John Jones Gillespie

In 1832, at the age of seventeen, J. J. Gillespie came to Pittsburgh from Milton, Pennsylvania. He worked as a clerk at the Vorhees and Barche's Looking-Glass and Notion Store on Wood Street, quickly becoming a partner and then owner. The J. J. Gillespie Company opened on Wood Street selling imported mirrors and other expensive household ornaments. By 1842, Gillespie was one of the most prominent men in Pittsburgh. The Company was destroyed by fire in 1845 and rebuilt in another location on Wood Street. After the fire, Gillespie started to sell prints and lithographs, becoming the first gallery west of the Alleghenies to feature international artists. Gillespie Galleries became the center of art in Pittsburgh and was the headquarters for both Pittsburgh and traveling artists.

In 1834, J. J. Gillespie married Eleanor Moore, and together they raised six children, including Eleanor Gillespie Magee, Hannah Gillespie Magee Neale, Jessie Gillespie Warwick Flinn, and Asa Shinn Gillespie.