| The family Bible of Henry and Jane (Nowell) Weir was for many years on Henry Mack Weir’s desk located in the living room of the residence at 50 Panola Street, Asheville, Buncombe County, NC. After Mrs. Weir’s death on January 12, 1969, Mr. Weir having previously died on November 14, 1955, many of the family possessions continued in the house as Mrs. Weir’s longtime, since 1955, housekeeper and companion Blanche Bradburn Worley continued to live there until shortly before she died on December 28, 1955 at the age 91. She was considered a member of the Weir family.After his mother’s death, Charles Luther Weir gathered all the family pictures and memorabilia and placed them in a trunk kept in his house at 79 Herron Avenue in West Asheville. After Ms Worley’s death James Weldon Weir took possession of a few pieces of furniture which included his father’s desk and kept them in his home at 145 Lakeshore Drive in Asheville. Shortly after James Weldon Weir died on 17 December 1987, his son James Weldon Weir, Jr. having acquired most of the furniture, furnishings and personal items of the estate, moved the items to his home at 1604 Foard Drive, Morristown, Hamblen County, TN. Interestingly, among these items was the suitcase of family pictures and memorabilia Charles Luther Weir had removed from 50 Panola Street; his daughter, Mr. Ruth Elizabeth Weir Shipman, had given then to James Weldon Weir after the death of her mother and father and sale of the family home. Upon examining these items, James Weldon Weir, Jr. discovered that the Weir Family Bibl except for one page, was missing. He contacted each Weir descendant in an attempt to locate the Bible, but no one had any knowledge of its whereabouts or even when it was lost. The one page found, confirmed by Mrs. Ruth Gladys Weir Pennington to be in the handwriting of her father, was from the Family Register. It was very legible but in poor condition. The found page on one side gives vital information about the parents and on the other side vital information about their children.
Thus the family must rely on a transcription of the Weir Family Bible made by the oldest daughter, Mrs. Ruth Gladys Weir Pennington, which she presented to her mother on her mother’s birthday November 7, 1957. Comparing this transcription to the page from the original, the transcription is exact. The Bible which subsequently came into the possession of James Weldon Weir, Jr. has been kept updated and annotated by him. The Family Register in this Bible, published in 1945 by The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York, contains the following:
Presentation
Presented to Mama
By Ruth and Coty
Date November 7, 1957
Family Register
Henry Mack Weir, son of Samuel Bell Weir and Cynthia E. Park Weir
Ida Jane Nowell, daughter of James William Nowell and Pamela Thomas Nowell
were united in Holy Matrimony in Jackson County, Georgia
the 14th day of August 1892.Births
Arthur Lafayette Weir – born June 7, 1893 in Hoschton, Jackson Co., GA
unnamed infant buried in Weir section of Hoschton City Cemetery, Jackson Co., GA
Ruth Gladys Weir – born September 24, 1901 in Concord, Carrabus Co., GA
Charles Luther Weir – born April 16, 1903 in Gainesville, Hall County, GA
Hal Mack Weir – born November 23, 1904 in Asheville, Buncombe Co., NC
James Weldon Weir – born August 28, 1906 in Asheville, Buncombe Co., NC
Alice Elizabeth Weir – born March 6, 1908 in Asheville, Buncombe Co., NC
Margaret Idalia Weir – born June 19, 1915 in Asheville, Buncombe Co., NC
Father: Henry Mack Weir – born June 24, 1871 in Hoschton, Jackson Co., GA
Mother: Ida Jane Nowell – born November 7, 1875 in Thompson Mill, Clarke Co., GA
Marriages
Henry Mack Weir and Ida Jane Nowell were remarried by the Rev. A. C. Thomas on Friday night 26 January at the Arlington Hotel in Gainesville, Hall Co., GA, having filed for divorce 25 August 1896 which was granted by the State of Georgia, Jackson County Superior Court in the February Session meeting on First Monday 1897.
Arthur Lafayette Weir and Violet May Slater of Banaff, Alberta, Canada married 3 February 1915 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA
Charles Luther Weir and Mary Lee Fowler of Gainesville, Alachua Co., FL married ca. Early 1920’s in Gainesville, Alachua Co., FL. They were later divorced, but remarried about c. mid-to-late 1920’s in Decatur, Dekalb Co., GA
Ruth Gladys Weir and William Courtney “Coty” Pennington of Pennington, Morgan Co., GA married 19 October 1927 in Asheville, Buncombe Co., NC
James Weldon Weir & Lilly Belle “Billie Russell” of Birminghan, Jefferson Co., AL married 9 October 1932 in Birmingham, Jefferson Co., AL
Alice Elizabeth Weir & Joseph Everett Beamon of Elizabeth City, Pasquotank Co., NC married 9 March 1933 in Asheville, Buncombe Co., NC
Hal Mack Weir and Martha Glenn Gibson of Buncombe Co., NC married 11 May 1935 in Asheville, Buncombe Co., NC
Margaret Idalia Weir & Robert Vernon Brandon, M.D. of Chattanooga, Hamilton Co., TN married 12 June 1936 in Atlanta, Fulton Co., GA
Charles Luther Weir & Myrtle Edna Wilson of Burnsville, Yancey Co., NC married 13 January 1941 in Greenville, Greenville Co., SC
Arthur Lafayette Weir and Evelyn Otelia Morgan of Candler, Buncombe Co., NC married 5 November 1948 in Decatur, DeKalb Co., GA
Margaret Idalia Weir & Newton Jasper Lacey of Griffin, Spalding Co., GA married 22 August 1972 in Jacksonville, Duval Co., FL
Deaths
Henry Mack Weir (aged 84) died November 14, 1955 in Asheville, NC
Ida Jane Nowell Weir (age 93) died January 12, 1969 in Asheville, NC
Charles Luther Weir (age 76) died August 10, 1979 in Asheville, NC
Arthur Lafayette Weir (age 91) died April 30, 1985 in Asheville, NC
James Weldon Weir (age 81) died October 17, 1987 in Asheville, NC
Hal Mack Weir (age 86) died June 2, 1991 in Asheville, NC
Mary Lee Fowler Weir (age late 20’s) died c. early 1930’s in Gainesville, Alachua Co., FL
Violet May Slater Weir (age 70) died October 11, 1964 in Palm Springs, Riverside Co., CA
Joseph Everett Beamon (age 64) died January 11, 1969 in High Point, Guilford Co., NC
Lilly Belle “Billie” Russell Weir (age 61) died 5 January 1975 in Asheville, NC
Myrtle Edna Wilson Weir (age 70) died 9 May 1981 in Asheville, NC
William Courtney “Coty” Pennington (age 96) died 16 August 1986 in Decaur, Dekalb
Co., GA
Evelyn Otelia Morgan Weir (age 87) died 23 September 1990 in Asheville, NC
–information provided by: James Weldon Weir, Jr. 1604 Foard Drive,
Morristown, TN 37814 (615 587-3613
–printed in ALOB May 1998
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