Hello to those who might be interested in the following data. I thought I'd like to write a little today about early Westmoreland County, one of the townships & the earliest residents. This will be a bit on Hempfield Township and something about the earliest patents. Over the years I've heard time & time again how hard it is for new people to work in the state of PA & it's counties & county townships. My thoughts are that Westmoreland County, now 233 years young is one of the most interesting examples of formation, growth and change. We must remember that in to the 1760's this area was inhabited by Indians and trappers. Only a few settlers had moved into the area from the East. Travel was first made along Braddocks Road in the 1750's and by Forbes Road of 1758. The Bouquet Road in 1764 aided further in helping open this area for settlement. It is because of the time it would take to conduct any official business in Bedford County, which was the closest that the settlers petitioned for a new county to be formed. This was done on February 26, 1773. Once done the creation of 13 original townships began on April 6, 1773. They are: Fairfield, Donegal, Hunting(t)on, Mount Pleasant, Hempfield, Pitt, Tyrone, Springhill, Manallin, Rostraver, and Armstrong. Hempfield is described as beginning at the Mouth of Crabtree Run and running down the Loyal Hannan to the Junction of Connemagh then down the Kiskimenitas to the Mouth thesnce with a straight line to the head of Brush Run then down Brush Run to Brush Creek then with a straight line to the mouth of the Youghiogeny then up Youghiogeny to the Mouth of Jacobs Creek then up Jacobs Creek to the line of Mount Pleasant. Well now! That's not the Hempfield Township we are familiar with today. It's certainly much smaller in proportion. To begin with, I would say that approximately 2/3's of it became Salem Township in 1785. This means that if you are looking for someone in Hempfield township prior to 1785, you might have to refer to the patent map layout in the courthouse mapping department for Salem township to make certain which township their land was located. What I call the "southern tail" is what is now Hempfield township. Some of what I have written was what I learned from the former director of the Tax Claim Bureau, who took a more than casual interest in his work over many years, Gerald Wendling. Additional data on the county is recorded in more than one history of the county. On Pg. 528/529 of one history by Alberts is states" By act of 14 March, 1845, that portion of the township of Hempfield which lies suth of the Big Sewickley Creek was attached to and directed to thereafter constitute a part of the township of East Huntingdon, and that the said creek should thereafter be the division line between the said two townships. In 1872 a part of the division line was changed between Penn and Hempfield townships for the conveniance of the peole in school and other purposes. The point commenced on the farm of George Detar, and ran to that of J. H. Orr, in Hempfield township. It should be noted that a person obtaining a warrant may not be the same party as the one taking up the patent. I won't get in to the fine points of that subject at this time. What is of interest now is the earliest of the settlers on the land of today's Hempfield township lines that comprise 299 original patents. The earliest patents in just the 1770's were for as follows for just 8 families of settlers as stated on the map. Samuel Miller - 1770 David Marchant - 1771 Jacob Welcker - 1773 Dewalt Mechlin - 1774 John Boyd, William Gray etal, William Jenkins, Patience Morgan etal (2 parcels), - 1775 Miller & Marchant would have been residents prior to their land being in Westmoreland County & Weicker during the actual formation. In order to look at the list of those who warranted the properties one would have to examine the actual maps that show the names & dates of the warrant, survey and patent. Keep in mind that we are speaking of the Hempfield township of today. This means that to see the settlers who warranted or patented land in Hempfield township prior to 1785 in what became Salem township at that date. In order to do this one must also look at the changes of boundaries of that township over the years too. It is suggested that a person examine the surrounding townships & check in to when they were formed & from what township, including the date of the changes. These things take time to examine. Samuel Miller - 1770 David Marchant - 1771 Jacob Welcker - 1773 Dewalt Mechlin - 1774 John Boyd, William Gray etal, William Jenkins, Patience Morgan etal (2 parcels), - 1775 Visit my web site at: http://www.familytreetracer.com <http://www.familytreetracer.com/>