Biography - W Weber
W. F. WEBER. It is with pleasure that any true-hearted patriot recounts the life history of one who saved our nation with devotion, and it is with reverence that we look upon the infirmities that have come upon these crippled veterans in our country's service. The old soldier of whom we write, and who is now one of the most substantial and prosperous farmers of Audubon Township, is a native of Chautauqua County, N. Y., born March 20, 1837, he being the eighth in order of birth of nine children born to Joseph and Eunice (Johnson) Weber, both natives of the Empire State. The grandfather, Nicholas Weber, was also a native of that State, and was born about thirteen years prior to the Revolutionary War. The family is of German extraction, and the great-grandfather of our subject, no doubt, came from the Fatherland many years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The mother of our subject was of English extraction, but no date is before us of the early history of this family, or the exact time her forefathers came to this country.
In 1840, when the subject of this sketch was but a child of three years, the parents left the Empire State for the great West, and traveled by team to the Ohio River. From there they went by flat-boats to Pittsburg, and by steamer to St. Louis, Mo., where they again took to team and made their way to the then wild prairies of Montgomery County, Ill. They settled on a piece of unbroken land not far from the now thriving county seat of Montgomery County, or Hillsboro, and here it may be said of Mr. Weber:
"He chopped, he logged, he cleared his lot, And into many a dismal spot He let the light of day."
The mother died a few years later, or when our subject was about seven years old, and on this farm, which he had labored hard to clear and develop, the father passed away in 1853. Of this pioneer family there are now but five living the original of this notice, two brothers and two sisters. Jacob, the eldest, resides not far from the place where the family first settled, north of Hillsboro. He served his country faithfully in the Civil War, and was in the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and was discharged after the fall of Vicksburg on a surgeon's certificate of disability. William W. is a farmer living in this county; Harriet is the wife of Philip Hacker, of St. Louis, Mo.; and Julia married James P. Hancock, who was a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and died at Jackson, Tenn., of typhoid fever, while in service.
Like the children of other pioneer families, our subject was early inured to the arduous duties of the farm, and was fairly educated for those days. For a number of years prior to the Civil War, he was engaged in the sawmill business, and thus we find him actively employed when President Lincoln made his first call for troops, in April, 1861. He promptly tendered his services and was enrolled in Company H, Ninth Illinois Infantry, and spent the greater part of his enlistment at Cairo. At the expiration of his term of enlistment, three mouths, he was discharged, and returned home, but early in the summer of 1862, he re-enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, as a private. His command was at once sent to the front at Bolivar, Tenn., and this regiment, while one of the best in the service, had many duties to perform, holding the rebels in check, guarding forts and railroads, and transportations for Grant's army. It was in the great siege and fall of Vicksburg, and many small engagements and skirmishes.
The greater part of the time was spent in Tennessee and Arkansas, and while near Duval’s Bluff, in the latter State, on White River, our subject was personally in charge of a sawmill for the Government for about a year. The last year of the war his regiment was engaged in skirmishing, scouting, and in long marches in the State of Arkansas, and was mustered out in Pine Bluff, that State, July 12, 1865, and discharged at Springfield, Ill., on the 2d of the following August. He served his country with bravery and valor for more than three years, endured many hardships and suffered much. During his service he was ruptured, contracted rheumatism, and nearly lost his eye-sight, one eye becoming entirely blind.
After returning from the army he again engaged in the sawmill business, which continued until the fall of 1866, when he purchased the farm in Audubon Township, on which he has since resided. For six years he was a member of the Board of Supervisors of Montgomery County, for two years was Justice of the Peace, Clerk two terms, for three years was Commissioner, and for twenty-five years was Treasurer of his school district. He is a Grand Army man, and life-long Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Weber had born to them nine children, seven of whom are living. One died when a child, and Ida died when twenty years of age. Laura E. is the wife of H. Teter, of Fairmont, Neb.; Charles and Perry, at home; Annie is a teacher in the public schools; Lulu, Hattie and Maud are at home. Mr. Weber has a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres, has good, substantial buildings, and is one of the representative men of this section.
Extracted 04 Dec 2016 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 239-240.
