Isaac Mellen Weston was born in North Anson, Maine, April 20, 1845, the oldest of three sons of Col. William Weston and his wife Marianne Smith Hopkins. Col. Weston was a prominent lumber and wool manufacturer.
In 1859, William moved with his parents to Milwaukee, WI. In 1862 he was in Minnesota during the Sioux Indian war and served as a Lieutenant of a regiment in the war. In 1863 he entered the literary department at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor as a member of the class of 1867. However, he left the university in 1865 and accepted the position of Military Storekeeper at Fort Laramie, Dakota, where he remained during the Sioux Indian War. In January 1866, he was transferred to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he held the same position at Camp Douglas.
In 1867, Weston came to Whitehall where his father had extensive lumber interests and became the resident managing partner of the firm of Wm. Weston & Son. He became an extensive mill man and lumber man on White Lake. An examination of the White River Log and Boom Company shows that in 1881 I. M. Weston & Co. handled more logs than any other Whitehall firm.
In 1877 Weston added banking to his lumbering business by taking thejob as cashier of the Lumberman’s State Bank at Whitehall, which he soon after reorganized as the First National Bank and of which he was president and principal owner.
On Jan. 1, 1881, I. M. Weston became an owner and cashier of the Farmers and Mechanics’ Bank at Grand Rapids and divided his time between Whitehall and Grand Rapids.
It appears that Weston died Dec. 10, 1898 while in New York on business. He is buried in his home state of Maine.
Col. William Weston was born in Madison, Somerset County, Maine March 18, 1810, the son of Deacon Benjamin Weston, one of the first settlers of the town. He received an education at Farmington (Maine) Academy. Upon completion he engaged in the mercantile business in North Anson, Maine. He also began lumbering and soon after built an extensive woolen factory, sawmill and flouring mill there as well. He was captain of a local artillery company, and later major and then colonel of his regiment. On Sept. 11, 1839 he was commissioned Colonel of the Artillery Regiment, 1st brigade, 8th division, Maine military.
William married Susan Cony Church (1813-1842) of Farmington, Maine in 1838. She died in 1842. He then married Marianne Smith Hopkins in 1844. They had three sons: Isaac Mellen (1845-1898); Benjamin Frank (1849-1916); and Charles E (1857-1926).
William moved to Milwaukee, and in 1859 he began buying large tracts of pine lands on the White, Muskegon, and Manistee rivers. He commenced lumbering on White River in 1862. In the fall of that year, he purchased the Thompson and Covell mill, then the only steam sawmill that was in Whitehall. He continued lumbering in Whitehall until 1879. He was also president and principal owner of the Lumberman’s State Bank of Whitehall. In 1879 he sold his banking interests to his oldest son I. M. Weston, who succeeded him as president of the bank. William then devoted himself mainly to the management of his real estate interests.
William Weston died Nov. 5, 1882 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His wife Marianne died March 11, 1912 in Los Angeles, California. They are both buried in Madison Bridge Cemetery in Madison, Somerset, Maine.
Benjamin Frank (B.F.) Weston was the second son of Col. William Weston and was born in Somerset County, Maine Dec. 3, 1849. He was educated at Lawrence University and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He had an extensive lumber business, being largely interested in the purchase and sale of pine lands and logs of which he owned great amounts. He had an office in the Bank in Whitehall during the early 1880s and lived in Montague for a short time before moving to California.
Benjamin married Abbie Bunker in Milwaukee in 1883 and they had three children. He died Sept. 1, 1916 and his wife died Jan. 11, 1932. They are buried in Oakland, Alameda, California.
Charles E. was the youngest of William’s children. He was born April 25, 1857. He married Viola Alice Johnson in Books, Maine Sept. 25, 1887. They had no children. It does not appear that Charles had any dealing in the White Lake area. Charles died March 11, 1926 in Wisconsin. He is buried in the Weston family plot in Madison Bridge Cemetery in Maine. His wife died Jan. 18, 1949 in Maine and is buried in the Johnson family plot in Riverside Cemetery, Farmington, Maine.
