Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 79

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1192

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HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

promptly.complied, and Charles Wilkins, recorder, in the presence of the joint councils, administered to him the oath of office.

The councils, immediately after their election, divided themselves into one, two and three year classes and effected a thorough organization for committee work. The streets were to be improved, and new ones were to be surveyed, and many other important acts were to bc transacted. On Monday, July 15th, the councils, in joint session, elected the following city officers: John Pentland, treasurer; Mathew Mckown, weighmaster; John Hankart, gauger; John Han- kart, inspector of tobacco; William Graham, John Roscberg and John W. Trembly, inspectors of boards and scantling; Mathias Evans, Daniel Hunter and John Robinson, regulators of streets and lots; Christian C. Febiger, inspector of pot and pearl ashes. A little later George Harris was paid $35 for cngraving the city seal. Mr. Wilkins was the principal member of a special committee appointed to draft a code of laws, ordinances and regulations for the government of the city. These ordinances were duly adopted and provided for the thorough regulation of the new city government.

In October, 1816, a resolution was passed permitting a Mr. Gray to exhibit a panoramic view of the naval engagement on Lake Champlain and the battle of Plattsburg without a license or other tax, owing to "the patriotic nature and worthy object of the exhibit." In November, 1816, a committee was appointed to inquire whether it was expedient for the city to possess for public purposes more ground than it then did, and whether it would be expedient at that time to purchase ground upon which to erect city buildings. In December a reso- lution introduced by Mr. Wilkins provided for the appointment of a special committee to make a detailed report upon the condition of the manufactures of Pittsburg, which resolution was adopted; whereupon the following committee was appointed: Benjamin Bakewell, Aquila M. Bolton and James Arthurs. Their report will be found elsewhere in this volume. The city councils at this time also sent agents to Harrisburg and Washington to labor specially in the interests of public roads in the Western country. In 1816 Northern Lib- erties was laid out by George A. Bayard and James Adams. In February, 1817, the following resolution was passed: "Resolved, By the Select and Com- mon councils, in council assembled, that city bills to the amount of $5,000 be issued, under the direction of the mayor, and the amount thereof. be placed in the hands of the city treasurer, subject to the orders of the councils, and that the funds of this city are hereby pledged for the redemption of the same." In 1817 John Darragh was duly elected by the councils second mayor of the. city of Pittsburg. In August, 1817, preparations were made for the reception of President James Monroe, and measures were taken to provide money for such expense.

At this time the question concerning the Monongahela wharf, which had been under discussion for twelve or fifteen years, came up again for settlement. In August a special committee was appointed to inquire into the best measures to be adopted in the cjectment proccedings brought in the Federal Court in the case of the wharf on the Monongahela.

In January, 1818, William B. Foster and William Hamilton petitioned the councils for permission to furnish the inhabitants of the city with water. In 1818 Charles Wilkins, recorder, died. He had previously been chief burgess of the borough and was a young lawyer of much promise. Charles Shaler succeeded him as recorder.

Birmingham was first started in 1813, and by 1819 contained from fifty to sixty houses, several of which were handsome bricks, and at this time, despite the financial distress, was growing rapidly. Lawrenceville was laid out in 1815 by William B. Foster, and had begun with the building of the United

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States Arsenal. It was located about twogand one-half miles up the Alle- gheny River. In 1813 the old Arsenal, in the northeast part of the city, was sold at auction. According to the Navigator Pittsburg, in 1786, consisted of about 100 houses; in 1810 of 767 houses; in 1811 of 953 houses; and in 1815 of 1,303 houses.

"We have no idea that our ground rents will again be at $30 and $40 a foot; we have no notion that a sixty-foot lot will sell for more than double the size of one in New York or Philadelphia. We cherish not the opinion that the time will return when the yearly rent of a shop or a store will more than pay for the expense of building it. But we calculate that our destinies will be substantially great, and that the era of a correct and politic system is rapidly approaching" (d).

In 1819 resolutions were passed by the City Councils to the effect of the necessity of issuing another lot of city bills. In 1816 the city had been divided into two wards, known for many years as the East and West. It was pro- vided by the act of March 14, 1818, that four constables should be elected in each ward, four of whom were to be selected by the Court of Quarter Sessions. In April, 1818, five commissioners were appointed by the councils to select a site for the penitentiary on the public grounds near the town of Allegheny, and consisted of the following citizens: Walter Lowrie, James Ross, William Wilkins, David Evans and George Stevenson. In May, 1819, the arsenal in Lawrenceville was partly burned and partly blown up by explosives.

