Guide to the Papers of the Denny-O'Hara Family, 1769-1949 (bulk 1769-1875)
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Papers of the Denny-O'Hara Family
- Creator
- Denny-O'Hara Family
- Collection Number
- MSS #51
- Extent
- 9.5 cubic feet (19 Boxes)
- Date
- 1769-1949
- Date
- 1769-1875
- Abstract
- The Denny and O'Hara families are two prominent families who migrated to the Pittsburgh region prior to the American Revolution. Ebenezer Denny and James O'Hara both served in the Revolutionary War and became civic and business leaders of the growing city. Two of their children, Harmar Denny and Elizabeth O'Hara, were married in 1817, uniting the families. These papers primarily relate to the family's vast landholdings in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois and include correspondence, receipts, accounts, and deeds.
- 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 Denny and O'Hara Families
The Denny and O'Hara families are two prominent families who migrated to the Pittsburgh region prior to the American Revolution. Ebenezer Denny and James O'Hara both served in the Revolutionary War and became civic and business leaders of the growing city. Two of their children, Harmar Denny and Elizabeth O'Hara, were married in 1817, uniting the families.
Ebenezer Denny (1761-1822) Ebenezer Denny, Pittsburgh's first mayor, was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on March 11, 1761, the eldest son of William and Agnes (Parker) Denny. At the age of thirteen, Denny became a bearer of dispatches to Fort Pitt, and was commissioned ensign in the First Pennsylvania Regiment during the American Revolution. At the surrender of the British forces at Yorktown, Ensign Denny was designated to plant the first American flag on the British parapet, but at the last moment, Baron von Steuben usurped this honor. After the Revolution, he served in the Carolinas under General Arthur St. Clair and in the western campaign against the Indians, as adjutant to General Josiah Harmar and aide-de-camp to General St. Clair. He was commissioned captain in 1794 and sent to Presque Isle (now Erie) to protect commissioners engaged in laying out the town, but hostilities with the Six Nations forced the detachment to turn back.
He retired from military service in 1795 and returned to Western Pennsylvania, where he lived on a farm on Street's Run, six miles up the Monogahela River from Pittsburgh. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the legislature about 1795, but was elected a commissioner of Allegheny County in 1796. Around that time, he moved to the city and became a merchant. He continued his political career as county treasurer in 1803 and 1808. In 1804, he was appointed a director of the Pittsburgh branch of the Bank of Pennsylvania, and was also active in the First Presbyterian Church, Society of the Cincinnati, and was the first president of the Moral Society, founded in 1809. He played a prominent role in the establishment of the Western Theological School in Allegheny City. During the War of 1812, he served as commissary of purchases for troops on the Erie and Niagara frontier. When the city of Pittsburgh was incorporated in 1816, he was elected the first mayor. He was reelected January 14, 1817, but only served until July, when ill health forced him to retire.
On July 1, 1793, he married Nancy Wilkins (1776-1806), the daughter of Captain John Wilkins, Sr., early settler of Wilkinsburg. They had four children: Harmar Denny (1794-1852), William Henry Denny (1796-?), St. Clair Denny (1800-?), Agnes (Nancy) Denny, and another daughter who died in infancy. His wife died on May 1, 1806 at the age of thirty. Ebenezer Denny died July 21, 1822.
James O'Hara (1752-1819) James O'Hara was born in County Mayo, Ireland in 1752. He left Ireland in 1765 to study at the College of St. Sulpice, a Jesuit school in Paris, where he remained until 1770, when he accepted a commission in the Regiment of the Coldstream Guards. After eighteen months in the military, he obtained a position as a clerk in the countinghouse of a Liverpool ship broker. Seeking adventure, he sailed for Philadelphia in 1772. He quickly acquired a position as an Indian trader in Western Pennsylvania, enabling him to become familiar with the area surrounding Fort Pitt. Recognizing the potential of the area, James O'Hara began accumulating property there at an early date.
At the outbreak of the American Revolution, O'Hara raised an army, the Third Virginia Regiment, outfitting the soldiers at his own expense. In 1779, the Regiment, reduced to only twenty-nine men, joined the Ninth Virginia Regiment. O'Hara returned to the East to serve as Commissary of the General Hospital at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In 1781, he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster and in 1792, he became Quartermaster General of the United States Army, responsible for paying troops, arranging transportation, and procuring supplies. He resigned this position in 1796, but continued government contracting until 1802.
