Beyond the Wilderness · November 2026
The Two Georges: A Revolutionary Family Mystery
A story worth preserving
Coral records a family tradition that George Wescott, initially considered too small to enlist, served as an errand boy for George Washington and later served in the War of 1812. That story should remain visible as family tradition, not be presented as independently established military history.
The date that changes the question
A transcription of a Chippenhook/West Clarendon cemetery stone reports that George Westcot died on January 11, 1799, in his thirty-seventh year. A Clarendon marriage transcription records George Westcot marrying Phebe Salsbury on September 9, 1784. If the deceased George is the man in Coral’s story, he could not have served in the War of 1812.
Different men, similar names
Genealogical compilations describe a George Westcott born about 1762 and a younger George Washington Wescott born in 1793, reportedly the husband of Olive Waterman. A cemetery transcription naming George W. and Olive as parents of Diana Wescot helps establish the later household. The precise parent-child links should be checked against original records.
What remains unknown
A Revolutionary War roll has been associated with the older George in a collaborative genealogy, but the original entry, unit, and dates have not been verified here. No direct evidence yet establishes that he worked personally for General Washington. The apparent War of 1812 conflict is a correction to the chronology, not proof of which relative served.
The overlooked widow
Phebe Salisbury Wescott is reported in later genealogies to have lived until 1857, possibly in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Her migration, household, and relationship to each named child deserve separate census, probate, and deed research.