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Title: History of Pittsburgh and environs, from prehistoric days to the beginning of the American revolution Vol. 3 / By George Thornton Fleming.
Author: Fleming, George Thornton, 1855-1928
Pg. 820
JOHN HARPER, banker and financier, was born in County Donegal, Ireland, Dec. 5, 1811. He was of gentle English lineage. His ancestors from the reign of JAMES I. (when the first came from England) until the death of ROBERT HARPER, his grandfather, were owners of one of the townlands in County Tyrone, Ireland. In 1820 JOHN HARPER’S parents brought their family to America and settled in Washington, D. C. In the following year, his father, HUGH HARPER, died, and about the same time his grandfather, ROBERT HARPER (who had previously come to this country and joined his son at Washington), also died...In 1826 his widowed mother moved from Washington to Jefferson Co., Ohio. JOHN, her eldest child, secured a position in a mercantile house in Steubenville, Ohio...In 1831 he accepted an offer as bookkeeper of one of the largest mercantile establishments in Pittsburgh, Pa. On Sept. 19, 1832 young HARPER was chosen to fill the position of chief clerk of the Bank of Pittsburgh. He was sent as cashier to the branch bank of Beaver, Pa., in 1837. In a short time he was recalled to Pittsburgh, becoming the assistant cashier of the Bank of Pittsburgh, afterward its cashier, and finally (820A picture of JOHN HARPER) the president of the institution, where he remained until his death. (pg. 821) He was president of the Pittsburgh Clearing House from its creation until his death. He was one of the founders of the Western Pa. Hospital and its president for 25 years, and was also the president for many years of the first bridge that connected the cities of Pittsburgh and Allegheny, besides holding a number of other positions of trust in the directorship of business and educational institutions. During the Civil War he was chairman of the committee on finance at Pittsburgh and worked hard for the success of the North. He possessed one of the finest libraries in Western Pa. He was a thorough scholar of history and English literature, and a writer of great power.
In 1836 he was married to LYDIA ELECTA METCALF, daughter of NATHAN WILLIAMS METCALF, of Otsego Co., N. Y., who survives him...He died April 5, 1891.
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