Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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Hon. Thomas Harlan Baird and Nancy McCullough




Husband Hon. Thomas Harlan Baird 1 2

           Born: 15 Nov 1787 - Washington, Washington Co, PA 1 2
     Christened: 
           Died: 22 Nov 1866 - Allegheny City, Allegheny Co, PA 3
         Buried:  - Washington, Washington Co, PA


         Father: Dr. Absalom Baird (1758-1805) 4 5 6
         Mother: Susanna Brown (      -1802) 4 5


       Marriage: 



Wife Nancy McCullough 7 8

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1882
         Buried: 


         Father: Joseph McCullough (      -      ) 9 10
         Mother: Ellen Acheson (      -      ) 10 11




Children
1 F Ellen B. Baird 3 8

            AKA: Eleanor Baird 12
           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 25 Jun 1892 12
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Dr. Robert Rentoul Reed (1807-1864) 13 14
           Marr: 1830 12 13


2 F Susannah Baird 3

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: while young
         Buried: 



3 F Jane [1] Baird 3

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: while young
         Buried: 



4 F Sarah A. Baird 3 8

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Aft 1893
         Buried: 
         Spouse: George Morgan (      -Bef 1882) 3 8


5 F Mary Baird 3 8

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1893
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Joseph N. Patterson (      -Bef 1882) 3 8


6 M Absalom Baird 3

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: while young
         Buried: 



7 F Harriet N. Baird 3 8

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Abt 1893 - Washington, Washington Co, PA
         Buried: 



8 F Eliza Acheson Baird 8 15 16 17

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Aft 1893
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Robert Patterson, Esq. (1821-1889) 8 15 16
           Marr: 27 Aug 1851 15 16


9 M Thomas H. Baird 2 3

           Born: 17 Dec 1824 - Washington, Washington Co, PA 18
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Maria L. King (      -Aft 1889) 18
           Marr: 1849 18


10 F Susan C. Baird 3 18

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1893
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Did Not Marry


11 F Margaret W. Baird 3 18

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 



12 F Emily G. Baird 18

            AKA: Emma Baird 3
           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1893
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Did Not Marry


13 F Jane B. Baird 3 18

            AKA: Jeanie Baird 19
           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Aft 1893
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Charles McKnight (      -Bef 1882) 18 19



