Dr. Frederick Weedon, (1784-1857) was awarded the first permit under the Armed Occupation Act in what is now modern day St. Lucie County. He wrote, “The place now occupied by me is where Ft. Pierce was and the land, which I want, fronts on Indian River, or St. Lucie Sound, and extends from Ft. Pierce one quarter of a mile north and one quarter mile south of Fort Pierce.”

He was born in Maryland, moved to Alabama, then to Florida. The doctor purchased land in Leon County in 1829 and in St. Augustine in 1834. He operated a drugstore and served as mayor of St. Augustine in 1835. The doctor also served in the War of 1812 and in the Florida militia during the war with the Seminoles. He was married to Mary Wells Thompson who died in 1849. Dr. Weedon transferred ownership of slaves in 1853, to his daughter Henrietta W. Whitehurst . In this agreement Weedon would receive care, and a guaranteed annuity for the remainder of his life. Reimbursement by her and her husband, army physician Daniel Winchester Whitehurst, to be paid to her brothers. Dr. Weedon died at Fort Jefferson on the Garden Key in 1857.