Guide to the Papers of the Brackenridge Family, 1796-1963
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Papers of the Brackenridge Family
- Collection Number
- MSS#160
- Extent
- 0.5 cubic feet (1 Box)
- Date
- 1796-1963
- Abstract
- The Brackenridges were a prominent and influenical family in Western Pennsylvania. Caroline Marie Brackenridge, the wife of Henry Marie Brackenridge, had extensive land holdings in Western Pennsylvania which helped to form the towns of Brackenridge, Tarentum and Natrona. These papers include correspondence, genealogical and biographical notes, writings, wills and estate papers, newspaper clippings, poetry, photographs and other sundry items. These papers primarily document Henry Marie Brackenridge's life through correspondence and writings.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- 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 the Brackenridge Family
The Brackenridges were a prominent and influenical family in Western Pennsylvania. Caroline Marie Brackenridge, the wife of Henry Marie Brackenridge, had extensive land holdings in Western Pennsylvania which helped to form the towns of Brackenridge, Tarentum and Natrona. Henry Marie Brackenridge was a prominent political figure who travelled extensively in New Orleans, Florida and South America. He was elected to the United States Congress and served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Hugh Henry Brackenridge was an incorporator of the Pittsburgh Academy, the predecessor to the University of Pittsburgh. Henry Morgan Brackenridge was involved extensivley as an officer and director of prominent Pittsburgh area companies and Benjamin Morgan Brackenridge produced family portraits as an amateur, but influencial photographer.
The Brackenridge Family was established in America by John Breckenridge, a farmer, who emigrated from Scotland in 1753 and settled with his family in York County, Pennsylvania. John Breckenridge changed the spelling of his last name from Breckenridge to Brackenridge when his family arrived in America. Historians believe the "a" referred to a sentimental attachment to the fields and ridges of bracken, a fern-like plant native to the section of Scotland the family migrated from. John's son, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, was born in 1748 near Campbeltown, Scotland. As a child, Hugh studied the classics with a neighboring clergyman in York County. At the age of fifteen he became the teacher at the Maryland school in order to earn money to continue his education. From 1768-1771 he attended Princeton University. Upon graduation he became the head of a Maryland academy while he studied divinity. He completed his master's degree at Princeton in 1774, and served as the chaplain at Valley Forge upon the request of General George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Soon after the war he gave up the ministry and studied law with Samuel Chase at Annapolis and was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar.
Hugh moved his family to Pittsburgh in 1781. Here he helped to establish the first two newspapers in the city, the Pittsburgh Gazette in 1786 and later the Tree of Liberty. Brackenridge was an avid writer and produced a number of literary materials during his lifetime. These included: The Battle of Bunker's Hill (1776); The Death of General Montgomery (1777); Eulogium of the Brave Who Fell in the Contest with Great Britain (1778); Incidents of the Insurrection in the Western Parts of Pennsylvania (1795); Modern Chivalry (1796); Gazette Publications Collected (1806); and Law Miscellanies (1814). He funded and established first bookstore in Pittsburgh in 1789 and was an incorporator of the Pittsburgh Academy in 1787. The academy was the predecessor to the University of Pittsburgh. From 1786-1787 he was a member of the state legislature and was a supporter of the federal constitution. Brackenridge was married twice. The name of his first wife is unknown. The had one child, Hugh Marie. She died soon after his birth. In 1790 Hugh Henry married Sabina Wolfe. Their children were Alexander, Cornelia and William. Brackenridge played a key role in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, but was later exonerated of any wrong doing by the federal government. In 1799 he was appointed a judge on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In 1801 he moved from Pittsburgh to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he continued to study and write law until his death on June 25, 1816.
Henry Marie Brackenridge was born at Pittsburgh on May 11, 1786. Henry's father, a widower, began his son's education at the age of two. At the age of seven he was sent to an academy at St. Genevieve in upper Louisiana where he studied French. He returned to Pittsburgh in 1796 to resume his studies under his father and attended the Pittsburgh Academy. He studied law in Pittsburgh and was admitted to the bar in 1806. He tried unsuccessfully to establish a law practice in Carlisle before relocating to Somerset, Pennsylvania. He practiced law here until 1810 when he relocated to Louisiana. In 1811 Brackenridge settled in New Orleans and was appointed deputy attorney general of the territory. In 1817 he was appointed secretary of the commission to study political situations in South America. In 1821 he returned to the U.S. to Florida where he secured a position first as translator, then as judge of the western district of Florida. In 1827 he married Caroline Marie and they had two children, Cornelia who died in infancy and Benjamin Morgan. In 1832 he was removed as judge of the western district of Florida by Andrew Jackson. He returned to Pittsburgh to develop his wife's extensive land holdings. Here he founded the town of Tarentum. Later the towns of Brackenridge and Natrona were developed on these lands. From 1840-1841 he was elected to the United States Congress and in 1844 he was elected as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. At the end of his term he returned to his home and continued his public and private pursuits until his death in 1871.
Benjamin Morgan Brackenridge was born in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania on November 5, 1828. Benjamin was a photographer, scientist, artist and a chemist. He was noted as an authority in the field of photography, then in its infancy, and photographed family members, family homes, and townspeople. Benjamin married Phillipine Stieren, daughter of Edward Stieren who was the first chemist for the Pennsylvania Salt Company located in Bellevue, Pennsylvania. They had three children: Cornelia, Amelia, who died in infancy, and Henry Morgan. Benjamin was in frail health and died at the age of thirty-three on June 25, 1862.
