Denver-Pueblo County CO Archives Biographies.....Weese, Herman F. 1864 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 December 21, 2008, 4:06 am Author: Wilbur Fiske Stone (1918) HERMAN F. WEESE. As president of the Empire Bottling Company of Denver, Herman F. Weese is at the head of a commercial enterprise which under his able direction has grown to be an important industry of the city. He was born in Germany. July 29, 1864, a son of Herman and Martha (Wahlers) Weese, who in the fall of 1881 came to America, locating in Douglas county, Kansas, where the father successfully engaged in the cultivation of land, so continuing with good results until his death in 1916. His wife had departed this life eight years before, in 1908. her death also occurring in Douglas county, Kansas. In their family were nine children, of whom two are deceased, while those living are: Mrs. Katharine Rushmeyer, residing in Kansas; Fred Weese, of New York state; Mrs. Minnie Kersting, a resident of Denver; and Henry and August Weese, and Mrs. Lena Sutton, all of whom reside in Topeka, Kansas. Herman F. Weese. the remaining member of the family, spent his boyhood in Germany, where he attended school. At the age of seventeen he came with his parents to this country and when his father settled upon a farm in Kansas he assisted in its operation until his removal to Colorado in 1887, when he was twenty three years of age. He first engaged in railroad work and later was connected with brick manufacturing, continuing in the latter line until 1896. Having carefully saved his earnings, he was then able to embark in business independently and established a bottling works in Denver. Under his able management the enterprise proved successful and in 1902 he organized it as the Empire Bottling Company. He has since 1916 been the executive head of the business, of which he is still the president, while Henry A. Lucks is vice president and William Laicke, treasurer. Mr. Weese has always followed honorable business principles and has given his patrons full value and first class service and therefore the business has expanded and grown until it is today one of the foremost enterprises of its kind in the city. He bottles all kinds of soda water and other nonintoxicants and his trade extends over a wide territory. In 1898 Mr. Weese was united in marriage to Miss Louise Meyer, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Meyer, the ceremony being performed in Denver. Mrs. Weese was born in Pueblo, Colorado, and to this union was born a son, Albert M. Weese, whose birth occurred August 2, 1900, in Denver. He is a graduate of the class of 1918 of the North Denver high school. After fourteen years of happy married life Mrs. Weese passed away in 1912. In October, 1913, our subject married Mrs. Anna Stauch, of Denver, a daughter of Conrad and Anna Funke. Mr. Weese maintains an independent course in regard to political questions, preferring to follow his own judgment in support of measures and candidates, irrespective of party issues. However, he always stands for progress and improvement and is ever ready to cooperate with others in the promotion of measures undertaken for the benefit of his city. His fraternal relations are with the Woodmen of the World Camp No. 1, and also the Foresters of America, and the principles of brotherhood underlying these organizations guide him in life's relations. Having no especial advantages at the outset of his career, Mr. Weese has worked his way upward to a position of commercial importance in his adopted city and there is much credit due him for what he has accomplished, for he has made his way to the top entirely unaided. Although born in Germany, he is thoroughly American in his principles and ideas and in the state of Colorado and the city of Denver has found the opportunities which have enabled him to establish a business from which he derives a gratifying income. In the best sense of the word he is a self-made man and through his energy, his determination, his frugal habits and his business foresight has made his way to prosperity. Mr. Weese has made many friends in Denver who speak of him in terms of the highest regard, for they esteem him not only as a successful business man but a man who has at heart the public welfare, and a man of character whose qualities have gained for him the respect of his fellow citizens. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF COLORADO ILLUSTRATED VOLUME III CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1918 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/denver/bios/weese73nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cofiles/ File size: 4.9 Kb