- Born: February 16, 1810, Brothersvalley Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
- Died: December 25, 1885, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
- Relationship: My first cousin, five times removed
Lewis Weighley was my first cousin, five times removed, and the son of John Weigley and Elizabeth W. Croft. He was born on February 16, 1810, in Brothersvalley Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, into a branch of the family that remained closely associated with Somerset County for generations.
Lewis is not part of my direct ancestral line, but his family has proved especially valuable to my research. Records created for his children identify Lewis and his wife by name, helping establish relationships and showing how the family surname appeared in different documents over time.
Lewis or Louis?
One question about this family is whether his given name was Lewis or Louis. The surviving evidence favors Lewis.
His gravestone is inscribed Lewis Weighley, and his son John’s 1918 death certificate identifies John’s father as Lewis Weighley. John’s 1898 marriage application also records his parents as Lewis and Eva Weighley.
| Field | Information |
|---|---|
| Marriage record number | 3658 |
| Groom | John Weighley |
| Bride | Emma M. [surname difficult to read with certainty] |
| Relationship of parties | None |
| Groom’s age | 62 years |
| Bride’s age | 60 years |
| Groom’s residence | Jenner Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania |
| Bride’s residence | Somerset Borough, Somerset County, Pennsylvania |
| Groom’s parents | Lewis and Eva Weighley |
| Bride’s parents | Handwriting is difficult to read clearly |
| Groom’s guardian | None |
| Bride’s guardian | None indicated |
| Date of death of groom’s former wife | August 1, 1897 |
| Date of death of bride’s former husband | June 12, 1896 |
| Date of groom’s divorce | None |
| Date of bride’s divorce | None indicated |
| Race/color of parties | White |
| Groom’s occupation | Farmer |
| Bride’s occupation | Not recorded |
| Applicant appearing before court | John Weighley |
| Application sworn | June 25, 1898 |
| County | Somerset County, Pennsylvania |
| Marriage license issued | June 25, 1898 |
| Marriage date | June 26, 1898 |
| Marriage place | At the officiant’s residence, written as “My Residence” |
| Officiant | Signature appears to read M. D. Rauch, Minister of the Gospel |
| Clerk | James M. Cover |
| Important genealogical evidence | John himself identified his parents as Lewis and Eva Weighley, making this strong contemporary evidence for his |
However, one important variation remains. Lewis’s son Ezra J. Weighley’s 1913 death certificate identifies Ezra’s father as Louis Weighley.
Rather than treating one spelling as proof that the others are wrong, I consider Louis a documented variant of his given name. Because Lewis appears on his gravestone and in multiple records created by or for his children, I use Lewis as the principal form on this page.
His Birth Date Confirmed by His Gravestone
Lewis’s gravestone provides more than his year of death. It states that he died on December 25, 1885, at the age of 75 years, 10 months, and 9 days.
Counting backward from that age produces a birth date of February 16, 1810. That agrees with the birth date already associated with Lewis in my family research and provides a useful independent check.
The stone is inscribed:
Lewis Weighley
Died Dec. 25, 1885
Aged 75 Yrs. 10 Mos. 9 Ds.
Marriage to Eve Beeghly
Lewis married Eve Beeghly on October 2, 1831. Later records also give her name as Eva, so both Eve and Eva appear in documents connected with their children.
The children’s death records particularly support the Beeghly surname. John’s 1918 death certificate identifies his mother as Eve Beeghly, while Ezra’s 1913 certificate records her as Eva Beeghley.
These spelling differences are typical of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century records. Beeghly and Beeghley appear to refer to the same family surname, while Eve and Eva were used interchangeably in records concerning the same woman.
Their Children
Lewis and Eve had at least seven known children:
- Elizabeth Weighley, 1831-1909
- John S. Weighley, 1835-1918
- Mary Ann Weighley, 1838-1918
- Joseph Weighley, 1840-1844
- Sarah Weighley, born about 1844
- Ezra J. Weighley, 1846-1913
- William Lewis Weighley, 1849-1928
Their son Joseph died as a young child, which explains his absence from the family’s household by the time of the 1850 federal census.
| Field | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | John Weighley |
| Sex | Male |
| Race | White |
| Marital status | Widowed |
| Date of birth | August 1, 1835 |
| Age at death | 82 years, 5 months, 3 days |
| Birthplace | Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Retired farmer |
| Father’s name | Lewis Weighley |
| Father’s birthplace | Pennsylvania |
| Mother’s maiden name | Eve Beeghly |
| Mother’s birthplace | Pennsylvania |
| Informant | William C. Weighley |
| Informant’s address | Friedens, Pennsylvania |
| County of death | Somerset County, Pennsylvania |
| Township of death | Somerset Township |
| Date of death | January 4, 1918 |
| Time of death | 10:00 p.m. |
| Physician began attending | December 19, 1917 |
| Physician last attended | December 21, 1917 |
| Last seen alive by physician | December 21, 1917 |
| Primary cause of death | Obstruction of the bowels |
| Contributory cause | Old age |
| Certifying physician | Henry E. Trimble, M.D. |
| Physician’s address | Somerset, Pennsylvania |
| Certificate signed by physician | January 5, 1918 |
| Place of burial | Appears to read Unionville Cemetery |
| Burial date | January 6, 1918 |
| Undertaker | H. C. Brooks & Son |
| Undertaker’s address | Somerset, Pennsylvania |
| Certificate filed | January 5, 1918 |
| Local registrar | Appears to be Nellie B. Shafer |
| Registration district no. | 826 |
| Primary registration district no. | 3277 |
| File no. | 7372 |
| Registered no. | 1 |
The Family in 1850
The 1850 United States census provides an excellent snapshot of Lewis and Eve’s household. Lewis was recorded as thirty-nine years old and Eve as thirty-eight, with six children living at home.
| Household member | Age |
|---|---|
| Lewis Weigley | 39 |
| Eve Weigley | 38 |
| Elisabeth Weigley | 17 |
| John Weigley | 14 |
| Mary A. Weigley | 12 |
| Sarah Weigley | 6 |
| Ezra Weigley | 3 |
| William Weigley | 1 |
The ages fit the reconstructed family remarkably well. Joseph, who had died in 1844 at approximately four years old, is the one known child missing from the household.