From January 1, 1817, to January 16, 1818, the receipts in the city treasury amounted to $7,844.31. There were issued on February 27, 1817, new city bills to the amount of $5,000. The cash receipts for stall rents in the market were $428. There were received from the dog tax $8; from other licenses, $210; from forfeitures in the Mayor's Court, $40; and from rent of the weigh- house, $99.50. The principal disbursements during that period were: Clean- ing the streets, $1,194.72; for the Eagle and Neptune fire companies, $200; for entertaining James Monroe, President of the United States, the amount being paid to James Ross, $357.05; there were destroyed in city bills $909.87; and there was left on hand in the city treasury $2,768.02. The reader, by comparing these figures with those of the present day, will notice a consider- able difference. The total receipts from January 1, 1817, to February 4, 1818, amounted to $13,710.32. The total annual expenses for 1817 amounted to $10,942.30. During that period officers' salaries, including those of constables, amounted to $2,635.55.

The construction of the two bridges, one over the Allegheny and one over the Monongahela, in 1818 and 1819, was one of the most important events which occurred in Pittsburg up to that time. It was said then that the low- land "between the two hills and the two rivers" was cramped already, and that householders began to look across both rivers for homes, but realized that the erection of bridges was necessary to afford them quick and certain transit to their places of business in the city. It was observed that the city could thus expand on level ground and not be compelled to climb the hills to the eastward. In fact, the latter necessity had not yet been called to the immediate attention of the inhabitants. In December, 1818, a resolution was passed by the councils relative to the importance of improving the navi- gation of the Ohio River, and calling for a town meeting to consider the subject. At the same time an address was read from the physicians of the city recom- mending the early consideration of erecting an asylum for the poor. In 1819 the principal market-house, which was quite a commodious structure for that

(d) Gazette, June II, 1819.

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early day, stood on the Diamond. Two other market-houses, which had been built for purposes of speculation in the eastern end of the city, were standing unused in February, 1819.

By April, 1819, it appears that the city bills had been extensively coun- terfeited, for, at that time, George Steward was paid a considerable sum for having pursued sundry persons suspected of having committed that crime. In the spring of 1819 both councils took a trip down the Ohio River, with the object of examining its condition previous to action concerning the improve- inent of its navigation. Early in 1819 the city finances and city credit were at a very low ebb. The bills of the city stood at four per cent. discount, and contractors for improving the streets were obliged to wait for their pay until the following year. Individuals were permitted to make public improvements adjacent to their property at their own temporary expense, and an ordinance pro- vided that they should be reimbursed in 1820. William Montgomery was thus allowed to reset the curbstone and pave the gutter in front of his property at his own "immediate expense," and the same was ordered to be returned to him out of his taxes for the year 1821.

It was noticed as an unusual act of expedition, in January, 1819, that the Mayor's Court in ten days settled forty-three indictments, two of the cases being charges of counterfeiting and passing the notes on the city. One of these offenders was sentenced to five years' and the other to three years' imprison- ment, and counterfeit money found in their possession, to the amount of $10,000, was destroyed. By October, 1819, the condition of the city finances not having improved, a resolution was passed ordering the issuance of $10,000 in city treasury bills of the denominations of one, two and three dollars. From Janu- ary II, 1819, to December 28, 1819, the receipts in the treasury amounted to $8,444.37; and there was paid out during the same period $8,543. The coun- cils, at this time, ordered prepared a second copy of the petition to the Legis- lature, praying for the erection of a poorhouse in the vicinity of Pittsburg. In March, 1820, John Scull, city treasurer, reported that under the ordinance for the issuance of $10,000 in city bills there had been engraved and printed of such the amount of $8,754; had been paid out in warrants $6,837; and that $1,400 of the old city and borough tickets had been redeemed. The city levy for 1819 amounted to $12,160, much of which was expended in improving Grant, Liberty, Penn and Fourth streets, the latter from Smithfield to Grant. At this time William Wilkins was president of the Common Council, and James Ross of the Select Council. For the year 1820 the receipts amounted to $15,263.68. There was paid out on warrants $10,995.71, and were burned of city and borough tickets $2,784.37. At this time there was due the city from various sources $1, 115.29. At this time the city owed the following amounts: For city notes issued, $9,954; for subscription to the Market Street wharf, $600; for improving the market-house, $120; for paving streets and walks, $II,230.14. There was in the treasury at this time $1,483.60; due from individ- uals, $1,115; and there was due from the duplicate of 1820 $2,193.43. At this time the city bills were still at four per cent. discount. The city ordinance of December 29, 1821, provided for the election of a joint committee of the councils to examine and settle the accounts of the mayor, treasurer and collector. In February, 1821, the councils, upon petition of the overseers of the poor, passed a resolution granting them a loan of $500. In March, 1821, John Scull, city treasurer, reported that there was in the treasury $970 of city bills, ordered to be issued by the ordinance of January, 1821, $140 in city and bor- ough tickets, and $570 in current bank paper.

