Joseph Weaver

As printed in 1897

OSEPH WEAVER, M. D., the oldest male resident of Miamisburg, Ohio, and one of the most prominent citizens of the place, was born three miles south of Dayton, December 22, 1816. He is a son of George and Elizabeth (Hoch) Weaver, natives of Pennsylvania, who settled in Montgomery county, Ohio, in the year of his birth. His father, George Weaver, a farmer by occupation, reared to maturity eleven of the twelve children that were born to him, and at the present time seven of the eleven survive.

Joseph Weaver, when but twelve years old, located in Miamisburg, and worked for Drs. Isaac and John Treon for his board, clothing and education, until he was eighteen years of age. For four years subsequently he remained with them as a student of medicine. In the winter of 1836-37 he attended a course of lectures at the Ohio Medical college of Cincinnati, and in 1838 began the practice of his profession at Miamisburg. Soon afterward he engaged in the drug business, in which he continued for three years in connection with his medical practice. He then sold out the drug business and confined his attention to his profession, in which he successfully continued until 1870, a period of thirty-two years. In 1873 he embarked in the lumber business, in which he still continues, and in 1884 he erected a large planing-mill, which he has since operated. Since 1889 he has also been engaged in the coal business. For many years he has dealt in real estate, and has erected a large number of houses in Miamisburg, several of which he still owns.

Dr. Weaver was married, in 1841, to Fannie Swar, daughter of John and Susan (Kauffman) Swar, of Miamisburg, and to this marriage there were born several children, as follows: Minerva (Mrs. Rev. H. N. Weaver),

John, Charles, Nora (Mrs. Dr. William Shuler), Anna (Mrs. John Walters), Louisa (Mrs. William Kauffman), and Clara. The doctor has twenty-two grandchildren. He is a member of the German Reformed church; in politics, originally a whig, he has been a republican since that party was organized. His first presidential vote was cast for Gen. William Henry Harrison, in 1840, and his last for Gen. Benjamin Harrison, in 1892. Dr. Weaver's memory is perfect, and his reminiscences of early days are exceedingly interesting. In the sixty-eight years of his residence in Miamisburg, the older generations have all passed away, and he stands now, hale and vigorous, nearly alone, but apparently with many years of active life and usefulness before him, the only representative of the men who knew the place before it became a town and the only one living who assisted in its organization.

As printed in Centennial portrait and biographical record of the city of Dayton and of Montgomery County, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with the biographi (1897). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.