admin COL. JOHN B. WEBER has lived a life of singularly varied usefulness. He has been soldier, politician and business man, and in every one of these spheres has gained distinction. He was born in Buffalo September 21, 1842, the son of Philip J. and Mary Anna (Young) Weber, who came to this country from Alsace in 1834. He was educated in the public schools and in Central High School of Buffalo. He was still under nineteen when, on August 7, 1861, he enlisted in the Ellsworth “Avengers,” the famous 44th Eegiment organized after Col. Ellsworth’s assassination. Soon after enlisting Mr. Weber was made a Corporal, and was presently advanced to the ranks of Sergeant, Sergeant-Major, and Second Lieutenant of Company F. This was just before the great Seven Days’ Fight, in which Lieutenant Weber bore a gallant part, commanding his company from Mechanicsville to Malvern Hill. The company came out of that terrible battle with only five men left. At Gaines’ Mills, Lieutenant Weber received special mention for gallant conduct. He had been placed in command of a detachment sent out to do skirmish duty. While thus occupied, he and his troops were attacked by a whole rebel regiment, from which Lieutenant Weber and his little band escaped after inflicting upon the enemy a heavy loss. At Harrison’s Landing Lieutenant Weber was offered the adjutancy of the 116th New York Regiment and an adjutancy or Captaincy in the Avengers, but declined both offers. He returned for a short time to Buffalo, and the people of that city testified to their appreciation of his services by presenting him a handsome cavalry steed with full equipment. The second departure of Lieutenant Weber for the front was with the 116th New York Regiment. When that regiment became attached to the Gulf Department, Lieutenant Weber was made Acting Assistant Adjutant General, and held that commission until the death of Col. Chapin at Port Hudson. Prior to this event he had been offered the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of either a Massachusetts or a colored regiment, but had declined on account of his wish to continue to serve under Colonel Chapin. But now he organized the 89th U. S. Colored Infantry, of which he was made Colonel September 19, 1863.
At the close of the Rebellion, Col. Weber returned to Buffalo, and went into business as a grain commission merchant. During 1881-1884 he was a member of the wholesale grocery house of Smith & Weber, and later became cashier of the American Exchange Bank of Buffalo, which position he held from 1894 to 1897.
In 1870 Col. Weber ran for Sheriff of Erie County, but was defeated by Grover Cleveland by a very small majority. Col. Weber running far ahead of his ticket. In 1873 he was nominated for the same office and was elected by over two thousand plurality. He had also been appointed Deputy Postmaster, serving in that capacity three years prior to his election as Sheriff. The year of Cleveland’s first election to the Presidency, Col. Weber was elected to represent the 33d New York District in Congress, and in 1888 was again elected Representative. He energetically took part in the movement for canal improvement by Federal aid, and was a member of the sub-committee charged with drafting the bill to settle the Pacific Railroad indebtedness. The year after his retirement from Congress, Col. Weber was appointed by President Harrison Commissioner of Immigration at the port of New York, and while filling this office, was put at the head of a commission sent to Europe to investigate the sources and causes of immigration. His inquiries were embodied in a report so searching in its grasp of facts and forceful in style that it was widely discussed and was translated into French for circulation throughout Europe. In recent years Col. Weber has been prominently before the public as Secretary of the Grade Crossings Commission.
Col. Weber is the author of many reports and special articles dealing principally with canal and immigration questions. He is a member of the G. A. R. and the Loyal Legion. He is a Mason, member and former President and Treasurer of the Ellicott Club, and a life member of the Young Men’s Association.
January 7, 1864, Col. Weber married Elizabeth J. Farthing, daughter of James and Christina Farthing of Buffalo. The surviving children of the union are: Mary F. (Mrs. Howard O. Cobb); Elizabeth H. (Mrs. G. L. Carden); Jean B. (Mrs. F. M. Brinker); Miss Laura C. Weber and Ethel G. (Mrs. Edward Meinel). Mrs. Weber died in 1900.
SOURCE: Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York; Volume I