No Name is better known in Muhlenberg than that of Weir. James Weir, sr., was a pioneer merchant and the founder of a family whose history is closely interwoven with all the history of the county. James Weir, sr., was a son of William Weir, a Revolutionary soldier of Scotch-Irish descent. He was a surveyor by profession, and in 1798, at the age of twenty-one, came to Muhlenberg on horseback from his home at Fishing Creek, South Carolina. This trip was the first of his many long horseback journeys, and extended over a period of eight months.

While on this expedition in search of a place to begin his career he spent some of his time writing sketches and poems bearing directly or indirectly on the places he visited. His account of this trip to Muhlenberg he himself styles "James Weir's Journal: Some of James Weir's travels and other things that might be of interest."

The old journal is still preserved, and although it throws very little light on the history of Muhlenberg, his observations, made in the Green River country and elsewhere, show the character of a young man who, immediately after his arrival in the county, became one of its most influential citizens. He evidently idled away no time on this trip, and the same may also be said of his entire journey through life. His first entry in the journal begins: "March 3, 1798, I set out from South Carolina, the land of my nativity, with the intention to explore the western climes." He gives a graphic description of the country through which he passed on his way to Eastern Tennessee. Writing of his short stay in Knoxville, he says: "In the infant town of Knox the houses are irregular and interspersed. It was County day when I came, the town was confused with a promiscuous throng of every denomination. Some talked, some sang and mostly all did profanely swear. I stood aghast, my soul shrunk back to hear the horrid oaths and dreadful indignities offered to the Supreme Governor of the Universe, who, with one frown is able to shake them into non-existence. There was what I never did see before, viz., on Sunday dancing, singing and playing of cards, etc. ... It was said by a gentleman of the neighborhood that 'the Devil is grown so old that it renders him incapable of traveling, and that he has taken up in Knoxville and there hopes to spend the remaining part of his days in tranquillity, as he believes he is among his friends,' but as it is not a good principle to criticise the conduct of others, I shall decline it with this general reflection, that there are some men of good principles in all places, but often more bad ones to counterbalance them."

These few lines show that although Mr. Weir thought the "infant town of Knox" was a very wicked place he, nevertheless, did not wholly condemn it. From Knoxville he rode to Nashville, where he remained a few months and where he "kept school at the house of Colonel Thomas Ingles, a gentleman of distinguished civility." Before leaving Tennessee he wrote:

Thinks I, is this that promised land? Is this that noble Tennessee whose great fame has filled the mouths and fired the breaths of many through the different states? If so, I do not doubt your fame is more than you are in reality, which is commonly the case of new countries. ... I have now traveled six months in the state of Tennessee and have set out for Kentucky. ...

On the 8th day of October, 1799, I crossed the Clinch River and there took to the Wilderness, which is 95 miles without a house or inhabitant. I met two gentlemen who proved very good company through this lonely wilderness. This wilderness land belongeth to the Indians, who will not suffer anybody to settle on it. The land is for the most part barren and mountainous. After three days' travel we arrived into Cumberland, a Country whose fertility of soil and pleasant situation I could not pass over, without particular attention. This country is well settled with people.Pioneer James Weir, About 1840

Having tarried there a few days in a friend's house, I passed over into the state of Kentucky and travelled through some of the lower parts, viz., on Green River and Red River. This country is for the most part newly settled, their buildings and farms but small. Some live by hunting only, which explore the solitary retreats of the wild bear and buffalo. Others, being more industrious, cultivate the soil, though not as properly as they might for want of implements. The land yields exceedingly well, corn, wheat, cotton and all other grains and plants common to the southern states. The latitude is nearly the same as that of North Carolina.

The range for cattle is good in the summer and for hogs I suppose it is equal to any in the world. There are low flats and marshes which overflow at certain seasons which after the water is departed make excellent range for hogs. I saw a gentleman here who from four of a stock raised 200 head in three years. These flats lie along on Green River and up some of the creeks that empty into it. They would produce rice or grass, I think, very well, and in some places corn, as she does not overflow in the summer season. It is thought that near to these flats it will be sickly on account of vapours and thick fogs which exhale from them and which also breed numbers of mosquitoes which infect the inhabitants even unto their houses. It is thought when the country is settled they will be done away.Mrs. Anna C. R. Weir

Green River is navigable all seasons of the year for large boats, which may pass to and from Illinois and from thence to the Atlantic Ocean. It is thought that it will be a place of great trade in time to come.

