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West Overton
West
Overton was the town created and settled
by Henrich Oberholtzer (Henry Overholt)
and his extended family, along with many
other families initially drawn there by
the work available on the family farms.
Over time, the town changed from a purely
agricultural community to a thriving
center of business activity. The West
Overton families operated successful
farms, planted and harvested their crops,
smoke-cured meats, wove cloth for
clothing and coverlets, milled grain,
operated a general store, supplied wagon
trains going further west, and distilled
a famous Pennsylvania rye whiskey. And
this covers only the first two chapters
of the whole story.Currently known
as West Overton Village, this remnant of
West Overton is located on a narrow wedge
of land between West Overton Road and
Route 819, northeast of Scottdale, PA.
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The Story of
West Overton
On April
25, 1800, Revolutionary War veteran Henrich
Oberholtzer sold his well-appointed and very
successful Bucks County farm in Eastern
Pennsylvania. Then he loaded his wife and entire
family into a train of covered wagons, and set
out on a 300-mile journey to "the wild
lands" of Westmoreland County, located in
the southwestern portion of the wide
commonwealth. The company included Henry's five
sons, seven daughters, five sons-in-law, two
daughters-in-law, and thirteen grandchildren,
carrying with them many "goods and
chattels." Like Henry, all those who had
owned farms had sold them, too, and were prepared
to sink their combined wealth into a new corner
of the world.
Traveling along
the new government road (close to today's Route
30), the family crossed the Allegheny Mountains,
probably turned off the road at Greensburg, then
headed southwest for East Huntingdon township,
arriving in the summer of 1800. The family
circled their wagons and set up camp not far from
the land that Henry would purchase for his new
homestead. As reported by Winifred Paul in Along
the Banks of Jacobs Creek, according to
Westmoreland County Deed Book 9, page 163,
William and Eleanor Newell of Allegheny County,
PA, sold to "Henry Overhold" 260 and
one-half acres of land for 1300 pounds, on June
7, 1803. The tract was called Rostraver, and had
been patented by Newell on December 18, 1801.
Henry's married sons and daughters settled their
families nearby and around their father's place,
and West Overton became a reality.
Abraham
Overholt: Weaver, Master Distiller, Entrepreneur
Abraham
Overholt was his father's tenth child, the fourth
of Henry's five sons. Only 6 days before Henry
sold his Bucks County farm, Abraham had
celebrated his 16th birthday, so he made the
journey across the length of Pennsylvania in the
summer of his 16th year. At the time, Abraham was
already a well-trained weaver, having learned
skills passed down through many generations of
Oberholtzer families, dating back to their Swiss
origins. His older brother Martin was also a
weaver, a skill he passed down to his son, Henry
O. Overholt, who became known for his beautifully
woven coverlets.
Weaving was
Abraham's chief occupation during the next decade
at West Overton, but it was not his only
contribution, for he had also learned the art of
distilling from his father to the point of
perfection. Abraham's distilled spirits became
well-known in the region as a product worth
spending money for. In the year 1810, about the
time Abraham and Maria Overholt were expecting
the birth of their first child, he approached his
elders and convinced them to allow him to start
distilling as a commercial business. Winning his
case, he built a log cabin distillery and set
about creating a rye whiskey worthy of legend.
The unmatched
quality of Overholt whiskey, coupled with an
excellent and constantly evolving business model,
made Abraham's products famous, especially his Old
Farm brand Pennsylvania pure rye
whiskey, and his A. Overholt &
Co. brand. He and Maria brought
eight children into the world: Henry
(farmer, distiller & father of 7 children
with Abigail Carpenter), Anna
(mother of 10 children with John Tinstman), Jacob
(businessman, builder, entrepreneur & father
of 9 children with Mary Fox), Abraham
(businessman & father of 4 children with Mary
Ann Newmyer), Elizabeth (mother
of 6 children with John W. Frick), Martin
(father of 6 children with Maria Wakefield), Christian
(farmer, distiller, merchant, banker, member of
the PA Board of Commissioners & father of 6
children with Katherine L. Newmyer), and John
(died single, age 20).
Learn more
about West Overton, The Overholt Family, master
distiller Abraham Overholt, and The Extended
Overholt Family at The
Overholt Family Tree ~~ Karens Branches.
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