The census is also another example of surname variation. The family appears there as Weigley, while later records and Lewis’s gravestone use Weighley.
Son John S. Weighley
Lewis and Eve’s son John S. Weighley was born on August 1, 1835, in Pennsylvania. He lived into the twentieth century and died on January 4, 1918, at age eighty-two.
John’s death certificate is particularly valuable for identifying his parents. It names his father as Lewis Weighley, born in Pennsylvania, and his mother as Eve Beeghly, also born in Pennsylvania.
John spent his working life as a farmer and was described as a retired farmer at the time of his death. His cause of death was recorded as obstruction of the bowels, with old age listed as a contributory condition.
John’s Second Marriage Adds More Evidence
Another unusually helpful record comes from John’s later marriage. In 1898, at the age of sixty-two, John applied to marry a sixty-year-old widow.
The application explicitly identifies John’s parents as Lewis and Eva Weighley. This is valuable because John supplied this information during his lifetime, rather than someone else providing it after his death.
The record also shows that John’s previous wife had died on August 1, 1897. His bride had also been widowed, making the marriage a later-life union for both of them.
Son Ezra J. Weighley
Another son, Ezra J. Weighley, was born on October 9, 1846, in Pennsylvania. He died on May 8, 1913, in Somerset County at the age of 66 years, 6 months, and 28 days.
Ezra’s death certificate gives his occupation as a salesman. It identifies his father as Louis Weighley and his mother as Eva Beeghley, both born in Pennsylvania.
| Field | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | E. J. Weighley |
| Sex | Male |
| Race | White |
| Marital status | Widowed |
| Date of birth | October 9, 1846 |
| Age at death | 66 years, 6 months, 28 days |
| Occupation | Salesman |
| Birthplace | Pennsylvania |
| Father’s name | Louis Weighley |
| Father’s birthplace | Pennsylvania |
| Mother’s maiden name | Eva Bechley as written on the certificate |
| Mother’s birthplace | Pennsylvania |
| Informant | Hulda M. Weighley |
| Informant’s address | Somerset, Pennsylvania |
| County of death | Somerset County, Pennsylvania |
| Township of death | Somerset Township |
| Date of death | May 8, 1913 |
| Time of death | 9:00 p.m. |
| Physician began attending | April 2, 1913 |
| Physician attended through | May 8, 1913 |
| Last seen alive by physician | May 8, 1913 |
| Primary cause of death | Paralysis |
| Contributory cause | Bright’s disease |
| Certifying physician | A. O. Barclay, M.D. |
| Physician’s address | Somerset, Pennsylvania |
| Certificate signed | May 9, 1913 |
| Burial place | Husband Cemetery, Somerset, Pennsylvania |
| Burial date | May 10, 1913 |
| Undertaker | H. G. Countryman |
| Undertaker’s address | Somerset, Pennsylvania |
| Certificate filed | May 10, 1913 |
| Local registrar | Appears to be M. B. Shafer |
| Registration district no. | 826 |
| Primary registration district no. | 3277 |
| File no. | 50802 |
| Registered no. | 54 |
The informant was Hulda M. Weighley of Somerset, Pennsylvania, apparently a close family member who was in a position to provide information about his parents. Ezra died from paralysis, with Bright’s disease listed as a contributing condition.
Ezra’s certificate matters because it differs slightly from John’s. One child remembered or reported their father as Lewis, while another record gives Louis, showing how easily variations can develop even within one immediate family’s records.
The Weigley and Weighley Spellings
Lewis’s family is a useful example of why surname spelling alone cannot separate people into different family lines. The 1850 census uses Weigley, Lewis’s gravestone uses Weighley, and the later records of John and Ezra also primarily use Weighley.
I would therefore remove the earlier statement that Lewis’s children changed the family name from Weigley to Wegley. The records shown here do not support such a clean transition.
Instead, these documents show something much more typical of the Wegley family history. Weigley, Weighley, Wegley, and related forms could coexist across generations and even within the records of the same immediate family.
Death and Burial
Lewis Weighley died on December 25, 1885, at the age of seventy-five. He was buried in Pleasant Hill Brethren Cemetery in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
His gravestone survives and provides direct evidence not only for his death but for his calculated birth date. The prominent Weighley spelling carved into the stone also gives us good reason to use that form as the principal spelling of his surname on this page.
Why Lewis Matters to My Research
Lewis is a good example of why I research people who are not my direct ancestors. Side branches often preserve documents that identify parents, maiden names, birthplaces, and relationships that may be missing from direct-line records.
In Lewis’s case, the records of his sons John and Ezra repeatedly connect him with Eve or Eva Beeghly. John’s marriage application is particularly strong evidence because John himself identified his parents as Lewis and Eva Weighley while both were still part of his own remembered family history.
The records also demonstrate why I try not to force historical names into a single standardized spelling. Lewis appears as Weigley in one source and Weighley in others, while even his given name shifts between Lewis and Louis.
For now, the strongest reconstruction is Lewis Weighley, born February 16, 1810, married to Eve “Eva” Beeghly, father of at least seven children, and buried in Somerset County after his death on Christmas Day 1885. His story may belong to a side branch of my family tree, but the records his family left help illuminate the larger Weigley, Weighley, and Wegley story.