There are not that many written histories about Pine Township’s early families which motivated to write what I know, hoping that my readers would be able to fill in the blanks.
Many of the first families still have descendants living in the area today which, really if you think about it, is amazing since we are talking about 200 years since the founding.
Thomas Rogers
Mr. Thomas Rogers is acknowledged as the founder of Pine. He was born in 1753 and died on May 8, 1808 at the age of 55. He was married to Elizabeth and had six children: William, Mary Ann (m. Joseph Stinson), Anne (m. Abraham Pearce), Elizabeth (m. James Steel), Catherine, and Margaret (m. Alexander Lowry).
Thomas Rogers purchased 200 acres in Pine in 1796 and built his homestead somewhere near Twin Oaks Drive, Wexford. Thomas’ wife Elizabeth died in 1813 at the age of 55.
Thomas and Elizabeth were buried at the family plot located on Twin Oaks Drive. Their daughter Elizabeth replaced both of her parent’s gravestones sometime in the 1800’s. Thomas’ gravestone still exists but will soon be unreadable as it lays on the ground.
92 acres of the farm was originally left to the two youngest daughters, Catherine and Margaret whom transferred the ownership to their brother William and a trustee Robert Lurting. It seems they wanted the land to be used as a cemetery but an oversight with the registration in 1850 left the land open to development until 1985 when Lurting’s great-granddaughter, Esther Cupp Parks discovered the problem.
In a Post-Gazette article (May 29, 1994) of the cemetery, they were able to read the graves of Elizabeth Rogers Steel and three of her children all of whom died in 1821. I found two of the children’s gravestones but I did not find Elizabeth’s.
Thomas Mallerson
Born in Connecticut in 1753, Mallerson is a veteran of the American Revolution and is buried in the little cemetery on Twin Oaks Drive. Mallerson enlisted at the age of 23 and became a sergeant. He served in Capt. Aaron Steven’s Company of the 7th Connecticut Regiment. In my previous article about Mallerson I speculate that it is possible that he fought in some of the largest battles of the American Revolution and survived.
He was discharged in 1779 and moved to Pine Township. Speculating again Mallerson probably purchased his land through the Depreciation Lands program. The new government of the United States couldn’t afford to pay the soldiers the money that was owed them and instead granted them notes that could be used to purchase land. The land records do not show Mallerson’s land as part of the Depreciation Lands purchases but my husband (who volunteered himself for the short research project) wasn’t able to find Mallerson’s name at all.
Regardless of how he purchased his land, Mallerson built a farm on what is now Pearce Mill Road. He married Amy Newton and had eight children: Thomas, Elijah, Anne, Cynthia, Thankful, Philemia, Permela, and Lucinda.
Mallerson died on November 7, 1813 at the age of 60 and was buried in the little cemetery on Twin Oaks Drive.
Mallerson’s daughter Lucinda (born 1802) married Robert Lurting (born 1800). She died on March 16, 1877 at the age of 75 and Robert died on May 6, 1872 at the of 72.
George Wallace
He purchased 408 acres in 1799. Wallace was married to Sarah and had ten children: John, Eliza (m. William Rogers, the only son of Pine’s founder Thomas Rogers), Polly (m. Gilleland), George, Jane (m. Bowers), Rebecca (m. Ward), Thomas, Patty, Sarah, and Nancy.
He died in 1834 and is buried at the ignored Wallace Private Cemetery off of Warrendale-Bakerstown Road. It sits between Treesdale and West Union Cemetery. The last known restoration attempt of this cemetery was 1985. I have not seen this cemetery yet.
Ambrose Schaffer (Schaeffer)
Schaeffer was born in Baden-Baden, Germany in the 1700’s. He and his wife Barbara donated the land for St. Alphonsus and worked to bring priests to the area known as Shaeffer’s Corner. He died on May 27, 1855 at the age of either 64 or 84. I can’t tell.
Martin Byrne
From Wexford, Ireland, he was the area’s first postmaster. He chose the name Wexford after his hometown. The first mass of St. Alphonsus was held in his home in 1832.
Ignaz Brugger (Ignace Brooker and Ignatius Brooker)
The name Brooker comes up a lot in Pine’s history. The family was important for a long period of time. They owned tons of properties and businesses in the area and several roads are named after them. They are everywhere.
It all started with Ignace Brooker who described in his daughter’s obituary as a prominent early settler of Allegheny county settled in Pine sometimes in the 1800’s. I can find records of five children: Joseph, Henry J., Mary (m. Nicholas Fath), Mrs. August Schenot, and Mrs. Peter Shenot. Mrs. Shenot died in 1908 at the age of 66 putting her birth in the year 1846. As of now, I do not have any other information about Ignace Brooker, although, there is a ton of information about his sons and grandsons.
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