Source:Fleming-old-map-6
George T. Fleming. "History from an old map: Lots in Woods' plan of Pittsburgh from Liberty street to the Allegheny, topic today—the O'Hara brewery and surroundings—Craig & Bayard's holdings at the Point: Relics of a centennial put in evidence—affairs at Fort Pitt in 1784—Maj. Marbury and Lieut. Lucket—noted Revolutionary heroes among lot owners—devout William Masson." Pittsburgh Gazette Times, Aug. 20, 1922, sec. 6, p. 9. Newspapers.com 85918043.
THE story today is the sixth chapter of the history that has been evolved from the study of the map of Pittsburgh published by William Masson in 1805. The subject matter presented treats of the lots numbered from one, at the Point, to 74, at what is now Eleventh street, and extending from Penn street to the Allegheny River, parallel to the cross streets, and also those from Eleventh street back to Water street between Liberty and Penn, the numbers, 75 to 144, the latter a triangle at Penn, Water and Liberty streets. All the lots on both sides of Penn between Water and old Marbury street, later Third and now Barbeau, belonged to Craig and Bayard. On th [sic] river side of Penn the numbers run to 17; from Marbury street on the other side of Penn the numbers of the corresponding lots are 132 to 144 inclusive.
At the corner of Penn and Water streets Masson has sketched two buildings with trees about them, the larger of these has a belfry upon it and is evidently two storied. It occupies the Penn street end of lots Nos. 3, 4 and 5. The smaller building is depicted slightly in the rear and to the left of the larger and lies diagonally across lot No. 2. It evidently represents a dwelling for there is a chimney at the upper end. Zadok Cramer in the copy of his annual, "The Navigator," for 1808, states that on part of the former site of Fort Pitt there stands a large brewery and two dwellings. The ground about was low. John McKinney who was a prisoner in Fort Duquesne during the French regime, writing in February, 1756, said that the waters sometimes rose so high that the whole fort was surrounded with it so that canoes could go around the fort. Cramer's data were of the year 1807; he attested that the ground was too low for general building. Senator James Ross recorded that the ground subject to overflow varied from 150 to 250 distant from Penn street.
The large building Masson meant should represent Col. James O'Hara's brewery, which stood on part of the site of Fort Pitt. In John F. Watson's "Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania" the statement is found in the mention of the Point Brewery of Col. O'Hara, that a part of the brew house premises filled the place, which was a bastion, and the writer thereof adds: "At a little distance from it there is still a small brick, five-sided edifice called the Guard House, erected by the British after the capture from the French."
The writer refers to Bouquet's block house, still standing on its original site, as Col. Henry Bouquet built it in 1764. Old directories of Pittsburgh mention Brewery alley as a small thoroughfare in this vicinity.
The brewery buildings are back from the line of Penn street about 30 feet, one may judge from Masson's map. As part of the brewery was close to the old block house, and we know how far back the block house is from the street line, we can readily estimate the distance of the brewery from this line as 30 feet. The distance from Marburg [sic] street can be accurately measured by counting the lots, which have a front of 80 feet, if regular. By reference to the plan of Fort Pitt it is apparent that the north bastion was located north of Penn street, and the brewery stood on the easterly end of that bastion, if we give credence to the writer in Watson's "Annals." Brewery alley was laid out east of the rear line of the brewery lots and led to the brewery buildings. The alley had a width of only nine feet and paralleled Penn street, and back about 100 feet from the line of Penn. The redoubt or block house is eight feet north of the line of the alley. This alley must have been widened, for it is listed in Harris' Directory of Pittsburgh for 1837 as follows:
"Brewery alley, width 20 feet, runs from Marburg [sic] to the Monongahela between Penn and Liberty."
At the time of the celebration of the centennial of the fall of Fort Duquesne, November 25, 1858, most of the silk badges worn on that occasion had printed on them a rude wood cut of Bouquet's block house under which were the words, "The Old Redoubt—built 1764, now standing on Brewery alley, near Penn street."
