General Notes

Moved out 9/3/1808, moved to Fayette Co., Pa. where he was living in 1850 with wife Margaret. He built iron clad boats for which he received patent in 1802.

"Another pioneer family, very closely associated with the Gibsons, was that of Thomas Gregg. Gregg came to New Haven in 1799, at the solicitation of John Gibson, his uncle. Here he built the first nail factory of western Pennsylvania, and his old order books, still preserved by his daughter, show that he did a thriving business. He was of an inventive turn of mind patenting a turreted warship that is said to have given Ericsson his first conception of the Monitor. He also invented other useful articles. He married Margaret Moore, who bore him thirteen children, two of whom became Methodist ministers."

Centennial history of the borough of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, 1806-1906
Evansville, Ind.: Unigraphic, 1978, 565  pgs. Pg. 41.

C. Thomas Gregg, b. 1 Apr 1779 New Castle, DE ; married, abt. 1805, Margaret Moore (1789-14 Jan 1867); d. 3 Jan 1854. Although Thomas Gregg grew up as a Quaker on the old homestead in New Castle Co. DE, he left there about 1801 as a young man and moved to Fayette Co. PA and there is no evidence that he continued to long practice the Quaker faith. He is, though, perhaps one of the most fascinating members of the family. He was called "a man of many enterprises". He is known to have operated a rolling-mill, a nail factory and a grist mill where he first lived in the town of New Haven, Dunbar Twp, across the river from Connellsville. He filed 2 patents in the U.S. Patent office; one for an iron-clad warship similar in appearance to the Confederate Merrimac but dated 1814. In 1832 he also patented a "Method for Refining Iron," that is similar to the design of the Bessemer blast furnace that later revolutionized the steel industry. He is not known to have ever built either device, though the furnace was supposed to have been tested on a small scale. During his lifetime in the New Haven and Connellsville, PA area he is also known to helped Rev. War veterans file pension claims, made gunpowder during the War of 1812, drilled for salt water, bought and sold coal, and served as Justice of the Peace. In 1809 he listed his occupation as "philosopher." He was never a financial success and once declared "insolvency". His funeral was held in the Trinity Episcopal Church in Connellsville, PA (which he joined in 1847) and he and his wife are buried in Hill Grove Cemetery nearby. Thomas and Margaret Gregg are supposed to have had 13 children. Information about some of these has been difficult to determine. Although early census records (1810-20) show Thomas with several young children, most of the birth years that have been determined seem to be later than those years.