844 N Lincoln Avenue

844 N Lincoln Avenue

Introduction

844 North Lincoln is a three story red brick house occupying a 24′ wide by 140’9.625″ deep lot located in the Allegheny West section of Pittsburgh.

Hugh Knox, a commission merchant, flour dealer and coal company manager, had 844 North Lincoln Avenue built in 1866 or 1867. Knox and his family lived at 844 North Lincoln Avenue through 1870.

844 North Lincoln Avenue was originally known as 63 Lincoln Avenue.

Detailed information on the ownership history, age, and first owner of 844 North Lincoln Avenue follows.

Ownership

January 15, 1863

John and Abigail Irwin of Sewickley to Samuel Boyd of the city of Pittsburgh, $450. This deed conveyed a 24′ wide by 144’5.5″ deep lot located on the northern side of Central Street (later Lincoln Avenue and Lynndale Avenue, now North Lincoln Avenue), and extending to an unnamed 20′ wide alley (later Manilla Street, now Maolis Way). The lot was known as Lot 49 in John Irwin’s Plan of the Rope Walk, later recorded in Plan Book Volume 2, Page 173.

(Deed Book Volume 162, Page 197)

March 30, 1864

Samuel and Mary A. Boyd of the city of Pittsburgh to Samuel McNaugher of the city of Allegheny, $675.

(DBV 161 P 463)

April 8, 1865

Malazena and William Anderson Jr. of Allegheny City conveyed the 36′ by 60′ lot that William Anderson Sr. had purchased on November 4, 1853 to James McKinney of Allegheny City for $2800.

(DBV 187 P 112)

February 28, 1866

Samuel and Jane McNaugher of the city of Allegheny to Hugh Knox of the city of Allegheny, $1250.

(DBV 234 P 446)

October 4, 1869

John H. Bailey, Esquire, of the city of Pittsburgh, assignee in bankruptcy of Hugh Knox of the city of Allegheny, to Hugh Knox of the city of Allegheny, $650.

(DBV 264 P 32)

September 22, 1871

Hugh and Mrs. C.A. Knox of the city of Allegheny to William Stewart of the city of Allegheny, $17,500. The deed stated that the„ lot contained a “three story brick dwelling house marked and numbered number 63 Lincoln Avenue.”

(DBV 283 P 183)

April 7, 1896

William Stewart, formerly of the city of Allegheny, now of Shaler Township, to Harry Darlington of the city of Allegheny, $15,000.

(DBV 932 P 180)

June 6, 1900

Harry and Mary E. McC. Darlington of the city of Allegheny to George Shiras 3rd of the city of Allegheny, $7500.

(DBV 1078 P 496)

June 26, 1935

Frances P. and George Shiras III of Washington, D.C. to Frank R. and Nell L. Brasecker of the city of Pittsburgh, $5000.

(DBV 2521 P 201)

July 9, 1954

Frank R. and Nell L. Brasecker of Miami, Florida to Dorothy S. and John B. Nicklas Jr. of Mount Lebanon, $55,000. This deed conveyed 844 North Lincoln Avenue, 827 North Lincoln Avenue, and 808 Galveston Avenue. The deed stated that 844 North Lincoln Avenue was mortgaged for $14,000.

(DBV 3478 P 541)

November 30, 1976

Dorothy S. and John B. Nicklos Jr. of Mount Lebanon to Gildas A. Kaib Jr. of the city of Pittsburgh, $65,000. This deed conveyed 844 North Lincoln Avenue, 827 North Lincoln Avenue, and 808 Galveston Avenue.

(DBV 5712 P 981)

April 21, 1978

Gildas A. Kaib Jr., unmarried, of the city of Pittsburgh, to Valerie and Carl E. Canales Jr. of the city of Pittsburgh, $37,600. This deed conveyed 844 North Lincoln Avenue only.

(DBV 5926 P 647)

September 13, 1991

Valerie and Carl E. Canales Jr. to Carl E. Canales Jr., $1.

(DBV 8565 P 416)

Age of the House

ll available information indicates that Hugh Knox had 844 North Lincoln Avenue built in 1866 or 1867.

Allegheny County mortgage records show no record of any loan to Hugh Knox for construction of 63 Lincoln Avenue.

 

The February 28, 1866 sale of a 3467 square foot lot for $1250, at 36 cents per square foot, was comparable to other sales of undeveloped lots in and near Allegheny West at the time and indicates that 844 North Lincoln Avenue had not yet been built. Subsequently, the 1867 Pittsburgh city directory listed Hugh Knox at 63 Lincoln Avenue for the first time.

Residents

The Knoxes

U.S. census records and Pittsburgh city directories provide information on Hugh Knox, a commission merchant, flour dealer and coal company manager.

Learn More

The 1880 Census

In 1880, William Stewart had three servants living at 63 Lincoln Avenue. They were Ellen Johnson, 30, a cook born in Maryland, Rachel Tagant, 30, a chambermaid born in Virginia, and Warner Brisco, 25, a driver born in Canada.

All of Stewart’s servants were black.

The census also indicated that Ellen Johnson and Rachel Tagant were single and that Warner Brisco was married but did not live with his family.

The 1900 Census

The manuscript census of 1900 contains no information on residents of 844 North Lincoln Avenue.

The 1910 Census

In 1910, the census reported that 844 Rear North Lincoln Avenue was rented to the family of Jackob Reinert, a locksmith.

Jackob Reinert, 50, had been born in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1871. Reinert, a naturalized citizen, worked on “odd jobs” as a locksmith.

Reinert’s wife Margaret, 32, had been born in Ohio and was of English descent. In 1910, the couple had been married 10 years and had had four children, with all of their children alive at the time of the census.

The Reinerts’ children were Leo S., seven, Raphael C., five, Grace, two, and Harold J., nine months.

Louis J. Reinert, Jackob Reinert’s brother, also lived with the family. Louis J. Reinert, 45, was single and did odd jobs as a laborer. He had been born in Germany and immigrated in 1871, and had been unemployed for 25 weeks during 1909.

The census also indicated that all adult residents of 844 Rear North Lincoln Avenue were able to read and write and that all of the Reinert children had been born in Pennsylvania.

The 1920 manuscript census will be available to the public in 1992, and should provide information on residents of 844 North Lincoln Avenue in that year. Census records are withheld 72 years to ensure confidentiality.

Supplementary Material

The following materials accompany this report:

 

  • a copy of an 1872 plat map of the area including N Lincoln Avenue
  • a copy of a 1910 plat map of the Western Avenue area

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A Researched History
By: Carol J. Peterson

all photos by Chris Siewers, unless otherwise noted