Merchant and Banker. Son of Adam and Sarah (Longstreth) Weller. Married(1) Flavilla Ann Adamson on 2 Mar 1865 in Morgan County, OH. Father of William Franklin b. 21 Apr 1866, Henry Sylvester b. 10 Nov 1868, George Edgar b. 14 apr 1870, Carrie Elizabeth b. 20 Aug 1873, Sarah Jane b. 14 Jan 1874, Hellen Ida b. 4 Feb 1876, Bessie Blanche b. 25 Aug 1880 and Lydia May b. 10 Mar 1885.
Married(2) Louysa Bartlett 22 Jun 1910 in Douglas County, NE. No Children.
Became a Mason in Square (later Valparaiso) Lodge No. 151, F. & A. M. of Valparaiso, Nebraska.
Civil War Veteran-Lieut.

SKETCH-
WILLIAM JOSEPH WELLER
William Joseph Weller is president of the Bank of Raymond and is one of the alert and enterprising business men of his section of the country, where for many years he was actively identified with agricultural interests, and development. He has made his home continuously in Raymond since 1904, when he erected a fine modern residence there.
His birth occurred near Zanesville, in Muskingum County, Ohio, on the 26th day of February, 1844, his parents being Adam and Sarah (Longstreath) Weller.
The father was born in Morgan County, near McConnelsville, Ohio, and there obtained his education, after which he followed farming.
He was also at one time interested in merchandising, and he took an active part in public affairs of the community, serving in various township offices, while he also had official connection with the schools as a member of the school board.
He died at the age of 67 years, and his wife, who was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, but lived most of her life in Morgan county, there passed away at the age of fifty-five years.
To them were born eight children, as follows: Annie, deceased, who was the wife of Harry Putnam, also deceased; Rachel, who is the widow of Alba Dozer, and resides in Zanesville, Ohio; William Joseph, of this review; Lydia, who is the wife of Reuben Pool, a farmer residing in Lawton, Oklahoma; Helen, who passed away; Frank, a railroad man, who makes his home at Urbana, Ohio; Meada, who is deceased; and Ama, the wife of Charles Dalby, an agriculturist of Holt county, Nebraska.
William Joseph Weller obtained his education in the district schools of Morgan county, Ohio, which he attended until he reached the age of seventeen years.
In response to the country's call for troops, he then enlisted in 1861 as a member of Company E, Seventy-eight Ohio volunteer Infantry, with which he served for three years. In 1864 he reenlisted, becoming a member of Company K, of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Ohio Infantry, with which he continued for nine months, holding the rank of second lieutenant.
He participated in many important engagements, including the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, the siege of Vicksburg and the engagements of Jackson, Meridian, Champion's Hill, the military movement that occurred in the Shenandoah valley and at Harper's Ferry. He was wounded in the battle of Champion's Hill, his left arm being broken by a Minie ball, and since that time he has never entirely recovered the use of his arm. With the rank of second lieutenant of Company K, One Hundred and Sixty-first Ohio Infantry, he was honorably discharged at Columbus at the close of the war.
After hostilities had ceased, William J. Weller attended school for a year, and in 1866 he was married and made his way to Afton, Iowa, traveling across the country by wagon. there he purchased a farm of forty acres which was improved to some extent, and for three years he there engaged in the further development of the place.
He then made the overland journey to Lancaster county, Nebraska, and settled three miles from Raymond on section 20, Little Salt township, where he homesteaded eighty acres of raw land, making claim thereto on the 9th of September, 1869. He improved his place by building thereon a little frame
dwelling and dugout, hauling the lumber from Plattsmouth, Nebraska. Not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made upon the place. He broke the prairie and there engaged in farming until 1897, bringing his fields under a high state of cultivation.
He afterward obtained eighty acres more as a soldier's claim, and his second tract adjoined his first entry. He also had a quarter section of school land on section 16, Little Salt township, and thus he farmed a half section all told.
He still owns this land, and from the property derives a substantial annual income.
In 1897, however, he retired from farming and removed to Raymond, where he purchased the general store of B. F. Reagan. This he conducted for twelve years or until 1909, when he disposed of that business and became one of the organizers of the Bank of Raymond, of which he is now the president, although he does not continue active in the daily management and control of the bank. He is practically living retired save for the supervision which he gives to his invested interests. In 1904 he purchased lots and built thereon a fine modern residence in Raymond which he now occupies.
Mr. Weller has been married twice. On the 2nd of March, 1865, in Morgan county, Ohio, he wedded Miss Flavillia A. Adamson, who was born, reared and educated in that county and came west with our subject. Her demise occurred in Raymond, Nebraska, on the 14th of April, 1908. Her parents, Washington and Elizabeth Adamson, were both born, reared and educated in Virginia, and became early settlers of the Western Reserve, spending the remainder of their lives in the state of Ohio.
By his first wife, Mr. Weller had eight children, as follows: William Franklin, who was born in Union county, Iowa, on the 21st of April, 1866, and follows farming near Raymond, Lancaster county, Nebraska; Henry Sylvester, who is deceased; George Edgar, whose birth occurred in Lancaster county, Nebraska, April 14, 1870, and who is now engaged in the real estate business in Portland, Oregon; Carrie, the deceased wife of Joe Hoagland; Ida and Lydia, who have also passed away; Sarah, who was born in Little Salt township, April 21, 1874, and is the wife of George Schuss, a farmer residing near Enterprise, Oregon; and Bessie, who is the wife of Oliver Latour, a barber of Enterprise, Oregon.
On the 22nd of June, 1910, at Omaha, Nebraska, Mr. Weller was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Louysa Bartlett, who was born in Illinois and came to Lancaster county, Nebraska, in 1874.
Mr. Weller has been called upon from time to time to fill various public offices. He is a member of the republican party.
His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has served as trustee and steward of the church to which he belongs. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, having for a quarter of a century been a member of Valparaiso Lodge No. 151, F. & A. M. He likewise belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp and to the Grand Army post at Raymond, and he thus maintains pleasant relations with his comrades of the Civil war.
His is a most excellent military record, for he was most loyal to the cause which he espoused and never faltered in the performance of any duty, no matter how arduous or difficult. In his home he has a fine picture of the battle of Champion's Hill--that hotly-contested engagement in which he practically lost the use of his left arm. He has never regretted the sacrifice which he made in behalf of his country, and the same spirit of loyalty has characterized him at all times throughout the intervening years.
He well deserves mention in this volume, for he is the oldest living settler around Raymond, having come to the neighborhood forty-seven years ago. He has lived to witness many changes as the work of progress and improvement has been carried forward, and at all times he has put forth earnest and effective effort to promote the general good.

(Copied from the "History of Lancaster County, Nebraska."

DEATHS
William J. Weller, aged 73 years, died Monday morning at his home in Raymond. The funeral will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at the M. E. Church in Raymond. Rev. Morrison of Elmwood will be in charge. Burial will be made in the Raymond cemetery.

(Copied from the Lincoln Daily Star, Monday, October 29, 1917).