Josephine Dale

Josephine Dale was born Josephine Noe Alden in 1815 in Newark, New Jersey. She was a daughter of the Reverend Timothy Alden, founder of Allegheny College in Meadville, and a descendant of John Alden, who had crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the Mayflower.

In 1829, at age 14, Josephine Noe Alden was brought by her parents to Pittsburgh. She soon married William Maitland, and the couple had two daughters, Mary and Margaret, in 1835. William Maitland died and left Josephine Noe Maitland a widow at age 26 in 1841.

By 1852, Josephine Noe Maitland lived in Allegheny City (now Pittsburgh’s Northside), residing on the East Commons (now Cedar Avenue) at the corner of Water Street. Josephine Noe Maitland, 40, married Dr. Thomas Dale, 45, a physician who lived on the South Commons, in 1855. Dr. Thomas Dale was a native of Delaware.

Dr. Thomas and Josephine Noe Dale began living on the South Commons between Sandusky and Federal Streets. An immediate neighbor was I. Morrison, then Mayor of Allegheny City.

The 1860 manuscript census shows that Dr. Thomas and Josephine Noe Dale lived on the South Commons with other family members and three servants. The census taken in that year does not provide information on familial relationships of persons enumerated, making it difficult to determine the relationships of some members of the Dale household.

Living with Thomas and Josephine Noe Dale were Mary Maitland, 25, a public school teacher, Margaret Maitland, 25, who had no occupation, M. Dale (female), 28, R. Dale (male), 21, a clerk, L. Dale (female), 12, J. McLane (female), 23, apparently a boarder, and three servants: H. Coyle (female), 40, born in Ireland, R. Rooney (female), 26, born in Ireland, and W. Burke (male), 28, born in New Jersey. E. Coyle, 13, probably a child of H. Coyle, also lived with the family.

The Dale family moved from the South Commons to 19 Stockton Avenue, near Federal Street, in 1863, lived there until about 1869, then moved to 205 Western Avenue in Allegheny West, where they lived when the 1870 census was taken. The 1870 manuscript census enumerated Dr. Thomas and Josephine Noe Dale, Josephine Noe Dale’s daughters Mary and Margaret Maitland, both 35, Louisa Dale, 21, and a servant whose first name was Annie.

The 1870 manuscript census, the last census to provide information on assets of persons enumerated, reported that Dr. Thomas Dale owned no real estate and had a personal estate of $10,000.

The Dale family moved to 38 Monterey Street (now 1222 Monterey Street) in what is now the Mexican War Streets area in about 1872. Dr. Thomas Dale died at about this time, on January 7, 1872. Josephine Noe Dale bought the lot on which 912 Galveston Avenue stands the following year, and had the house built by March 1874.

During the 1870’s, Margaret Maitland married Thomas Bakewell, an attorney who was a member of a family that owned a glass factory on Pittsburgh’s South Side.

The 1880 manuscript census enumerated Josephine Noe Dale, 65, her daughter Mary Maitland, 43, a school teacher, and four boarders living at 140 Grant Avenue. The boarders were Thomas Swartz, 31, a druggist who had been born in Pennsylvania, his wife Carrie, 22, born in New Jersey, their daughter Anna E., four months, and Louisa Long, 49, who was widowed or divorced and a native of Pennsylvania. No servants were reported to live at 140 Grant Avenue.

The 1890 manuscript census, which would provide information on residents of 140 Grant Avenue in that year, was destroyed in a fire following its completion.

Josephine Noe Dale lived at 140 Grant Avenue until her death in August 1898 in Cape May, New Jersey, shortly after a fall in Cape May. Funeral services were held at her home.

Pittsburgh city directories indicate that Mary Maitland lived at 912 Grant Avenue for the first few years of the 20th century, then died or left the Pittsburgh area. The 1900 census, however, did not enumerate Mary Maitland at 912 Grant Avenue.

Although descendants of Josephine Noe Dale owned 912 Galveston Avenue through 1942, no family members lived in the house, which was divided into small apartments and maintained as a rental property.

Press

The Social Mirror

“MRS. DALE, OF ALLEGHENY, WIDOW OF DR. THOMAS DALE, WAS A MISS ALDEN OF PURITAN STOCK. SHE WAS A SISTER OF THE LATE MRS. JAMES B. MCFADDEN. MRS. DALE’S DAUGHTER, MISS MAITLAND, LIVES WITH HER; ANOTHER DAUGHTER, MRS. THOMAS BAKEWELL, RESIDING IN RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA.”

The Pittsburgh Bulletin

“THE DEATH ON MONDAY, OF MRS. JOSEPHINE NOE DALE, WIDOW OF DR. THOMAS F. DALE, TOOK PLACE AT CAPE MAY, AND REMOVED A VENERABLE AND MOST HIGHLY ESTEEMED WOMAN, PROMINENT IN SOCIAL CIRCLES IN HER DAY IN THE TWO CITIES, AND RELATED TO SOME OF THE FOREMOST FAMILIES OF PITTSBURGH AND ALLEGHENY. SHE WAS BOM IN NEWARK, N. J., HER FATHER BEING THE REVEREND TIMOTHY ALDEN, FOUNDER OF ALLEGHENY COLLEGE IN MEADEVILLE. IN 1829 SHE CAME TO THE CITY AND WAS MARRIED TO WILLIAM MAITLAND WHO DIED IN 1841. IN 1855 SHE MARRIED DR. DALE. HER WARM HEART AND SYMPATHETIC NATURE IMPELLED HER TO ACTIVE CHARITABLE AND PHILANTHROPIC WORK DURING THE CIVIL WAR AND THEREAFTER SO THAT HER NAME BECAME IDENTIFIED WITH GOOD DEEDS WELL DONE. SHE WAS PROMINENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF THE HOME FOR THE FRIENDLESS, THE RELIEF SOCIETY OF ALLEGHENY AND SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS. THE DECEASED WAS AN ORIGINAL MEMBER OF THE NORTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ALLEGHENY, AND WAS . DEEPLY INTERESTED IN ITS CONCERNS. HER GIFTS OF MIND AND PERSON WERE EXCEPTIONAL. A FEW WEEKS AGO MRS. DALE SUSTAINED INJURIES FROM A FALL ON THE BOARDWALK AT CAPE MAY POINT RESULTING IN HER DEATH. SHE IS SURVIVED BY TWO DAUGHTERS – MISS MAITLAND OF ALLEGHENY AND MRS. THOMAS BAKEWELL OF CALIFORNIA. THESE WERE WITH THEIR MOTHER AT THE TIME OF HER DEATH. THE FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON FROM THE MAIN RESIDENCE ON GRANT AVENUE, ALLEGHENY.”