THOMAS H. BAIRD A conspicuous
figure on the streets of Monongahela City, elastic in step, erect in carriage,
of
fine physical proportion,
still in the prime of life, and, withal, remarkably well preserved, is
the subject of this
biographical notice.
Thomas Harlan Baird, his
father, was born November 15,1787, in Washington, Penn. He was the third
son of Dr.
Absalom and Susanna (Brown)
Baird, the latter a daughter of John Brown, architect. When quite young
he was sent
to a Latin school, taught
by one of the pioneer classical teachers of that day in Brooke county,
W. Va. He was called
home by the sudden death
of his father, and his education from that time had to be completed by
his own earnest
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 power, the growth and progress of his native town. Like
his father, Dr. A.
Baird, he was always among
the first to assist, by his hardly 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 stockholder 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 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 of the 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 slackwater navigation
company, and among the many commissioners appointed to receive subscriptions
to
the stock, Judge Baird has
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 1818,
presidency 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 has been 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 lawyer 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 days, 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 his, 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 classic 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 to 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 in 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.
In early life he was married
to Nancy McCullough, by whom he had children as follows: Ellen B., intermarried
with
Dr. R. R. Reed, both of
whom are deceased, leaving a number of children and descendants, residing
in Washington,
Pittsburgh, Philadelphia,
Penn; Sarah A., who married George Morgan, but is now a widow residing
in Washington,
Penn.; Harriet N. Baird,
who died recently at Washington; Mary, intermarried with Joseph N. Patterson,
both now
deceased, leaving a son
T. H. B. Patterson, a lawyer in Pittsburgh, and Nancy, wife of Rev. William
B. McKibben,
resides in Cincinnati, Ohio;
Eliza, who was married to Robert Patterson Esq., now a widow residing at
Sewickley,
Penn.. having two daughters,
Jane and Bessie, living with her, and one son, Thomas Patterson, Esq. who
is practicing
law in Pittsburgh, Penn.
· Thomas H. Baird, subject proper of sketch; Margaret W. Baird,
residing at Washington,
Penn.; Jane R., who was
married to Charles McKnight, now a widow, residing at Sewickley, Penn.,
has three sons, T.
H. B. McKnight, Charles
McKnight and Frank McKnight., and two daughters, Mary B. and Eliza; Susan
C. and Emily
G. Baird, who died in young
womanhood many years ago.
Thomas H. Baird, whose name
opens this sketch, was born in Washington, Washington Co., Penn., December
17,
1824. He received his education
at the common schools of the borough, and at Washington College, from which
he
graduated at the early age
of seventeen years; and, having decided on following the legal profession,
commenced the
study of law in his father's
office in Washington. In February, 1846, he was admitted to the bar of
Washington county,
and at once commenced practice
in partnership with his father, continuing (with the exception of a period
hereafter
referred to) until 1872
when he was elected district attorney, on the Democratic ticket in a Republican
county, his
opponent being John Aiken.
During his term of service he was instrumental in securing the conviction
of Briceland, for
the murder, by shooting,
of John Allenham. Briceland was found guilty after a lengthened trial,
convicted, and
sentenced to imprisonment
for life.
In 1850, when T. McK. T.
McKennan was appointed by President Fillmore, Secretary of the Interior.
'Mr. Baird was
given the part of assistant
chief clerk of the Census Bureau and was later honored by an appointment
as clerk in the
Department proper. Part
of his duties were to prepare and file all papers relating to appointments
and removals of
officers, and among them
he found some demanding his own removal on political grounds. These he
filed in the
regular way, the Department
yielded to the demand, and decided on his removal, and he wrote out his
own dismissal
and came home. One month
Afterward, however, he was recalled and promoted. Mr. Baird was ten years,
in all,
occupied in Government position
at Washington. D. C., and then returned to Pennsylvania.
For some three years we next
find him practicing his profession in Pittsburgh, after which he was engaged
a time in
the coal business on the
Monongahela river. In 869 he opened a law office in Monongahela City, where
he has since
resided.
In 1849, while an attorney
in Washington, this county Thomas H. Baird was united in marriage with
Maria L.,
daughter of Dr. Samuel M.
King, who in 1820, came from Fayette county Penn., to Monongahela city,
where he
practiced his profession
till his death in 1882. Two of his children are yet living in Washington
county: Mrs. Baird and
R. C. King, and two, Mrs.
C. J. Mosely and Dr. C. B. King, are residents of Allegheny. Mr. and Mrs.
Baird are the
parents of two children,
viz.: Frank E., an attorney at Charleroi, this county, and Maria Louise,
wife of A. G. Mitchell,
assistant engineer of the
Monongahela division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, with residence in Monongahela
City. The
latter are parents of one
little daughter, Maria Louise Mitchell.
Socially, Mr. Baird is a
member of the Royal Arcanum, and in church connection is a Presbyterian.
In 1886 he was
nominated by his party for
Congress, but the county proved too strongly Republican for him on that
ticket, and he was
defeated. Mr. Baird is a
great reader, and in his profession keeps himself up to the times, having
one of the finest and
most complete law libraries
in the county.