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From YouTube: Notable Pittsburgh Women: Mary Pattison Irwin
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A
Running
a
business
is
hard.
Raising
four
children
as
a
single
mother
is
difficult
and
doing
both
at
the
same
time
is
remarkable.
Over
200
years
ago,
Mary
Patterson
Arwen
did
just
that
in
Pittsburgh
in
1787
Mary
and
her
husband,
John
Irwin
left
Cookstown
in
Northern
Ireland
for
the
newly
formed
United
States,
eventually
making
their
way
from
Philadelphia
to
the
wilds
of
western
Pennsylvania.
At
a
time
in
Pittsburgh
was
little
more
than
a
rough
military
outpost,
home
of
an
overwhelmingly
male
population
of
soldiers
outlaws
and
traders
being
a
highly
perceptive
woman.
A
As
soon
as
Mary
arrived
and
saw
the
three
rivers
she
knew
rope
would
play
an
important
critical
role
in
the
city's
future
located
at
the
confluence
of
Three
Rivers.
She
foresaw
the
town
as
a
center
of
immense
trade
and
shipping,
as
the
young
country,
expanded,
westward,
Mary
convinced
her
husband
to
open
a
rope
walk
in
anticipation
of
this
boom
and
in
1794
the
couple
registered
the
business
as
John,
Erwin
and
wife.
A
The
title
was
unique,
as
women
were
rarely
recognized
in
the
business
fear
having
suffered
several
injuries
during
the
Revolutionary
War
John
Erwin
was
unable
to
significantly
help
the
growing
young
business.
This
left
Mary
to
manage
the
grueling
task
of
making
rope
largely
on
her
own
letters
preserved
by
her
descendants,
revealed
that
Mary
managed
all
aspects
of
the
business
from
securing
raw
hemp
to
making
rope
and
to
finally
selling
the
finished
product.
All
the
while
Mary
was
raising
her
family
of
four
children
in
an
error
almost
entirely
dominated
by
men.
A
Mary's
independence
and
notable
success
in
the
business
world
are
all
the
more
admirable
under
Mary's.
A
savvy
supervision,
John
Erwin
and
wife
grew
from
a
small
rope,
walk
employing
four
to
five
men
to
almost
fifty
people.
In
just
a
short
years.
The
business
was
so
successful.
It
had
to
change
locations
three
times
to
accommodate
its
growing
demands
in
1808,
John
Erwin,
passed
away
and
Mary
renamed
the
business
Mary
Arwen
and
son
solidifying
her
already
de
facto
control
of
the
company.
She
was
so
devoted
to
her
work
that
not
long
after
John
died.
A
Mary
placed
an
ad
in
the
city
paper.
Informing
customers
that
she
had
changed
the
name
of
her
business
and
was
still
open
for
commerce
by
the
1800s
Mary
Arwen
and
son
was
one
of
Pittsburgh's
premier,
businesses
employing
around
50
people
in
a
town
of
less
than
3,000
and
serving
high-profile
clients.
It
is
likely
that
among
Mary's
famous
customers,
where
Lewis
and
Clark,
who
launched
their
historic,
transcontinental
expedition
from
Pittsburgh
at
that
time,
the
only
Road
maker
listed
in
the
city's
directory
was
Mary,
Irwin
and
son.
A
While
records
of
the
expedition
have
been
lost,
it
is
likely
that
Mary
made
the
rope
the
Explorer
used
to
transverse
the
country,
Mary
also
assisted
the
war
effort
during
the
War
of
1812,
by
supplying
young
Admiral
Oliver
Hazard
Perry,
with
rope
for
his
fleet
in
preparation
for
the
historic
battle
against
the
British
on
Lake
Erie
Admiral
Perry's
victory
helped
stave
off
a
British
Invasion
of
Pennsylvania,
a
woman
truly
ahead
of
her
time.
Mary
Paterson,
Erin's
brains,
perseverance
and
grit
helped
her
to
establish
a
rope
making
business
that
flourished
for
over
a
century.