Category: History || By Walter L. Riggs

Excerpted from "The Early History of McKeesport," published in 1960 as part of the city's Old Home Week celebration.

John McKee raised about $4,500 from the sale of lots in his newly named town of McKee's Port. This amount does not seem to have been sufficient to satisfy his creditors, who, in McKee's words, were "straining every nerve to compel payment."

It became necessary for McKee to sell parts of the plantation not included in the original plan of lots. It is difficult to read the deeds without being conscious of the supreme, but futile, efforts made by John McKee to save his home from the wreckage of his blighted hopes and blasted fortunes.

Piece by piece, the old plantation passed into the hands of strangers; first, parts of the land in the extreme south end of the tract were sold; then, the hilly section to the east; then on April 7, 1798, he gave up the mansion house and 26 acres of land, but he did so with one grand gesture, the demanding and receiving the sum of almost $7,000 as the price of his final capitulation to the inevitable.

In view of the relatively small amounts received from the sale of other parts of the plantation, it would seem that the improvements on these 26 acres must have been quite pretentious to justify so great a price for the property.

Before arriving at the decision to sell the homestead, he left no stone unturned in his search for funds to satisfy his relentless creditors. He even made a trip overseas where he had friends and acquaintances in the hope of getting money.

On January 17, 1798, before making this journey, he executed a power of attorney to his wife and his son-in-law, William Thompson, reciting therein that he had "business of importance to transact abroad which demands my immediate attention, and where as there are sundry judgments against me which are unsatisfied, and other debts due which ought to be paid, and which must be attended to in my absence."

However, he did not leave McKeesport until the latter part of January 1798, and returned two months later, his quest for money having been in vain.

. . .

Even after losing the old home, John McKee was not spared the agony of a sheriff's sale as his estate was sold to the highest bidder, for on May 9, 1798, the following advertisement appeared in the Pittsburgh Gazette:

"By virtue of a writ ... to me directed, there will be exposed at public sale at Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the 16th of next June, horses, cows, sheep, stills, negros, and household furniture. Taken in execution as the property of John McKee, and to be sold by William Perry, Sheriff."

John McKee died January 11, 1807, age 61, a disappointed and broken-hearted man.

. . .

If any of those purchasing lots in the new town laid out by John McKee had any doubts as to the future of the town, these doubts would have been dispelled upon reading a letter to the editor of a Washington, Pa. newspaper published on December 1, 1795, and signed "An Old Settler" which read as follows:

"Having just seen a publication in Mr. Scull's paper (Pittsburgh Gazette) from Mr. McKee informing those who became purchasers of lots in McKee's Port, that be was coming forward prepared to furnish deeds for their respective Jots, I could not help taking a retrospective view of what I remember this country to have been, and pleasing myself with the anticipations of its future prospects. Over that spot destined hereafter to be the busy haunt of men, I have heretofore pursued the timid deer, at that time its only denizens.

"There is no place that I know of in the four western counties that bids more fair to become a town of eminence than that laid out by Mr. McKee at the mouth of the Youghiogheny. The local advantages are numerous. Its situation is delightful. As a place of embarkation, it is not exceeded by any. Its vicinity to the fertile forks of the Yough. will assure a supply of every necessity for immigrants; from its commanding the two rivers, Monongahela and Youghiogheny, there will be no danger from want of boats. Its healthiness has baffled the attempts of every physician to settle there; they fly from it in disgust. As a situation for merchants and many kinds of mechanics it is particularly desirable, and, taking everything in view, cannot help thinking it will take the lead of most towns in the western waters.

"A great deal, however, will depend on the exertions of its first settlers, the encouragement given by the proprietor, attention to strangers, moderation in charges, industry in opening roads, attention to ferries, etc. These things attended to, I prophesy its rapid rise from obscurity."

. . .

It would appear that the first settlers did not follow the advice of "An Old Settler," insofar as attention to strangers was concerned, for in a book entitled "Sally Hasting's Poems, Including a Description of a Family Tour to the West" under the date of October 29, 1800, Miss Hastings wrote as follows in her diary:

"Last night we slept in a small village called McKee's Port, situated at a point formed by the junction of two rivers, Monongahela and Youghiogheny. Although the country around is laughing with plenty, yet in this village we could scarcely be supplied with the necessities of life at any price whatever. I can only account for the scarcity of provisions by the general conduct of the inhabitants, who, I think, appear to employ their time after the Athenian manner in the days of St. Paul. (In the Acts of the Apostles 17:21, the following will be found: "For all the Athenians and the strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing." In other words, idle gossip.)

"The rivers, Youghiogheny and Monongahela, are beautiful, and the country through which they pass is exceedingly fertile. An eerie wildness pervades the country, but it is the wild exuberance of untamed nature. The water in the Monongahela is remarkably clear, and glides along the channel almost imperceptably, and that of the Youghiogheny is somewhat green, and more rapid. They tenaciously preserve their distinction, and as far as I had opportunity of observing them, after their conjunction."

. . .

John and Sally McKee were the parents of four children. The firstborn was David; he lived less than a year, dying on May 10, 1793. The second child was christened John. He was born on July 31, 1794, the night the "Whiskey Boys" encamped at McKeesport on their way to Braddock's Field.

There is no record of the events of John McKee Jr.'s life, except that on November 7, 1816, he married Sarah Brison, one of the society belles of Allegheny City (present day North Side of Pittsburgh).

