Guide to the Papers of Margaret Townsend Scully, 1789-1953

Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Papers of Margaret Townsend Scully
Creator
Scully, Margaret Townsend, -- 1891-1953
Collection Number
MSS#34
Extent
2.75 cubic feet (6 boxes)
Date
1789-1953
Abstract
Margaret Townsend Scully was a published poet, local historian and active participant in many civic, cultural, and social organizations in Pittsburgh. A member of prominent early Pittsburgh families, Scully compiled genealogical research and manuscripts on these families. This collection includes personal papers, photographs, genealogical research notes, newsclippings, correspondence, published materials and original manuscript material from the Scully family and related families.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
This guide to the collection was originally prepared by R. Balliet on April 13, 1995. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in
Sponsor
This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project, a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
Publisher
Heinz History Center
Address
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

Biographical Sketch of Margaret Townsend Scully (1881-1953)

Margaret Townsend Scully was the great-granddaughter of Denis Sullivan Scully, who first came to Pittsburgh in 1805 with his older brother, John. The brothers had emigrated from Cork County, Ireland, and settled in Pittsburgh after spending some time in Ohio. Both brothers became leaders in Pittsburgh's early industry and their decendants become prominent in local business, politics, and philanthropy.

Denis Sullivan and his older brother, John, left Cork, Ireland around 1803 for New York. Upon arrival, the brothers added Scully to their name for reasons which remain unclear. After coming to Pittsburgh in 1805, John Sullivan Scully (-1837) settled in Chartiers Township (Pa.) and his family remained there for several generations. His grandson, John Sullivan Scully II, became president of the Diamond National Bank and his great grandson, Cornelius D. Scully, served as mayor of Pittsburgh from 1938 to 1946. Denis Sullivan Scully (1782-1853) settled in Pittsburgh and married Ann O'Hara (1796-1875), sister of General James O'Hara, in 1815. In 1816, Scully and O'Hara opened the Hermitage Furnace, an iron-works in Ligonier which only remained open for one year. Despite this unsuccessful business venture, Denis Scully worked as a lawyer and continued working with James O'Hara. He helped to manage O'Hara's Pittsburgh glass-works in 1818 and, after the death of James O'Hara in 1819, served as executor to his will. He and Ann O'Hara Scully had six children: William O'Hara, James O'Hara, John Desmond, Kate Desmond, Charles B., and Harmer Denny. Denis S. Scully's second son, James O'Hara Scully (1816-1859), had a more successful experience in the iron industry than his father. He worked as a partner with James Wood and Company and Knapp, Scully and Company, two Pittsburgh iron mills. In 1851, James O'Hara Scully married Margaret Jackson Townsend (1828-1861), a member of a prominent Beaver County (Pa.) Family.

The Townsend family had migrated to Pennsylvania from England before the Revolutionary War and settled in Philadelphia. Robert Townsend (1790-1867) moved to Pittsburgh in 1816 and started a wire manufacturing business. In 1828 he moved the operation to New Brighton, Beaver County, (Pa.) and operated the firm of R. Townsend and Company with his son, William Penn Townsend. In 1852, the firm began to manufacture iron rivets and changed its name to the Juniata Wire and Rivet Mills; the company also operated under the name of W. P. Townsend and Company and C.C. and E.P. Townsend and Company. The company continued to operate for over a century and was managed by several of Robert Townsend's descendants.

James O'Hara and Margaret Townsend Scully had three sons: Henry Rees, George T. and James Wood. Henry Rees Scully (1852-1932), the father of Margaret Townsend Scully, entered the banking business soon after he graduated from the Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh) in 1872. He was associated with the Mechanics Bank and spent the majority of his career with the Dollar Savings Bank of Pittsburgh. After retiring from the Dollar Savings Bank, Henry Rees Scully served on the vestry of the Calvary Episcopal Church and was active with the Church Pension Fund of Pittsburgh and the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. His wife, Mary Morrow Murtland Scully (1853-1932), was an artist whose paintings were exhibited at the Carnegie Museum and several other museums throughout the country. Henry Rees and Mary Morrow Murtland Scully's children include: Margaret Townsend, Arthur Murtland, Rees Townsend, Janet McLean and Donald Cadwalader. All three of their sons served during World War I. After the War, Arthur Scully built a successful law practice in Pittsburgh; Rees Scully worked as an engineer and, like his mother, became an artist; and Donald Cadwalader Scully worked with the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce and was vice-president of the Joseph Woodwell Company.

