Peter Weddell's Land

The records for Peter Weddell's land can be found at the Commonwealth Land Office in Harrisburg in: Warrant #105, Dec 17, 1784 for 400 acres by Peter "Wedeld"; Survey returned Sept 13, 1813 for 300 1/4 acres, book D33-15,16; Patentee Peter "Waddle" heirs, book H2-591. However the struggle over this land went on for years. These passages from The Weddells of Old Westmoreland tell the story:

"When the Land Office was opened in Philadelphia on April 4, 1769 to issue warrants as a basis for surveys for land, there was immediate cause for trouble for those who had already taken up the land and made improvements, about which, of course, there was no record. Warrants were issued to applicants for land already occupied and locations were "shifted" by unscrupulous men, to include the improvements made by others. This is what happened to Peter, and the lawsuit it caused dragged on in the courts for seventy years before it was finally settled."

"..Peter, urged on by seeing the best locations being occupied, joined the rush of newcomers and in 1766 picked a site and started an improvement about a mile south of his father's claim, gradually making the improvements as indicated by the following transcripts from Court Records of a law suit in which he became involved, concerning the ownership of his land."

"In the case of Peter what he left was not enough. It is true that before he married he had built a cabin ' eight or nine logs high, about eleven feet square', it 'had a roof, door and windows. He had corn in the loft of the cabin' and there was seven or eight acres cleared'. He continued his improvements as long as he lived, clearing more land, raising some livestock and no doubt adding to his cabin and other buildings, of which we have no record. The accepted manner of clearing the land at this time was to cut down suitable oaks for building, chestnut for splitting into rails and locusts for posts. These were dragged out of the forest and the rest of the trees were deadened by barking them, and when they were sufficiently dried out, setting them on fire. By such method Peter had , by the time of his death, cleared forty or fifty acres."

" A man named Price had taken out a 'shifted warrant' for this farm when the land office was opened in Philadelphia in 1769 and sold this claim to Andrew Robertson along with the farm which laid between this farm and the farm of his father, George."

"When Peter learned of Price's action thru an ejectment in 1781, he prepared for a trial, which was held in 1783. 'There was a struck jury and view, and a number of witnesses examined, and Weddle's title prevailed. Another brought in 1784 and abated by Weddle's death.' A third brought in 1789 and tried in 1791, and Robertson prevailed ... no witnesses called for Defendant.' Price had after the second suit, sold the disputed land on Sept. 11, 1787 to Andrew Robertson, reputedly for two kegs of whiskey."

"Robertson now brought a suit of ejectment and Sarah was in a serious situation. Without means she made no defense and Robertson's suit prevailed."

"The widow managed to struggle along for the next two or three years till Ezekial Woods came along, married her and took little Peter over into Washington County to live. Maternal Grandmother Prichard took the other three children over to her home to raise, and the homestead was for the time being, given up and Andrew Robertson took over and put a tenant on the place."

"The two boys, Jesse and Joseph, took their first extended journey together in 1808 when they went down the Ohio River by boat to Cincinnati, then overland to Paris, Kentucky, near Lexington, where they consulted their half-brother Peter, who was now arrived of age, about renewing the suit against Andrew Robertson for possession of the farm where they had been born: the farm that Peter, their father had homesteaded, which they had been forced to abandon when they as small children were orphaned. Peter evidently joined the in the suit but it was long drawn out, fought thru the lower and superior courts, and not definitely settled until 1830, when Joseph and Peter won a verdict as far as they were concerned but the statute of limitations deprived Jesse of his share."

"However, the farm was recovered thru a suit of ejectment in 1813, Joseph bought out the other heirs and, near the original log cabin and served by the same copious spring, built the house that is still standing."

"Here are some interesting transcripts from the Court Records of the case. Adam Alexander testified 'in the month of March 1769 he assisted Peter Weddle in grubbing and heaping sapplings and brush about nine rods square, and raising a cabin eight or nine logs high, about eleven feet square' and 'Weddle continued his improvement by improving land mauling rails in 1771'. James Hamilton said ' I came here about the 10th or 11th April 1769, went to George Weddle's; next day young George and Peter went up the river. I saw the improvements of brush, etc. Peter was a cousin of mine.' And Joseph Bedsworth added 'I knew Peter Weddle - he made an improvement pretty nigh the middle of the survey; it was made in 1769. When I saw it, about the first of April, he asked me to go and see the land he had taken up. We went to the land in question - he had marked his name on a tree - grubbed - made brush heaps - deadened trees - deadened some while I was present. He made more and more improvements every year until he was married, when he weht on it to live. When I saw it a second time he had cleared two acres or more and occupied the land, raised corn in 17775 or 1776 - was married in 1777.' and 'The cabin had a roof, door and windows, had the corn of his first crop in the loft in 1774-1775.' (Westmoreland Court Record No. 17, No. Term 1813)

"In the same case the disposition of John Perry is of great interest: ' He was acquainted with a certain William Price, in Pennsylvania, in 1768 and until Price left the counrty, who then settled on Youghiogheny hills. He was employeed by Price to enter an application in the Land Office, which he did in the year 1769, the day the office was opened. The land the application was made for was the land where he, the said Price, first lived, opposite the mouth of Big Sewickly, adjoining the lands of old Waddle, Christian name not recollected. Some time afterward, said Price either told him he had or that he would remove said location and take land adjoining that, belonging to Peter Weddle, and hold his place where he lived by settlement right; from which the deponent dissuaded him as being improper.'"

"Despite the attempt at dissuasion, the unprincipled Price had the warrant shifted to include the improvements of Peter, selling his own 300 acres, for which he had a lawful warrant, to Andrew Robertson, who came out to this section in 1775."