Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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William Guffey




Husband William Guffey 1 2 3

           Born: 1698 - near Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland 2
     Christened: 
           Died: Jun 1783 - Sewickley Twp, Westmoreland Co, PA 2
         Buried:  - Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland Co, PA
       Marriage: 



Wife

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 


Children
1 M James Guffey 1 2 4

           Born: 1736 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 9 Mar 1806 1 2
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Margaret Campbell (      -1781) 1 2 4
           Marr: 1763 2
         Spouse: Mary Findley (      -      ) 2



General Notes: Husband - William Guffey


He was a member of the clan of Guffey, of whose knightly qualities and valorous deeds due record is found in the history of the Scottish Lowlands. In 1738, being of a hardy and adventurous temperament, he left his native land and sailed for America, taking with him his wife and one child James, then aged two years. Two brothers are said to have accompanied him, one of whom remained near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while the other settled in Kentucky, but of these there is no further record. William Guffey first settled in Philadelphia, but in 1758, when General Forbes made his memorable expedition against Fort Duquesne, the hardy Scotchman, in company with a number of others of the same mettle, followed the expedition through the virgin forests, and, reaching the Loyalhanna creek, established there the first permanent English settlement in Westmoreland County and the second west of the Alleghenies, one having been made at Braddock six years before. Although the pioneers were exposed to great dangers and hardships, the settlement grew and prospered. In 1763 the Indians were fairly subdued. In that year there was a general uprising known as Pontiac's war, and Fort Ligonier, on which the settlers depended for protection, nearly fell into the hands of the natives. Fortunately, at an opportune time, Colonel Boquet arrived with a considerable force. He encountered the Indians at Bushy Run, and after a fierce engagement put them to rout. Thenceforward peaceful conditions prevailed.

The founder of the Guffey family in America was William Guffey, a native of Ireland, who upon arrival in America located in Westmoreland County, settling on the old Guffey homestead in Sewickley township, the application for which was made to King George in 1769 by James Baird, the consideration being £2,100. On this land Mr. Guffey built a log cabin and made the first clearing said to have been made west of the Allegheny Mountains.

He died in January, 1783. [HWC 1882, 707] & [HWC 1906 III, 643]

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Sources


1 George Dallas Albert, History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 707.

2 John W. Jordan, History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Genealogical Memoirs, Vol. III (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), Pg 337.

3 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915), Pg 993, 1343.

4 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915), Pg 993.


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