The First Mayor of Pittsburgh - War Documenter Ebenezer Denny
Ebenezer Denny became the first Mayor of Pittsburgh after keeping war journals which provide valuable insight into the early American military.
Ebenezer Denny
By the time the Revolutionary War broke out, Ebenezer Denny already had experience carrying letters through the wilderness to the Pennsylvania frontier.
Denny joined the Patriot Cause by serving on a privateer ship, but by 1778 had been recruited into the Continental Army as an Ensign.
Ebenezer joined the Continental Army at the Siege of Yorktown where he kept a diary which provides essential insight for modern historians into the British Surrender.
Harmar’s Defeat
After the Revolution, Denny was one of the hundred or so soldiers who remained in the Continental Army.
He moved to the frontier where he participated in the Northwest Indian War, where his journals provide even more valuable insight into American history.
Ebenezer was among those who survived Harmar’s Defeat and was chosen as the man to deliver the bad news to Congress in Philadelphia. (He must not have thought the Defeat too terrible, as he named his oldest son after Harmar.)
St. Clair’s Defeat
The following year, when Arthur St. Clair took over the hostilities, Denny served as his aide-de-camp.
Unfortunately for Ebenezer, this too went poorly and became known as St. Clair’s Defeat.
After taking part in two of the worst engagements in US military history, Denny resigned from the army after fifteen years...much longer than most other Revolutionary War veterans.
Pittsburgh
Ebenezer moved to the area around Fort Pitt.
Over the next three decades he would play a vital role in the outpost’s development into the city of Pittsburgh.
When in 1816 the city became incorporated, Denny became Pittsburgh’s first Mayor.
He served for two years before retiring due to poor health.
Want to read about more Founders on the Frontier?
Great! Check out these articles:
Thomas Worthington Fathers Ohio
Daniel Brodhead and the Coshocton Expedition
Johnny Appleseed as an American Founder
Ebenezer Denny finally received a full biography a few years back.
Pick up a copy through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).
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