John Ormsby (1720–1805) was a soldier in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

Pontiac's Rebellion Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of Native Americans dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–176 ...

, and the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, and among the first settlers of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The son of the Anglo-Irish

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

, he emigrated from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

to the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

in 1752. After Pontiac's Rebellion, he received a land grant from

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, and established a homestead on the banks of the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in North Cen ...

. He established extensive economic and merchant interests in

Bedford, Pennsylvania Bedford is a borough and spa town in and the county seat of Bedford County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located west of Harrisburg, the state capital, and east of Pittsburgh. Bedford's population was 2,861 at the 2020 census. His ...

, and at the head of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

Family

John Ormsby was born in 1720 in Ireland, the son of Oliver Ormsby and his wife Deborah Barry. The family was part of the Anglo-Irish gentry; Oliver Ormsby was the third son of Robert Ormsby and Mary Blakeney. The family held an extensive estate, Cloghan, in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

, near the towns of Newton, Ballina, and Gore. Oliver Ormsby married Deborah Barry, the child of a junior branch of the House of Barrymore, whose founder achieved fame in the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

.Page, Oliver Ormsby
A short account of the family of Ormsby
Albany, N.Y., J. Munsell's Sons, 1892, pp. 12–13. Ormsby was educated at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. Upon completion of his studies, he emigrated to the Thirteen Colonies. There Ormsby established a small teaching academy in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1753; the following year, he taught in Lancaster and

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

, and

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

, in 1754.

Military career

John Ormsby was a soldier in the

. Ormsby was "offered a captain's commission in the colonial contingent of

General Braddock Major-General Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europe ...

's army," but was unable to take any position in the army until 1758, due to a

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

l fever lasting three years. When he could join the army, he fought under the command of John Forbes and

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

to capture

Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne (, ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed a ...

from the French in 1758.Page, p. ?. Ormsby served as King's Commissary as well as paymaster during the erection of Fort Pitt under

John Stanwix John Stanwix (born about 1690, England; died at sea, 29 October 1766) was a British soldier and politician. Background He was born John Roos, the son of Rev. John Roos, rector of Widmerpool, Nottinghamshire. In 1725 he succeeded to the estates o ...

from 1759 to 1760. He lived in Fort Pitt in 1761. During

in 1763, Indians destroyed his property, stole his horses and goods, and murdered his employees, although there is some controversy about who actually destroyed his property. He later claimed that Stanwix had ordered his house and store destroyed because the Indians were using its provisions and the structures as shelter during their attacks on the fortifications. Ormsby aided in the defense of Fort Pitt during the rebellion. The Indians cut off all supplies to Fort Pitt and maintained a constant offensive. John Ormsby wrote of this, "there was not a pound of good flour or meat to serve the garrison and a number of the inhabitants who joined me to do duty." English troops under the command of

Henry Bouquet Henry Bouquet (born Henri Louis Bouquet; 1719 – 2 September 1765) was a Swiss mercenary who rose to prominence in British service during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. He is best known for his victory over a Native American ...

arrived with food and munitions and defeated the Indians surrounding Fort Pitt.

Land grant

John Ormsby received a land grant from George III in 1763 for along the south shore of the

, in return for his military service."Carson Street/Ormsby Park Clean-up". Events. Spotlight on Main Street: Featuring the Historic Buildings of East Carson Street
"Carson Street/Ormsby Park Clean-up."
/ref>"John Ormsby". The Little List: Alpha Index

/ref> Present-day communities that now occupy the land grant include

South Side Flats The South Side Flats is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side area. It is located just south of the Monongahela River. The neighborhood has one of the City of Pittsburgh's largest concentrations of 19th-century homes, which ha ...

South Side Slopes South Side Slopes is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side area. The neighborhood comprises the hills from the South Side Flats neighborhood along the Monongahela River from the Liberty Bridge (west) to beyond Josephine Street ...

, Mount Oliver, and Carrick.

"Father" of the South Side

After receiving the land grant, John Ormsby married Jane McAllister in July 1764. The couple moved to

, where Ormsby opened a trading store. The Ormsbys started their family on their farm in Bedford, but in 1770 they returned to Pittsburgh, where Ormsby had land and business interests. This land stretched from the present-day

Smithfield Street Bridge The Smithfield Street Bridge is a lenticular truss bridge crossing the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The bridge was designed by Gustav Lindenthal, the engineer who later designed the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City. The S ...

to Becks Run Road along the Monongahela River; Ormsby called it Homestead Farms. In 1773, Ormsby received a license to operate a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

across the Monongahela River, which connected Pittsburgh with his estates in what is now called the South Side. He operated this ferry, the first in Pittsburgh, until he sold it in 1789. He also established a

brickyard A brickyard or brickfield is a place or yard where bricks are made, fired, and stored, or sometimes sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed near natural sources of clay or on o ...

and

boatyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

near his estate. This ferry was later operated by John Patch and served as a contributor to the development and culture of the area in centuries following. Dr. Nathaniel Bedford married John Ormsby's daughter Jane, and in 1811 Bedford "laid out a town on the flats extending from the south side of the Monongahela River. Although Bedford named the town

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in tribute to his native city,""South Side Flats". Pittsburgh City Council District 3. City of Pittsburgh
South Side Flats
/ref> he named four of the streets after the daughters of John Ormsby - Jane, Sarah, Mary, and Sidney. This area is now known as the South Side.

Death

John Ormsby died

intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia Co ...

, in December 1805. He is buried in Trinity Churchyard in downtown Pittsburgh. In September 1840 a lawsuit was filed against Sidney Gregg, a descendant of Oliver and John Ormsby, for the land that had been John Ormsby's until his death and then Oliver's after John's death. The case was seen by the judge due to complications of death intestate, but the land remained in the ownership of the Ormsby descendants by the court's decision.Freeman, A.C. ''The American Decisions: Cases of General Value and Authority Decided in the Courts Of The Several States from the Earliest Issue of the State Reports to the Year 1869''. San Francisco, CA: Bancroft-Whitney Co. The Lawyers Co-op. Pub. Co. 1910. Online

Memorials and legacy

Ormsby Avenue in

Mount Oliver, Pennsylvania Mount Oliver is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a largely residential area situated atop a crest about west of the Monongahela River. The borough is surrounded entirely by the city of Pittsburgh, having resis ...

, is named for John and his family. Mount Oliver itself is named after John's son, Oliver. Located off East Carson Street, on 22nd Street, is a

baseball field A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

which bears his name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ormsby, John 1720 births 1805 deaths British people of the French and Indian War Continental Army soldiers Irish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Military personnel from County Mayo Military personnel from Pittsburgh People from Pittsburgh People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution People of Pennsylvania of Pontiac's War People of colonial Pennsylvania