Husband John Thaw 1 2 3 4
Born: 11 Mar 1779 - Philadelphia, PA 1 3
Christened:
Died: 3 Sep 1866 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 1 3
Buried:
Father: Benjamin Thaw (1753-1811) 1 3 4 5
Mother: Hannah Engle ( - ) 1 3 4 5
Marriage: 2 Jul 1802 or 1803 1 6
• Biographical Sketch: from The History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Part II (Chicago, IL: A. W. Warner & Co., 1889).
To read this brief biographical sketch of his life and career, click here.
Wife Elizabeth Thomas 1 6
AKA: Eliza Thomas 2
Born:
Christened:
Died: Jun 1865 7
Buried:
Children
1 F Catherine Thaw 2
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: John Denniston ( - ) 2
2 F Eliza Thaw 8
Born:
Christened:
Died: 11 Aug 1864 8
Buried:
Spouse: Thomas Shields Clarke (1801-1867) 9 10
Marr: 5 Jul 1831 8
3 M William Thaw 3 4 7 11
Born: 12 Oct 1818 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 3 4 11
Christened:
Died: 17 Aug 1889 - Paris, France 4 12
Buried:
Spouse: Eliza Burd Blair ( -1862) 13
Marr: 1841 14
Spouse: Mary Sibbet Copley (1843- ) 13
Marr: 1867 13
4 F Hannah Thaw 15
Born:
Christened:
Died: Abt 1865
Buried:
Spouse: James Snodgrass Barnett (1798-Abt 1836) 15
Spouse: Rev. William Martin ( - ) 15
Marr: 1845 15
General Notes: Husband - John Thaw
He was apprenticed to a Philadelphia merchant largely engaged in foreign commerce. While in this employ he made one voyage with a trading vessel, and subsequently embarked in trade on his own account by sending to Senegambia a ship laden with a cargo of his own. Both voyages resulted disastrously; the first ship was seized under Napoleon's orders, and on returning he was attacked by yellow fever. The second was commanded by a treacherous captain who disposed of the cargo, invested the proceeds in African slaves, which he sold in the West Indies on his own account, never reporting to his employer. This expedition bankrupted the young merchant and he obtained employment in the Bank of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia. In 1803 he was induced by General O'Hara to go to Pittsburgh to become teller of the Pittsburgh Branch of the Bank of Pennsylvania. He was the first teller of that branch, and was chosen for that position for his practical knowledge of banking. In 1817 he became cashier of the Pittsburgh Branch of the United States Bank, which had absorbed the Bank of Pennsylvania. This latter position he held until the veto of President Jackson closed the bank. John Thaw had the distinction of being the first practical banker to become a permanent resident of Pittsburgh. [GPHWP, 79]
Early in life he was apprenticed to Paul Beck, a Philadelphia shipping merchant, and his association with seafaring men so excited his youthful love of adventure that he took the first opportunity which presented of going to sea, sailing as supercargo of a vessel. On its first voyage to the West Indies it was seized (under Napoleon's Milan decree) and taken in Guadeloupe, West Indies. Upon his release young Thaw returned home from that port, and on the trip yellow fever broke out among the crew, he being about the only one on board who escaped. Later he engaged as a trader on his own account, sending a ship laden with merchandise to Senegal, Africa. The captain disposed of the cargo after reaching his destination, bought slaves on his own account and on his return sold them in the West Indies and decamped with the proceeds. A curious memorial of this affair was the policy of insurance issued to John Thaw in 1801 for the African voyage, which was preserved in the office of Mr. W. L. Jones, agent of the Insurance Company of North America in Pittsburgh. It was presented to Mr. Jones over sixty years afterward and valued by him as an interesting evidence of the venerable standing of his company. The loss ruined Mr. Thaw financially, and he took a position in the Bank of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, which shortly afterward sent him and another man out to establish a branch at Pittsburgh, opened Jan. 1, 1804, the first bank in the city.
It is a singular coincidence or remarkable fact that William Thaw, son of John Thaw, the pioneer banker in that city, was connected with what is now the Union National Bank, from the time of its foundation, through the families of his two wives. [HAC 1914, 528]
General Notes: Wife - Elizabeth Thomas
She was the daughter of a sea captain who had been lost at sea some years previous to her marriage.