In 1844 Father was employed by the Ihmsen Glass Company to take charge of one six-horse and two four-horse teams.  Then Mother had to move, for the Company furnished the house for the boss teamster.  About this time, Mr. Hedrick’s son Philip, who was a school-teacher and musician, took charge of our Henry’s education.  Henry made fine progress; but Father’s illness made it necessary for him to go to work.

Now, Louise, I can remember distinctly when the City of Pittsburgh was burnt, April 10, 1845.  Father was over in the city with his teams, hauling glassware out of the warehouse down to the wharf on the river.  The first night of the fire the roof on our house took fire from burning shingles.  Mother put Philip and me on the mattress out in the yard and told Henry to keep the sparks off of us.  They sky looked like a red furnace.  Some men from the factory put the fire out on the roof and then Mother moved in.  ¹⁾My Early Life and the Civil War, Conrad Smith 1920, pages 9-10

This photo is from the” Great Fire of Pittsburgh” page on Wikipedia. Detail from View of the Great Fire of Pittsburgh, 1846, a painting by witness William Coventry Wall