| Title |
Weik, John |
| Date |
b. ca. 1827-ca. 1890 |
| Description |
John Weik, born ca. 1827 in Württemberg, Germany, worked as a book seller, stationer, and print publisher in Philadelphia
ca. 1851-ca. 1872. Weik immigrated to Philadelphia in 1850 and soon after started the naturalization process and entered the
city's publishing industry, including lithographs. In 1851, he operated a book and stationery store at 155 North Third Street.
From 1857 to ca. 1860, he partnered with Hugo Liebing to form the book publishing and importing business John Weik & Co. at
533 Chestnut Street. During the 1850s and 1860s, Weik traveled between Germany and Philadelphia several times, presumably
to enhance his shop's collection of German works. Weik also published lithographs, many of them bird's eye views, including
Bachmann's "Bird's Eye View of Philadelphia" printed by P.S. Duval & Son (1857), Herline's "Microscopic View of New York"
(1870), and a map of Boston, Massachusetts (1870) designed by F. Fuchs.
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|
Weik enlisted in the Civil War as a Quartermaster on September 11, 1861 and several months later joined Company S of the 75th
Regiment of Pennsylvania. Mustered out on September 1, 1865 in Franklin, Tennessee, Weik did not reappear in Philadelphia
city directories until 1870. He resumed publishing activities from 605 Sansom Street for a few years, and owned personal estate
worth $30,000, but switched to real estate between 1873 and 1878. By 1879, he manufactured clay heaters from 605 Sansom Street.
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Although Weik first settled in Kensington when he arrived in Philadelphia, he resided at Forty-fourth and Eadline (i.e., Wallace)
Streets in West Philadelphia (Ward 24, now Powelton Village) for the rest of his life. He married the Pennsylvania-born Maria
L. (1817-1902) by 1850 and had an infant daughter, also Maria L (b. 1850). Two more children, Anna R. (b. 1852) and John A.
(b. 1854), were born before Weik enlisted in the war. Weik presumably died ca. 1890, the same year that his wife filed as
a widow to receive his pension. Mary Weik died in New York City in 1892.
|
| Is part of |
Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers |
| References |
See Bachmann, John; Duval, P. S., Fuchs, F., and Herline & Co. |
| Call number |
Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers |
| Bibliographic citation |
American Civil War Soldiers |
|
Census 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 |
|
Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003 |
|
Library Company of Philadelphia research file |
|
Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s |
|
Peters, 398 |
|
Philadelphia, 1789-1880 Naturalization Records (November 6, 1850) |
|
Philadelphia Business & City Directories, 1851-1885 (intermittently) |
|
Public Ledger, August 26, 1857 |
|
U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 (1851, 1853, 1854, 1864) |