The Redoubt is on the dividing line of lots Nos. 6 and 7 in Woods' Plan of Pittsburgh and was, with other buildings and the ground within the walls of the fort, withheld in the sale of land by John Penn, Jr., and John Penn to Maj. Isaac Craig and Lieut. Col. Stephen Bayard in January, 1784. This was the first sale by the Penns of any land within the Manor of Pittsburgh and included, the records, say, all the ground between Fort Pitt and the Allegheny River supposed to contain about three acres. In the spring of 1784, the Penns concluded to lay out a town at the junction of the rivers here and desiring to embrace within the limits of the survey of the town the three acres sold to Craig and Bayard with all the ground covered by the fort, made another agreement with the purchasers for they received a deed describing the ground not by the acre but by the meters [sic] and bounds fixed in Woods' Plan, except that the lots on the Monongahela were described as extending to the river instead of being limited by Water street as the plan exhibits them. So Neville B. Craig tells os [sic] in his "History of Pittsburgh."
The laying out of the town of Pitts- [sic] was completed by Thomas Vickroy, Col. Woods' assistant, in June 1784. As Masson's copy shows, the first street at right angles to the Allegheny River was Marbury street. Years after, an alley, Point alley, subsequently Point street, Fort street, unnumbered, Duquesne street, subsequently Second street, and Greentree alley were laid out from Penn street to the Allegheny between Marbury street and Water. None of these thoroughfares are listed by Isaac Harris in his first directory, published in 1837. The history of the lots fronting on Water street is that written in what is known as the wharf litigation of century ago.
We have some data concerning that historic personage Maj. Marburg [sic] whose name was once commemorated here but was discarded in 1868 with the original names of all the streets in the Strip in Pittsburgh and those in the annexed borough of Lawrenceville that lay at right angles to the Allegheny. Neville B. Craig, son of Maj. Isaac Craig, records:
In a pocket memorandum book of Maj. Craig I find some notes and copies of letters which throw some little light on affairs here about the time of the laying out of the town. In a letter dated Pittsburgh July 25, 1784, Maj. Craig said:
"Immediately after my return from Philadelphia to this place I called on Maj. Marbury who still continued to command here and handed him the Quartermaster General and Secretary of War's orders for parts of the buildings and 500 pounds of iron, the former part of the order he said he would comply with, the latter he could not; because he had disposed of the iron in purchase of provisions and in payment of wagon hire. Lieut. Lucket has since succeeded Maj. Marbury and seems reluctantly to give me possession of a building so I have provided a house for the reception of the goods when they arrive, and have a party employed in the preparation of timber for the cisterns, pumps, etc., for the distillery. I am convinced that our best plan will be to erect a windmill at the junction of the rivers instead of a horse mill. It would do all our grinding for the distillery and at other times do work for the inhabitants. At the point there is always a breeze up and down the rivers, while water mills here scarcely work more than six months in the year."
Things were very quiet at Fort Pitt at that time. In 1785 Lucket, who had been promoted to captain, had but six men under his command, whose duty, as far as can be determined, was the guarding of military prisoners awaiting trial. Major Craig, when he and his partner, Bayard, had secured the 17 lots of Woods' plan, moved into the old block house, or redoubt as it was called in those years and to it built an addition, the old roofed building shown in all the pictures of the block house. In this home Neville B. Craig was born in 1787.
We now cross Marbury street, old Third street, and find the first of Woods' lots between Penn and the river is No. 18. This and No. 19 were owned by Capt. Edward Ward, one of the historic characters of the region of Western Pennsylvania, no less a personage than the young ensign in Capt. William Trent's company, who was surprised by Contrecoeur April 17, 1754, while Ward and his little force of 41 men were building a small fort for the Virginia company at our Point within a few hundred feet of Ward's lots Nos. 17 and 18 of the original plan of Pittsburgh. Ward figures in all the history of our region for over 50 years from the eventful April day of 1754 that began the French regime in Western Pennsylvania.
