Dr. Absalom Baird and Margaret Darragh

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Husband Dr. Absalom Baird ^{1 2 3}

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           Born: 1758 - Chester Co, PA 1 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 27 Oct 1805 - Washington, Washington Co, PA 2 4
         Buried: 

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         Father: John Baird (Abt 1730-1758) 1 2 3
         Mother: Unknown (Abt 1733-1802)

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       Marriage: 1804 4

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   Other Spouse: Susanna Brown (      -1802) 1 2 - 14 Jul 1783 1

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Wife Margaret Darragh ^{4 5}

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            AKA: Margaret Darrah 2
           Born: Abt 1770
     Christened: 
           Died: 5 Dec 1851 6
         Buried:  - Presbyterian Cemetery, Mingo, Washington Co, PA

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         Father: John Darragh, Sr. (Abt 1737-1814) 7
         Mother: Margaret [Unk] (Abt 1737-1824) 6

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - Dr. Absalom Baird

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His father was killed while he was still an infant. His mother was left with small means, and to support and educate her son taught school for several years. After imparting to him all the instruction she was able he was sent to school at Pequa, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, then under the charge of Robert Smith. After leaving school he studied medicine under Dr. Gardiner Scott, of Chester County. He had just left his studies at the outbreak of the Revolution. Dr. Scott raised a company of volunteers, and Baird enlisted and was made ensign. Soon afterwards he was appointed assistant surgeon in a Pennsylvania regiment. He was present at the storming of Stony Point, New York, by the forces of Gen. Wayne on the night of July 15, 1779, when Wayne was wounded in the head by a musket-ball and the wound dressed by Dr. Baird. On the 20th of March, 1780, he was commissioned surgeon in Col. Jedutha Baldwin's regiment, where he remained until the regiment was disbanded by act of Congress, March 29, 1781, when his military services in the Revolution terminated. On leaving the army in 1781 he entered upon the duties of his profession in Kennett Square, Chester County. In November, 1786, he moved with his family to Washington, Pennsylvania, and commenced the practice of his profession. In July, 1788, he purchased of John Hoge lots 12, 13, 14, on the north side of Maiden Street, between Main and Franklin. On these lots he built a residence, in which he lived until his death.
Dr. Baird was commissioned justice of the peace and of the Court of Common Pleas on the 3d of March, 1789, and remained in office till the justices of the courts were abolished in 1791. Under the constitution of 1790, Dr. Baird succeeded Col. James Marshel as county lieutenant. In 1793 a change was made in the military system, and under this change the office of county lieutenant was abolished and the duties performed by brigade inspectors. Absalom Baird was appointed brigade inspector. This position he held till his death. In October, 1794, he was elected with Thomas Stokely to represent Allegheny and Washington Counties in the State Senate. They were refused admission on the ground that the counties had been in a state of insurrection when the elections were held, for which reason they were unconstitutional and void. A new election was held, and they were returned and took their seats. Dr. Baird was a member of the Senate till October, 1796. In 1798 he was elected with John McDowell and Aaron Lyle member of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, and served one term. He was elected sheriff of Washington County in October, 1799. He was one of the original trustees of Washington Academy upon its charter in September, 1787. [HWC 1882, 541]

He was still an infant when his father was killed. His mother continued to reside in the home her husband had established for them in Chester County, Pennsylvania. But on arriving at a suitable age, this son was sent to the famous academy at Pequa, in Lancaster County, then conducted by that eminent educator, Dr. Robert Smith, where, by thorough study, he prepared himself to enter upon a course in medicine. The outbreak of the American Revolution found him a physician ready for practice, and opened to him a fine field of professional energy and of patriotism as an army surgeon, a capacity in which he served his country until 1781, when his regiment was disbanded under an act of Congress. Returning to Chester County, he settled in Kennett Square, and there practiced medicine until November, 1786, when he removed to Washington, Pennsylvania. In his new sphere, Dr. Baird, besides practicing his profession, soon reached eminence as a leader in the community, as indicated by the various offices he successively held, viz.: justice of the peace, county lieutenant, brigade inspector, member of the State Senate, and then of the House of Representatives, sheriff of Washington County and trustee of Washington Academy, the germ of what became Washington College. [CBRWC, 250]

He served in the Revolutionary War, first as ensign and afterward as assistant surgeon. He was the one who trepanned Gen. Anthony Wayne's skull, which had been struck by a musket ball at the storming of Stony Point, New York, on the night of July 15, 1779. After coming to Washington, Pennsylvania, Dr. Baird built a house which, but little changed, stood for many years, and during the visit of the French king, Louis Philippe, to the United States at the close of the 1700s, the royal exile was entertained for some time in this house.

He died as the result of a fall from a horse.

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General Notes: Wife - Margaret Darragh

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She lived to be eighty-seven years old.

1 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 541.

2 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 250.

3 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1912), Pg 794.

4 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 542.

5 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 1012.

6 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 428.

7 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 428, 1012.