Henry Morgan Brackenridge was born July 17, 1856. He was educated in the public schools, at the Western University of Pennsylvania, and at the Royal Polytechnic Institute of Dresden, Germany. He was involved in the development of the Brackenridge estate and the officer and director of the following companies: The Brackenridge-McKelvey Land Company; Bank of Pittsburgh; Tarentum Glass Company; Allegheny Iron and Steel Company; James H. Baker Manufacturing Company; First National Bank of Tarentum; National Bank of Tarentum; and the United Coal Company. He married Madge Richards on October 7, 1885 at Fredericksburg, Virginia and had two daughters, Helen and Cornelia. Henry Morgan died on July 27, 1927.
Scope and Content Notes
The Brackenridge Family Papers include correspondence, genealogical and biographical notes, writings, wills and estate papers, newspaper clippings, poetry, photographs and other sundry items. These papers primarily document Henry Marie Brackenridge's life through correspondence and writings.
The correspondence is primarily that of Henry Marie Brackenridge, and consists almost entirely of photographic copies of letters between Henry and William Darlington. There are a few original letters from Henry Marie's sister, Cornelia, which detail family matters. Overall, the letters primarily document Henry Marie Brackenridge's career and the political affairs of the United States; the debate over the annexation of Texas as a state; the political and social conditions in Florida; U.S. relations with England; Pittsburgh politics; his appointment to the commission to South America; and the publication of his books. There are a number of letters from prominent political, judicial, and literary figures of the nineteenth century such as letters from John Quincy Adams concerning Brackenridge's appointment as a judge in western Florida; Edward Livingston discussing the general conditions of the government; and many other prominent figures of the period.
Other correspondence includes the letters of Caroline Marie Brackenridge from her future husband Henry Marie and discuss not only their daily activities and affection towards each other but discuss her land holdings in Pennsylvania. These holdings are where the Brackenridge Estate would be built and the later communities of Tarentum and Brackenridge would be formed. The letters of Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Henry Marie's father include reproductions of letters from Hugh Henry to Thomas Jefferson, the President elect when the letters were written. These letters discuss with Jefferson the replacement of certain government officials now that Jefferson will be in control. The correspondence for Benjamin Morgan Brackenridge is of a family nature and Helen Brackenridge Painter's correspondence details her interest in the genealogical aspects of her family.
Many personal and published writings are prevalent throughout the collection. Henry Marie Brackenridge's writings include his autobiography and a diary with commentary relating to the Civil War period of April 1861 through February 1862. His autobiography discusses his early life and events during the War of 1812 through the eyes of an individual living in New Orleans. His Civil War diary is one of great interest. Henry Marie discusses the War not only battle by battle and confrontation through confrontation but through the eyes and ears of Pittsburghers. This diary helps its reader to understand how those on the home front and out of the war's grasp were affected by it. Henry Marie rewrites conversations he had or overheard in prominent Pittsburgh places of business which help to illustrate the effects of war on a northern industrial city like Pittsburgh. Many of the young men of the area were eager to enlist because many were out of work and their families were growing hungry. Henry Marie illustrates this by stating that men were enlisting for bread, not money or glory. Other writings by Henry Marie Brackenridge include a critical analysis of Andrew Jackson and DeWitt Clinton and an essay condemning the fiscal policies of the Democratic Party.
Much has been written on Hugh Henry Brackenridge's articles and his life. Found here is information on his family background, his dealings on a friendship level with George Washington both during the Revolutionary War in Valley Forge and Washington's visits after the war to the later Brackenridge Estate site; his talents as a storyteller and writer and his part in the formation of the Pittsburgh Academy, the later University of Pittsburgh.
The genealogical and biographical information of the Brackenridge and Painter Families helps to trace not only the family's early roots in Pennsylvania, but also to show the family's importance to Western Pennsylvania's history. Here a wealth of knowledge can be found on individual family members accomplishments, and lists of sources in order to further research that individual.
Final estate and trust papers on individual family members help to close out the lives of the Brackenridge family as well as detailing the final closing of the Brackenridge estate.
Arrangement
The Brackenridge Family Papers are housed in one archival box and are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in four accessions and were combined into one body of papers in 1982.
Acc# 1932x Gift of Julian Boyd, (Papers) May 13, 1932
Acc# 1933x Gift of Roy Nichols, (Papers) 1933
Acc# 1941x Gift of Mrs. Elvert M. Davis, (Papers) 1941
Acc# 1975.107 Gift of Cornelia Painter, (Papers) July 3, 1975
Existence and Location of Copies
Correspondence consists almost entirely of photographic copies of letters between Henry and William Darlington. The original copies of correspondence, are bound in a book in the Darlington collection, held by the Darlington Library at the University of Pittsburgh.
Preferred Citation
Papers of the Brackenridge Family, 1796-1963, MSS#160, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Donald L. Haggerty on January 11, 1995. Papers rearranged and inventory rewritten by Stephanie Riccardi.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Susan M. Allen on November 10, 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
- Adams, John Quincy, -- 1767-1848
- Brackenridge, Benjamin Morgan.
- Brackenridge, Caroline Marie.
- Brackenridge, H. M. -- (Henry Marie), -- 1786-1871
- Brackenridge, Henry Morgan (1856-1927).
- Brackenridge, H. H. -- (Hugh Henry), -- 1748-1816.
- Brackenridge, Phillipine.
- Painter, Helen Brackenridge -- (1887-1969).
- Brackenridge Family
- Brackenridge, Benjamin Morgan -- (1828-1862)
- Washington, George
- Brackenridge, (Pa.) -- settlement
- Land holdings
- Newspapers -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Politics
- Tarentum, (Pa.) -- settlement
- United States History -- Civil War Period
- United States History -- Colonial Period
- United States History -- War of 1812 Period