Genealogy through steel workers of Pittsburgh (Carnegie, Oakland: home, living in, office)

[Hornish Jackson]

I am a direct descendant of a man named John Lawrence Hornish born 1849 in Pittsburgh. In the early 1870 City Directories he is listed as Steel Worker, Melter, Labor etc. It has been very difficult finding historical background information on the steel mills of the 1870's does any of you with Historical Societies of Pittsburgh have any interesting old photos, histories or diaries from this era? John's father was a man named James P. Hornish born roughly 1823 and was a "Printer" for the decade in Pittsburgh of 1850 untili he died in 1863. I would love some help on reserach aids for finding out more about my HORNISH family line in Pittsburgh. I've searched Historic Pittsburgh site, Heinz, looking for more tips to pour my energies into. Love some insightful tips.

Sincerely,

Pittsburgher Descendant

[I_Like_Spam]

If your antecedents were Roman Catholic, the local diocese does have a large number of archives that they can research for you.

Information for Genealogists | Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh

And of course for persons of any background, the Mormon Church has lots and lots of geneological records for people of every background.

[Hopes]

This website might be helpful: Historic Pittsburgh

For example, searching "Hornish" in the text section turned up the following results:

Historic Pittsburgh Text Collection

I didn't bother sorting through it to see if it's relevant to your family.

The images section has collections that include steel companies.

Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections: Collection Information

There's a maps section but I've never really understood how to search those.

And there are links to other search tools. Just start poking around. Never know what you'll find.

[Hopes]

Here's an example of what you can find by using the search function for each text listed in the search results above:

James P. Hornish, the printer. Looks like his home or business was at "h Canal n Hope" I have no idea what the "h" and the "n" stand for, but when you figure it out you can use it to look up the address on the appropriate maps for the time period in the maps section.

Historic Pittsburgh Text Collection

[Hopes]

And the printer moved the following year to another location!

http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cache/3/1/7/31735055723062/0139.tifs.gif (broken link)

[ditchdigger]

Looks like his home or business was at "h Canal n Hope" I have no idea what the "h" and the "n" stand for, but when you figure it out you can use it to look up the address on the appropriate maps for the time period in the maps section.

The abbreviations are listed on page 1. The "h" is for "house", the "n" for "near".

[sith]

this will also give you some places to check Pittsburgh Genealogy - Resources for Research in the Steel City

[Hornish Jackson]

Wow that you all so much for your help and the references. I was very thoughtful of you to search the "Historic Pittsburgh" site and pull those documents. Actually I did search the Pittsburgh City Directories for the years 1850 -1880 (30 years worth) and tracked every year any change in address or names. The most valuable one was the year 1871 which was the only one that had John L. Hornish (my GG Grandfather) living in the same residence address with his mother A.E. Hornish (for Agnes Hornish) where she was listed as widow of James P. Hornish Printer. This connected all 3 of them! I have been sending off various letters to the Carnegie Library Archives and U of Pittsburgh Archives and paid money to get help with seraches not available online. Thank you all for your helps, I sincerely appreciate the kindness. David Jackson

[Geeo]

The Pennsylvania Room at the Carnegie Library in Oakland could be a great resource. They have tons of archival information not available on the Internet and helpful people who can guide you. Good luck!