THE VICKERSONS OF RIVER SIDE, LOT 34

GEORGE VICKERSON was born Johann Georg Weckesser in Willingshausen, Hessen- Cassel, Germany on Jan. 2 1756. He was the son of Anna Catharina Schmid and Helwig Weckesser. He was named after his uncle, Johann Georg Schmid, who also raised him. In 1770, at confirmation, he as-sumed his father’s name Weckesser. Georg never knew his father who died in Sept. 1756. His mother died in August 1781, when Georg was in America.

Georg joined the Hessen—Cassel military when he was 17 and arrived in Sandy Hook, New York on the 12 of August 1776 to support the British in quelling the American Revolution. His regiment participated in the battles of Flatbush, and White Plains, the capture of Fort Washington and the battle of Trenton.

A late fall storm in October 1779 was the cause of Georg Weckesser’s first knowledge of Ile de St. Jean, or Prince Edward Island. He and a company of German Grenadiers were on route from New York to Quebec, when the storm forced them to take shelter at Charlottetown, where they made arrangements with local authorities to spend the winter. They spent a very severe winter in tents and

Lemuel Vickerson, b. 1837, d. 1874.

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mud and wood huts which they constructed. A late spring followed, and it was mid June before they departed for Quebec. They returned to Germany in 1783.

Georg’s close friend, Christian Juncker died in January of 1782 in New York, and Georg became legal guardian of his children Anna Barbara and Johann Conrad. ( It was normal for the families to accompany the soldiers on these campaigns). In 1783 Georg and Anna Barbara Juncker, a girl of 15 at the time, were married in New York. They returned to their homes in Hessen-Cassel, Germany in late 1783, and Georg’s friend Wilhelm Fischer married widow Anna Maria Juncker. They remained in the German Army until 1787, when both Weckesser and Fischer deserted. Emigration from Hessen-Cassel was prohibited, but the men and their families escaped, made their way to the coast and finally across the Atlantic to PEI.

By this time Georg and Anna Barbara had two children Wilhelm and Anna Maria. On landing on PEI they were recognized as Loyalists and received tools and other supplies, granted to Loyalists. Georg petitioned for land in Lot 32 but after a number of years this was not granted. It is possible that he lived in Lot 32 (North River) for some time but due to the many irregularities in land grants under Governor Patterson, he was forced off it and moved in 1790 to land in Lot 34 on the Hillsborough River, where he is said to have been the first settler in the community. (Fischer and young Conrad Juncker settled in Lot 32).

Georg Weckesser anglicized his name to George Vickerson, although early records show various spellings such as Vickasser and Veckasser. (The J unckers became the Younkers).

George Vickerson died August 25th 1805 at the age of 49 leaving a pregnant widow and 8 children. Anna Barbara died in 1850. He is buried in the Elm Ave. Cemetery (no stone found). 1

Submitted by Christine Weatherbie Genealogy by Linda Harding