Guide to Papers of the Gillespie Family, 1856 - 1941
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Papers of the Gillespie Family,
- Creator
- Gillespie family
- Collection Number
- MSS#193
- Extent
- .75 cubic feet
- Date
- 1856 - 1941
- Abstract
- The Gillespie Family was a prominent western Pennsylvania family whose members intermarried with other prominent families, including the Magee, Wray, and Darr families. The papers include correspondence, postcards, newspaper articles, diaries, and other miscellaneous items. The family papers cover four generations of the Gillespie and related families, but do not provide comprehensive documentation of any of these generations, but rather offer vignettes.
- 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
Biography
The Gillespie Family was a prominent western Pennsylvania family whose members intermarried with other prominent families, including the Magee, Wray, and Darr families. In 1832, at the age of seventeen, J. J. Gillespie (1815-1886) came to Pittsburgh from Milton, Pennsylvania. He worked as a clerk at the Vorhees and Barche's Looking-Glass and Notion Store on Wood Street, quickly becoming a partner and then owner. The J. J. Gillespie Company opened on Wood Street selling imported mirrors and other expensive household ornaments. By 1842, Gillespie was one of the most prominent men in Pittsburgh. The Company was destroyed by fire in 1845 and rebuilt in another location on Wood Street. After the fire, Gillespie started to sell prints and lithographs, becoming the first gallery west of the Alleghenies to feature international artists. Gillespie Galleries became the center of art in Pittsburgh and was the headquarters for both Pittsburgh and traveling artists.
In 1834, J. J. Gillespie married Eleanor Moore, and together they raised six children, including Eleanor Gillespie Magee, Hannah Gillespie Magee Neale, Jessie Gillespie Warwick Flinn, and Asa Shinn Gillespie. The Gillespies moved to Evergreen Hamlet, a planned community in Ross Township (Allegheny County, Pa.). Two of Gillespie's daughters married into the Magee family. Eleanor Gillespie married Christopher Lyman Magee (1848-1901), a state senator, whose will provided for the conversion of his home to a hospital for women (Magee Women's Hospital). The nurses' home of the hospital was named in honor of Eleanor Gillespie Magee. Hannah Gillespie married Frederick Magee (1846-1894) and they had two daughters, Margaret Louise and another daughter who married James V. Scaife. After Frederick's death, Hannah married James Neale. Margaret Louise married Baron Riedl de Ridenau, who worked for the Austrian Embassy. Louisa died in Switzerland in 1941 while waiting for a visa to enter the United States during World War II. Jessie Gillespie married Warrington Warrick, and later, Ralph Flinn, son of politician and contractor William Flinn.
Another one of J. J.'s children, Asa S. Gillespie, attended Kenwood College in New Brighton and fought in the Civil War. Asa served in the 38th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers Company A (also known as the Ninth Pittsburg Rifles Volunteer Corp), recruited in Pittsburgh. He was discharged in 1863 by a surgeon's certificate. He married Emma Palmer and they had two daughters, Eleanor Gillespie Darr and Sara Gillespie Wray (1878-1961). Eleanor Gillespie was engaged to marry Hays King, a cousin of Mrs. R. B. Mellon, but King died shortly before the wedding was to have taken place. Eleanor subsequently married George Darr, a pioneer in the Western Pennsylvania oil industry who started in the oil brokerage business in 1874. Darr later became a stock and bond broker, president of Sharon Steel Company, and owner of coal lands.
Sara Gillespie married Robert Wray (1876-), a descendant of the Wray family settled in Western Pennsylvania prior to 1830. Little else is known about Robert Wray, other than that he served as an army officer of World War I, stationed in France, and was a member of the Sewickley Valley Post #4, American Legion. Sarah and Robert resided in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. They had a daughter, Elizabeth Gillespie Wray (1903-c1989), who attended the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts. In 1938, Elizabeth married Charles Stuart Wunder who was a Lieutenant Colonel Battalion Commander in the army. He served in India and China during World War II. Charles was the executive officer of the 2nd Battalion of the 107th Field Artillery. She apparently later married someone named Firuski.