James Brison, his father-in-law, was prominent in the political affairs of Allegheny County. As a young man, Brison lived at Hannastown (near present day Greensburg, Pa.) and during the attack of the British and Indians on that place, had been one of the men sent on the dangerous errand of reconnoitering the enemy. He later became captain of the Pittsburgh Troop of Light Dragoons, the crack company of the Allegheny County brigade of militia. He was a society leader and generally managed the larger society functions of the town.

The third child was christened Sarah Ann, but few persons other than her mother knew her real name, for, like her mother, she preferred to be called "Sally." She was born August 18, 1797, and was 10 at the death of her father. Shortly thereafter Sally and her mother went to Washington, Pa. to live, and Sally was carefully educated in the home of her uncle, David Redick, who, as has been already stated, was one of the most prominent men in western Pennsylvania, and his home was the center of the society affairs of Washington.

. . .

On one of Sally's visits to Philadelphia, she had her portrait painted by a celebrated artist in the city, "Parke," which she later presented to her cousin, David McCoy, to whom she was engaged at the time. David McCoy hung Sally's likeness against the chimney, over the fireplace in the living room of his home.

As time passed, the engagement between Sally and David was broken, and on Sept. 15, 1818, Sally McKee married Dr. Joseph I. McDowell, and they moved to Mobile, Ala.

Sadly, in 1824, an epidemic (presumed to be yellow fever) struck Mobile and Dr. McDowell was one of the first victims. Five days later, on Aug. 25, 1824, Sally joined her husband in death.

. . .

The painting of Sally McKee was left hanging against the chimney over the huge fireplace in the home of her cousin, David McCoy. Its history is not only interesting but thrilling.

For 16 years Sally looked down from her place over the mantle, and David kept his lonely vigil, true to his first love. One day a tornado came, and the massive chimney fell, crushing the house beneath, and under the crumbled mass lay the beloved portrait of Sally McKee.

With the morning, came Hannah Pollock, David's sister, to view the wreckage, and her first thought was for Sally, and when she was drawn unscathed from the rubble, "Her eyes smiled, her mouth puckered, and I kissed her." So Mrs. Pollock told her husband.

. . .

From her place on the Pollock wall Sally enjoyed a year of quiet contentment, and then when a new house had been erected on the McCoy farm, she resumed her place over the mantle, where she remained for two years, while David traveled.

In 1835 tidings came to Mrs. Pollock that her brother, David, even then was on his way home with a wife. Without a moments' delay the wise lady pictured in her mind the effect of the new wife being greeted by Sally over the fireplace, and she drove at breakneck speed to the McCoy farm.

After securing the portrait, which was life size and could not be easily hidden, she took a round-about route home, lest she should meet her brother.

In the meantime, David was doing some thinking of his own, and presuming that Sally was still in her accustomed place over the fireplace, decided he would not go directly home, but would stop at his sister's first.

Mrs. Pollock sighted the newlyweds first, and immediately flung the portrait of poor Sally into the bushes by the roadside. Glancing backward, she saw Sally upheld by the bushes and in full view from the road. Dashing forward she met David and his wife, and after being "properly surprised" she insisted on the bride and groom return to her home for entertainment.

While David was trying to frame an excuse for being on this side road, his bride accepted the invitation, and the day was saved.

Busy entertaining her guests, Mrs. Pollock was unable to recover Sally until the following morning. "She looked at me reproachfully, and I promised her faithfully that she would never leave my home again," Mrs. Pollock said later.

. . .

Sally's portrait remained on the wall at the Pollock home after the family died and the house was closed and locked.

Several years later, a tramp broke in, and being careless with matches, accidentally set fire to the house. A neighbor saw the flames and forced the door of the building just as the flames broke in from an adjoining room.

"Sally's face was illumined, her eyes looked at me appealingly; I snatched her from the wall and carried her out, the only object saved"; so related the neighbor, as he delivered Sally to Judge Pollock's father-in law.

A relative of the McCoy family became interested in the story, made a search in the neighborhood of the ruins of the Pollock house, and found Sally lying face down in an old barn. Sally all cleaned and smiling now occupies a place on the wall of the Western Pennsylvania Historical Society in Pittsburgh.

. . .

The fourth child born to John and Sally McKee was christened "Redick." He was born Dec. 7, 1800, and was just 7 at the time of his father's death. Very little is known of his early life, except that he was taken to Washington, Pa., with his brother and sister, and was raised with them in the home of David Redick. He married Eliza Ritchie of Canonsburg on Jan. 12, 1826 and raised quite a large family.

Much of the information regarding John McKee's family is taken from his family Bible, on the front page of which Redick McKee had written, "My Father's Bible, then my Mother's till her death in 1814, then my brother John's till his death in 1860. After the death of his wife, Sarah McKee, it came into my possession and is now confided to my eldest and well beloved son, John, in San Francisco, this 15 day of October, 1877. (Signed) Redick McKee."

The Bible was destroyed in the great San Francisco fire of 1906, but a relative had made copies of the information contained in the Bible regarding the family, and it was thus preserved. It is peculiar that the Bible contains no information regarding John McKee's first marriage and his two children by his first wife, except the following, "Died Aug. 28, 1819, Margaret McKee, daughter of the above (John McKee) at the house of J. Brison, Esq., in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County." As Redick McKee's brother, John, married Sarah Brison, daughter of James Brison, Margaret was, no doubt, living with her half-brother John and his wife.

Tomorrow: McKeesport's first school and first church

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