Person:James Semple (5)

James Semple & Christina Taggart

• Boucher, John Newton. Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. 3, 241 to 243 (1908).^S1

James Semple, grandfather of Dr. John Semple, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, March 9, 1756, and died in Allegheny county, in the same state, November 13, 1830. He held the rank of captain in the Sixth company, Third Battalion of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Militia, curing the war of the Revolution, and at the close of the war removed to Allegheny county, where he took up a tract of land where Millvale is now located, this being divided at his death between his sons, and a portion of it consisting of four hundred acres, at Pine Creek, now Wildwood, is still in the possession of the Semple family. For a time he had lived in Maryland, but was still very young when he took up his residence in Allegheny county, where he attained a prominent position as a leader in the public affairs of the community, being the second sheriff ever elected in that county. He was engaged in farming as his business life work and amassed a considerable fortune in that field of industry. He married Christina Taggart, born May 12, 1755, and died November 10, 1829, and they were the parents of:^S1

Mary, born August 20, 1780;^S1

James, born March 29, 1786;^S1

John, born June 24, 1788;^S1

Thomas, born January 27, 1791;^S1

Robert Anderson, see forward;^S1

Samuel, born June 19, 1795;^S1

Eliza, born January 27, 1797;^S1

William, born July 28, 1800.^S1

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Boucher, John N. (John Newton), and John W. (John Woolf) Jordan. A century and a half of Pittsburg and her people. (New York: Lewis Pub. Co., 1908)
   Vol. 3, 241 to 243.

   James Semple, grandfather of Dr. John Semple, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, March 9, 1756, and died in Allegheny county, in the same state, November 13, 1830. He held the rank of captain in the Sixth company, Third Battalion of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Militia, curing the war of the Revolution, and at the close of the war removed to Allegheny county, where he took up a tract of land where Millvale is now located, this being divided at his death between his sons, and a portion of it consisting of four hundred acres, at Pine Creek, now Wildwood, is still in the possession of the Semple family. For a time he had lived in Maryland, but was still very young when he took up his residence in Allegheny county, where he attained a prominent position as a leader in the public affairs of the community, being the second sheriff ever elected in that county. He was engaged in farming as his business life work and amassed a considerable fortune in that field of industry. He married Christina Taggart, born May 12, 1755, and died November 10, 1829, and they were the parents of: Mary, born August 20, 1780; James, born March 29, 1786; John, born June 24, 1788; Thomas, born January 27, 1791; Robert Anderson, see forward; Samuel, born June 19, 1795; Eliza, born January 27, 1797; William, born July 28, 1800.

2.   Park, John Crawford (printer), in History of the Family of John Crawford and Mary Sample.

   James Sample, father of Mary Sample, was the first settler within the limits of Shaler township where he located in 1790.
   James Sample came originally from Cumberland, where he was captain of the Sixth Co., Third Battalion, Cumberland Co. Militia. For his services in the Revolutionary War, he was granted a considerable tract of land along Girty's Run, now Millvale. The deed for the land was made out "Sample" whereas the original family name up to that time had been spelled "Semple." The name spelling was changed about this time, apparently to conform with the deed spelling.