Weidman, Joseph

WEIDMAN, STOYER, WOLF

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 2/14/2003 at 17:16:16

JOSEPH WEIDMAN. 

Faithfulness to duty and strict adherence to a fixed purpose in life will do more to advance a man’s interests than wealth or advantageous circumstances. The successful men of the day are they who have planned their own advancement and have accomplished it in spite of many obstacles, and with a certainty that could have been attained only through their own efforts. Such has been the career of Mr. Weidman, a leading representative of railroad service in Clinton, whose connection with the Chicago & Northwestern Railway has been almost continuous since 1872.

Mr. Weidman was born in DuPage county, Illinois, February 24, 1854, a son of Jonathan Weidman, who was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1809, and was of German descent. He married Susan Stoyer, who was also a native of the same county as was of German lineage. Her birth occurred in the same year as her husband’s. In 1852 they went to Illinois and there Mr. Weidman followed farming, but in later life removed to Warrenville, that state, where he lived retired until his death, which occurred in 1882, his wife surviving until 1899. They were members of the Dunkard church and in their upright lives won the confidence and respect of all with whom they were associated. In their family were thirteen children, of whom three are now deceased, while the others are living and have families of their own. Two of the sons were in the Union army during the Civil war and one died in the service in 1865, but Curtis S. is now a resident of Wheaton, Illinois. One daughter resides in West Bend, Iowa, and with the exception of our subject is the only member of the family living in this state.

In the country schools of DuPage county, Joseph Weidman pursued his education, and through the summer seasons he worked on the home farm until 1872, when he began railroading. He assisted in planting the spring crops that year and then went to Escanaba, Michigan, entering the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company as a fireman. His brother, Charles H. Weidman, took the first engine to the iron regions on a scow from Green Bay to Escanaba, and was active in building the road in the iron fields. He is a pioneer railroad man, having been connected with the service from boyhood. For five years Mr. Weidman of this review was employed as fireman, running from Escanaba, and thence he removed to Iona, Michigan, being employed for a time as fireman on the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Road, after which he was promoted to engineer. He was also employed as a brakeman on the same road until 1881, when he returned to Escanaba and entered the train service. In 1883 he came to Iowa, settling at Belle Plaine, and on Christmas day of that year he was promoted to the position of conductor. He has worked on three divisions in Iowa, was in the extra passenger service for eight years and is now in the freight service. He resided in Clinton until 1892 when he removed to Ames, Iowa, where he remained for five years, returning to Clinton in 1898. He was on fast mail No. 9 when first put into the service and is now in the regular time freight service, running between Clinton and Boone. He once lost a thumb in a railroad accident, but otherwise has escaped personal injury, largely owing to his watchfulness and care. He has a full realization of the responsibility of his position and the importance of the interests entrusted to him, and his skill and fidelity are most marked.

In Iona, Michigan, in 1881, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Weidman and Miss Lena Wolf, who was born at Eagle River, Michigan, and was educated in the public schools of that state. They now have two children: Evva, who was born in 1882 and is now a student in the business college of Clinton; and Harry, born in 1891. Mr. Weidman had little opportunity to acquire an education, as he did not attend school after he was fifteen years of age, but he has made the most of his opportunities for advancement in knowledge and in business life and is now a well-informed man as well as a successful representative of industrial interests. There are only fifteen employees of the road who have been longer in the service than he. He is a member of Clinton Division, No. 33, O. R. C., and was formerly a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge in Belle Plaine. He has carried his investigation and researches far and wide into many fields of science and is authority on birds and minerals. He has one of the largest collections of mounted feathered specimens to be found in this part of the country, including game birds of all kinds and their eggs. He has six very rare and valuable specimens of albino, or white blackbirds, together with meadow larks, crows and fox squirrels. He also has many rare specimens of young birds, showing them at different stages of growth, his cases altogether containing three hundred mounted birds. His wall cases of mounted birds are unsurpassed in any private collection in this part of the country. The cases were made according to order, the glass being obtained from Massachusetts. He also has a specimen case of minerals and Indian relics and weapons. His friends spend many a pleasant and profitable hour with him in viewing his collections, of which he has every reason to be proud, and few men outside of those who make the gathering of such collections a profession have broader knowledge along these lines than Joseph Weidman.
Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.