My Genealogy Hound

SIMON P. WELLER, Master Mechanic of the Missouri Pacific Railroad shops in Sedalia, is one of the most popular railroad men in the state, and is thoroughly acquainted with the business in its every detail, having held this position for the past ten years. He has had wide experience, having commenced at the foundation and worked his way upward to his present responsible and trustworthy position.

Grandfather Weller, who was of German descent and a merchant in Pennsylvania, was a very prominent man, and helped to build a plank road. He died when ninety-eight years of age, and his wife lived to pass the ninety-sixth anniversary of her birth. Daniel, father of our subject, was born in the Keystone State and followed milling in Somerset County. Later he was similarly employed in Bryant, Ohio, where he remained until 1869, then moving to Kansas City, Mo., where he took charge of the English Diamond Mill, and became one of the largest merchant millers of that section. His death occurred in 1890, at the age of seventy-seven years, in Kidder, Mo., where he had been living retired for some years. During the war he served as Wagonmaster in the Tenth Ohio Cavalry. Though he was wounded at the battle of Murfreesboro in the left ankle, he was present at his post of duly until the close of the war. While a resident of Pennsylvania he served as Sheriff, having been elected on the Whig ticket. His wife, whose girlhood name was Susan Shockey, is also a native of the Keystone State, and is now making her home in Kansas City, at the age of seventy-eight years. Both she and her husband were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of her ten children, three sons took part in the War of the Rebellion, and all but four of her children are yet living. Rev. J. O. A., a minister in the Congregational denomination, was a Captain, and afterwards became Major, of the Twenty-first Pennsylvania Cavalry, and for two years was an officer on the staff of General Ziegel, now deceased. G. W., of the First Michigan Cavalry, was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, was taken to Richmond as a prisoner, and is now living in Kansas City. Z. T., of the Ninth Ohio Cavalry, was wounded in Tennessee, and died from the effects of his injuries.

S. P. Weller was born in Somerset County, Pa., January 3, 1850, and was seven years old when his parents moved to Ohio. He attended the high school there until 1869, when he located in Kansas City. At Armstrong, Kan., he learned the machinist’s trade in the Union Pacific shops, and afterward entered the Omaha shops of the same railroad company, being made general foreman. Thence going to Denver, he held the position of Superintendent of the machinery department of the Denver & New Orleans Railroad, after which he was foreman of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas shops in Parsons, Kan., until 1885, when he assumed the responsibilities of his present position.

Our subject is a Director in, and was one of the organizers of, the Sedalia Mutual Benefit Building and Loan Association. He has passed all of the chairs in the blue lodge of the Masonic order, and has taken the Knight-Templar degree. He is Past Eminent Commander and is connected with the Ararat Shrine of Kansas City, and identified with the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and with the Sons of Veterans. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and endeavors to do his entire duty as a patriot and citizen.

While living in Kansas City Mr. Weller was united in marriage with Miss C. Belle Tredway, whose parents were natives of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Weller have a son and daughter, Dora E. and Simon C. T. They are members of the Calvary Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Weller is one of the Vestrymen.