Here I made a stop again, and kept school six months in Muhlenberg county on this River, in a Dutch settlement. Some of them are of distinguished kindness. Their profession is Dunkards and Baptists. They appear to be very sincere, God only knows their hearts.

The journal ends with this brief statement relative to his first six months in Muhlenberg. He evidently found the place that pleased him and therefore settled in Muhlenberg and closed his story of the trip he made in search of the promised land.

Pioneer James Weir arrived in Muhlenberg County about the time the county was formed. He took an active part in the first county court meetings and also helped Alney McLean lay out the town of Greenville and did much toward the moral and commercial development of the community. He was instrumental in getting a number of people to settle in the county. His sister, Jane Weir, and her husband, pioneer Joseph Poag, 1 and his brother, Samuel Weir,

He was the first merchant and banker in Greenville. His business increased very rapidly in the new town, and he soon established another store at Lewisburg or Kincheloe's Bluff. In the course of time he conducted mercantile houses in Henderson, Hopkinsville, Morganfield, Madisonville, and Russellville. He also had a store in Shawneetown, Illinois. But Greenville, from the time of its beginning, was his home and headquarters.

James Weir bought practically all his merchandise in Philadelphia, to which place he made more than a dozen trips on horseback, accompanied by no one except his faithful body-servant Titus. Most of his goods were transported in wagons to Pittsburgh and thence by boat down the Ohio on their way to his various stores. The boxes intended for Muhlenberg County were sent up Green River, unloaded at Lewisburg, and then hauled on wagons to Greenville. These wagons were always at the river landing when the freight arrived, but the teamsters were often obliged to wait many days for the expected boats. Mr. and Mrs. Weir made a number of trips together to the Eastern market. On one occasion they bought some of the best furniture for sale in Philadelphia. They transported it to Pittsburgh and there unpacked it, furnished their own stateroom, and used it while traveling down the Ohio and up Green River to Lewisburg and then sent it to their home in Greenville.Edward R. Weir, Sr., 1875

He made many trips down the Mississippi to New Orleans, from which place he returned to Greenville either via land or via ocean boat to Philadelphia, where after making his purchases he continued his journey by land and river. He wrote an account of a trip taken in 1803, giving his experience while traveling down the Mississippi, then via ocean and up the Delaware to Philadelphia. It is an interesting story and is quoted in full in an appendix to this history. One of the ledgers kept in his Greenville store about 1814 is still preserved and is described in the chapter on "Life in the Olden Days."

James Weir was born in South Carolina in 1777 and died in Greenville on August 9, 1845. His first wife, Anna Cowman Rumsey, mother of his children, was born in 1792 and died in 1838. She was a daughter of Doctor Edward Rumsey (of Christian County), who was a brother of James Rumsey, the inventor. Doctor Edward Rumsey was the father of eight children, four of whom are identified with Muhlenberg history: the Honorable Edward Rumsey; Anna C. Rumsey, who married James Weir, sr.; Harriet Rumsey, who married Samuel Miller, and whose only child, Harriet R. Miller, married Edward R. Weir, sr.; and Emily Rumsey, who married Richard Elliott, of Hartford, Kentucky.

James Weir was the father of five children:Mrs. Harriet R. Weir, 1900

(1) Edward Rumsey Weir, sr., who, as just stated, married Harriet R. Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Weir and their children are referred to in this and other chapters.

(2) James Weir, jr., of Owensboro, who married Susan C. Green. He was a banker, lawyer, and well-known writer. Among his books is "Lonz Powers." A review of this work is given in another chapter, where also appears a biography of the author.

(3) Sallie Ann Weir, who married Edward R. Elliott, a son of pioneer Richard Elliott, Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Elliott moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1851. They were the parents of Edward, Richard, Frank, J. Weir, and Henry Elliott, and Mrs. Anna R. (William S.) Devine.

(4) Susan M. Weir, who married Professor William L. Green, Professor Green, as stated in the chapter on "Post-Primary Education," was one of the first promoters of higher education in Muhlenberg.

(5) Emily Weir, who married Samuel M. Wing, son of Charles Fox Wing The names of their children are given in the chapter on "Charles Fox Wing."

