"'The Pittsburgh Mercury,' is published every Saturday, at the new brick building, in Liberty-street, at the head of Wood-street, opposite the Octagon Church; where the subscribers, advertising customers, and other friends of the establishment, are respectfully invited to call." _Mercury, Oct. 19, 1816._ "The kind of news material found in the columns of papers of those days is entirely different from the style of material found today. Local news is rarely ever given in the papers of an early day. As a rule the subscriber read but one paper and local news could be handed around by gossip from one neighbor to another, and what the subscriber demanded in his paper was foreign news that he could gain in no other way. The founding of new enterprises, marriages, or deaths of prominent citizens, etc. found no place in the pioneer newspaper. European news necessarily nearly two months old, long articles on the management of public affairs, controversies carried on from week to week between rival exponents on different theories, essays on morality and amateur poetry, fill up the columns of nearly all the early newspapers of Western Pennsylvania.... Their value to those who would learn of early local history is found chiefly in the advertisements and from these ... one may gather some important information concerning Pittsburg's early days." _Boucher's Century and a half of Pittsburg._ Churches First Presbyterian Church "In [1785] a bill was introduced into the Legislative Assembly, at Philadelphia, to incorporate a 'Presbyterian Congregation in Pittsburgh, at this time under the care of the Rev. Samuel Barr,' which, after much delay, was finally passed on the twenty-ninth of September, 1787. The Penns gave the site for this church.... In the Spring of 1811 Reverend Francis Herron became the pastor of the First Church, which the year before had had a membership of sixty-five. Dr. Herron's salary was six hundred dollars per annum. For thirty-nine years he labored ceaselessly and wisely for the church and congregation. In 1817 the church was enlarged, and the membership steadily increased." _Killikelly's History of Pittsburgh._ Second Presbyterian Church "The Second Presbyterian Church was organized ... in 1804, by those members of the First Church to whom the methods used, regarding the services in the First Church, were unsatisfactory. The next year Dr. Nathaniel Snowden took charge of the congregation which worshiped ... in the Court House and other places, public and private. Dr. John Boggs came, but remained only a short time. He was replaced by the Rev. Mr. Hunt, in 1809. The first edifice, on Diamond alley, near Smithfield street, was built in 1814." _Killikelly's History of Pittsburgh._ East Liberty Presbyterian Church