Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Weeks, Judge Charles H 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com October 3, 2007, 5:12 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

JUDGE CHARLES H. WEEKS. For sixty-six years a resident of this county, closely
identified with the development of its resources and intimately connected with 
its public affairs, the life of Judge Weeks was an eminently useful one and 
his reputation that of an honorable and public-spirited citizen. He was a boy 
at the time his father, Nathaniel Weeks, migrated from the east, making the 
long journey to Illinois with team and wagon, and settling in Homer Township, 
this county. On every hand the surroundings were indicative of the frontier.  
Will County was at that time a part of Cook, and both were sparsely settled 
and unimproved. He therefore became familiar with the experiences and 
hardships of pioneer existence and assisted in bringing the county to its 
present high standing among the counties of the state.

The ancestry of the family appears in the sketch of Horace Weeks, of Joliet, a 
brother of the judge. The latter was born in New Hampshire June 7, 1821, and 
accompanied his father to the west in 1833, settling with him in Homer 
Township, where he helped to break a tract of prairie land and also learned 
the trade of a harness-maker in Joliet. After a time he turned his attention 
to the study of law, in which he had the advantage of the preceptorship of 
prominent pioneer lawyers of St. Charles and Lockport. For years he was one of 
the prominent public men of the county and a leader in the Whig party. On
the organization of the Republican party he became identified with it and 
afterward supported its principles. For two terms he served as county 
treasurer, for one term as deputy county treasurer, and later held the office 
of county judge for one term. He was known for his sturdy championship of 
every measure calculated to benefit the county, and was always progressive, 
fearless and honest. To such as he the early advancement of the community was 
due. A genuine pioneer, aiding in the development of his locality, and a 
citizen of strict integrity, ever lending a helping hand in matters affecting 
the common weal, he was held in high respect and was numbered among the 
county's leading men. Upon his retirement from office he established his home
upon his farm in New Lenox Township and there resided for seven years. He then 
withdrew from active labors and afterward lived retired in Joliet, where he 
died June 5, 1899, at the age of seventy-eight years.

The marriage of Judge Weeks was solemnized in New Lenox Township, May 6, 1846, 
and united him with Miss Jane C. McDonald, who was born in Syracuse, N. Y.   
Her father, Asa McDonald, was a native of Connecticut and of Scotch descent. 
He settled in Onondaga County, N. Y., and engaged in the manufacture of salt
for some time, but later became interested in farming. In 1836 he brought his 
family to this county, the trip being made almost entirely in wagons and 
consuming six weeks. At first he settled in Joliet, but soon removed to a farm 
in Manhattan Township, at Five Mile Grove, where he carried on a dairy farm.  
Two years later he purchased a farm in New Lenox Township, three and one-half 
miles east of Joliet, and there made his home until he died, at fifty-six 
years. He married Olive Rudd, who was born in Rutland, Vt., of an old 
established New England family; she died on the home farm in New Lenox 
Township. Judge and Mrs. Weeks celebrated their golden wedding May 6, 1896, 
when a large number of relatives and friends assembled to enjoy the occasion 
and tender them the congratulations of the day. They were the parents of an 
only child, Eva, Mrs. George H. Munroe.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900


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