Eugene Ernest Weber was born on a farm about 4 miles east of Marion on April 3, 1890 to Adolph Daniel Weber and Josephine Katherine Uhl. His father, Adolph, had migrated from St. Clair County in Illinois with his wife and their first three surviving children, Robert, Martin & Ella to a farm east of Marion in 1884. Adolph, along with other German families were responsible for the formation of the Zion United Church of Christ in Marion, where they could worship in their native tongue. He became known as an excellent sausage maker and butcher and in 1901 moved his family into town and opened up a meat market on W. Main Street and later opened a meat market on N. Market Street. In 1912, he began a partnership with Louis Fluck, his son-in-law, who married his daughter Ella Weber. The partnership lasted until Adolph’s retirement in 1921. The Fluck family continued operating a meat market grocery store on N. Market Street for decades.
When the 1900 census was taken, Adolph and his family were still living on a farm east of Marion then called Marion Precinct. Adolph 52 and Josephine 41 then had 7 children living with them, Robert 20, Marvin 19, Ella 17, George 14, Eugene 10, Irvin 6 and Freda 3. The family was farming for a living and lived on a farm they owned but it had a mortgage on it. Robert and Marvin were working the farm as laborers.
By 1907, a Marion Street directory listed the family as living at 309 W. Boulevard and operating a market and grocery at 413 N. Market St. both Eugene and Adolph were working the family business.
By the 1910 census, Adolph had moved his family into town, having opened up his first meat market in 1901, by 1910 he was operating a market at 413 N. Market Street. In the census, Adolph was 62 and Josephine was 51. She reported that the couple had birthed 8 children and that 6 of them were living. Of those living children, 3 were in the home, Eugene 20, John 16, and Freda 18. Adolph and Eugene both reported working at a meat market and grocery store. The family were living at 309 W. Boulevard Street in a home they owned with a mortgage.
On February 22, 1912, Eugene married Chloe Inez Hess of Belleville, Illinois. She had been born in Vienna on December 15, 1890 to Samuel C. Hess and Catherine West.
In 1919, when Eugene filled out his WWI draft record, he was 28 years old and married with two kids. He reported working as a salesman for Morris & Company out of St. Louis. He was physically described as tall, stout, with brown eyes and dark hair.
By the 1920 census, 29 year old Eugene and Chloe, were living in their permanent home at 205 W. Boulevard Street not far from his parents. The couple had two children, Jack aged 6 and Grayston aged 4. By this time, Eugene was a salaried salesman working for a commercial company, likely still Morris & Company. The couple owned the home they lived in but it had a mortgage.
Things couldn’t have been going to bad economically, since a 1922 article ran in the Marion Semi-Weekly Leader newspaper for a week or more advertising for a female house worker to work for Mrs. E.E. Weber at 205 W. Boulevard St. Also, another article from that same year, revealed that Eugene was elected to serve as a trustee for the Marion Country Club and you would have to be a member for that position, which indicates that they had a lot at Arcadia Lake.
When the 1930 census was taken, 40 year old Eugene and Chloe now owned their home on W. Boulevard and valued it at $4,000. Children in the home were Jack 16, Grayston 14, and Grace Jeanne aged 8. Eugene was working as a salesman for Morris & Company and they stated that they owned a radio.
By the 1940 census, Eugene and Chloe, both 49 years old only had one child left in the home, 18 year old Grace Jeanne. Eugene was now working for the Armour Packing Company as a salesman. He indicated that he had worked 52 weeks out of the year in 1939 and had earned $2,400. They now valued their home on W. Boulevard at $4,500. It was reported on the census that Eugene had only completed a 6th grade education, while his wife had 2 years of high school and Grace Jeanne was in her 4th year of high school.
In 1942, when Eugene filled out his WWII draft record, he was 52 years old, working for the Armour Company with an address of National Stock Yards, Illinois. Eugene was physically described as 5’ 10”, 290 lbs., brown eyes and gray hair with a ruddy complexion.
In the 1950 census, the couple had reached 60 years of age and had no children still living in their home on Boulevard Street. Eugene was still working as a salesman for Armour, a wholesale meat packer, which he retired from in 1951.
In the April 1951 Marion City elections, Eugene was elected as city commissioner under Mayor William Shannon. He served his full term as Police and Fire Commissioner until 1955.
In 1954, the city of Marion was able to buy a new fire truck costing $14,000 for only $5,517.29 after an old trade in truck and the local Civil Defense fronting the rest of the bill.
While still serving as a city commissioner, the W.T. Grant Company held a grand opening on March 17, 1955 with over 3,000 people attending the ribbon cutting and opening on the east side of the Marion square.
In April 1955, Eugene was elected by vote of the Marion police and firemen to serve as a trustee on the Marion Police & Fire Pension Funds.
When Eugene’s term was up in 1955, he registered to be on the primary ballot for commissioner again but lost the primary. It was stated in his bio while running that he had worked for the Armour Company for 41 years. I am assuming then, that the Morris Company was absorbed by the Armour Company in order to rack up that many years..
At the end of his term as commissioner in 1955, Eugene retired and lived out his life in their home at 205 W. Boulevard Street until his death in Marion Memorial Hospital on December 26, 1970 at the age of 80. He was a member and deacon of the First Christian Church in Marion. A former member of the Marion Rotary Club and a member of Elks Lodge No. 800.
He was survived by his wife Chloe, his daughter Grace Jeanne Gile of Marion; sons Jack of San Diego, Ca.; Grayston of Jacksonville, Florida; a brother George W. Weber of Austin, Texas; a sister, Mrs. William P. Reuter of Marion and four grandchildren. Three brothers and one sister preceded him in death. Burial was in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Chloe passed away, while living on RFD 5 in Marion on May 26, 1981 at the Marion Memorial Hospital. Mrs. Weber was a member of the First Christian Church in Marion and the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daniel Chapman Chapter of Vienna. She was a charter member of the Marion Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and of the Marion Woman’s club. She was Sunday school superintendent for 18 years at the church.
Survivors are a daughter, Grace Jean Gile of Marion; two sons, Jack Weber of San Diego and Grayston Weber of Jacksonville, Florida; Four grandchildren, Jack E. Weber, Jr. of Narberth, Pa, Dr. Carolyn Lewis of Fredrickstown, Md, Grayston Eugene Gile of Marion and Gay Weber of Jacksonville, Florida. Burial was in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Notes on Children:
Jack Weber, born 1913, married Mary Jane Lawwill ca 1934. In 1964, he was an engineer on the largest test wind tunnel in the world in Philadelphia, PA. while working for Boeing Aircraft Company. The wind tunnel was for testing vertical takeoff airplanes. He died in 1985 in San Diego, California,
Grayston Weber, born 1915, married Virginia Frances Vose in 1940, served in the U.S. Navy during and after WWII. Served 3 years on the U.S.S. Wasp. When the Wasp left port the last time, he missed its departure due to temporary duty, the Wasp then sank in the South Pacific during WWII. He served at Pensacola, Florida as a training instructor, late became Chief Flight Instructor. He also spent 2 years asProfessor of Naval Science at the University of Wisconsin. In 1955, he became Executive Officer of Newfoundland Air Base as Commander and died in 1996 in Jacksonville, Florida
Grace Jeanne Weber Gile, born 1922, married William Butler Gile, Sr. in 1950, they divorced in 1956. She passed away in 2009.
(Sources: Federal Census records, Marion Street Directories, WWI and WWII Draft records, Williamson County marriage records, Marion Semi-Weekly Leader, Marion Evening Post, Southern Illinoisan, Marion Daily Republican. Compiled by Sam Lattuca on 8/01/2024)