Masson marked the name William Greenaugh on lot No. 20, and "do" on No. 21, indicating that one's ownership. No. 22 he left blank, which was along Hay street, subsequently numbered Fourth and now Fancourt. No. 23 across the street, is also unmarked; No. 24 belonged to James O'Hara, and Nos. 25 and 26 to John Woods, one of the earliest attorneys in Pittsburgh, preceded by Hugh Henry Brackenridge, and dividing with James Ross the honor of being the second legal light to shine in the backwoods town of Pittsburgh. Neville B. Craig could not say which of the two was to be given precedence; he was sure Brackenridge was the first. John Woods was an able lawyer, and was a representative in Congress from the Pittsburgh district, a state senator and served as a presidential elector. He had a long and honorable career and was held in high esteem. He was the son of Col. George Woods, who laid out the town for the Penns. John Woods was in active practice here for many years, as Judge Addison's reports alone show that he has credit for 32 appearances in local cases reported in that volume.
An alley appears in Woods' plan between Hay and Pitt streets, the latter now Stanwix street. This alley is not mentioned by Riddle and not in Harris' list of alleys in 1937 [sic]; we may believe omissions. The alley on Masson's map is between lots Nos. 26 and 27. We know it as Evans' alley. Exchange alley, parallel to Liberty, between that street and the Allegheny, is not marked on Masson's map. Harris' (in 1937 [sic]) says it was 15 feet wide and extended from St. Clair street, later Sixth street, to Cecil's alley. Exchange alley is not a continuous thoroughfare. Parts of it are found as far up as Tenth street.
There are four lots in the block from Evans alley to Pitt street, Nos. 27 to 30, inclusive; the owners in 1805, according to Masson, David Espy, Edward Butler, David Zeigler and Samuel Gamble. An unmarked alley appears between Pitt and St. Clair streets. This we know is Cecil alley, the part between Penn and Liberty streets being widened and made an extension of Fifth avenue to Penn. This alley is mentioned by Riddle as Cecil's alley, named for the Cecil family of pioneers in Pittsburgh.
Lots 31–34, inclusive, formed the block between Stanwix street, once Pitt, and Cecil alley, the owners in 1805, James Gamble, No. 31, and Maj. Abraham Kirkpatrick, the others. Nos. 35–38 made up the four lots in the block extending to St. Clair street. Blair Wilkins owned three, and George McCully No. 38. This would be a fine piece of realty now if owned by one person, for it included all the frontage on Sixth street, now Federal, and formerly St. Clair, between Penn and the river. None the less valuable would be lot 39 across St. Clair street and of the same area. This lot and No. 40 were the property of Bernard Dougherty; Terrance Gamble owned No. 41 and Samuel Davidson No. 42. This brings us to Barker's alley, and we may note a street and an alley alternately the same as in the plan of the greater portion of the town above Liberty street. In the block from Barkers alley to Irwin street, later Seventh, the owners were George Irwin, No. 43; John Marie, Nos. 44, 45, and William Butler, No. 46. We may presume by John Marie, Masson means Jean Marie, the innkeeper at Fourth and Ross, a Frenchman, and a noted citizen in early Pittsburgh. Col. William Butler was a Revolutionary soldier, one of the five fighting Butlers whose name we have commemorated here in Butler street, and nearby in Butler county and county seat. Maj. George McCully was also a hero of our War for Independence.
In the block from Irwin (Seventh street) to Irwins alley, No. 47 belonged to Peter Whiteside; No. 48 to Samuel Bryan, and Nos. 49 and 50 to John Marie. Maddock's alley is not recorded by James M. Riddle, nor is Scott's alley. Irwin's alley was later widened into Hancock street below Penn, and is still an alley between Liberty and Penn.
Only one lot in the next block above has an owner's name written upon the plan as Masson made it. This is lot No. 54 at Hand street, better known as Ninth street, though really Anderson, as Seventh is now Sandusky street, both regarded as extensions of those streets of former Allegheny City.
Lots Nos. 55–58 make up the block to Garrison alley; 59 to 66 the long block to Wayne street, now Tenth, and 67 to 74 the next block to old Washington street, later Canal street and now Eleventh. This was the eastern boundary line of the town and borough of Pittsburgh. Masson records only two owners' names on all these lots: John Woods No. 47, the Wayne street frontage, and Joseph Simon for lots Nos. 73 and 74. From Washington street to Hand street no name appears on any lot and only one of the four, No. 98 at Irwin's alley, the owner, "Mary Nels." This is evidently an error by Masson. Mary Neal, a widow, according to Riddle, resided at the corner of Liberty street and Irwin's alley in 1816. We may presume "Mary Nelo" in Masson's handwriting should have been "Mary Neal's." We are to remember the lots are those between Penn and Liberty streets, the numbers running towards Water street.
