Biography - J Weber
J. M. WEBER is the popular editor of the Nokomis Journal, a paper that
is published in the interests of the Republican party and wields a
wide-spread influence in the local politics of Montgomery County. This paper
is up to the times, and its editorial department is well conducted, and is
noted for the able manner in which the general topics of the day are
handled. Mr. Weber was born in Walshville, Montgomery County, Ill., May 28,
1869, the eldest of three children born to A. J. and Mary A. (Gunter) Weber,
the former of whom was also born in this county, to which section the
grandfather, M. J. Weber, had come at a very early date. Young Weber grew up
very much the same as did other farmers' boys, and received his initiatory
training in the common schools, but he finished his studies at Irving. His
father was for some years a machinist, but is now a contractor and builder
in Litchfield.
When quite a lad, our subject became enamored of the printing business, and
persuaded his father to buy him a small press, which he kept under his bed,
and at times when he was not occupied with his studies at school he was
printing cards for his schoolmates. Notwithstanding the fact that his mother
considered this work a nuisance, he was not to be foiled in his business
enterprise, and, taking his outfit, press and all, under his arm, he started
out to find another "office," and before night he had rented a room. In
1887, he established himself as a job printer, and the business grew from
the start. Two years later, he established the Irving Times, a small sheet,
which he edited until about the 1st of January, 1891, when lie sold it, and
the following April came to Nokomis and established the Nokomis Journal, a
five-column quarto, eight-page sheet, which is uncompromisingly Republican.
Mr. Weber is an able and somewhat aggressive writer, but his paper from the very start has grown in public favor, and has been a financial success. His whole soul is in his work, and if perseverance, intelligence and sound judgment can accomplish anything, Mr. Weber will doubtless become eminent in his calling. He is very popular in the social circles of Nokomis, his genial and cordial manner and his intelligence and keen wit making him a favorite and winning him friends wherever he goes.
In the year 1889, he married Miss Delia L. Lipe, a daughter of Jacob L. Lipe, a minister of the Lutheran Church at Irving, a member of a family prominent in the history of Montgomery County. Mr. and Mrs. Weber are the parents of three children: Chester Carl, Burnice Grace and an infant named Eva Myrtle.
Extracted 10 Jan 2017 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 364-365.
