The community was shocked at the tragedy. Notwithstanding the directions of Bates’s will in regard to the disposal of his body, he was buried in Trinity Churchyard. A great concourse of people attended the funeral, the chief mourner being Henry Baldwin; but the whole town deplored his death. In its next issue, the _Tree of Liberty_ added to the general gloom, by appearing in mourning dress. Two weeks later the post brought news of the dire calamity to the widowed mother in her Virginia home, and to her children. Amid their tears they rejoiced that the Virginia traditions of honor had not been violated and that Tarleton Bates had accepted the challenge and preferred “death to a life of infamy and disgrace.”[243] The depth of their attachment appeared in the fact that the family preserved his letters as precious mementoes as long as they survived. For a time the grave was a hallowed spot to be pointed out to visitors, but as Bates’s old friends died, and a new generation came on, it was neglected, and now the location is forgotten. Bates’s brothers received their inspiration from him. He was the ablest member of the family. Had it not been for his untimely death, the name of Tarleton Bates might have become one of the great names in Pennsylvania history, if not in that of the United States. At the northwest corner of Market and Third streets, in the house built by Major Ebenezer Denny, of brick taken from Fort Pitt,[244] was the store of Denny & Beelen. The firm was composed of Major Denny and Anthony Beelen. They sold, “dry goods, hardware, groceries, stationery, perfumery, china, glass, and queensware.”[245] Major Denny, the senior partner, was a slender, blue-eyed, and red-haired man of thirty-nine. His was a most adventurous career. In the Revolution he was ensign in the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment, and lieutenant in the 3d and 4th Pennsylvania Regiments. He had served as lieutenant under General George Rodgers Clark in Illinois, was adjutant to General Josiah Harmar in the campaign against the Indians in 1790, and aid-de-camp of General Arthur St. Clair in 1791. He was the messenger who carried the news of the rout of St. Clair’s army to President Washington at Philadelphia, then the seat of the national government. On returning to private life he had gone into business with Captain Joseph Ashton, a former Revolutionary officer like himself, at the place later conducted by Denny & Beelen. This partnership was dissolved in 1794 when Denny was again appointed to a military command and placed in charge of an expedition sent to Fort Le Boeuf. In Pittsburgh he took a conspicuous part in public affairs.[246] He was a candidate for representative to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives against Lucus, but was defeated. Later he was elected county commissioner. In 1803 he was treasurer of the county, being the first man to hold that office, and was the first mayor of Pittsburgh upon its becoming a city in 1816.