Despite his frequent absences from Pittsburgh, O'Hara continued purchasing land and began several pioneering business ventures. The first of these was the transport of salt from Onondaga salt works in Salina (Syracuse), New York to Pittsburgh. Prior to O'Hara's efforts, salt had to be brought over the Allegheny Mountains from Baltimore, at considerable expense. In partnership with Isaac Craig, he built the first glassworks west of the Alleghenies about 1797. The O'Hara-Craig Glass Works, later Pittsburg Glass Works and finally O'Hara Glass Works, was located on the foot of Coal Hill (now Mt. Washington) opposite the Point. He established his first brewery in McKeesport in 1798, but left this business to start another brewery at the Point, in partnership with Joseph Coppinger. O'Hara's only business failure was the Hermitage Furnace, built in Ligonier, Pennsylvania in 1816. The mill ceased production after only one year, with considerable debts. His other business concerns included fur trading, sawmill, shipbuilding, tannery, grist mill, and a dry goods store.
In contrast to his business successes, O'Hara's political career was marked by disappointments. He ran unsuccessfully for state and local offices, and was finally councilman for the city of Pittsburgh. Like his friend Ebenezer Denny, O'Hara was appointed a director of the western branch of the Bank of Pennsylvania, and succeeded John Wilkins as president in 1815, a position he held until the bank was absorbed by the Bank of the United States in 1817. O'Hara was also active in the civic life of the community. Along with Ebenezer Denny, O'Hara patrolled the First Presbyterian Church when it was still a log structure threatened by Indian attacks. Although he had converted to Protestantism, O'Hara donated land for the construction of Saint Patrick's Church, the first Catholic church in Pittsburgh, at the corner of Liberty and Washington Streets.
In 1783, O'Hara married Mary Carson (c1761-1834), known as "Pretty Polly," the daughter of a well-known Philadelphia innkeeper. They settled in Officers' Orchard, on the Allegheny River near the Point, an area established to house officers of the French army during the primacy of Fort Duquesne. As their family and fortunes grew, the O'Haras moved from this modest log structure to more spacious surroundings on Clapboard Row, on Water Street, the most fashionable street in the growing community. James and Mary had six children: William Carson O'Hara, James O'Hara, Charles O'Hara, Richard Butler O'Hara, Elizabeth Febiger O'Hara Denny, and Mary Carson O'Hara Croghan (c1803-1827). Only the three younger children outlived their parents.
James O'Hara died on December 17, 1819. According to his obituary in the Pittsburgh Gazette, O'Hara was mourned by the entire city as a "beloved parent." Mary outlived him by fifteen years, dying in 1834.
Harmar Denny (1794-1852) Harmar Denny, eldest son of Ebenezer and Nancy Denny, was born in Pittsburgh on May 13, 1794. Named for his father's military comrade, he completed his preparatory education in Pittsburgh and graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle in 1813. He was admitted to the Allegheny County Bar in 1816, under motion of his teacher and eventual law partner, Henry Baldwin.
One year later, on November 25, 1817, Harmar married Elizabeth Febiger O'Hara, daughter of James and Mary O'Hara. This union of two of Pittsburgh's leading families brought increased wealth and prestige to Harmar, as well as an opportunity to demonstrate his business acumen, as he became administrator of his father-in-law's vast estate in 1819. He also operated a law practice in Pittsburgh from 1819-1826, when he began to devote more time to his political career.
In the early 1820s, he served on city council. From 1824-1829, as a member of the state House of Representatives, he advocated any legislation that would benefit Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania. In 1829, he accepted the Antimasonic nomination for a special election to U. S. Congress, and won reelection in 1834. He served as a member of Congress until 1837, once again favoring governmental action that benefited his district. In addition, he favored protectionism and the "American System" for internal improvements, promotion of domestic manufacture and industry, and the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States. In 1837, he served as a delegate to the convention in Harrisburg to amend the state's Constitution of 1790. Although he was not actively involved in politics from 1837-1844, he abandoned his affiliation with the Antimasonics and became active in the Whig party during that time. In 1844, he cherished hopes of being nominated as Henry Clay's running mate on the Whig presidential ticket, but when journalists reminded the public of Harmar's criticism of Clay's Compromise Bill of 1833, these hopes were dashed.
