Hon. Harmar Denny and Elizabeth Febiger O'Hara
Husband Hon. Harmar Denny 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Born: 13 May 1794 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 1 2 3 4 7 Christened: Died: 29 Jan 1852 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 3 8 9 10 Buried: - Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA
Father: Maj. Ebenezer Denny (1761-1822) 6 8 11 12 13 14 15 Mother: Nancy Wilkins (1775-1806) 5 6 7 11 12 16
Marriage: 25 Nov 1817 8 10
Wife Elizabeth Febiger O'Hara 2 3 6 8 9 10
AKA: Elizabeth P. O'Hara 17 Born: 31 Dec 1796 9 Christened: Died: 19 Jan 1878 5 9 18 19 Buried:
Father: Gen. James O'Hara (Abt 1752-1819) 3 8 9 20 21 Mother: Mary Carson (Abt 1761-1834) 8 22 23
Children
1 F Ann Denny 9
Born: Christened: Died: while young Buried:
2 F Mary O'Hara Denny 3 9 10
Born: Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: J. W. Spring ( - ) 9 10 24
3 M James O'Hara Denny 5 9 10 19 24 25
Born: - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA Christened: Died: 4 Feb 1859 5 19 25 Buried:Spouse: Catharine Dallas ( - ) 9 10 24Spouse: Margaret Darragh Stevenson ( - ) 5 9 10 19 24 25 Marr: 10 Nov 1852 5 19
4 M William Croghan Denny 7 16 24
Born: Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: Elizabeth O'Hara Denny ( - ) 7 16 24Spouse: Nancy Tripp ( - ) 9 10 24
5 F Elizabeth O'Hara Denny 9 10 24
Born: Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: Hon. Robert McKnight ( - ) 9 21 24
6 F Catharine Denny 9 21 24
Born: Christened: Died: Bef 1896 Buried:
7 F Agnes Denny 9 21 24
Born: Christened: Died: Bef 1896 Buried:
8 F Caroline S. Denny 9 21 24 26
Born: Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: Rev. William Miller Paxton, D.D. (1824- ) 21 24 26 Marr: 8 Nov 1855 26
9 F Amelia Mellizena Denny 9 24
AKA: Amelia-Mellezene Denny 21 Born: Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: Thomas J. Brereton ( - ) 9 21 24
10 M Harmar Denny 9 21 24
Born: Christened: Died: Buried:
11 F Matilda Wilkins Denny 21 24
Born: Christened: Died: Aft 1908 Buried:
12 M Henry Baldwin Denny 9 21 24
Born: Christened: Died: Bef 1896 Buried:
General Notes: Husband - Hon. Harmar Denny
He was named for Gen. Harmar, a bosom friend and brother officer of his father. He was educated at Dickinson College, where he graduated in 1813, and read law and was admitted to the bar in November, 1816. He was subsequently taken into partnership with Henry Baldwin, with whom he had studied, and who afterward became a judge of the United States supreme court. Mr. Denny soon attained a high rank as a lawyer, and was intrusted with responsible positions in state and nation. He was elected to the state legislature, where he exercised a commanding influence. He was elected a member of the national Congress, in which body he served from Dec. 7, 1829, to March 3, 1837. In 1837 he was elected a member of the convention called to revise the constitution of Pennsylvania, and in that body, composed, as it was, of the ablest men in the state, he labored with untiring zeal and industry, and was gratified with seeing many of the provisions which he advocated incorporated in that instrument. Perceiving the necessity to the prosperity of his native city for enlarged means of communication with the seaboard, he strongly advocated the construction of the Pennsylvania railroad, and subsequently became president of the Pittsburgh & Steubenville railroad. He encouraged the importation and improvement of farm-stock and the use of improved implements in agriculture. The cause of education found in him an unwavering friend. He was a trustee of the Western University of Pennsylvania, and one of the board of examiners, as also a director of the Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny City. He was elected in 1848 a member of the American Philosophical society. In 1850 he was nominated to fill the unexpired term in Congress caused by the resignation of Moses Hampton, but declined. He was a member of the electoral college which chose Gen. Harrison president in 1840. In early life he became a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, during the ministry of Rev. Dr. Herron, and being possessed of an ample fortune in addition to his eminent talents and piety, it rendered his church relation one of great usefulness. On April 12, 1829, he was ordained a ruling elder, which position he held till the close of his life. In the church sessions and higher courts his deliverances, though modestly given, commanded great respect. At the inauguration of the Allegheny county auxiliary of the American Bible society, in 1818, he was elected its first president. While a member of Congress he was an active member of the congressional prayer-meeting.
