Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 807 - 808

ALBERT J. WEAVER. One of the finest and best conducted farms in Grant Township lies about seven miles north of the city of Wichita, and five and one-half miles from the village of Valley Center, and is familiarly known as the Weaver homestead, and as the result of the labors of the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this sketch. His son, however, has principal charge of its operations, while the father is wisely taking life easy and only engages in labor or business as a recreation.

             A native of the Keystone State, Albert J. Weaver was born in Blair County, April 7, 1837, and was the seventh child of John B. and Susan R. (Delancy) Weaver, whose family included five sons and five daughters. They also were born in Pennsylvania, and spent their last years in Blair County. The paternal grandfather, Frederick Weaver, was a native of Germany, whence he emigrated at the age of fourteen years, and settling in Pennsylvania, married a Miss Maria Beebehouse, a native of that State, where they spent the remainder of their lives engaged in farming pursuits. The Delancys were of French descent, and the maternal grandfather served as a Commodore in the navy during the Revolutionary War.

            The father of our subject learned the trade of weaver during his youth, which he abandoned in 1834 for the more congenial pursuits of a carpenter and builder, and thereafter followed this and was also a contractor until his death, which occurred in Blair County, Pa., in June, 1859, when he was sixty-one years old. The wife and mother survived the husband for a period of thirteen years, her death taking place in 1874, at the age of seventy-two.

            Our subject received a good education in his native State, completing his studies in the graded schools, and served an apprenticeship of seven years at the carpenter trade, which he followed during his residence there. He was married, in 1857, to a maiden of Mifflin County, Miss Clara Benner, who was born Jan. 9, 1838, and was the third child of James W. and Margaret (Rupert) Benner. The latter were natives also of the Keystone State, and the parents of eight children. The great-grandfather of Mrs. Weaver was Gen. Philip Benner, one of the bravest soldiers in the Revolutionary War, and operating principally in the Wyoming Valley. On her mother's side her grandparents were Philip and Mary Rupert.

             The subject of our sketch continued in his native State until the outbreak of the late Civil War, and was among the first to offer his services as a volunteer, enlisting on the 18th of April, 1861, with the three-months men. He had gained a good insight into military affairs, having previously been a member of a local company. He now cast his lot with Company A, 3d Pennsylvania Infantry, and was mustered into service at Harrisburg the Same day of his enlistment. He was first assigned to picket duty around Cawkeyville Hill, at the time the Massachusetts troops were attacked at Baltimore, Md.,  and not long afterward met the enemy in the battle at Hainesville. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned home, and was subsequently employed by the Pennsylvania Canal Company, who were engaged in the building of bridges and aqueducts.

             In the meantime, there appearing no prospect of an immediate settlement of the difficulty between the North and South, Mr. Weaver could not content himself with staying at home while others were hastening to the field of conflict, and accordingly not only re-enlisted for three years, but went to work and recruited a company for the service. He now became a member of Company D, 110th Pennsylvania Infantry, the date of his enlistment being Sept. 18, 1861, and purposed to continue as a soldier of the Union army until the close of the war.

             Mr. Weaver was the second time mustered into service, at Harrisburg, Pa., and soon afterward engaged in the battle at Hancock, Md., and thereafter met the rebels in thirteen engagements and skirmishes. In the meantime he captured five prisoners, triumphantly marching into camp with each man by himself. He was the first man to scale the wall at the first battle of Winchester, and received a slight flesh wound from a minie ball. The exposure and hardships to which he was subjected brought on a hemorrhage of the lungs, from which he suffered considerably for a time, but he otherwise escaped unharmed, and a second time was honorably discharged, at Harrisburg, Pa., and was mustered out Sept. 21, 1864.

             Mr. Weaver now sought his old haunts in Blair County, Pa., where he continued as a contractor and builder, and put up some of the finest residences in that section of country. In 1867 the hemorrhage which had troubled him while in the army broke out afresh, and by the advice of his physicians he abandoned active labor and removed to Williamsburg, where, under the first administration of President Grant he was appointed Postmaster, which office he occupied three years and then tendered his resignation. His health being somewhat recovered he went into West Virginia, and was given a position as foreman of the Elk River Navigation Company, in which position he remained until chills and fever compelled him to abandon that section of country. He now made his way back to Williamsburg, Pa., and re-entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Canal Company, which was then engaged in building locks in the North Branch Canal. He remained with them until near the spring of 1873, then engaged as a contractor and builder in Lewistown. From there, in the winter of 1875-76, he migrated to Philadelphia at the time of the erection of the building for the Centennial Exposition, and was placed as foreman over one of the departments. His family in the meantime remained in Lewistown.

             After the completion of his contract in Philadelphia Mr. Weaver became an employe of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad Company, and was occupied in erecting signal towers and depots until the fall of the year, when he determined to seek the farther West. He had for some time been interested in the reports coming from Southern Kansas, and now making his way directly to this county, took up his residence in Grant Township and continued his trade of carpenter and builder. In June, 1879, he went to New Mexico as foreman for the Santa Fe Railroad Company in the erection of depots and division houses, returning in October to Grant Township.

 Mr. Weaver now invested a part of his capital in eighty acres of partially improved land on section 15 in Grant Township, where he took up his residence with his family and has since remained. His knowledge of carpentering and building enabled him to erect the various structures required for his comfort and convenience, thus saving the expenditure of a large sum of money. He has a good house and barn, with the various other buildings required by the modern agriculturist, and in addition to the land in this county, has a timber claim of 160 acres in Stanton County, this State. One of the most noticeable features of the homestead is a good orchard, and the fields are enclosed with neat and substantial fences.

            The farm of our subject, besides having been brought to a good state of cultivation, is well stocked with high-grade Norman horses, Durham cattle and pure-bred Poland-China swine. In this department he takes an especial pride and exhibits some of the finest animals in his township. As may be supposed his life has been an exceedingly busy one, with few idle hours. In addition to his own private interests he has given much time to local affairs, and is one of the most active workers of the Republican party in his county. As a member of the State Central Committee he has been entrusted with important interests, and is frequently appointed a delegate to the County Conventions. There is no warmer friend of temperance in the State, and although not quite ready to identify himself with the Prohibition party, he earnestly endorses their principles. The various enterprises calculated to do credit to Sedgwick County have ever found in him an earnest advocate and friend, and in addition to his various other duties he officiates as Secretary and Treasurer of the Centennial Park Association, which was incorporated in 1876, and whose grounds are located on section 16, in Grant Township.

            Mr. Weaver and his estimable wife are members in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which our subject is Steward and Trustee, and one of the most liberal supporters, and donated an acre of ground for the erection of a church edifice. Socially, he belongs to Charles E. Wariner Post No. 335. G. A. R., at Valley Center.

            The children of Mr. and Mrs. Weaver, six in number, were named respectively: James B., Letitia, Carrie M., Marietta, John A. and Charles F. Of these but two are living. Carrie M. is the wife of J. O. Mead, a well-to-do farmer of Grant Township, and Charles F. is operating the homestead. To partially replace the little ones who have been snatched from the household circle by death, Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have taken into their home a little girl, Maude Grover, now nine years of age, whom they are rearing as their own, and to whom they are performing the part of kind and affectionate parents. Mr. Weaver, with his characteristic industry, follows his trade when so inclined, and there are many buildings in the city of Wichita which stand as monuments of his ingenuity and skill.

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