Of the elder James Weir's five children only one, Edward R. Weir, sr., lived in Greenville all his life. Edward R. Weir, sr., was born in Greenville on November 29, 1816, and died February 5, 1891. He was an influential merchant, lawyer, and politician, a slave-holder, an abolitionist, and a strong Union man. He was wealthy and charitable; always active in church work and in the elevation of his fellow-men. Nearly every act of his life was directed toward the moral and commercial good of Muhlenberg County. He represented the county in the State Legislature in 1841, 1842, and in 1863-65. In 1848 he built, on Caney Creek, a mile north of Greenville, the first steam saw and grist mill in the county.

The large brick residence erected by Edward R. Weir, sr., about the year 1840, on South Main Street near the foot of Hopkinsville Street, was in its day one of the best-built homes in the county. It not only afforded him and his family every possible comfort, but stood as an example of what enterprise can do. He dug what is probably the most symmetrical stone-lined well ever made in Kentucky. The brick cabins built for his slaves, and the greenhouses and icehouse, have been torn down, but the solid old residence and hexagonshaped office near it still show that what Edward R. Weir, sr., did he did well.E. R. Weir (Colonel), in 1865

He was also an author. Among the articles written by him are "A Visit to the Faith Doctor," published in the Western Magazine, of Cincinnati, in November, 1836, and "A Random Sketch by a Kentuckian, E. R. W." describing a deer hunt, which appeared in the March, 1839, issue of the Knickerbocker Magazine, and are here reviewed in one of the appendices. These sketches pertain to some of his experiences in Muhlenberg County. Some time during the '40s of the last century he wrote a short history of the Harpes, which it is said was published in the Saturday Evening Post of Philadelphia. Although I have tried to obtain a copy of this article, I have failed to do so. If printed, it probably appeared under some assumed name and under a heading other than "The Harpes."

Harriet Rumsey (Miller) Weir, wife of Edward R. Weir, sr., was born in Christian County March 16, 1822. Mrs. Weir came to Greenville in early youth and lived there for three quarters of a century, when, after the death of her son Max Weir, she moved to Jacksonville, Illinois. Few Muhlenberg women were better known in their day than Mrs. Weir. She took an active interest in her husband's affairs, and always helped him in his business and in his various efforts to do good. During the last fifty years of her life she was generally referred to as Lady Weir, for all who knew her realized that she was a noble woman in every sense of the word. She died at the home of her son Miller Weir on February 16, 1913, and is buried at Greenville. The day after her funeral the Greenville Record said: "Her long life was an active one, spent in simpleness and goodness. She was a brilliant woman; in manner, ever kind and attentive. She was one of the most loved women in the whole county. Her religious activities were varied and effective, doing much in that line without show or ostentation."

Five of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Weir, sr., reached maturity:

(1) Edward Rumsey Weir, jr. (better known as Colonel E. R. Weir), was born August 13, 1839, and died March 30, 1906. After the close of the Civil War, Colonel Weir became a merchant in Greenville and later a leading lawyer. Eliza T. Johnson, daughter of Doctor John M. Johnson, was his first wife and the mother of his children, who were: Frank Weir, who was killed September 19, 1890, in Eastern Kentucky while in the revenue service; Jerome Weir, of the U. S. Army; Harry Weir, of Greenville, who married Ruth Grundy; Louise B. Weir, who married W. D. Reeves, and Anna C. Weir, who married Max Layne. Colonel Weir's second wife was Alice Culbertson, of the State of New York, to whom he was married in 1898.Max Weir, in 1900

(2) Anna C. Weir, who married David W. Eaves, a son of Sanders Eaves. Their children are: Elliott, Lucian, Lucile, Harriet, Ruth, and Belle Eaves.

(3) Miller Weir, who early in life settled in Jacksonville, Illinois. He is a banker and is identified with the politics of Illinois. He married Fannie Bancroft. Their only child, Fanita, married Edward P. Brockhouse, a banker and lawyer of Jacksonville.

(4) Virginia Weir, who died at the age of sixteen.

(5) Max Weir, who was born December 23, 1863, and died May 18, 1904. He was a bachelor, a popular merchant in Greenville, a devout Christian, and a local and State Y. M. C. A. worker. In 1899 he wrote "From the Father's Country," a pamphlet of a religious character, which was published shortly after his death.