Husband Rev. Francis Laird, D.D. 1 2 3
Born: 23 Mar 1768 1
Christened:
Died: 6 Apr 1854 - Westmoreland Co, PA 1 3
Buried: - Murrysville, Westmoreland Co, PA
Father: William Laird ( - ) 4
Mother: Jane McClure ( - ) 5
Marriage: Apr 1800 or 3 Jun 1801 1 6
Wife Mary Moore 1 7
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: Hon. John Moore (1738-1811/1812) 8 9 10
Mother: Elizabeth Parr ( - ) 10
Children
1 M John Moore Laird, Esq. 2 5 11 12
Born: 8 Sep 1802 - Sardis, Westmoreland Co, PA 6 12
Christened:
Died: 25 Jan 1887 5
Buried:
Spouse: Ellen May Morton ( - ) 12
Marr: 12 Jan 1830 - Steubenville, Jefferson Co, OH 6
Spouse: Rebecca Moore ( -1875) 5 11 12
Marr: 8 Sep 1835 - Congruity, Salem Twp, Westmoreland Co, PA 6
2 M William Laird 6 12
Born: Dec 1803 6
Christened:
Died: Autumn, 1881 6
Buried:
3 F Jane Laird 6 12 13 14
Born: 1805 6 13
Christened:
Died: 23 Feb 1879 13 14 15
Buried:
Spouse: Dr. Zachariah Gammell Stewart, M.D. (1805-1863) 13 14 16
Marr: 1831 15
4 F Eliza M. Laird 6 10 12
Born: 1807 6
Christened:
Died: Bef 1882
Buried:
Spouse: James Ramsey Johnston (1803- ) 10
5 M Francis Laird 6 12
Born: 1809 or 1812 - Franklin Twp, Westmoreland Co, PA 1 6
Christened:
Died: Aft 1882
Buried:
Spouse: Ellen M. Horton ( - ) 1
Marr: 1850 1
6 M Hon. Harrison Perry Laird 12 17 18
Born: 1811 6
Christened:
Died: Aft 1882
Buried:
7 M Robert Laird 6 12
Born: 1813 6
Christened:
Died: 1845 - Tennessee 6
Buried:
8 F Mary Moore Laird 6 12 19
AKA: M. L. Stewart
Born: 1815 6
Christened:
Died: 21 Feb 1889 20
Buried:
Spouse: William B. Stewart ( -Bef 1880) 1
Spouse: Rev. Thomas Sharp Leason, D.D. (1817-1891) 19 21 22
Marr: 16 May 1848 20
General Notes: Husband - Rev. Francis Laird, D.D.
The youngest of several siblings, he was educated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and thereafter studied for the ministry, and being licensed to preach as a Presbyterian minister, removed when a young man into Westmoreland County about 1797, when he entered upon his clerical career. He was subsequently installed over the churches of Poke Run, in Westmoreland County, and Plumb Creek, in Allegheny County, and continued to preach till 1854. He was a man of marked ability, skilled in classic lore, and in the mathematics, and although a man of no ambition for public distinction or honors, he received from Washington College, Pennsylvania, the Doctorate of Divinity, its voluntary tribute to his learning and ability.
He and his wife had several children, Harrison P. was their youngest.
At a very early age he showed signs of more than ordinary intellect. Fortunately his capacity for mental work was supplemented by an earnest craving for knowledge. His father, as best he could, seconded his efforts, and in due course of time he entered Dickinson College, from which he graduated in 1794 with honors. At his graduation he was complimented through the Philadelphia newspapers by the celebrated James Ross, the well-known author of a Latin grammar, as the best scholar in his class. Among his classmates were John Kennedy, subsequently justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania and Roger B. Taney, author of the Dred Scott decision. After graduating, in company with Mathias Brown, afterwards president of Jefferson College, he studied theology for three years. At the end of this time, in 1797, he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Carlisle. He then turned his steps westward and after itinerating for some time as a supply, received a call from the churches of Poke Run and Plum Creek, and was installed as pastor of those combined congregations October 22, 1800. He went into the field, giving up his days to unrelenting toil, but the enthusiasm of youth lent romance to the drudgeries of his work. At this time, over in Salem township, lived John Moore, who was a member of the convention which founded the constitution of 1776, and who was subsequently president judge of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, when that county embraced nearly all of the southwestern portion of the state. He was also the first state senator from Westmoreland County. He died in 1811 and is buried at Congruity. A man of vigorous intellect and broad experience, as well as a ripe scholar, he became a trusted friend of the young pastor who frequently visited his home. It happened, however, that the judge had a most beautiful and accomplished daughter, Mary, in whom the young man soon became interested and subsequently married. He soon afterwards bought the farm at Sardis on which the "Laird mansion," so well known to all residents of Westmoreland County, is located. He served Poke Run and Plum Creek as pastor for thirty-one years. He then became pastor of the Presbyterian church at Murrysville, where he served for nineteen years. He died April 6, 1854, and was buried in the cemetery at Murrysville. Rev. Dr. Francis Laird excelled as a mathematician and linguist; nevertheless, he was well versed in all the learning of the age in which he lived, and exerted wide educating and christianizing influences. As a pulpit orator he was very logical, his manner was unique, and his intonations rhythmical. The moulding influence he had in the community will live long; children and children's children's children have been taught to pronounce his name with respect and reverence. Laird church (on the site of the old Plum Creek church) and the Laird Institute at Murrysville, have been dedicated as monuments to his memory. [HWC 1906 II, 457]