Harmar's civic and charitable activities were legion. In 1815, he became a member of the Pittsburgh Chemical and Physiological Society, and in 1817, the president of the newly-founded Young Men's Western Auxiliary Bible Society. He was active in the First Presbyterian Church throughout his life, serving as an elder from 1829 until his death. His other affiliations included: Allegheny Bridge Company, manager, 1819; Eagle Fire Company, vice president, 1819; The Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures in Allegheny County, secretary, 1823; Bank of Pittsburgh, director, 1823-1824; Western Theological Seminary, director, 1830-1852 and president of the board of trustees, 1845-1848; Western University of Pennsylvania, trustee, 1840-1852; Exchange Bank of Pittsburgh, director, 1843-1845, 1847, 1850-1851; Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, president, 1843; and American Philosophical Society, 1848.
His interest in Pennsylvania transportation continued after his retirement from politics. In 1846, he was involved with the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad Company and later became director and president of the Pittsburgh-Steubenville Railroad Company. Visiting Philadelphia in 1851 on behalf of the latter company, Harmar contracted a severe lung inflammation. After a prolonged illness, he died on January 29, 1852.
Elizabeth Febiger O'Hara Denny (1796-1878) Elizabeth Febiger O'Hara was born on December 31, 1796, the fourth child and oldest daughter of James and Mary O'Hara. She was given her unusual middle name in honor of her maternal aunt, Elizabeth Carson Febiger. As a young woman, Elizabeth taught at the Adelphi School, the city's first free school for underprivileged children, providing instruction in reading, writing, sewing, and knitting. This school was affiliated with the First Presbyterian Church and was only one of many church-related organizations with which Elizabeth was involved. She also served as president of the Allegheny Orphan Asylum, member of the Allegheny Home for the Friendless, and member of the Domestic Missionary Society, to which she donated $1,000 per year toward the salary of a city missionary. In addition to being a member of the Female Bible Society and the Parent Society, Elizabeth led a teacher's training class for women in 1831. Like her father-in-law and husband, Elizabeth was a patron of the Western Theological Seminary. Along with her husband and niece, Mary Schenley, Elizabeth donated land for the construction of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital, in present-day Bloomfield. After the hospital was completed in 1849, there were insufficient funds for furnishings, so Elizabeth and Elizabeth Krieder Brunot founded the Helping Hand Society to raise money.
She and Harmar had twelve children, eight of whom survived childhood: Ann Wilkins Denny (1818-c1823), Mary O'Hara Denny Spring (1820-1904), James O'Hara Denny (1821-1859), William Croghan Denny (1823-1866), Elizabeth O'Hara Denny McKnight (1824-1896), Catharine Denny (1826-1828), Agnes Denny (1828-1828), Caroline Sophia Denny Paxton (1829-1920), Amelia Melusina Denny Brereton (1831-?), Harmar Denny (1833-1908), Matilda Wilkins Denny (1836-1918), and Baldwin Denny (1839-?).
Although little has been written on Elizabeth, the family papers show that she was the anchor of the family, providing guidance and support to her grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and her own children long after they had reached adulthood. Although her husband and her sons-in-law often acted as her agents, she handled many of her own business affairs and was the only female stockholder in the Duquesne Inclined Plane Company. She died on January 19, 1878.
Other Family Members The eldest son of Elizabeth and Harmar Denny, James O'Hara Denny, was born in Pittsburgh in 1821. Following in his father's footsteps, he attended Dickinson College and studied law under the Honorable Sydney Bradford in Pittsburgh. Later he managed the O'Hara Glass Works and became involved in other business concerns in Pittsburgh. He served as captain of the First Pennsylvania Infantry in the war with Mexico. His first wife was Catharine Dallas, daughter of Judge Trevanion and Jane (Wilkins) Dallas. In 1852, he married Margaret Darragh Stevenson (?-1895). James and Margaret had three children: Henry Stevenson Denny (1854-), James O'Hara Denny (1855-), and Francis Herron Denny (1857-1919). James O'Hara Denny died on January 31, 1859.
Matilda W. Denny, youngest daughter of Elizabeth and Harmar Denny, was born on January 12, 1836. In 1850, Matilda helped to organize the Juvenile Society of the First Presbyterian Church. She continued to be very active in the First Presbyterian Church, serving as president of the Women's Christian Association (1903), superintendent of the Sewing School (1902-1903), and president of the Young Ladies' Sewing Society. She was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) and played an instrumental role in securing the donation of the Fort Pitt Blockhouse to the D.A.R. Included among her other philanthropical activities was the donation of the Denny property in Carlisle, where her grandfather Ebenezer Denny was born, to Dickinson College. This property is now the site of Denny Memorial Hall. Matilda never married, living in Allegheny City (now the North Side) until her death on February 17, 1918.
