Page:Family of Ormsby of Pittsburgh.djvu/12

8 with the rough and ready inhabitants of the frontier. The town was of small dimensions then, as she described it. All east of Wood street and north of 10th street would have been assessed as rural and agricultural if the present law of taxation had been in force then.

"In regard to Mr. Ormsby and his peculiarities I have heard her describe them so often that I can almost fancy I see him: a fine-looking man of medium size with a military air, rather haughty of manner but exceedingly kind and obliging to his neighbors and friends. He was always addressed as 'Colonel,' not out of mere courtesy but because he had held that office in the British army prior to the Revolutionary war. He was regarded as a high-toned gentleman of the old school even then, about the beginning of the present century. As a military man he was very particular about his dress, whether in citizen's clothes or with any of the insignia of his profession about him. His military taste appeared in the fashion of his hat and otherwise when he appeared in full dress at parades or on other public occasions. He would then have his dress sword in his belt and was noted for his immaculate breast and sleeve ruffles and the brightness of his shoe and knee buckles; but excepting elegance in quality and texture there was nothing peculiar about this for such was the fashion of dress at that time among those who were able to afford it and wished to be regarded as gentlemen, and even the dress sword at his side was not regarded as for display. The fighting spirit was then still in the ascendant and it was well understood that Mr. Ormsby was quite willing and ready to meet an antagonist with a similar weapon if occasion required it, but according to her account of him he was too much of a gentleman to