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Obituary
September 3, 1873
The Bethlehem Globe
Jedediah Weiss
Kindly transcribed and submitted: Lea Nissley
Died, after a short
illness, at his residence on New Street, this morning, (Sept.3)
at 2 o’clock, our venerable and much esteemed townsmen, Jedediah
Weiss, in the 78th year of his age. The subject of these memoirs
was born at Bethlehem, on the 21st of February, 1796, and was
the second son of John George and Elizabeth Weiss, m. n. Snyder,
a cousin of the late Gov. Simon Snyder. Having availed himself
of the opportunities which were at that time afforded in the day
school for boys at Bethlehem, young Jedediah was in his 16th
year indentured to John Samuel Krause, clock and watchmaker, who
was then doing business in a small shop that stood on the west
side of Main Street, on the site of the building latterly
occupied by G.W. Riegel. Here he was taught the elements of the
craft, in which, by dint of his native genius, he in later years
rose to honorable eminence- and here, on the decease of his
employer in December, 1815, he assumed the business for himself,
although he had not yet attained his majority. John M. Miksch
and Chas. F. Beckel are the survivors of the three young men who
worked side by side for a time in Weiss’ shop, during (as the
latter was wont jocosely to style them) “the days of the
Republic”. On the 26th of November, 1820, Mr. Weiss was united
in wedlock with Miss Mary Stables of Alexandria, Va., who had
for several years been a tutoress in the Young Ladies’ Seminary
at this place. Hereupon he entered his new place of business,
and dwelling on the east side of Main street, a few doors below
the Sun Hotel, (on its site stands the Globe Building), where
for forty-five years he continued the business of making and
repairing clocks and watches, the manufacture of silver spoons
and the sale of jewelry. Here a number of young men, too, were
well educated by Mr. Weiss in the mysteries of his handicraft,
and here in 1847 he constructed a clock which involved a new
application of principles in mechanics- designed for the steeple
of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Allentown. This was but one of
a number of ingenious combinations with which his inventive
genius delighted to engage itself.
In 1865, Mr. Weiss
retired from business; (it should have been stated that for
upwards of 25 years he had held an interest in the line of
stages on the old Philadelphia & Wilkes Barre route), and
exchanged the bustle of Main street for the quiet of the little
cottage in which he spent the evening of his long and useful
life, recreating himself according to his fancy- with his tools,
or with his books- (for he was an industrious reader in all
departments of literature), with his friends, his music and his
beloved bees; happy in his old age as he had been happy in his
youth and in his manhood.
Mr. Weiss was
perhaps better and more widely known as a musician than as a
tradesman and a man of business. For upwards of 50 years he was
eminently identified with the music of his native place. He came
from a family with decided musical tastes. His father had been
organist at Bethlehem in the early part of the century- and when
he came to die, the man who had drawn such stirring tones from
the grand old organ in the house of God was buried with marked
honors at the hands of his musical associates. All the sons
inherited the divine gift- but none more than the subject of
this notice, who, while a proficient on a number of wind
instruments, excelled his brethren as a vocalist. His deep
basso will never be forgotten by those who once heard the
volume of its sonorous tones, whether rolling out in power
through the aisles of the Moravian Church or in the halls of the
old Philharmonic Society. For upwards of 50 years (and until
recently) Mr. Weiss was one of a quartette of trombonists who
according to Moravian usages perform chorals on festive
occasions, and on the decease of members of that Church, by way
of “passing bell”. Thus he contributed in various ways, and on
various occasions- and always cheerfully- to the cause of music;
-not only in his native place, but also in the churches of the
adjacent rural districts- in a number of which his services were
enlisted to educate vocalists for the sanctuary.
Mr. Weiss was a
consistent member of the Church in which he had been nurtured.
His intercourse with his fellow men was characterized by
urbanity, benevolence and a flow of genial good-nature, which
made him a universal favorite. Endowed by his creator with
versatile gifts- with a thirst for knowledge- with a love of the
beautiful in all its forms- with a kindly heart toward humanity-
he well improved the talents that were lent him- and had he
enjoyed better opportunities in his youth, we feel assured that
his career would have been a brilliant one.
Until lately he was
in the enjoyment of robust health. The decease of his partner
(with whom he had celebrated the 50th anniversary of their
marriage on the 26th of November, 1870) on the 18th of May,
1872, was a severe blow, from the effects of which he never
fully recovered, and which unquestionably hastened his end. For
this he was fully prepared, and as the clock in the cupola
sounded two early this morning, the spirit of the good old man
without a struggle, left its tenement of clay, and went to God
who gave it.
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