In May, 1821. a committee was appointed to report an ordinance prevent- ing riotous assemblies in the neighborhood of churches on the Sabbath day.

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During the year 1820 there were issued in city bills $9,954, and in 1821 $510. There were in circulation at this time city bills to the amount of $12,555. The city yet owed on the new markct-house $74, and for the construction of pave- ments, $9,132. In January, 1822, a quantity of new bills was ordered issued to replace the old bills. In May, 1822, a joint committee of the councils was appointed to report on a petition of sundry property holders relative to the introduction of river water into the city. At this time a memorial was received from the Medical Society of Pittsburg, requesting the city to procure an apparatus for the resuscitation of persons who had been partially drowned. At this time a paper was in circulation asking for subscriptions for the improvement of the Market Street wharf. A supplement to the ordinance making an appropria- tion for the year 1820 directed the issuance of $3,000 in city bills. In November, 1823, a committee, which had been appointed to destroy city bills, reported that they had burned $417 in one-dollar notes, $1,006 in two-dollar notes, and $1,251 in three-dollar notes. In February, 1824, an ordinance was passcd, pro- viding for raising a sum of money on loan to supply the city with water.

In June, 1825, John Darragh, mayor, having resigned, an election of his successor was held by the councils, with the following result: John M. Snow- den II, Magnus M. Murray 4, Mathew B. Lowrie 3, Thomas Enochs 2. From the 13th to the 30th of November, 1825, the number of hogs which crossed the Monongahela bridge, as reported by Mr. Hart, gatekecpcr, was 5,489, all intended for this market (e). On December 13, 1825, a destructive fire, which started in a cabinet-maker's shop, swept away nearly thirty tcnements, chiefly frame build- ings, and an extensive brewery (f). During the year 1825 there were built in Pittsburg fifty brick and twenty-five frame houses, besides many enlargements and additions, and of these structures, twenty-five were three stories in height. The city had begun to recover from the awful lethargy of 1817-21. During the year 1825 the mayor issued warrants on the city treasury to the amount of $6,205. At the close of 1825 the city indebtedness, less credits, was $12,398.28. During the year John B. Gray, city gauger, gauged 5,222 barrels of whisky; Thomas Scott, board measurer, reported 3,163,690 feet; D. S. Scully, salt inspector, reported 13,739 barrels of salt. Wharfage amounted to $842.67. The city revenue for 1825 amounted to $2,049.15 (g). In February, 1826, the city councils authorized the issue of $20,000 in water certificates of the denomination of $100 each, drawing six per cent. interest, payable in Pittsburg and Phila- delphia. At the same time a city tax of $10,000 was levied for the year 1826, and $5,000 was ordered issued in one and two dollar bills to redeem old and defaced city issues of previous dates. In February the mayor was authorized to negotiate a loan of $20,000 to defray the expense of establishing suitable water-works for the city. Three persons in each council were appointed a water committee. In June, 1826, this committee was instructed to purchase sites upon which to erect an engine-house and the necessary reservoirs for the city water-works; and later were instructed to purchase from Mr. Adams, for $1,250, a site for the engine-housc, and from Judge Wilkins, for $3,150, the site for a reservoir. Later the reservoir was ordered to be located on land offered by Mr. Denny. Mr. Strickland was appointed to vicw the sites pro- posed and to recommend the most eligible locations for engine-house and reser- voir, and the best manner of introducing water into the reservoir on Grant's Hill. Changes were again made, for in September, 1826, the councils directed the water committee to purchase, at a price not exceeding $15 per foot, a site for an engine-house on the banks of the Allegheny, on a plat of ground owned

(e) Statesman, December, 1825. (f) Niles Register, December, 1825.

(g) Pittsburg Recorder, January 10, 1826.

