Oliver Ormsby Page

“ Bedford came to Pittsburgh shortly after 1770, and was the first practising physician in what is now Allegheny County. In 1786 there were two physicians here, and it has been a frequent matter of conjecture who the other was. In the Pittsburgh Gazette, under date of March 24, 1787, we find named among the trustees of the Pittsburgh Academy, afterwards merged into the Western University of Pennsylvania, then incorporated, "Doctors Nathaniel Bedford and Thomas Parker." Dr. George Stevenson, another early physician, came here from Carlisle in 1794, and was probably the third physician here. ”

“ John Ormsby's name appears as heading the list of signers of an address dated 30 September, 1783, from the inhabitants of Pittsburgh to Brig. General William Irvine on the occasion of his retiring from the command of Fort Pitt. [17] He was one of the four "trustees of the congregation of Episcopalian Protestant church, commonly called the Church of England," to whom John Penn, Junior, and John Penn of the city of Philadelphia, Esquires, late proprietors of Pennsylvania, deeded the land for the present Trinity Episcopal church, the cathedral church of Pittsburgh, on 24 September, 1787. ”

“ In July, 1764, John Ormsby married Jane McAllister, b. 1747, d. Pittsburgh, 13 June, 1799; of fine old Scotch stock, prominent in colonial affairs and active patriots during the Revolutionary war. She was daughter of Archibald McAllister, who emigrated from Scotland to America in 1732 and settled at Big Spring, Cumberland county, Pa., by "his dearly and well-beloved wife Jean." [8] The other children of Archibald McAllister were: John, of Middleton township, Cumberland county, Pa.; quartermaster in the Revolutionary war. ”

“ Richardson, Nathaniel Bedford, Oliver Ormsby, George McGunnegle, George Robinson, Robert Magee, Alexander McLaughlin, William Cecil and Joseph Davis the present vestrymen of the said church and their successors duly elected, nominated and appointed in their place and stead . . . a corporation and body politic in law and in fact to have continuance forever by the name, stile and title of the minister, church-wardens and vestrymen of Trinity Church in Pittsburgh. ”

“ Ormsby may truly be styled the Patriarch of the Western Ormsbys; he migrated to Fort DuQuesne about the time the British took possession of it; at which time he was Commissary of Provisions, and Paymaster of Disbursements for the erection of Fort Pitt; subsequently he entered largely into the Indian trade; and in the year 1763 was plundered of all his property, his people murdered, and himself shut up in Fort Pitt during the Siege.
"Mr. Ormsby was a large stockholder in the Indian (a) Grant, which would have remunerated him for all his losses by the Indians, had not the Revolution taken place ”

“ He was regarded as a high-toned gentleman of the old school even then, about the beginning of the present century. As a military man he was very particular about his dress, whether in citizen's clothes or with any of the insignia of his profession about him. ”

“ SKETCH OF THE "OLD ROUND CHURCH," 1805-1825, THE ORIGINAL EDIFICE OF TRINITY CHURCH, PITTSBURGH.
BY OLIVER ORMSBY PAGE.
"Nothing is so really new as that which is old," and it were not strange if many who are familiar with the present beautiful edifice of Trinity Church, and even with its predecessor, the embodiment of Bishop Hopkins's genius, were yet ignorant, or at best vague, regarding the first edifice commonly known as the "Old Round Church." ”

“ He was, according to Bishop Scarborough, [3] a man of strong mind, more fond of natural science, perhaps, than of theology; and such was his love of astronomy that he sometimes spent the entire night in the open air, watching the movements of the heavenly bodies. He made the astronomical calculations for Cramer's "almanacks" and others of a later date, and helped eke out a livelihood by teaching school, being an assistant instructor in the old Pittsburgh Academy. ”

“ Mary, who married John McKnight, of Middleton township, Cumberland county, Pa., who took part in the French and Indian war, and was an early justice of Cumberland county. [10] Andrew, who lived on his farm adjoining that of Daniel McAllister. After his marriage John Ormsby opened a trading store at Bedford, Pa., and lived there on his farm of three hundred acres until 1770, when he returned to Pittsburgh with his family, where he had retained his landed and other interests ”

“ Walking, four on each side of the bier as honorary pall-bearers, were eight ladies dressed in white muslin, white stockings and slippers, their heads covered with long white lace veils reaching to their feet. ”

“ Mr. Clifton Wharton Phillips.
Mr. Duncan Clinch Phillips. (3)
Mr. Henry Asher Phillips.
Dr. Joseph Augustus Phillips.
Mr. Oliver Ormsby Phillips.
Mr. Charles Gustavus Roebling. (3)
Mr. Clifton Wharton. ”

“ Connolly, and in consequence, as John Ormsby relates, "my Lord made him a deed of gift of 2,000 acres of land at the Falls of the Ohio, and 2,000 more to Mr. John Campbell, late of Kentucky," who was also supposed to be a party to these schemes, which comprehended murdering those opposed to their purpose. John Ormsby appears as a signer of a memorial to Governor John Penn, dated Pittsburgh, 14 June, 1774, asking for better protection against the Indians, [12] and of another memorial, dated Pittsburgh, 25 June, 1774, in regard to the tyrannical proceedings of Dr. ”

“ Of these, John Penn, Jr., who was a poet and a great man of fashion in his day, owned three-fourths, and his cousin John Penn, the last lieutenant-governor of the province, one-fourth. The difference in their holdings will explain why their names are given in the deed in the order they are.
The four trustees lived at the most interesting period of the history of Western Pennsylvania, and their lives are a part of the history of the region. Colonel John Gibson, called "Horsehead" Gibson by the Indians, sometime commandant of Fort Pitt, is buried in Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh. Dr. ”

“ Compiled by J. F. Fuller, F. S. A. London: Mitchell & Hughes, 140 Wardour street, W., 1886. ↑ Sir William Johnson's Papers, New York State library, vol. XI, p. 128. ↑ Gazette Publications by H. H. Brackenridge, p. 11. ”