The News
From a time when public communication was limited to letters and stories from travelers, Pittsburgh newspapers had to stand out to get the attention of locals, commuters and business people alike. There were different papers for different religions and political beliefs, but in order to survive, the newspaper industry had to combine in a text-heavy market. In the 1840s, there were at least 6 newspapers in circulation, which included the Daily Gazette, Pittsburgh Dispatch and the Commercial Journal. By 1876, Pittsburgh had 33 newspapers, with 11 daily and 6 religious.
DANIEL O’NEILL was born on January 1, 1830, in Ireland and immigrated to America in 1851. He quickly secured a job as an assistant reporter for Colonel J. Herron Foster, the founder and proprietor of the Pittsburgh Dispatch (James Herron Foster is buried in Section 20, Lot 22). He worked with the Dispatch for 5 years and became the chief reporter until he left to be the editor of a rival newspaper, The Chronicle. When the American Civil War started in 1861, O’Neill went South to become a war correspondent and was a part of the Sanitary Committee in Pittsburgh. After the war ended in 1865, O’Neill purchased shares in The Dispatch and later gained ownership with his colleague Alexander W. Rook.
O’Neill entered politics and was a part of the Pittsburgh City Council for several years. He passed away at his home on January 30, 1877, at the young age of 47. The Pittsburgh Commercial detailed the speech given at his funeral stating he “started in life a poor boy, and had, by his industry and talents, attained wealth and distinction and took no inconsiderable part in molding the public sentiment of the community in which he lived” on February 2, 1877. Daniel O’Neill is buried in Section 8.5, Lot 27.
ALEXANDER W. ROOK was born on January 11, 1826, in Pittsburgh, after his family moved to the area in 1820 from New York. He started in the printing business at the age of 14, with his first job being a roller boy and typesetter for Pittsburgh Mercury while still attending school in the evenings. He apprenticed for 6 years before joining the Pittsburgh Post. His eye for layout and form helped him standout amongst his peers. He worked at the Philadelphia Ledger and New York Herald before returning to Pittsburgh in 1849 to work in the composing room of The Gazette. He became the first local representative of the newly formed Typographical Union in 1850. In 1854, Rook became the foreman
in the composing room for The Evening Chronicle where he remained until 1864. In 1865, Rook and O’Neill became partners in the firm of J. H. Foster & Co., publishers of the Dispatch. After the death of Colonel J. H. Foster (April 21, 1868) the partners became sole proprietors of the paper. Mr. Rook also served a term in the city council in 1869. Their paper was greatly successful until 1877 when they lost Mr. O’Neill. Alexander W. Rook passed on August 14, 1880. He is buried in Section 8.5, Lot 28. The Pittsburgh Dispatch stopped publication on February 8, 1923.
NELSON PURVIANCE REED was born on August 13, 1841, in Butler County, attended Butler Academy and was an assistant to his father, Major George W. Reed, the treasurer of Butler County. Nelson served with the Butler company of volunteers at the Battle of Antietam. In 1864, he moved to Pittsburgh and started working as the book-keeper at the Dispatch. In 1866, a partnership led by Mr. Reed bought the Gazette. He later acquired the Commercial (which became the Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette in 1877) where he was publisher and editor. Reed died on March 28, 1891, at his home on Wilkins Avenue in Pittsburgh and is buried in Section 8.5, Lot 4. The Pittsburgh Press featured an article on his life and death stating, “He began at the foot of the ladder and unaided he reached the top” (3/30/1891). The Ligonier Echo referred to Mr. Reed’s passing as “One of Pittsburg’s Foremost Citizens Passes Away in the Prime of Life” (4/1/1891).
ROBERT M. RIDDLE was born on August 17, 1812, and graduated from Washington & Jefferson College. His first business venture was the wholesale mercantile firm Riddle & Forsyth with partner Jacob Forsyth (1796-1868, buried in Section 25, Lot 1). In 1837, Riddle was editing The Daily Advocate & Statesman. He served as a Pittsburgh postmaster from 1841-1845, and appointed the first letter carrier in the city. In 1845 Riddle took over the Spirit of the Age, renamed it the Commercial Journal, and edited the newspaper until 1858, when he sold it to Thomas Bigham, a man of similar beliefs (Thomas James Bigham is buried in Section 25, Lot 123. He was a charter member of Allegheny Cemetery and served as the organization’s first secretary). Riddle was a founder and publisher of the Pittsburgh Commercial which became the Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette under Nelson P. Reed. Riddle helped establish the Republican Party and was present at the first Republican National Convention in downtown’s Lafayette Hall on February 22, 1856. Riddle died on December 18, 1858 at the age of 46 and
is buried in Section 11, Lot 72.