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by Alexander Miller, at the foot of Cecil Alley, the tract not to exceed 100 feet along the alley and fifty feet along the river; and further instructed the water committee to purchase from the executors of Jamcs O'Hara four lots of ground on Grant's Hill, bounded by Fifth and Grant streets and Cherry and Diamond alleys, for a price not to exceed $3,800. In April, 1826, the city was authorized by the Legislature to pass an ordinance prohibiting the erection of wooden buildings within certain limits.

In the summer of 1826 there were here 155 three-story brick buildings; 330 two-story bricks; 10 two-story stone buildings; 10 three-story frames; 623 two-story frames; 280 one-story frames; 17 brick churches and other public buildings; 438 shops, mills, factories, etc. In September, 1826, the mayor was authorized to employ Richard Biddle as counsel for the city in the ejectment proceedings begun by Richard W. Howell, Samuel S. Howell and John S. Howell for the valuable tract of land lying on the Monongahela water front. In December, 1826, the water committee reported that they had let contracts for the excavation of a reservoir on Grant's Hill, 100 by 125 feet, and 13 feet deep, with a capacity of 1,000,000 gallons of water, at the rate of seven and three- fourth cents per cubic yard, and had also contracted for a steam-engine of twenty-inch cylinder and six feet stroke, to be placed in the engine-room at the foot of Cecil Alley, the latter, with its equipments, costing $3,900; and further, that they had contracted for a pump witli a fourteen-inch cylinder and double stroke, capable of raising to the reservoir on Grant's Hill 600,000 gallons of water in twelve hours, at a cost of $2,000. In January, 1827, com- mittees were appointed by the councils to represent the city in all action neccs- sary to the construction of the Pennsylvania Canal.

"It seems that a project is in forwardness to supply Pittsburg with water. The cost is estimated at $40,000. The difference of insurance against fire would pay the interest on that sum expended" (h). In January, 1827, the city appropriated $12,000, to be expended upon the new water-works, and ordered the issuance of $5,720 in one and two dollar bills. In the autumn of 1826 the water committee issued a public notice calling for an engine and double-forcing pump, and 4,300 feet of cast-iron pipe, twelve inches in diameter in the clear, 3,500 feet of eight-inch pipe, and 5,000 feet of four-inch pipe, all capable of resisting a pressure of 300 feet head. In 1827, in order to pay the expense of erecting the water-works, the city authorized the issue of $20,000 in loan certificates, in denominations of $100 each, to bear six per cent. interest, payable scmi-annually, and not redeemable without the consent of the holders before July, 1835. "City Water Works .- This great improvement is in progress. The excavation of the reservoir on Grant's Hill is completed; the masons are walling it, and many of the main pipes are cast. The site of the reservoir is extremely convenient and altogether suitable for the purpose to which it is appro- priated. The broad space around the reservoir and within the limits of the square will, when handsomely enclosed and shaded, afford a delightful public walk" (i).

In 1827 the demands for either a new market-house or additions to the old one could no longer be resisted, whereupon, at a public mecting, Messrs. Shaler, Patterson, Israel, Craft, Lowrie, Eichbaum and Denny were appointed to investigate the subject and report at a subsequent meeting. They recom- mended the employment of a superintendent, aided by two constables and a night-watch, and the erection of an additional market-house on Liberty Street, as near the present market as practicable. The latter recommendation was lost when voted upon, though this fact was afterward disputed, the vote hav-

(h) Niles Register, February 4, 1826.

(i) Gazette, June 8, 1827.

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ing been very close. Some wanted the new market at the chapel, others in Bayardstown; and others wanted the Courthouse removed from the Diamond and the new market built on that spot, though the prevailing opinion seemed to favor its location on Liberty Street. Much confusion resulted, and no loca- tion at this time was decided upon.

During the year ending April, 1827, forty-eight brick buildings, several of them three stories in height, were built in Pittsburg, and many others were built in the surrounding towns. "A gentleman lately enumerated in our pres- ence forty-eight brick buildings, many of them three stories high, finished in town within the year, and these, too, exclusive of those put up during the same period in Bayardstown, which may now be considered as the eastern extension of the city. The increase in population during the year by immigration must have been very considerable. This is proved by the advance in rents and the extension of business in several branches of manufacture. Fifteen gentlemen of the medical profession have flocked upon us from the different points of the compass within two years. These, added to the old stock, make up somewhere about thirty, averaging rather more than one to every 400 of the population. The bar, within the same period, has increased rapidly, though not in the same proportion. The number of attorneys at present practicing in the different courts of Allegheny County amounts to nearly forty" (j). In 1827, in order to reward him for valuable assistance in furnishing plans, estimates, etc., for the water-works, for which he refused compensation, Frederick Graeff, of Phila- delphia, was voted a present of Pittsburg glassware, valued at $100, by the City Councils. In January, 1828, Harmar Denny introduced a bill in the Legis- lature for the incorporation of Allegheny Borough.

