Absalom
Weese was a farmer and he lived about two miles up from
Beverly on Dodson Creek (Dodson Run), Randolph Co., W.Va.
Absalom Weese, a son of Jacob Weese Jr., was born on the
15th of May, in 1801. On October 9, 1823, he was married
to Eunice Marstiller, a daughter of Nicholas Marstiller,
who was also German, and served in the American Revolution.
Eunice Marstiller Weese was born on the 16th of September,
in 1806. About the year 1825, the eldest child of Absalom
and Eunice was born, a girl, and she was named Mary Ellen.
She died about 1851. Dr. Squire Bosworth's day book mentions
several visits attending to her during the spring of that
year.
In 1826, Absalom Weese was a purchaser at the estate sale
of his grandfather, Jacob Weese Sr. At this sale Absalom
purchased one tub and keg for 29 cent and one hackle for
$1.52. Among other items sold at his sale were livestock,
14 crocks, the usual furniture and household items, soap
fat, wool, eggs, butter, and bacon. Also, these old time
West Virginians were not without their strong drinks, and
at the sale of Jacob Weese Sr.'s estate one of the items
sold was: "one bottle with whiskey " The price
was 62 cent. There are other references to alcoholic beverages
during the period in other sources, among these being French,
peach, and apple brandy; cider wine, and West India Rum.
Also in 1862, Absalom Weese became the father of a son,
George M. Weese. Two years later, Eunice gave birth again,
to William Weese, and in the same year Absalom Weese was
deeded property on King's Run by his parents.
In l831. Absalom and Eunice Weese became the parents of
another daughter, Sarah. That year Weese was a purchaser
at the estate sale of John Chenoweth. He purchased one pot
for $14.25. Jacob Weese Jr. the father of Absalom, died
the following year, and from his estate Absalom is shown
to have purchased three blue chairs for $3.07; one foot
adze for 90 cent; and one brown cow for $14.25. The following
year Absalom purchased one work bench for $2.26 out of the
estate of John G. Phillips. Also in 1833 Elam Weese, another
son, was born. In 1834 came another, named Elias. In 1836,
in December, Absalom Weese is mentioned in the diary of
George McLean. The entry reads: "Let Absalorn Weese
have six lights of sash." In May of 1838, Absalom Weese
became a father yet again, of another daughter, Margaret
Weese.
The 1840's saw the Weeses become the parents of four more
children. These were Lydia in 1841, Hoy in 1843, Cecelia
in 1845, and their youngest, Christena Margaret Bosworth
Weese was born in 1849, named after a daughter of Dr. Squire
Bosworth. The custom of naming a child after a member of
Bosworth's family or after Bosworth himself was not uncommon
in the area at that time, as he was a prominent physician
who delivered a number of the babies in the region. His
day book mentions several visits to Absalom Weese and family
during the period for various reasons. In 1840, Samuel Morrison
deeded 100 acres of land to Absalom Weese. 1841 found Weese
in debt to one John Propst, and he signed over a portion
of his land in trust to James D. Wright until 1843. By then
the debt had been paid and Absalom Weese regained possession
of the tract. In July of 1844, the Southgate family deeded
to Weese 253 acres on the west side of Elliott's Ridge.
In 1847, Absalom deeded the south side of the farm he lived
on to his son George Weese, who recently had been married.
About the year 1858, Absalom Weese entered into a contract
with his son Elias in which Absalom was to convey a tract
of land on Dodson Run to him. Elias was to reside on the
land with his father, they sharing equally in the chore
of making improvements. Elias was bound to care for his
parents when they no longer could care for themselves, and
he was also to pay several judgments against Absalom, amounting
to $143.50. Also, at some point, Absalom became indebted
to Elias in the amount of $137.50. Elias Weese sued his
father in November of 1868, saying that Absalom was about
to convey certain lands to two of his other sons, George
and William, in an effort to cheat Elias out of his monies.
This suit was apparently settled out of court on April 22,
1870.
There is a story of Absalom Weese once having Union soldiers
in one part of the house and Confederates in another, the
family shuffling back and forth to keep them separated.
Also, it is said that several doctors and their families
took refuge in the Weese home during a battle, and stories
have been handed down about the disposition of the soldiers,
they going door to door demanding food, women for their
dances, or anything else they felt they needed.
The Weese family survived the war intact, and in the 1870
Federal Census Absalom Weese's occupation is listed as a
wheelwright. His son Elias, the former war prisoner, was
assaulted by Charles Hill of Elliott's Ridge in 1873. For
this offense, Hill was fined $1.00. Absalom Weese died in
February of 1880. His widow went to Elliott's Ridge and
lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Christena and George
W. Hill. In May of 1886, Eunice Weese brought a lawsuit
against her two sons, George and William Weese. In her complaint
she contended that she had been denied her dower interest
in several tracts of land conveyed by Absalom Weese in her
lifetime. These tracts were about 2 1/2 miles from Beverly
on Dodson Run, and one, conveyed by Absalom to George Weese,
was the one on which Absalom had resided. She contended
that she had asked her sons for her dower, but they refused
her request. This suit, like an earlier one in the family,
appears to have been settled out of court. It is not known
if Eunice Weese lived the rest of her life with the Hills.
She, like her husband and several of her children, is buried
in the small Weese cemetery just east of the present day
location of Daniels Body Shop on Dodson Run Road.
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