In “The Early Weast” blog, I introduced the Thomas and Mercy Weast family. In this, and the next two blogs I will introduce my family line from Morgan Weast to Morgan Weast Jr to Ford Weeast (my grandfather).
Lineage: Thomas Weast -> Morgan Weast (my great-great-grandfather)
Thomas Weast had four sons, one of which was Morgan Weast. Morgan worked at Hanover Furnace with his brothers and father. He married Lydia Pettit probably around 1845-1846 when he was 26 and she was 19. No marriage record has been found. In all, they had 10 children.
The first instance of this family’s name changing from Weast to Weeast is recorded in the 1870 Census. When I blog later about the families of the sons I will use the Weeast name.
Approximately half of the 200+ Weast / Weeast I have identified are descendants of Morgan and Lydia Weast. The other half are descendants of Henry Weast. There is a smaller number who are descendants of Daniel and Levi Weast.
Family Statistics
Morgan Weast – born Nov 1818, marriage date unknown, died Jan 1, 1904 (85)
Lydia (Pettit) Weast – born ~1827, died Mar 2, 1897 (70)
Mary Weast – born ~1847, death date unknown
John Weast – born Aug 7, 1849, died Jan 16, 1926 (76)
*Matilda Weast – born Jan 16, 1852, death date unknown
**Susan Weast – born ~1851, died April 19, 1853 (2)
**Susan Weast – born Feb 10, 1854, died Dec 10, 1892 (38)
Stacy Weast – born Jan 24, 1856, died Apr 8, 1924 (68)
Angeline Weast – born ~1859, died Apr 14, 1880 (20)
Adalaide Weast – born Feb 14, 1863, death date unknown
*Matilda Weast – born ~1866, death date unknown
Morgan H Weast – born Mar 31, 1869, died Jan 18, 1943 (73)
In the 1850 Census, the Weast family lived in Pemberton Township; location of the Hanover Furnace. The last child born here was probably Stacy. Post-1856, the family moved to Mansfield Township, later to become Florence Township, when Richard Jones moved equipment from Hanover Furnace to Florence. This is where all these family members would reside until their deaths.
Lydia died in 1897 at the age of 70, as evidenced by her death certificate. Morgan continued to work at the Florence Iron Works (RD Wood & Company) up until his death in 1904 at the age of 85, as evidenced by his death certificate.
For a history of the RD Wood & Company and Florence Iron Works, click here. The Woods family established Millville, NJ, and later established the Camden Iron Works. And for those on the East coast, you might be interested to know one of the Woods grandsons started the WaWa Food Market chain; click here. And on page 34 it talks about Richard Jones approaching RD Wood about purchasing his foundry at Florence NJ. In 1918, the Florence Iron Works was incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey as the Florence Pipe Foundry & Machine Company.
Who Are the Daughters of Morgan and Lydia?
So you may have noticed that Matilda and Susan show up twice in the Family Statistics section. This is the only instance in any of the families I have documented where a child has died early and the parents chose to name another child the same name. In this family’s case, this happened twice.
*I have a birth record for Matilda (parents Morgan and Lydia) born in 1852. She does not show up in the 1860 Census. However, I have another Matilda show up in the 1870 Census who is 4 years old. She also shows up in the 1880 Census at 14 years old. I believe the 1st Matilda died young, and they subsequently named another daughter the same name. This is highly unusual to reuse a name. The latter Matilda went on to marry Benjamin Glass on May 21, 1888, in Florence NJ.
**I have a death record for Susan Weast (parents Morgan and Lydia) who died April 19th, 1853 at 2 years old. That would make her birth year around 1851. However, I have other records for a Susan Weast who was born Feb 10, 1854, married Jacob Cheesman, and died Dec 10, 1892. She shows up on the 1860 and 1870 Census as the daughter of Morgan and Lydia Weast.
Mary J Weast, the first child of Morgan and Lydia, was born ~1847. In the 1870 Census, she was 23 and working as a seamstress. She does not show up in any other records and you can assume she may have married.
Angeline Weast was born ~1859, and died Apr 14, 1880, at the age of 20 years and 7 months, as evidenced by her death certificate. It appears that she was suffering from anemia. The doctor who signed off on her death certificate noted that she was suffering for 9 months, and “at one time during her last illness she was attended by a traveling quack.”
Adalaide Weast lived with her parents at the age of 17 in 1880 according to Federal Census records. In the 1885 State Census she is not living with her parents, so you could assume she most likely married by this time or died an early death.
Who Are the Sons of Morgan?
John Weast was born August 7, 1849, near the Hanover Furnace. He would follow in his father’s footsteps and “works in Foundry” at the age of 20 according to the 1870 Census. John married Sarah Elizabeth Aaronson April 11, 1872; he was 23 and she was 19. They would have 11 children. A future blog will explore “The Significant Tragedies of the John & Sarah Weeast Family.”
Stacy Weast was born January 24, 1856, near the Hanover Furnace. He too would follow in his father’s footsteps and “works in Iron Foundry” at the age of 23 in the 1880 Census. Stacy married Rachael J English around 1883. They did not have any children.
Morgan H Weast was born March 31, 1869, in Florence NJ. Although he worked at the RD Wood Company with his brothers and father, Morgan went on to become a rope maker. He married Elizabeth Johnson November 21, 1889, in Florence NJ; he was 22 and she was 19. They would have 3 children.
Morgan H Weast would be my great-grandfather.