Scope and Content Notes
The papers include correspondence, postcards, newspaper articles, diaries, and other miscellaneous items. The family papers cover four generations of the Gillespie and related families, but do not provide comprehensive documentation of any of these generations, but rather offer vignettes. The letters from 1856-1865 are between Asa Gillespie and his family, written primarily when he was a student at Kenwood College (1856-1859). There are a few letters written during the Civil War, including when Asa was in camp on the James River and in camp before Richmond. Of special note is the letter written from Asa to his family on December 1 about going to Manassas. The letters from 1866-1941 are written to and from various family members. The letters from 1888 to 1889 are mostly letters from Hays King to Eleanor Gillespie. The letters from 1890 to 1909 are from the Gillespie family, written mostly to Eleanor and Emma Gillespie from their children, nieces, and nephews. The letters from 1911 to 1941 are written primarily to Robert Wray from his friends and letters written between Sara Wray and her daughter Elizabeth. Because the letters are so sporadic and are from various family members, it is difficult to gain an idea of family relationships or activities during any of these time periods. There are also two letters requesting contributions. The first letter is to Sara Wray from the National Allied Relief Committee (1918), and the other is to Elizabeth from Pearl S. Buck, in behalf of the Women's Committee of Tribute to China (1940).
The postcards, 1903-1940, were sent between various family members and friends, from a variety of places including London (1903), New York (1908), Havana (1908, 1909), Indianapolis (1916), and Cairo (1928). Also, there are local postcards from Greenville (Mercer County, 1908) and Sewickley. There are two diaries, one kept by Dr. Robert Wray, grandfather of Robert Wray, and one kept by Charles Wunder. Dr. Robert Wray's diary consists of ten entries written from 1830-1835 in Pittsburgh, documenting his activities as an ordained Elder in the Second Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. Charles Wunder's diary is from World War II (1944-1945) when he was stationed in India and China, and provides his impressions of the areas he visited, as well as brief summaries of his daily activities. The newspaper articles (1865-1961) are predominantly about the extended family. Many of the articles are from the society page while others deal with military activities during the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. Of special note are articles about the opening of the Magee Women's hospital and the obituaries of J. J. Gillespie and George Darr.
The scrapbook was kept by Elizabeth Wray from 1917 to 1922 and includes photographs, invitations, place cards, correspondence, newsclippings, and membership cards, primarily documenting the Wray family's residence in Washington D. C. during World War I and Elizabeth's school years at Dana Hall. The World War II items are materials relating to Charles S. Wunder, including daily itineraries from the USS General W. A. Mann. The other items consist of Eleanor Gillespie Darr's wills, business cards, calling cards, brochures, and pamphlets. Of special note are an undated card from the Gillespie Gallery and biographical notes concerning J. J. Gillespie.
Arrangement
The Gillespie 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 were received in one accession.
Acc# 1989.9
Gift of the Estate of Elizabeth Wray Wunder Firuski in 1989.
Preferred Citation
Papers of the Gillespie Family, MSS# 193, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Sabrina Sakolsky on August 2, 1995.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Clay Redding on May 21, 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
- Kenwood College (New Brighton, Pa.)
- Magee Women's Hospital (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Pennsylvania Volunteers. 38th Regiment Company A
- Gillespie family
- Darr, George W.
- de Ridenau, Margaret Louise Magee
- Firuski, Elizabeth Wray Wunder
- Gillespie, J. J., 1815-1886
- Magee, Eleanor
- Wray, Sarah Gillespie, 1878-1961
- Wray, Robert
- Wunder, Charles
- Evergreen Hamlet (Ross Township, Pa.)
- Art museums -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Hospitals -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
- World War, 1939-1945 -- India
- World War, 1914-1918--France