This is Charles Fredrick Weber. His name is written on the back of this photograph along with an address. 320 Francis, Jackson, Michigan. I found his photo among photos we were lucky to get when Charlotte passed away. I knew the Webers were Charlotte’s family, but had not done much research into the family besides her father, Arthur. So who were the Webers? 

Wait, did I type research in that last paragraph? It’s been a LONG time since I’ve done any family research. I canceled my ANCESTRY.COM subscription in 2022 as I hadn’t been using it. I didn’t want to re-subscribe, but I became frustrated as I looked for Charles on free genealogy sites. So last night at like 10pm, I did it. I deceided to re-subscribe to Ancestry.com. And that’s all I’m gonna write about my going down the ancestry rabbit hole, if you want to hear more, go over to the podcast and you can hear all the tea (from the urban dictionary “tea is the best kind of gossip) about that. 

Once I had signed my life away to the Ancestry website (AKA the Church of Later Day Saints or Mormons as they are who owns Ancestry.com), I started looking for Charles. And while I found stuff, I’m not sure how to feel about it. 

Charles Fredrick Weber was born June 23, 1879, to John and Emma Weber in Jackson, Michigan. He was the 4th of 5 children born to John and Emma. Charles is the younger brother of Charlotte’s father Albert who was the 3rd child born to John and Emma. John was born in Wurttemburg, Germany, on December 27, 1845. I don’t know when he immigrated to the United States, but I hope to locate it in the National Archives information. In the 1880 census, John indicated his occupation as that of Butcher. In a city directory from 1890, he lists his occupation as a farmer. 

Emma was born on August 18, 1854, in Ohio. After her death, though, her children always reported in the census that she was born in Germany. I wonder if because that was where their dad had been born, they assumed their mom had also been born there. Emma died at the age of 31 on May 8, 1885. John died six years later at 55 on April 25, 1891. A fire in 1921 destroyed almost all of the 1890 census records, so we do not know what John might have reported. At six years of age, Charles was now without a mother. And by the time he was 12 his father had also died. 

Through the years, I found Charles had many occupations. When he was 20 and should have been listed as an adult on the census, they recorded his age as 10 years old. In 1910, at age 30, Charles was recorded as a Timekeeper for an auto shop. I’m not sure all that this job might have included, but I am assuming he did the bookwork for the auto shop. In 1920, at age 40, Charles was recorded as being a Book keeper for an office with steel products. In 1930, at age 50, Charles was also recorded as being a bookkeeper for a construction department. 1940’s census is interesting. It records wages earned the previous year. At age 60, Charles indicated that he had earned no money in 1939 and worked no weeks in 1939. The street is written in the margins of this census and written as Francis. By the time we reached the 1950 census, I thought for sure Charles’ working days were concluded, but no, he listed he worked 40 hours a week, and his occupation was secretary at the Masonic Lodge. The 1950 census was interesting in that both he and his oldest sibling Emma, whom he had lived with all his life stated they had never been married. 

Charles only ever lived at one address, that of 310 Francis. This street is now called Martin Luther King Jr Dr, and where their house stood is now a parking lot.  

According to the US Death Index, Charles died on February 8, 1977, and is buried at the Mount Evergreen Cemetery in Jackson, Michigan. He is buried alongside his parents, brother John and sister Emma.

While it seems like I found out much about Charlotte’s Uncle Charles, I feel that I didn’t find much. Because I believe that there was much more to Charles Weber than living in the same town all his life and being a bookkeeper. Hopefully one day we will know more, but until then Uncle Charles is a complete mystery. 

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