Harmar Denny (May 13, 1794 – January 29, 1852) was an American businessman and Anti-Masonic member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Biography

Harmar Denny was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, the son of

Ebenezer Denny Ebenezer Denny (March 11, 1761July 21, 1822) was an American soldier and politician. Having fought in the American Revolutionary War, his journal is one of the most frequently quoted accounts of the surrender of the British at the siege of Yorktown ...

and Nancy Wilkins.Centennial Volume of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, PA., 1784-1884, page 201 His father had served as adjutant to General Harmar during wars on the western frontier. Graduating from

Dickinson College Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

in 1813, Harmar Denny was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania in 1816 and became a law partner with Henry Baldwin and practiced law in Pittsburgh. He married Elizabeth F. O'Hara on November 25, 1817 and they had 11 children. Elizabeth was the daughter of General James O'Hara and Mary Carson O'Hara. Denny served as a member of the

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

from 1824 to 1829. In 1829 he became a ruling elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh. Denny was elected as an Anti-Masonic candidate to the Twenty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Wilkins. He was reelected to the Twenty-second through Twenty-fourth Congresses and served from December 15, 1829, to March 3, 1837. After his term, he resumed the practice of law in Pittsburgh, and became a delegate to the Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention in 1837. He was a presidential elector on the Whig ticket in

1840 Events January–March * January 3 – One of the predecessor papers of the ''Herald Sun'' of Melbourne, Australia, ''The Port Phillip Herald'', is founded. * January 10 – Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom. * Janu ...

. As commissioner under act of incorporation of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

, April 13, 1846, he incorporated the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 1848. He was admitted to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1848. In 1849 he was elected president of the common council of Pittsburgh.A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People; New York, 1908; vol. 3, page 379 He declined the nomination to be a candidate for Congress in 1850. He served as president of the Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad in 1851 and 1852. He was a trustee of the

Western University of Pennsylvania The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, hom ...

, now the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, and director of the

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PTS) is a Presbyterian graduate seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1794, it houses one of the largest theological libraries in the tri-state area. History Pittsburgh Theological Seminary was for ...

. He was buried at

Allegheny Cemetery Allegheny Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a historic rural cemetery. The non-sectarian, wooded hillside park is located at 4734 Butler Street in the Lawrenceville neighborhood, and b ...

in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood. New York State Senator Henry E. H. Brereton (1865–1957) was his grandson; Congressman Harmar D. Denny, Jr. (1886–1966) was his great-grandson. The town of Harmarville, twelve miles up the Allegheny River, was named for him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Denny, Harmar 1794 births 1852 deaths Politicians from Pittsburgh Anti-Masonic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Whigs Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 1840 United States presidential electors Dickinson College alumni Burials at Allegheny Cemetery 19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Members of the American Philosophical Society