MS. JANE GREY CANNON was born on December 6, 1815, in Pittsburgh. Her journalism career began when she started writing letters to the editor of the Pittsburgh Commercial Journal, Mr. Robert M. Riddle. Jane had previously written poems and stories under her pen name, Jennie Deans. She was married and moved to Kentucky, where she had a child and witnessed abhorrent treatment of humans. Unhappy in her marriage, she returned home to Pittsburgh to take care of her ill mother, staying after her eventual passing. After the only abolitionist
newspaper in Pittsburgh stopped printing, Mrs. Jane Grey Swisshelm announced to Mr. Riddle that she was going to start her own abolitionist paper and he was going to print it. She invested most of her inheritance into the newspaper, which she named the Pittsburgh
Saturday Visiter. Its first issue was published on December 20, 1847, and 6,000 readers were subscribed by the next year’s end. Being the only lady journalist caused intrigue and scandal with the public, and as publisher Mr. Riddle was therefore attached to its notoriety.
The Visiter published weekly, containing political news, commentary, market prices and general-interest articles. Even with 6,000 subscribers the Visiter struggled to turn a profit, and Mrs. Swisshelm sold half of her interest in the paper to Mr. Riddle in 1849. The Saturday Visiter was renamed the Family Journal and Saturday Visiter, but the novelty of a female publisher has disappeared. Jane went on to publish another newspaper in Minneapolis and later worked as a nurse during the Civil War. In 1868, Jane sued her ex-husband and won ownership of the old Swisshelm homestead in Swissvale, where she spent the rest of her days writing freelance articles and traveling. Ms. Jane Grey Swisshelm passed away on July 22, 1884 in her home and is buried in Section 10, Lot 485.
The Brews
Much like how the Pittsburgh newspapers had to merge to continue profitably, the Pittsburgh breweries had to do the same. In 1817, there were only 3 breweries listed in the Lyford’s & Harris’ Directory of Pittsburgh, but by 1895 there were 30. Twenty-three local breweries combined to form the Pittsburgh Brewing Company were Eberhart & Ober Brewing Company and Wainwright Brewing Company. The merger on February 9, 1899, made Pittsburgh Brewing Company the third largest brewing company in the United States.
In 1818, JOSEPH W. WAINWRIGHT started Winterton Brewery on Wainwright Island near the 40th Street Bridge in Lawrenceville. The island was washed away by floods many years ago, but is famed to be the actual spot where Washington landed on his trip in 1754 to “the Forks of the Ohio.” Joseph Wainwright was born in England in 1779 and came over to America around 1803. Joseph had been a well-known and wealthy brewer in England. At least four of his sons apprenticed under him to learn the brewing trade. Samuel & Ellis Wainwright established a brewing company in St. Louis, Missouri, while Jarvis & Zachariah Wainwright took over their father’s brewery in Lawrenceville. In 1852, Jarvis & Zachariah renamed their brewery to Wainwright Bros. Joseph and his wife Elizabeth Greaves Wainwright are buried in Section 7, Lot 14 with many other family members, including some of their eleven children.
JARVIS WAINWRIGHT was born on November 19, 1806, in Lawrenceville. In an 1850 Census, Jarvis and his wife, Eliza Cinnamond Wainwright, shared 3 kids together in a house with Mary Jane Cinnamond, Eliza’s widowed mother, and two sisters. Next door to them on the same census was Zachariah Wainwright and his wife, Olivia, with 2 children. Jarvis passed on August 5, 1874, and is buried in Section 7, Lot 14 with his parents. Zachariah was born on February 4, 1818, on Wainwright Island. He passed on April 16, 1871, and was buried in Homewood Cemetery’s Section 14, Lot 11. Eberhart & Ober Brewing Company was named after their owners, William Eberhart and John Ober.
WILLIAM EBERHARDT was born in Alsace, France, on April 20, 1844, and immigrated to Pittsburgh in 1846. His father, Conrad, was a German brewer and established a brewery in his own name in 1848. After Conrad retired in 1870, William partnered with his brother-in-law, John P. Ober, and operated as the Eberhardt & Ober Brewing Company. William died March 25, 1899, shortly after the big brewing company
merger. He is laid to rest in Section 14, Lot 124, in his private mausoleum next to his brewing partner.
JOHN PETER OBER was born on August 21, 1848, in Pittsburgh’s Allegheny City and worked at his father’s German brewery Ober Bros. from the age of 15 until he joined Eberhardt in 1870. The beer was known as E & O or Early & Often in newspaper advertisements. After the big beer merge, John P. Ober served as treasurer for the Pittsburgh Brewing Company until his death on November 11, 1909. He was laid to rest in his private mausoleum in Section 14, Lot 125. The production of Eberhardt & Ober’s Dutch & Club beer was discontinued in 1952. The
Eberhardt & Ober Brewery buildings in North Side’s Deutschtown are nationally recognized historic sites and have been occupied by Penn Brewery since 1986.
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