In August, 1827, an ordinance was passed authorizing the mayor to enter into articles of agreement with William Griffiths, giving him the exclusive privilege of lighting the city of Pittsburg with gas. Under the contract the city agreed to pay for every public lamp duly and regularly lighted, com- mencing from the time the mayor should certify to the council that twenty lamps were ready to be lighted, the sum of $5 per annum for each lamp. Mr. Griffiths bound himself to keep such lights lighted from one-half hour after sunset until half an hour after sunrise every day, and to keep such lamps in proper condition. The contract was to continue for twenty-one years, at the end of which time the city, at its option, upon certain specified conditions, could take the plant into its own possession. In case the city failed to accept the plant at that time the contract was to continue for a period of ten years, at which time a valu- ation was to be given it, and the property was then to pass to the ownership of the city. This contract failed to satisfy the citizens. The objections were based upon two points: First, the contract was too exclusive; second, the citi- zens themselves should have an opportunity of investing in the stock of the concern. Considerable pressure was brought to bear upon both Mr. Griffiths and the City Councils, whereupon the former expressed his willingness to transfer the. contract to a stock company. This transfer was accordingly made to a company incorporated for the purpose, consisting of Benjamin Bakewell, James S. Craft, Harmar Denny, Henry Holdship, Benjamin Page and their associates, who were incorporated as the Pittsburg Gaslight and Coke Company, with a capital of $20,000, divided into 200 shares of $100 each, with the privilege of increasing the stock to $40,000. Early in 1828 the company was organized, and proposals for building a circular tank, 35 feet in diameter and 16 feet deep, and for furnishing 10,000 feet of cast-iron pipe, were called for by Henry Holdship, James S. Craft, Thomas Bakewell, James S. Riddle and Harmar

(j) Gazette, May 4, 1827.

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Denny, managers of the company. On April Ist the second installment of stock, amounting to $10, was called for. A questionable state of affairs arose over the subscription to the stock of this company. The first ordinance was unfavorable to stock subscribers. The second ordinance greatly reduced the amount of payments on the stock, and no sooner was the same placed upon the market than, within fifteen minutes, the entire amount had been taken up by members of the Select Council. Much indignation was expressed by the citizens over this action. It was claimed that the members of the council, after passing an amended ordinance which was greatly to the advantage of stock subscribers, promptly took advantage of their own act by subscribing for the entire amount of the stock. They purchased it at par, although it was claimed that, had the same been placed upon the market, it would have sold for a total premium of from $5,000 to $6,000. So much indignation was expressed and opposition offered to this proceeding that the members were compelled, by public opinion, to relinquish the stock and pass another ordinance, which placed the same upon the market upon conditions that would permit the citizens generally to pur- chase it. There were thus sold at public auction 585 shares to such citizens as desired to purchase. By February, 1829, a change seems to have occurred, for Edward Gray, William Gwynn, Daniel Raymond and Neville B. Craig, associated together as the Pittsburg Gas Company, were authorized to occupy the streets and alleys of the city with their lines of pipes, upon certain condi- tions and under certain penalties. It was provided that they should be paid $4 per year for each lamp used to light the streets, and should, within a certain specified time, cover with their lines the following territory: Beginning at the "Point," thence along the Allegheny River to Washington Street, thence to Grant Street, thence to Fourth Street, thence to Ross Street, thence to the Monongahela River, thence to place of beginning. In January, 1829, the first experiment with the coming gaslight was made in the residence of Mr. Bain in Allegheny, near the St. Clair bridge. The newspapers stated that the light was brilliant and economical, and that "seeing is believing." Mr. Bain made the gas in a small retort of two gallons over his kitchen fire, and the gasometer stood in the corner of the room. The first gas used for public purposes was conveyed from this small concern to Lambdin's museum and gallery of paint- ings, and at first was merely experimental, though many persons visited the museum in order to see the gaslight. From this small concern estimates of the size of the retort and gasometer necessary to supply Pittsburg with gas were made.

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Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 79

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co. Number of Pages: 1192

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1192