Margaret Townsend Scully was a published poet, local historian, and active participant in many civic, cultural and social organizations. During World War I, Margaret Townsend Scully was active in the American Red Cross and as president of the Junior Auxiliary of the Pittsburgh Anti-Suffrage Organization helped to direct classes on Red Cross work and relief. She was a graduate of the Thurston Preparatory School, a private girls school located in Pittsburgh's East End, and was later active in the Thurston-Gleim Social Service League. In 1936, she published a collection of poems entitled White Rose of Essex, which was illustrated by her mother, Mary Morrow Murtland Scully. She devoted several years to researching the history and genealogy of the Scully family and other related families. These families include: the Brereton family, Cadwalader family, the Croghan and Schenley family, the Denny family, the Jackson family, the O'Hara family, the O'Harra family (distant relatives of the O'Hara family), the Murtland family, and the Townsend family. After a trip to Ireland in 1939, Margaret Townsend Scully concentrated her research on the family's history in Ireland before emigrating to Pittsburgh. She also spent many years working on a biography of her ancestor, General James O'Hara, the first Quartermaster General to the United States and early Pittsburgh industrialist. She never completed his biography but was continually devoted to promoting his importance to the history of Western Pennsylvania. In 1940, Margaret Townsend Scully, with support from Brigadier General Russell C. Langdon, successfully campaigned to have an Army transport vessel named after James O'Hara. The ship, General O'Hara, was christened that same year in Tacoma, Washington. Her interest in local history and genealogy often brought her to the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, where she was a member for over twenty years and served as a trustee from 1948 until her death in 1953. She also served as chairman of the women's auxiliary to the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. In addition to these activities, Margaret Townsend Scully was also a vice chairman to the Western Pennsylvania Hospital (Pittsburgh, Pa.), member of the Twentieth Century Club, and member of the Daughters of the American Pioneers. She and many of the Scully family members were dedicated and contributing members of the Calvary Episcopal Church of Shadyside (Pittsburgh, Pa.).

Scope and Content Notes

These papers include genealogical research notes, newspaper clippings, correspondence, published materials, and original manuscript material from the Scullys and other related families. The personal papers of Margaret Townsend Scully primarily relate to her genealogical work, but do include some letters and newspaper clippings regarding her work in benevolent and cultural organizations. Extensive genealogical research material includes comprehensive biographical information compiled for the biography of General James O'Hara, materials relating to the Irish ancestry of the Scully family, and several newspaper clippings regarding more contemporary members of Margaret Townsend Scully's family. The original manuscript material is not comprehensive, but includes interesting early correspondence (1789-1951) and other materials relating to a range of topics. These papers would be helpful to those researching early Pittsburgh families and Irish migration, early and mid-twentieth century women's organizations and social life as represented by Margaret Townsend Scully and many of her relatives included in this collection, and genealogical information on the families represented.

Arrangement

The Margaret Townsend Scully Papers are housed in five archival boxes and arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These materials came in one accession, 1951.

Acc# 1951x Gift of Margaret Townsend Scully, (Papers).

Preferred Citation

Papers of Margaret Townsend Scully, 1789-1952, MSS #34, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by R. Balliet on April 13, 1995.

Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Jennifer Marshall on July 6, 1999.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • United States -- Army -- Transportation
    • American Red Cross
    • Calvary Episcopal Church (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Pittsburgh Anti-Suffrage Organization
    • St. Andrews Church (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Alumni Association of the Pittsburgh School of Design

    Personal Names

    • Scully, Margaret Townsend, -- 1891-1953
    • Langdon, Russell C., -- 1872-1970
    • O'Hara, James, -- 1752-1819
    • Schenley, Mary Croghan, -- 1827-1903
    • Scully, Denis Sullivan, -- 1782-1853.
    • Townsend, Robert B., -- 1790-1867
    • Croghan, William II
    • Denny, Harmar
    • Denny, Harmar Denny, Jr.
    • Gaul, Harvey
    • Mann, Alexander
    • Scaife, Lauriston L.
    • Scully, Arthur
    • Scully, Henry Rees, -- 1852-1932
    • Scully, Mary Morrow Murtland, -- 1853-1932
    • Brereton Family
    • Cadwalader Family
    • Childers Family
    • Croghan Family
    • Denny Family
    • O'Hara Family
    • Scully Family
    • Townsend Family

    Geographic Names

    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Genealogy
    • Beaver County (Pa.) -- Commerce
    • Beaver County (Pa.) -- Social life and customs
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Commerce
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Religion
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Social Life and Customs

    Other Subjects

    • Charities -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Church buildings -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Irish Americans -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Suffrage -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Women -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Women -- Suffrage -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Women in charitable work -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • World War, 1914-1918
    • Canals -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Quartermasters -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Weddings -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh

Container List

Miscellaneous
Containers
Box 6, Folder 1

Scope and Contents

General miscellaneous material includes various newspaper clippings and the published memoirs of Sabina T. McDonnell (c1846).