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This collection was processed by Elizabeth England in July 2016.
Gift of Ken Kobus on June 2015.
Mary Schenley Land Deed, 1851, AIS.2015.07, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Mary Schenley Land Deed, 1851, AIS.2015.07, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
This document is an indenture, or real estate deed, between Edward and Mary Schenley and the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). The indenture was prepared in Pennsylvania on October 1, 1851, and was signed by Mary E. Schenley and her husband, Edward W.H. Schenley, in London on December 17, 1851, as witnessed by Thomas Aspinwall, Consul of the United States of America for London. W.C. Patterson, President, signed on behalf of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The indenture details an agreement for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to lease land in Downtown Pittsburgh, which Mary Schenley had inherited from her family. Schenley's maternal grandfather, James O'Hara, was a prominent Pittsburgh businessman and land speculator, who strategically purchased lots in the triangular area contained by Grant Street in what is now Downtown Pittsburgh, land which would later be necessary for development as industry in Pittsburgh grew.
The lots included in this indenture were originally part of Penn's Manor, owned by the Penn family. George Woods, an agent for the Penns, completed the first Survey and Town Plan of Pittsburgh in 1784, sectioning the area that is now Downtown Pittsburgh into nearly 500 60 foot lots. This survey, often referred to as the Woods Plan, is how O'Hara purchased the majority of his land, although exact dates are scarce. O'Hara passed along to his daughter, Mary C. Croghan (born Mary C. O'Hara), and then to her daughter, Mary E. Schenley (born Mary E. Croghan), the lots described in this indenture: 483, 484, 485, 486, and 490. The lots were bordered by Liberty, Grant, Seventh, and Eighth Streets, with Plum Alley bisecting the lots.
During the 1850s, the Pennsylvania Railroad was building tracks to connect Pittsburgh to Midwest and East Coast cities. The Schenleys agreed to lease the lots to the Pennsylvania Railroad for an annual sum of $3,480. The land described in this Indenture became an important part of the construction of Pittsburgh's passenger train station, Penn Station, built by the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1898-1903.
The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) was established in 1846 to connect Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. Through numerous long-term leases and purchases of land and other railroad companies, the Pennsylvania Railroad expanded significantly over the next several decades, connecting the Midwest to New York City and Washington, DC. They were responsible for the building of several major passenger train stations, including Penn Stations in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and New York City, and Union Stations in Chicago and Washington, DC. In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with the New York Central railroad, becoming Penn Central.
James O'Hara was born in Ireland in 1752, arriving in the United States in 1772. He eventually became a successful businessman in Pittsburgh, where his diverse ventures included establishing Pittsburgh Glassworks and serving as the president of the Bank of Pennsylvania. Between 1785 and 1818, O'Hara purchased numerous plots of land in Pittsburgh and the surrounding Allegheny County as investments, totaling ninety land deeds, including town lots and farm lands. He strategically concentrated his purchases to the triangular area contained by Grant Street in what is now Downtown Pittsburgh, land which would later be necessary for development as industry in Pittsburgh grew. Upon his death in 1819, O'Hara's three adult children each inherited a portion of estate to be held in trust, with his youngest daughter, Mary, receiving the largest share.
Mary Croghan was born Mary Carson O'Hara, the youngest daughter of James O'Hara and Mary Carson. She married William Croghan, Jr. in 1821. The couple had three children, but only Mary Elizabeth, born in 1826, lived past childhood. Mary Croghan died in 1827.
Mary Schenley was born Mary Elizabeth Croghan on April 27, 1826, in Louisville, Kentucky, the only child of William Croghan, Jr. and Mary Croghan (O'Hara) to live to adulthood. At age fifteen, she married forty-three-year-old Edward Schenley, a British Army Captain. Upon her father's death in 1850, Mary Schenley inherited a substantial amount of valuable Pittsburgh land originally belonging to her mother's father, James O'Hara, making Schenley the largest property owner in Allegheny County. Schenley lived in London for the majority of her life, from where she negotiated leases of her land in Pittsburgh. Upon her husband's death in 1889, Mary Schenley made significant philanthropic contributions to the City of Pittsburgh, including the donation of 300 acres of in the Oakland neighborhood to become Schenley Park. She died in London in 1903.
Captain Edward Wyndham Harrington Schenley was born in 1798 in England. He met fifteen-year-old Mary Elizabeth Croghan in New York in 1841, where the two eloped, causing a great scandal and much to the dismay of her father. Edward and Mary had seven children together, and he died in 1889.
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