John Ormsby (Pittsburgh) - "Father" of The South Side

"Father" of The South Side

After receiving the land grant, John Ormsby married Jane McAllister in July 1764. The couple moved to Bedford, Pennsylvania, where Ormsby opened a trading store. The Ormsbys started their family on their 300-acre (120 ha) farm in Bedford, but in 1770 they returned to Pittsburgh, where Ormsby had land and business interests.

This land stretched from the present-day Smithfield Street Bridge to Becks Run Road along the Monongahela River; Ormsby called it Homestead Farms. Ormsby also received the first license to operate a ferry across the Monongahela River, which connected Pittsburgh with his estates in what is now called the South Side. He also established a brickyard and boatyard near his estate. This ferry was later operated by John Patch and served as a contributor to the development and culture of the area in centuries following.

Dr. Nathaniel Bedford married John Ormsby's daughter Jane, and in 1811 Bedford "laid out a town on the flats extending from the south side of the Monongahela River. Although Bedford named the town Birmingham in tribute to his native city," he named four of the streets after the daughters of John Ormsby - Jane, Sarah, Mary, and Sidney. This area is now known as the South Side.

Read more about this topic:  John Ormsby (Pittsburgh)

Famous quotes containing the words father of, father, south and/or side:

    I believe; help my unbelief!
    Bible: New Testament, Mark 9:24.

    Father of an epileptic child to Jesus.

    After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
    Bible: New Testament Jesus, in Matthew, 6:9-13.

    the Lord’s Prayer. In Luke 11:4, the words are “forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.” The Book of Common Prayer gives the most common usage, “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.”

    I don’t have any doubts that there will be a place for progressive white people in this country in the future. I think the paranoia common among white people is very unfounded. I have always organized my life so that I could focus on political work. That’s all I want to do, and that’s all that makes me happy.
    Hettie V., South African white anti-apartheid activist and feminist. As quoted in Lives of Courage, ch. 21, by Diana E. H. Russell (1989)

    I can exchange opinion with any neighbouring mind,
    I have as healthy flesh and blood as any rhymer’s had,
    But O! my Heart could bear no more when the upland caught the wind;
    I ran, I ran, from my love’s side because my Heart went mad.
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)