My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE W. WEDDELL, farmer, post office McKeesport, son of George and Nancy (Nelson) Weddell, was born in Elizabeth township, this county, in 1812. George Weddell, his great-grandfather, was a native of Germany. He came to America and settled in Elizabeth township in 1753, where he secured the title of four hundred acres of land, and then returned east of the mountains and effected a permanent settlement upon his farm the following spring. The nearest improvement was Rostraver, seven miles distant. The Indians were in force and unfriendly, and often he and his wife were compelled to seek protection in the block house on the opposite side of the river, to reach which they both mounted a horse and swam the river. Their children were Daniel, James, Peter, John, George, Margaret (Mrs. Hammond). Mr. Weddell planned and named after himself a cemetery, in which he and his wife were first to find a burial. Daniel, grandfather of George, and a native of Elizabeth township, married Ella Matier, and their children were George, Peter, John, Daniel and May, who was married to William Cray, all now deceased. George, father of George W., was also a native of Elizabeth township; he married Nancy, daughter of George Nelson, and located on the old homestead; to them were born twelve children, viz.: Ellen (now a resident of West Newton), Daniel (deceased), Nelson (of West Newton), George W., Peter (of Elizabeth township), Jane Boyd (deceased), John (deceased), Mary (deceased), James (of Sewickley township, Westmoreland county), Elizabeth (now Mrs. Brown, of Aaronsburg, Westmoreland county), Nancy (McCune) and Rebecca (both deceased). George and his wife died in Elizabeth, and were buried in the old family cemetery. George W. Weddell was also a native of Elizabeth township, where he was reared and educated, and in 1844 married Maria, daughter of Thomas Douglas, of that township. He was engaged as miller in the W. M. company until 1850, when he bought the old Weddell homestead in Elizabeth, remaining there until 1860, when he sold, and purchased the farm he now owns in Versailles township. He and his wife have a family of seven children, viz.: Thomas Douglass, Dr. Oliver S., David Henry, Sarah Margaret, James Nelson (deceased), Nancy P., Mary Jane (Mrs. Dr. James M. Campbell), and Isaac Irvin. Mr. Weddell’s residence is on a prominent point, affording an extended view. He is a republican, and has from time to time been made the recipient of political honors. He and his wife are members of the U. P. Church.