Saturday December 18, 2021
7 PM

In late 1826, a group of industrialists, professionals, and clergy in Western Pennsylvania, came together and formed a “Greek Relief Committee”, to aid the Greeks in the War of Independence. A public meeting was consequently held at the Pittsburgh courthouse on January 18th, 1827 and committees were appointed to solicit clothes, provisions, and funds for the Greeks.

Members of the 1826 Greek Relief Committee include: The Honorable William Wilkins, N.B. Craig, A.S.T. Mountain, B.R. Evans, Judge Shaler, Michael Allen, A. Way, Charles Brewer, William Bell Jr., Colonel John Ramsey, Robert T. Stewart, Isaac Lightner, Henry Holdship, John McKee, William Eichbaum Jr., Dr. F. Gazzan, Ross Wilkins, Alexander McCandless, William Robinson, William Pentland, George Darsie, John Wallace, Alexander Sample, J.D. Baird, Hugh McShane, Thomas Bakewell, T.L. Clarke, Matthew B. Lowrie, John M. Snowden, James Correy, Samuel Robinson, Thomas Cooper, Robert Burke, and Samuel Kingston.

If some of the names are familiar to Pittsburghers, they should be. Streets of Pittsburgh are named in honor of some of these individuals (e.g. Craig, Herron, McKee, Wilkins, Pentland, Lowrie). Suburban boroughs and municipalities such as Shaler, McCandless, Robinson. It is interesting to look at the history of these industrialists, professionals, clergy and leaders of America.