THIS IS a brief history of a very small parcel of that Land Grant by the King of England to William Penn, from a point in Eastern United States "west to the Setting Sun," known as Wexford, Pennsylvania. Through headstones, family records and residents who have lived in this community for many years has come the information contained herein.

     There is evidence of settlers in this territory as early as possibly 1775 or before. The main trail traveled by the Indians was called the "Kushkushkee Trail" from the Forks of the Ohio River (where Allegheny and Monongahela meet) north to the Mahon-ing River to a large Indian Village settlement there. This trail passed through Pine Township, in which the Village of Wexford is located. Over this trail came the first settlers to this section.

     Thomas Rogers is credited with being the first settler in the 1790's, but records indicate that Thomas Mallerson settled here in the latter part of the 18th century on what is now known as the Lurting farm on the Pearce Mill Road.

     Both Mallerson and Rogers are buried in an old cemetery on a hill which is part of the property now belonging to Frank Laklia of Wallace Road. A headstone records the death of Thomas Rogers on May 8, 1808, at the age of 55. His wife. Elizabeth, who died June 16, 1813, was buried beside him. A family whose name was Henry is recorded through a marker erected to the memory of "Sarah, Wife of Samuel Henry," who died July 23, 1810, at the age of 37 years. A descendant of Thomas Mallerson, Mrs. Harry N. Cupp of Mars, Pa. reported that at one time the stones of a daughter of Thomas Rogers and four of her children were in the same cemetery. They all died within a few days of one another, leading to the supposition that a contagious disease had stricken the entire family. These stones may have fallen over and are probably covered by the thick growth of myrtle, lilac and iris which flourish on the hilltop.

     Thomas Mallerson was born in Groton, Connecticut, in 1753, and migrated to this territory of Wexford in his late twenties. Some of his descendants remember hearing their parents and grandparents tell of his returning from the Revolutionary War and being unable to find his home for awhile. He wag a sergeant in that war in the Company of Captain Aaron Stevens in the 7th Connecticut Regiment He enlisted on January 2, 1777, and was discharged December 3, 1779. He and his wife Ame reared eight children: two boys, Thomas, Jr., and Elisha; and six girls, Ame, Cynthia, Philinda, Thankful, Permelia and Lucinda. Lucinda, the youngest daughter, married Robert Lurting. Their son Alexander married Margaret English, who was the mother of Mrs. Cupp, Mrs. John Williams (also of Mars), Mrs. Blanche Gracie, Pittsburgh, and Dr. W. C. Lurting. also of Pittsburgh. Mrs. Merle Pinkerton of Crider's Corner is a Mallerson descendant also but not of this particular line.