Portrait and Biographical Record of Saginaw and Bay Counties, Michigan
Published 1892

James A. Weaver
     On the opposite page appears a portrait of this gentleman, who was identified with the business interests of Saginaw for a quarter of a century.  After a protracted illness he passed from live on the 12th of April 1880.  He was born at Vernon, N.Y., March 21, 1830, and his parents were Zachariah and Maria (Truax) Weaver, both natives of New York State and of old Holland ancestry.  The father was born November 25, 1786, and the mother July 15, 1790.
     At Rochester our subject learned the carpenter’s trade at an early age, and was only eighteen years of age when he came West.  His first work in Michigan was done in the car shops of the Michigan Central Railway at Detroit, and  in a short time he was promoted to superintending the supply department  in the building, which place he held up to the time of his coming  to Saginaw in 1865, a period of fifteen or sixteen years.  In that trusted position of responsibility he was considered by his employers to be one of best men they ever had.

When Mr. Weaver came to Saginaw he engaged with his nephew, Charles H. Wilkins, in the boot and shoe business and later formed a partnership in the same line with Jacob Seligman, the firm being Weaver and Seligman.  Meanwhile the senior member of the firm was the proprietor of a furniture house and, until his factory was destroyed by fire, gave employment to a large number of men.  The boot and shoe business was closed in 1885, but the furniture establishment was conducted until 1888.  Thoroughly practical in his transactions and understanding every department of his business, he built up a prosperity commensurate with the merits of his goods and the superior facilities he enjoyed.

A conservative and successful business man, Mr. Weaver never met with failure during his entire business career.  His store was located at No. 220 Genesee Avenue, where the People’s Savings Bank is now situated, and the property is still in the hands of the family.  He became one-forth owner of the Everett House Block in 1877.  Eight years after his health commenced to fail and he was obliged to abandon his business.  Previous to his illness he was a man of fine physique, tall and stately.   In his political views he was in sympathy with the Republican party but never devoted his attention to politics, as his time and strength were all absorbed by his private business.

The family mansion at No. 325 South Jefferson Street, was erected in 1875, at a  cost of not less than $12,000, and is finished in elegant style, with hard wood trimmings.  The marriage of Mr. Weaver took place September 25, 1856 at Oneida, N.Y., and he was then united with Miss Nancy M., daughter of Solomon and Lean Ann (Flanders) Klock.

Mr. Klock is still living at the age of eighty-eight years.  The family, which has lived for generations at Albany, is of old Dutch stock and Grandfather Flanders was active in the War of 1812.  Mr. and Mrs. Weaver were blessed by the birth of two daughters;  Emma A., who now Mrs. P.J. Doyle of Chicago, and Agnes C., who is a graduate of the Class of ’84, of the Literary Department of the State University of Michigan, and in 1990 to her degree in Medical Department of the same institution.  She is now employed in hospital work in Boston, where she spent one year at the New England Hospital for Women and Children, and will, during 1892-93, spend a year abroad in study.  The death of Mr. Weaver was deeply felt in Saginaw, although he had been for several years withdrawn from active participation in the affairs of business. 

 
 

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