William Weber

William Weber

• Father: Carl William Weber
• Mother: Christina (?)

• William Weber was born in March 1849 in Germany.
• William Weber arrived circa 1850, according to the 1900 census.
• He married Margaret Stahle, daughter of Konrad Stähle and Ursula Walter, circa 1872.
• William Weber and Margaret Stahle appeared in the 4 April 1881 census of Canada in Niagara Town, Lincoln County, Ontario, Canada. Other members of the household included Leila Christina Weber, Emma Weber, Helena Weber, William Weber and Frederick S. Weber.
• He was a tinsmith, according to the 1881 census.
• William Weber and Margaret Stahle appeared in the New York state census of 16 February 1892 in Niagara, Niagara County, New York. Other members of the household included Leila Christina Weber, Emma Weber, William Weber, Frederick S. Weber, Charles August Weber, Viola Margaret Weber and Mollie Elizabeth Weber.
• He was a plumber, according to the 1892 census.
• The following appeared on 23 December 1895 in the Niagara Falls Gazette: William Weber, an employe of Glor & Gridley's cooper shop on the canal Basin, met with a horrible death about 12:30 o'clock this afternoon.
       He was run over by a freight car and his head cut completely from his shoulders, his left arm severed and his right foot was cut off near the ankle.
       The accident is in a measure surrounded by mystery as no one can be found who can explain how it happened.
       At the time mentioned, Weber was free from his labors at the shop and had eaten his noontime lunch. It was his custom--a very dangerous one--to devote his spare moments to gathering wood about the mill to take home at night. Weber had evidently picked up a piece of plank and was either trying to crawl between two moving cars or was standing on the car bumpers while the switch engine was drawing them from the rear of the Pettebone mill northward to the Central mills. The cars had reached the open area occupied by the moveable tracks used by the mill men to shift cars from one track to another and the engine had passed over this area. The brakemen noticed a peculiar jar as the wheels of the next to the last car reached the bridge track and at once brought the cars to a standstill. An investigation that at once followed resulted in the finding of the mangled remains of the young man under the wheels. His head had been severed entirely from his shoulders and the wheels had also cut off his left arm and his right leg. The body lay in the center of the rails, on the bridged track, and the board that the young man was carrying was broken in two by the wheels where it had fallen from his grasp on the tracks. The railroad men and mill hands made every effort to discover how the deceased young man came to be there. They say that they did not see him on the cars at any time and they can only explain his being there by his trying to get through the cars while they were in motion. Coroner Slocum was sent for, but he was in Buffalo. Judge Russell acted in his behalf in allowing the remains to be removed to cover, where it would be out of the rain. It was subsequently taken to Seitz's undertaking rooms by order of the Coroner, who will hold an inquest in the matter.
       Weber was about 19 years old and lived with his parents on Whirlpool Street. His father is a tinsmith, employed by Gayton H. Swan. The mill men say that Weber had been in the habit for a long time of gathering firewood about the mills, and often would go in dangerous places. Last summer he fell twice into the canal basin while picking wood out of it and was nearly drowned. The practice is a dangerous one and has been fought against but with poor results thus far.
• William Weber and Margaret Stahle appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1900 in Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York. Other members of the household included Leila Christina Weber, Emma Weber, Charles August Weber, Viola Margaret Weber and Mollie Elizabeth Weber.
• He was a plumber, according to the 1900 census.
• William Weber died circa 6 July 1900.
• Margaret Stahle became a widow at his death.
• He was interred at Oakwood Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York.

• Last Edited: 10 Feb 2014

• Charts: Descendants of WALTER Gottlieb & Caecilia Kölle