Dr. John McQuincy Weston:
A High Minded, Upright Man & Citizen

By
23 Nov. 2001

John McQuincy Weston was born to John McKinney and Elizabeth (Geiger) Weston 16 September 1833 in Columbia, South Carolina. By 1850, the Westons had moved to Alabama. The 1850 Sumter Co., AL census lists John and Elizabeth Weston and their children Mary C., age 20; John M, age 17; Thomas S., age 14; Henrietta, age 11; William K., age 6; Alexander1, age 2; and Joel P., age 6 months.

Little is known about John McQuincy Weston’s early life. One would assume that since he served Terry’s Texas Rangers as a physician, he attended medical school, but it is not known when and where he did so. It is also unknown what prompted his decision to leave his parents and siblings in Alabama and move to Texas. According to the Texas Legal Directory by Bentley and Pilgrim, Attorneys at Law, Austin, Texas, published in Austin by the Democratic Statesman Office, 1877, page 38, Weston arrived in Texas in May 1854. The first legal record we have of Weston in Texas is his 10 March 1856 marriage in Richmond, Ft. Bend County to Marie Louise Chambers, daughter of William and Sarah (McDonald) Chambers. The 1860 Ft. Bend Co., TX census lists his occupation as ‘farmer’; it is not until the 1870 census that he is listed as ‘physician’.

John McQuincy Weston filed and was approved for a Soldier’s Application for Pension in 1913. In his application he states that he enlisted in September 1861 with Company “H”, 8th Texas Cavalry, Terry’s Texas Rangers, serving one year as surgeon on the regiment. Weston states that he resigned on account of ill health and injuries and rejoined General Wharton west of the Mississippi River. Serving as witnesses to the affidavit were Ben F. Weems and Samuel S. Ashe. These men swore that “We were, both of us, privates in Company “B” of 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment—known as “Terry’s Texas Rangers” at the time when Dr. John M. Weston was surgeon of the Regiment and being thrown with him now and then in that capacity and being from the adjoining county to his and having many mutual acquaintances we are enabled to say emphatically that he was a good soldier for the time during which his health permitted his service, and that before and during and since the war he has enjoyed the reputation of being an altogether high minded, upright man and citizen and has in our opinion deserved this reputation.” War Department records show that ‘J. M. Weston, private, Company H, 8th Texas Cavalry, also known as the 1st Regiment Texas Rangers, Confederate States Army, was enlisted September 7, 1861. On the roll for November and December 1861, last on which his name appears, he was reported as follows: “Transferred. Promoted chief surgeon, 1st Regiment Texas Rangers.” His equipment is valued at $60.00. It is stated on the records that he resigned either April 1 or April 22, 1862; his successor being named as J. W. Gulick. Weston states that he took the oath of allegiance to the U. S. Government in Houston a few days after the surrender.

After the War, Weston returned to Richmond, Ft. Bend Co., TX where in addition to his medical practice, he took an interest in local government and politics. He ran unsuccessfully for Chief Justice of Ft. Bend County in 1864. In 1869, he was elected Notary Public, serving for two terms. The Texas Legal Directory states that Weston was “admitted February 1874”, so he must have read law and passed the Bar, as well. In the 1880 Ft. Bend Co., TX census, Weston listed his occupation as ‘lawyer’. He served as Master of the Morton Lodge, No. 72 in 1876-77. In 1888, Weston was elected County Judge. He resigned this position on 3 September 1889 due to his political affiliation during the Jaybird-Woodpeckeer War and soon moved his family to Houston. They stayed in Houston for only about a year before moving to Sutherland Springs in Wilson County, TX where Weston continued to practice medicine. The 1910 Wilson County, TX census shows his occupation as ‘doctor’. He and his wife were living with their daughter, Eloise, in La Vernia, Wilson Co., TX when he died as a result of a fall on Tuesday morning, 22 January 1918. His widow, Marie Louise, filed for and received a Widow’s Pension in March of 1918. She died at age 95 on 9 August 1935 in Sour Lake, Hardin Co., TX. John and Marie Louise Weston are buried in Sutherland Springs, Wilson Co., TX.

John and Marie Louise Weston were the parents of seven known children: Sarah Elizabeth, born 1857—died 1944; Kate, born 1859, died young; William, born 1864 – died before 1935; Eloise, born 1869—died after 1935; Robert “Robbie” Mary, born 1871—died 1954; Phillip, born August 1874—died October 1874; and Parker Mayfield, born 1882—died 1936.

1Unless 2 year old Alexander is a child I have no information on, it is possible this child is actually the Weston’s 8 year old daughter, Alexina. There are also two other children not listed in the 1850 census: Abraham G., age about 19 and Robert O., aged about 5.