us to the goal. He was
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proud that all his impulses were honorable, proud that he had never been guilty of any thing for which he should feel self- abased. He was cast entirely upon his own resources, and it afforded him consolation that he was conscious that his abilities were fully adequate to the emergency. The wide world was before him; and he was at liberty to choose his . own way through it, to carve out his own destiny, to make for himself a name, honorable in the coming time. The youth was wandering through the streets of a strange city, with the aim- less manner of one who walks that he may commune with his own thoughts and fancies, alone in a crowd, solitary in the midst of a multitude.
During all this time the gloomy and obdurate father suffered the most acute pangs of remorse. It was not until after the separation that he learned to estimate his son properly for those shining qualities which he had passed by with such cold indif- ference. The treasure is never so dear as when lost, and the father felt now that he would sacrifice any thing to regain the love of his alienated child. Every effort was made to induce the son to return to the vessel, but without effect; and after repeated disappointments the humiliated and unhappy sire departed on his ocean journey.
Of intervening time occurring from his landing in the United States to his advent in Pittsburg, I can gather no reli- able information. On his arrival in the town, he was highly impressed with the importance of the location, and beauty of its surroundings, situated at the confluence of the two impor- tant rivers, Allegheny and Monongahela, one flowing from the north, and the other from the south, forming the still more important Ohio. Its future as a manufacturing-point was fully settled in his mind. Judging from its position, with an ample water-communication extending to the Gulf of Mexico, sur- rounded with immense deposits of superior bituminous coal, and mighty forests of excellent timber, it required but little effort of the imagination to prognosticate what it is to-day, -a man- ufacturing city second to none in the Union. Impressed with these views, he resolved to settle, and make it his future home. Endowed by nature with talents of no ordinary ability, he was
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soon afforded an opportunity of bringing these qualifications into employment.
Gen. James O'Hara and Major Isaac Craig, men of note, whose interests were closely identified with the growth and prosperity of Pittsburg and surroundings, both holding high positions under the General Government, connected with the quartermaster's department and manufacturing interest of the . West, having entire confidence in him as a gentleman, and his ability as an expert accountant, tendered him the responsible position of confidential clerk and general agent for the transac- tion of all business with the quartermaster's department and glass-making. Isaac Craig, Esq., grandson of Major Isaac Craig, has in his possession quite a number of interesting relics of the olden time. Among them are manuscript copies of letters written by the subject of these memoirs to government officials and officers of the various frontier military posts, run- ning through a period of years from 1790 to 1807.
In accordance with his preconceived opinion, that Pittsburg was destined to become an important manufacturing and com- mercial centre, he acquired considerable real estate in localities which proved the wisdom of the selection, as they are now con- sidered among the most valuable within the limits of the two cities. These purchases, however, owing to a limited capital, involved him in pecuniary embarrassment, which compelled him to part with piece after piece, until all was disposed of except the sixty acres now embraced within the limits of the Fifth Ward of the city of Allegheny.
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For the inheritance of this portion of the estate, his children are wholly indebted to the care and management of an affec- tionate mother, who determined, during the lifetime of her hus- band and since, that this at least should be preserved intact for the benefit of her children. With this purpose in view, she persistently refused every attempt at alienation of the property. After her death it was divided by a decree of the Orphan's Court equally among her six children then living.
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