After a lingering and painful illness he died in the fifty-eighth year of his age.
The following paragraph is from the "Presbyterian Encyclopedia": "His character was well established and symmetrical. No one ever questioned his rigid integrity, his profound sense of honor and honesty, the moral purity of his life or the perfect sincerity of his religious professions. He was a person, too, of very prepossessing features, whose appearance, however, had become prematurely venerable. He was erect and gentlemanly in his bearing, and though somewhat reserved and dignified, yet a man of genuine modesty and amiability, entirely free from all pretension and eminently kind and affable. In the several spheres of life-domestic, social, civil and ecclesiastical-he was truly and impressively a good man, and his life was without reproach." [HAC 1889 II, 214]
He was graduated from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with the class of 1814, and was admitted to the Allegheny county bar, November 13, 1816. He was a born leader among men and whether in church or state was among the foremost. He was known as a most excellent lawyer. His first political office was as a member of the lower house of the Pennsylvania State Legislature, where he so arose in prominence that he was elected to represent the Allegheny district in the National Congress, serving as representative four terms from March 4, 1829, to March 4, 1837. In that year he was elected a member of the Convention called to revise and amend the State Constitution, where he was especially useful. In 1849 he was chosen president of the Pittsburgh Select Council. In 1850 he was presidential elector. In State development he early advocated the building of the Pennsylvania railroad, and urged upon the farmers the importance of improved breeds of live stock and better farm machinery. In educational circles he was well known and useful. He was a trustee of the Western University of Pennsylvania, and on the board of examiners. He was a director of the Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny City. In 1848 he became a member of the American Philosophical Society. His religious faith was Presbyterian, and early in life, under the ministry of Rev. Doctor Herron, he joined the First Church of Pittsburgh, where he thereafter was always a member. He was ruling elder from April 12, 1829, until his death. In the sessions and higher courts of the church he was often heard, and helpful to the brethren. A wealthy man, he was also liberal, and his church benefited. He was the first president of Allegheny County Auxiliary of the American Bible Society. While in Congress he was an active worker in the Congressional prayer meeting. In short, there were few lines of human endeavor in which he was not a worker. Among the many tributes to his memory, this from the "Presbyterian Encyclopedia" is perhaps the most fitting: "His character was well established and symmetrical. No one ever questioned his rigid integrity, his profound sense of honor and honesty, the moral purity of his life or the perfect sincerity of his religious profession. He was a person too, of very prepossessing features, whose appearance had become preeminently venerable. He was erect and gentlemanly in his bearing, and though somewhat reserved and dignified, yet a man of genuine modesty and amiability, entirely free from all pretension and eminently kind and affable. In the several spheres of life-domestic, social, civic and ecclesiastical-he was truly and impressively, a good man and his life was without reproach." [CRFP, 879]
1 —, The History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Part II (Chicago, IL: A. W. Warner & Co., 1889), Pg 214.
2 —, Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 78.
3 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 588.
4 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 879.
5 John W. Jordan, History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Genealogical Memoirs, Vol. III (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), Pg 2.
6 Fenwick Y. Hedley, Old and New Westmoreland, Vols. III & IV (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918), Pg 642.
7 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. III (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 379.
8 —, The History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Part II (Chicago, IL: A. W. Warner & Co., 1889), Pg 215.
9 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 880.
10 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. III (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 380.
11 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 581.
12 —, Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 77.
13 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 877, 985.
14 John W. Jordan, History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Genealogical Memoirs, Vol. III (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), Pg 1.
15 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. III (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 377.
16 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 879, 986.
17 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 986.
18 Fenwick Y. Hedley, Old and New Westmoreland, Vols. III & IV (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918), Pg 644.
19 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. IV (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 246.
20 —, The History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Part I (Chicago, IL: A. W. Warner & Co., 1889), Pg 534.
21 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. III (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 381.
22 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 881.
23 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. III (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908).
24 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 589.
25 Fenwick Y. Hedley, Old and New Westmoreland, Vols. III & IV (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918), Pg 643.
26
—, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 194.
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