Nos. 99–102 formed the block to Irwin street, the owners, Francis Bryan and Samuel Bryan, two each. Of the farm lots in the next block Dr. Nathaniel Bedford owned Nos. 103 and 104, and Samuel Barr the others and also Nos. 107 and 108 across Barker's alley; John Crawford owned No. 109 and Casper Singer 110, at St. Clair street. Dr. Bedford's elegant home and grounds occupied his holdings at Liberty and Irwin street. On part of this ground the Keenan Building now stands. Samuel Barr, or "Barns," as Riddle has the name, kept a grocery and liquor store on Liberty street, opposite the Round Church. This church was on lot No. 445, the triangle formed by Sixth avenue, Liberty and Wood street.
Between St. Clair street (Sixth), and Cecil alley, Capt. Nathaniel Irish owned lots 111, 112, 113 and Robert Williams 114. The Irish estate owned the most of the original Irish holdings on Sixth street until the erection of the Rosenbaum Building a few years ago. Edward Butler owned all the lots in the next block—a familiar block now with the Horne store occupying the whole of it. The four lots in the block below had each an owner: Michael Hufnagle, No. 119; Richard Butler, No. 120; Edward Butler, No. 121, and James Crawford, No. 122. Robert Galbraith owned all the next block, lots Nos. 123–126. Across Hay street, in the block to Marbury street, Maj. Kirkpatrick owned No. 127; Gen. Richard Butler Nos. 128–129, and his brother, Col. William Butler, Nos. 130–131. After Richard Butler's tragic death in St. Clair's battle with the Indians in 1791, his widow resided on the property mentioned for many years and Col. William Butler on the Marbury street frontage of his lot, No. 31. Capt. James R. Butler, who commanded the Pittsburgh Blues in the War of 1812, is down in Riddle's directory of 1816 as "a gentleman on the west side of Penn, between Hay and Pitt." Presumably his residence was on the Edward Butler lot, No. 28, on Masson's map. Capt. Butler is recorded by Harris in 1837 as the magazine storekeeper and paymaster at the Allegheny arsenal. He was the son of Gen. Richard Butler and had a long career, both political and business, in Pittsburgh. He died April 3, 1842, and was interred in Trinity Church yard. His funeral was one of the largest ever held in Pittsburgh, 104 carriages were in the cortege besides citizens on foot, horsemen and military. He was born in his father's log house on Penn street and passed a long life there.
William Masson who made the map concerning which these chapters have been written was living in Pittsburgh as late as 1819. In Herris' [sic] Directory of 1815 he is recorded as a sailmaker residing on Water street between Cherry alley and Smithfield street. If the house in which he then lived was standing April 10, 1845, it vanished in flames on that eventful day, the day of the "Big Fire." Masson, we may believe, has been a sailor and we can also believe commanded vessels for he was known in the little town of Pittsburgh as Captain Masson. There are records also that he was a devout man for he was one of the managers of the Pittsburgh Bible Society, the board of managers as Riddle records, was made up of the Rev. Joseph Stockton, the Rev. Joseph Kerr, Benjamin Page, Walter Forward, Esg. [sic], John Hodge, Capt. William Masson and Joseph Patterson, Esq. The president of the society was the Rev. Robert Bruce; vice president, the Rev. Thomas Hunt; corresponding secretary, the Rev. John Black; recording secretary, the Rev. Francis Herron, and treasurer, the Rev. Robert Patterson. Riddle said further that the title sufficiently explained the object of the society; their funds arose from voluntary contributions; the annual contributions were $2,000; $50 paid at any time constituted one a life member; the elections were held at a general meeting annually—the first Tuesday in March. John Hodge was a merchant on Wood street; Benjamin Page was a glass manufacturer who lived on Second street above Grant, and Walter Forward, an attorney, who in later years had a notable career and whose name we have commemorated in Forward avenue and Forward township. All the ministers of the town belonged to this society. Joseph Patterson and the Rev. Joseph Kerr are not included by Riddle in the lists of residents and presumably resided out of town.
(To Be Continued.)
