My Genealogy Hound

Hon. John F. Weaver was born at Fort Smith September 11, 1849, and is a son of W. J. and Catherine (Minmier) Weaver, natives of Philadelphia, Penn., and Germany, respectively. His father was a tradesman, and was a son of Emmor T. Weaver, born in Chester County, Penn., of English parents; he was a goldsmith or jeweler. The great-grandparents of our subject were of Quaker faith, and early settler of Pennsylvania, landing with William Penn. They were people of temperate habits and fine physique, and were engaged in agricultural pursuits. Their descendants were mostly farmers, but many became ministers and lawyers. Catherine Minmier was born in Prussia, near Minden. John F. Weaver grew to manhood on a farm in Henry County, Ill., where he received a common-school education. At the age of sixteen he began to learn the printer’s trade, at Salem, Ohio, working in the office of the Salem Journal. After having learned his trade, he worked two years on a farm, and in 1871 came to Fort Smith, Ark. Here he worked three years at his trade in the office of the New Era, and then spent five years on the Western Independent. In 1880 he assumed the management of the paper, which became known as the Independent Democrat, with which he remained until 1885. He then took an active interest in the publication of the Elevator, with which he is now connected. Mr. Weaver has always been an active politician, and is now a representative of his county in the Legislature. He is a member of the Knights of Honor, and an honored and respected citizen.