Mary Carson, youngest child of Mary and James O'Hara, married William Croghan of Louisville, Kentucky in 1821. She died in 1827, and Croghan moved with his young daughter, also named Mary, to Pittsburgh, where he was practiced law and built the estate, Pic-nic. Recognizing that Pittsburgh was a lonely place for a young girl, he sent Mary to Miss MacLeod's, a fashionable boarding school in Staten Island. There she met Captain Edward W. H. Schenley, a British officer, with whom she eloped in 1842. At forty-three, Capt. Schenley was nearly triple his third wife's age. As the sole heir to one of James O'Hara's three survivors, Mary Schenley eventually inherited a third of her grandfather's vast estate. Although she lived in Pittsburgh only a few years, she was very generous to the city, donating the Fort Pitt Blockhouse, and land for West Penn Hospital, Riverview Park and Schenley Park.
Scope and Content Notes
These papers primarily relate to the family's vast landholdings in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois and include correspondence, receipts, accounts, and deeds. The James O'Hara Papers pertaining to his activities as Quartermaster General and government contractor constitute a large portion of the papers. Items of a personal nature are comparatively limited, but include estate information and personal correspondence.
Arrangement
The Denny-O'Hara Family Papers are arranged in three series and in sub-series chronologically by family members' names within the series. Series have been designated for the Denny Family, O'Hara Family, and Denny-O'Hara Descendants. The papers of the principal family members, i.e., James O'Hara, Harmar Denny, and Elizabeth Febiger O'Hara Denny, have been divided into Personal and Non-Personal Papers.
The Denny-O'Hara Family Papers are housed in nineteen archival boxes.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These papers were received in several accessions and combined into one body of papers in 1993.
Acc# 1932.1 Gift of Elizabeth B. M. Denny (Papers), 1932.
Acc# 1934.258 Gift of Elizabeth B. M. Denny (Papers, James O'Hara account books), 1934.
Acc# 1935.355 Gift of Mrs. William G. Hawkins, Jr. (Papers, Ebenezer Denny), 1935.
Acc# 1937x Gift of Mrs. Charles Dahlinger (Papers, Harmar Denny), 1937.
Acc# 1963x Gift of Elizabeth Denny Gregg Brereton (Papers, O'Hara Family), 1963.
Acc# 1980.252 Gift of Richard O. Hommel (Papers, James O'Hara and Denny Family), 1980.
Preferred Citation
Papers of the Denny-O'Hara Family, 1769-1949 (bulk 1769-1875), MSS #51, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Susan J. Illis on July 1, 1993.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Susan M. Allen on December 3, 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
- Antimasonic Party -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- O'Hara Glass Works (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Dickinson College (Carlisle, Pa).
- Western Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church.
- Pittsburgh Manufacturing Company.
- Western Theological Seminary (Pittsburgh, Pa.).
- Baldwin, Henry, -- 1780-1844.
- Brereton, T. J., -- 1822-1870.
- Butler, Richard, -- 1743-1791
- Carey, Mathew, -- 1760-1839
- Cooke, S. S.
- Craig, Isaac, -- 1742?-1826
- Croghan, William, -- 1795-1850.
- Denny, Ebenezer, -- 1761-1822.
- Denny family
- Denny, Elizabeth Febiger O'Hara, -- 1796-1878.
- Denny, Harmar, -- 1794-1852.
- McKnight, Robert, -- 1820-1885
- O'Hara family.
- O'Hara, James, -- 1752-1819
- Schenley, Edward W. H., -- 1798-1878.
- Schenley, Mary Croghan, -- 1827-1903.
- Henry, James.
- Hunn, Adrian.
- Putnam, Douglas.
- Thompson, David.
- Torrens, Finley.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.
- Decedents' estates -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Glass manufacture -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Government contractors -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Land titles -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County.
- Landowners -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Mayors -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Quartermasters -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Salt industry and trade -- Pennsylvania.
- Shipbuilding -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Denny-O'Hara Family.
- Allegheny City (Pa.) -- Land Titles.
- Land Titles -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Antimasonic Party.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Colonial Period, ca.1600-1775.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Decedents' Estates.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Glass Manufacture.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Government Contractors.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Industry.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Land Titles.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Landowners.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Mayors.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Quartermasters.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Salt Industry and Trade.
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Shipbuilding.
- Salt Industry and Trade -- New York.