Repository: Heinz History Center
Title: Way Family Papers and Photographs
Creator: Way family
Collection Number: MSS 173
Extent: 3.5 linear feet (6 boxes)
Date: 1786-1940
Abstract: The Way family settled in Sewickley, Pa., in the late 18th century. The patriarch of the family, John Way, served as Allegheny County Justice of the Peace between 1803 and 1825. In 1838, the Way family home served as the first location of the Sewickley Academy for Boys, today known as the Sewickley Academy, in Sewickley, Pa. The Way Family Papers and Photographs consist of personal correspondence between John Way and his sons, land deeds, indentures, photo albums, and business correspondence.
Language: The material in this collection is in English.
Author: The guide to this collection was written by Gloria Hendrickson.
Sponsor: This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
Publisher: Heinz History Center
Address: 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History

The Way family is believed to have originally immigrated to the American colony of Pennsylvania in the late 17th century with the colony's founder and fellow Quaker, William Penn. Most of the family settled in Chester County, Pa., near Philadelphia. The first family member to move westward and settle in Western Pennsylvania was Caleb Way, who in 1785 purchased 200 acres of the Depreciation Lands in an area known as "Sewickley Bottom" or "Big Sewickley", then part of Ohio Township in Allegheny County. This area now forms the eastern portion of the present borough of Edgeworth. In 1797, Caleb Way sold the land for sixty cents to the third of his eleven children, John Way.

John Way (b.1766-d.1825) settled on this land and in 1810 built the first brick house between Pittsburgh and Beaver, which stood along the Pittsburgh-Beaver Road. John Way and his wife Mary (Clark) Way (b.1767-d.1838), had four children: Rebecca (b.1792-d.1884), Abishai (b.1793-d.1836), Nicholas (d.1844), and James. John Way worked as a watchmaker early in his life, but eventually became a lawyer, earning him the nickname "'Squire Way". John Way was appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania as one of Allegheny County's first Justices of the Peace, a position which he held from approximately 1803 until his death in 1825. In 1815, he was also involved in the building of the Sewickley Bridge over the Big Sewickley River. John Way died while visiting relatives in Chester County, Pa.

After his death the family property was divided among his four children. Abishai and Nicholas Way bought the shares of their two siblings, who by 1825 were no longer living in Pennsylvania. Nicholas Way soon began operating a tavern known as "Way's Tavern" out of the family brick house, which he maintained until 1830. In 1838, the brick structure became the first home to the Sewickley Academy for Boys under the direction of John B. Champ and William M. Nevin. The Sewickley Academy for Boys closed in 1841, but re-opened one year later at a new location. Nicholas Way and his wife Nancy (Lindsey) Way had two sons and eight daughters.

Abishai Way studied mathematics and business and eventually opened his own dry goods store, Abishai Way and Company, located in Pittsburgh. During this time, he worked for and became a friend to Frederick Rapp of the Harmony Society, a Lutheran communal group which focused on agriculture, industry, and invention. Way sold products made by the Harmonists in his store, and also worked as an agent for Rapp purchasing goods in Philadelphia for the Harmonists. Abishai Way was also involved in the building of the steamship The William Penn, which was built to move the Harmonists from New Harmony, Indiana to Economy, Pennsylvania. He married Mary Ann Anderson in 1817 and they had three sons and three daughters. They also raised Abishai Way's cousin, Thomas Way, who was the son of Abishai's uncle, James Way.

The youngest of John Way's four children, James C. Way, attained a position through his brother Abishai as an agent and clerk on Frederick Rapp's steamer, The William Penn. Despite his family's concern for his health, James Way left home permanently to work on steamships on the Mississippi River. In particular, he worked as a clerk on The Uncle Sam, a steamship built by Abishai Way's brother-in-law, Paul Anderson. James Way married Mary Ann Ellis and they had two sons and four daughters.

John Way, Jr. (b.1831-d.1902), the fifth child of Abishai and Mary Ann Way, attended Sewickley Academy for Boys and was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Sewickley where he eventually became an elder. For sixty years, beginning in 1849, he taught a bible class for young men. During this time, he met and married a fellow bible-school teacher, Catherine E. Wilson and they had three sons and one daughter. John Way Jr. helped to organize the Young Men's Christian Association in his area, he taught elocution classes for adults, acted as the first president of the Public Library in Sewickley, and wrote a book about Sewickley entitled The Olden Time in Sewickley. In 1877, after finding the local schools unsuitable for his children, he financed a new building and reopened the Sewickley Academy for Boys, which had been closed for several years.

Scope and Content Notes

The Way Family Papers and Photographs contain material from five generations of the Way family including personal correspondence between John Way and his sons, business related correspondence, land deeds, indentures, photo albums, and business correspondence.

Boxes 1-3 contains the personal and non-personal papers of John Way including correspondence regarding his own real estate transactions and legal matters, and letters from family. Also included are materials related to his estate, lawsuits in conjunction with his estate, and the Boyd family, for whom he worked and was involved with the lawsuits of his estate. The papers which are related to his work as an attorney and as Justice of the Peace consist of account books, individual client records, including surveying work for Ephraim Blaine, contracts, including indentures and I.O.U.'s, and estates, such as that of the former Governor of Pennsylvania Thomas McKean. Included in this non-personal material are also financial papers, mainly bills and receipts, judgments John Way handed down, and property transaction records.

Boxes 4-5 contain documentation relating to the Abishai and Nicholas Way, including correspondence from Abishai and Nicholas Way relating to the settling of John Way's estate. Abishai Way's papers also contain some documents related to his dry goods store, and materials relating to his own estate, with Nicholas Way as the Executor. The only family papers that add any personal insight into this family are the letters of James Way to his family while he worked on steamships along the Mississippi River, from St. Louis, Missouri and New Orleans, Louisiana primarily.

Also included in these boxes are document related to Way genealogy which was initiated by Abishai's son John Way, Jr., in 1890. He corresponded mainly with Nicholas' son, John Way, in New Lisbon, Ohio and another relative named Granville Way who worked for the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. The final information included here is miscellaneous family correspondence, from family members such as Abel Townsend, the husband of Rebecca (Way) Townsend, and relatives in Ohio and Chester County (Pa.). There is also some documentation relating to early Sewickley schools and the selling of the land for same.

Box 6 holds two photo albums, a book of letters, and an oversized folder with a land deed for Caleb Way from 1786.

Conditions Governing Access

None.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift from Joseph Rutter in 1990.

Archives accession # 1990.0145

Gift from Betty Rutter in 1999.

Archives accession # 1999.0131

Preferred Citation

Way Family Papers and Photographs, 1786-1940, MSS 173, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center

Processing Information

Preliminary processing by Gloria Hendrickson on 04/17/13.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Subjects

Corporate Names

Sewickley Academy (Sewickly, Pa.)
Harmony Society

Personal Names

Way, Caleb
Way, John
Way, Abishai
Way, John Jr.
Rapp, Frederick

Guide to the Way Family Papers and Photographs 1786-1940