General Notes: Husband - Hon. Thomas Harlan Baird


When quite young he was sent to a Latin school, taught by one of the pioneer classical teachers of that day in Brooke County, West Virginia. He was called home by the sudden death of his father, and his education from that time had to be completed by his own efforts and scholarly tastes. He studied law with Joseph Pentecost, one of the most prominent lawyers of that period, and was admitted to the Washington County bar in July, 1808, before he had reached the age of twenty-one. In 1818 he was selected as president judge of Washington, Fayette, Greene and Somerset counties, and continued to hold the position until 1838. This commission bestowed upon so young a man, when the Washington County bar was quite noted for its able lawyers, was an acknowledgment of his legal ability. During the ten years in which he practiced law he was intensely occupied in promoting by every means in his power, the growth and progress of his native town. Like his father, he was always among the first to assist, by his hard-earned money and indomitable energy, any enterprise for that purpose. In very many cases the credit due his indefatigable labors was given to others, who did not hesitate to assume an honor they had not earned, and were rewarded by political positions he could not contend for. He was, in 1814, one of the directors and stockholders in the Washington Steam-mill & Manufacturing Company, in which he lost money and gained nothing. He was also one of the contractors on the National Road, with Parker Campbell and Thomas McGiffin; his energy was unbounded in this work as in everything he undertook. The first survey made for the Chartiers Valley Railroad, one of the first railroads prospected, was made wholly at his expense; which fact was not learned until after his death, the information being given by the engineer who surveyed it for him. He was one of the commissioners appointed to raise stock for the Washington & Williamsport Turnpike Road, and for the Washington & Pittsburgh Turnpike Road. In 1843 Judge Baird, and Judge William Wilkins, of Pittsburgh, purchased the stock raised by the State for the Washington & Pittsburgh Turnpike. No dividends were ever paid the purchasers on this stock though it was kept as a toll-road for many years. The Monongahela Navigation Company, having failed in its many attempts to improve the navigation of the Monongahela river, at last succeeded in forming a practical slack-water navigation company, and among the many commissioners appointed to receive subscriptions to the stock, Judge Baird was numbered. Copies of speeches made by him all over the counties of Washington, Allegheny and Fayette, the numerous articles written for the newspapers, all show how much in earnest he was in his efforts to excite the interest of the people in this great work. He was also elected, in 1813, president of the board of directors of the Bank of Washington, an "Original Bank," as it was called. In November, 1818, Judge Baird conveyed the property of the bank to David Acheson, Alexander Murdoch and John Marshall, trustees. His judicial career was the subject of very severe criticism and comment by his political enemies, and he was accused by them of judicial tyranny while he was on the bench. His great fault was that he had a very high ideal of the dignity of his office, and he resented an insult offered to himself when on the bench, as contempt for the majesty of the law, of which he was the official representative. He was a man who could not be bribed by flattery, or political offices of preferment. While on the bench his life was several times put in jeopardy by men who resented his legal decisions when not given in their favor. An attempt was made by his enemies to have him impeached before the Legislature of Pennsylvania, for disbarring lawyers guilty of contempt of court, but they did not succeed, in spite of all their malignant and false accusations. Those who wish to ascertain the facts in regard to this case can consult the Legislative records of that day. In 1854 an article appeared in a Philadelphia newspaper, written in defense of Judge Baird at the time of his nomination as the American candidate for the supreme judgeship. It says, in regard to his impeachment: "It is well known there was nothing shown in the investigation that could affect the standing of Mr. Baird, either as a judge or a gentleman." Among the many charges brought against him, by his political enemies, when his name was mentioned for United States senator was that he was Pro-slavery. This falsehood is denied by the same writer, whom we again quote: "Judge Baird in all the relations of life has been a law-abiding, consistent and benevolent friend of the colored race, not an Abolitionist, or Pro-slavery, but an American. By one single decision of his, given when on the bench of Washington and Fayette, he discharged from slavery perhaps twenty thousand slaves. [See the case of Miller vs. Dwelling, 14 S. & R. p. 442.]"
Judge Baird was of scholarly taste, and not only well versed in all knowledge pertaining to his profession, but was also a fine classical scholar. His Greek Testament lay upon his study table, and not unopened or unread-busy though he might be-and his Horace, Cicero and Virgil were so familiar to him that in conversation he had always an apt quotation ready to suit the subject under discussion. He had also studied Hebrew, and in the last few years of his life devoted much time in translating the Psalms of David, not for any purpose but his own pleasure. Judge Baird was not ambitious to acquire wealth or political power. His home was to him the dearest place on earth, and nothing could induce him to seek for pleasure or enjoyment out of its sacred precincts. After his retirement from the bench, upon which he was, much against his will or inclination, persuaded by influential friends to remain several years longer than he otherwise would, he practiced law at the Pittsburgh bar, where he was engaged only in important cases. In 1848 he retired to his much loved home, at Harlem, his country seat on the Monongahela river, where he had for many years spent his summers with his family and friends. [CBRWC, 152]

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Sources


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

2 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 152.

3 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 245.

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

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

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

7 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 480, 542.

8 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 153.

9 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 480.

10 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 27.

11 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 479.

12 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 190.

13 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 481.

14 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 153, 190.

15 —, The History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Part II (Chicago, IL: A. W. Warner & Co., 1889), Pg 315.

16 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 372.

17 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 226, 245.

18 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 154.

19 George P. Donehoo, Pennsylvania - A History (SW) (New York, NY; Chicago, IL: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1926), Pg 263.


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