Westmoreland County PA Archives Biographies.....Weimer, William May 29, 1837 - ????
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Alice Gless agless@earthlink.net October 17, 2024, 4:11 pm

Source: History of Henry County Illinois, Vol II, 1910
Author: Henry L. Kiner

Pleasantly situated in Geneseo, living in one of the attractive homes of
the city, is William Weimer, a retired farmer whose life history is a
notable example of what may be accomplished through determination and
energy.  Though he started out in life empty-handed, when sixteen years
of age and comparatively without educational advantages, he has become
one of the extensive landowners of this part of the state, placing his
money in that safest of all investments-real estate.  He was born in
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, May 29, 1837, his parents being
Jonathan and Susan (Berger) Weimer, who were natives of Pennsylvania.
Their family numbered eleven children, three sons and eight daughters,
but only two are now living, Israel Weimer, of Geneseo, being the
younger brother of our subject.  The father made farming his life work,
and believing that the great prairie district of the Mississippi Valley
offered better opportunities than could be secured in the east, he came
to Illinois in the fall of 1853, settling in Henry County.  Here he died
a few years later at the age of seventy-eight.  His wife survived him
for twelve years and passed away when about seventy-seven years of age.
In the east they were members of the Dunkard¹s Society.

William Weimer spent the first sixteen years of his life in the Keystone
state, where he was reared to the work of the farm.  Owing to the
limited financial resources of his parents he was deprived of
educational privileges, as it was necessary that he assist in the work
of the fields.  As a youth he was industrious and thoughtful, and these
qualities have characterized his entire life.  With his parents he came
to Illinois and lived at home until he had attained his majority, when
he started out upon an independent business career working by the month
as a farm hand for four years.  He decided, however, that his labors
should more directly benefit himself, and for a year thereafter he
engaged in the cultivation of a rented farm.  He bought seed wheat and a
team of horses and sowed forty acres of wheat, also thirty acres to
oats, but it was a wet season, and he lost his crop and became in debt.
He then had to work two years by the month to discharge his financial
obligations, but he did not allow this experience to discourage him,
knowing that determination and energy will in time overcome all
difficulties and obstacles.

Soon afterward Mr. Weimer was married and started out in business life
anew.  He was fortunate in his choice of a wife, for she proved a most
faithful companion and helpmate to him on life's journey.  After a time
he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Geneseo Township,
which was wild and unimproved.  He built a house thereon and began the
development of his fields, making his home on that farm from 1861 until
1890.  He added to that until he owned seven hundred acres, a part of
which he has since sold, but from time to time he has invested in land
in Kansas in partnership with his son until they have between eleven
thousand and twelve thousand acres in the Sunflower state, and also nine
sections of land in Colorado.  He has achieved this by carefully
watching expenses and by utilizing every advantage.  He has watched for
opportunities for good investments and has wisely placed his money so
that he derives therefrom a substantial income at the present time.

On the 6th of October, 1862, Mr. Weimer was married to Miss Susan
Keller, a daughter of David and Catharine (Arnett) Keller.  They became
parents of eight children:  Emma C., the eldest, married Winfield
Cressner and resides on the old Weimer homestead, and they have five
children:  Earl, Edith, Elvin, Esther, and Huen.  W. Albert, of Geneseo,
married Ella Tilford, and they have five children:  Harry, Harley,
Frank, Eva and Iva.  Minnie is the wife of John De Linn, and they had
four children, of whom three are now living:  William, Glen and Don.
Edith is the wife of William Hippler, of Geneseo, and they have three
children:  Mabel, Irene and Claude.  Frank died when sixteen years old.
Bertie is the wife of Edward Coe, who is living in Los Angeles,
California, and they have two sons:  Reuben and Rowland.  The youngest
child of the family died in infancy.  The mother, Mrs. Susan Weimer,
died August 12, 1880, when about thirty-six years of age.  Mr. Weimer
afterward wedded Miss Pauline Stenzel, a daughter of John and Augusta
(Hollaz) Stenzel, and they have two children:  Jesse and Nellie.

In 1890 Mr. Weimer removed to Geneseo and built a beautiful home on
North State Street, where he still resides.  He has also erected another
fine residence in the city.  Politically he is a Democrat and has served
as school director and road commissioner.  He has never been a
politician in the sense of office seeking, however, but has been
preeminently a man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influence.
He is numbered among the old settlers of the county and has lived to
witness notable changes since he arrived here about fifty-five years
ago.  Within this period practically all of the land has been brought
under cultivation, the wild prairies being transformed into rich fields,
while here and there flourishing towns have been built, and all the
advantages known to the older east have been introduced.  The present
home of Mr. Weimer is in great contrast to that in which he began his
domestic life.  He was for a time in extreme poverty owing to the
failure of crops, which threw him in debt and left him to start out
anew.  Brooking no obstacle that could be overcome by persistent and
earnest effort, he has worked his way steadily upward, and the splendid
record which he has made is one well worthy of emulation, for he is now
numbered with the men of affluence in Henry County, and is one of the
most extensive landowners of this part of the state.

Additional Comments:
Originally submitted 1997.

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