George and Mary's story is the essence of America. Passed down from generation to generation, first as an oral history and later in writing (1). The details are not precise, but that does not detract from the saga.
In the spring of 1757, George Weddell and several of his sons came along Braddock's Road from their home near Hagerstown Maryland, over the mountains to unsettled land in what is now Elizabeth Township, Allegheny, County, and Rostraver Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. At some point they left the road and maybe took an old Indian trail. They found what they were searching for on a broad ridge overlooking the Youghiogheny River opposite the mouth of Big Sewickley Creek. Near a spring that fed a stream going down to the river George decided to build his home and "tomahawked" his claim to approximately 400 acres. They cleared land, built a cabin and planted crops. In the fall, Peter, age 16, and another son were given the task of remaining during the winter to secure the land and cabin. The boys ate what they could hunt and probably some corn from the summer's crop that was ground between stones to make cornmeal. George and whoever else accompanied them returned to Maryland to bring the rest of the family in the spring. The boys did not see another white man and fortunately only saw a few curious, but not hostile, Indians until their father returned.
In The Weddells of Old Westmoreland (2) is this wonderful account: "The first white person outside the family that George met here was Joseph Hill. Sometime after their arrival George was hunting some distance to the west of their place when he heard a gun shot report. Knowing that the Indians had no firearms, he went toward the sound of the shot, hallooing as he went and finally heard a faint response. Soon they were together and it was a thrilling meeting. Mr. Hill had built a cabin (3) and was preparing to send for his family. Some of his descendants are still living in the neighborhood."
Joseph Hill is considered to be the first white settler (4) at the "Fork of the Yough"; but he was a single man and the Weddells were second and are designated as the first family there.
Compare it to life at the beginning of the 21st century. What family, what teenaged boys, could now endure such hardships and survive? Yet they not only survived, they prospered.
1. George Dallas Albert's History of the County of Westmoreland, (1882; reprint, Apollo, Pennsylvania, Closson Press, 1998), 563-564, contains the earliest written account. It appears to have been contribute by a descendent of Peter, maybe Trovillo Jacob Weddell, who was newspaper publisher. Other accounts are in Bouche 's History of Westmoreland County and The Weddells of Old Westmoreland and The Pangburn Reminiscences. There are variations in each version.
2. James A. Weddell et al, The Weddells of Old Westmoreland, 23.
3. Land Patent records show his property to be between Speers Run and Route 201 just north of the Interstate 70 interchange; about 6 miles southwest of the Weddell homestead.
4. George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland,(1882; reprint, Apollo, Pennsylvania, Closson Press, 1998),561