William Trent William Trent ( 1715 – c . 1787 ) was a fur trader and merchant based in colonial Pennsylvania . He was commissioned as a captain of the Virginia Regiment in the early stages of the French and Indian War , when he served on the western frontier with the young Lt . Colonel George Washington . Trent led an advance group who built forts and improved roads for troop access and defense of the western territory . He was later promoted to the rank of major . Trent had gone into fur trading by 1740 , aided by capital from his father , a wealthy shipping merchant of Philadelphia who was the founder of Trenton , New Jersey . The younger Trent took on George Croghan , an Irish immigrant , as his partner , as he was effective in developing trading networks with Native Americans . In 1744 , Trent purchased vast lands in the Ohio Country west of the Appalachian Mountains . From then through the 1780s , he was a key figure in encouraging westward expansion by Anglo - American settlers past the Appalachian barrier , as he wanted to sell his land in parcels for development . Early life and education . Trent was born in 1715 in Lancaster , Pennsylvania ( then described as western Pennsylvania in historic accounts ) as the youngest child and son of William Trent , a prominent merchant and trader in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and his second wife , Mary Coddington , who was 25 years younger than her husband . The second son born to Mary Coddington Trent , William was her only child to survive to adulthood . Her first son died in infancy . Trent ' s father had four children with his first wife , Mary Burge Trent , who had died in 1708 . They were James , John , Maurice , and Mary Trent . Trent senior founded Trenton , New Jersey by buying a large tract of land in 1714 below the falls of the Delaware River and developing his country house there . Moving to the new site in 1721 with his family , Trent also platted the town around his house . The young Trent grew up with his father ' s wealth , gained from trading and shipping in furs , dry goods and slaves , with merchants and interests in the North American and Caribbean colonies , and England . His father had interests in 40 ships . His father served in the provincial governments in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey . Fur trader . With capital from his father , Trent had a stake to buy goods and begin fur trading in the Ohio Country . Much of the upper Ohio Valley had been conquered by the Iroquois nations , based in New York and northern Pennsylvania , and they kept it open by right of conquest as their hunting ground . They had needed new grounds after exhausting some of the fur game to the East . In 1744 , Trent made large land purchases from Native Americans in the Ohio Country along the Ohio River , west of the Appalachian Mountains . He took George Croghan , a young immigrant from Ireland , as a partner in the fur trade . Croghan had quickly proved adept at establishing a trading network among the Indians . He followed the French practice of establishing posts in existing Native villages , rather than expecting them to come to a separate English post . In addition , Croghan soon learned the Unami language of the Lenape ( Delaware ) and the Mohawk language of one of the Iroquois tribes . He was also involved in land speculation , usually holding property for a short period of time . French and Indian War ( 1754 - 1763 ) . The Virginia Regiment recruited men in Virginia and Pennsylvania in 1754 before the outbreak of the war . As pay was low , there was high turnover in the lower ranks . Trent was commissioned as a captain and commanded a company , then likely 25 - 40 men . The young George Washington was promoted from Lt . Col . to Colonel to command the Regiment . When the Regiment moved across the Appalachian divide along Nemacolin ' s Trail , Trent was assigned to take the advance company . He established two forts ( sic ) that were later taken and destroyed by the French : Fort Prince George , begun February 17 , 1754 and Fort Hanger . The first was built after Washington returned from his diplomatic mission warning the French to leave the Ohio Country . Trent and his forces built Fort Hanger ( Hangard ) later that year on Redstone Creek . It was at its confluence with the Monongahela River and near the crossing ford of the river by Nemacolin ' s Trail . Trent and his men had not completed Fort Prince George when a large French military expedition of 600 soldiers , led by Sieur de Contrecoeur , surrounded the English colonists . They forced Trent to surrender and return with his men to Virginia . The French force included engineers . After demolishing Fort Prince George , they began building the larger , more complex Fort Duquesne ( at present - day Pittsburgh ) . The officers of the Virginia Regiment decided to continue their campaign to secure the trans - Allegheny region for the Ohio Country . Their strategy was to build a wagon road to Redstone Creek , the nearest point of descent for larger traffic to the Monongahela River . After gaining reinforcements , they would attack and recapture the Forks of the Ohio . The Virginia Regiment began building a road from Wills Creek , intended to cross the mountains to Redstone Creek . Captain Trent was sent ahead with an advance party and supplies carried by pack animals , while Lt . Col . Washington oversaw the main column improving the road through the Cumberland Narrows Pass over the divide . Trent ' s command made minimal improvements . He reached Redstone Old Forts , where he had his men build Fort Hangard , a blockhouse built out of logs felled along Redstone Creek . Post war , 17631787 . Trent was a soldier - of - fortune during the various local Indian wars in Pennsylvania and present - day Maryland and West Virginia , and the French and Indian War . He commanded the militia at Fort Pitt during Pontiac ' s Rebellion . During the siege of Fort Pitt , Trent recorded in his journal that blankets from the fort ' s smallpox hospital had been given to the besieging Indians during a parley . In his account book , Trent said that the blankets had been given to them " to Convey the Smallpox to the Indians " . Trent wrote , " Out of our regard for them [ sc . representatives of the besieging Delawares ] , we gave them two Blankets and an Handkerchief out of the Small Pox Hospital . I hope it will have the desired effect . " Some credit Trent with being among the founding fathers of Pittsburgh . In later life , he became a land speculator in the western Pennsylvania region , as he sold off some of the lands he had bought in 1744 .