Thomas Weiant
Thomas Weiant, justice of the peace, residing on his valuable farm of 58 acres, in Kingston Township, is a leading citizen of this section. He was born in Northampton, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1835, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Sigenfoose) Weiant. The father of Mr. Weiant was born in Prussia-Germany, and the mother was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They were farming people in comfortable circumstances. Their family consisted of three sons and four daughters.
Thomas Weiant is a self-made man. He had no school advantages whatever. The fifth member of his parents' family, he remained on the home farm until he was 19 years of age, when he and his brother William decided to strike out for themselves. They had no capital and it is doubtful if they had the approval of their parents, but they were young, brave and hopeful, and started on the long tramp to Licking County, Ohio, with few possessions except their guns. The youths were 19 days on the road and reached Jacksontown, Licking County, December 31, 1854. For three years Thomas Weiant remained with his brother, engaged in farm work, and then hired out to a fanner near Utica, Ohio, where he remained until his marriage, August 25, 1870.
This first marriage was to Mary McKinley, who was born in Trumbull County, Ohio. At death she left three children, namely: Robert, residing in Kingston Township; Alice, who married William Dwinnell, residing in Kingston Township; and Ida, who married Eugene Williams, also residing in Kingston Township. Mr. Weiant was married secondly, in 1872, to Rebecca McKinley, his sister-in-law, who was born in Williams County, Ohio. There was no issue to this marriage and Mrs. Weiant died March 10, 1907. Her burial was in the old Eden cemetery at Green Mound. Mr. Weiant subsequently contracted a third marriage with Catherine (Brewer) Campbell, a daughter of Richard Brewer of Erie County, Ohio, who originally came from New York State, where he was engaged in farming. He died May 6, 1890, at the remarkable age of 108 years. The mother was 87 years old at the time of her death. Mrs. Weiant and James Brewer, of Erie County, are the only survivors of 12 children.
When first married, Mr. Weiant purchased one acre of land, on which he lived until 1865, when he bought 15 acres in Radnor Township, Delaware County. Here he lived until he moved to Bowling Green Township. Marion County, where he purchased 50 acres of unimproved land, as an investment, which proved a wise one, as in four years he sold out, making $1,000 on the deal. He then purchased 81 acres in the vicinity, for which he paid $18 an acre, and this, too, proved a good bargain. as eight years later he sold the property for $43 an acre. Mr. Weiant then came to Kingston Township and purchased the farm on which he has lived ever since. Although Mr. Weiant had no advantages in his youth equal to those he has given his own children, he is a well-informed man, alert in business and influential in his neighborhood. In politics he is a Democrat and on that ticket was elected justice of the peace, an office he has filled to the satisfaction of his fellow-citizens. He is a member of Olive Green Lodge, No 708, Odd Fellows.
From 20th Century History of Delaware County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Edited and compiled by James R. Lytle, Delaware, Ohio, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908