John Porter Weeks of Greenland, NH Biography from A History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire (1915) Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Louise Temples - pc_genie@ix.netcom.com Copyright. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************ Full copyight notice - http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm USGenWeb Archives - http://www.usgwarchives.net ************************************************************************ Source: A History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens by Charles A. Hazlett, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill, 1915 See a portrait of John Porter Weeks at http://www.usgwarchives.net/nh/rockingham/biopics/WeeksJohnPorter.jpg Page 863 JOHN PORTER WEEKS, an extensive farmer of Greenland, Rocking- ham County. N. H., was born on the parental homestead in this town, Jan- uary 24, 1844, a son of Deacon William and Louisa (Porter) Weeks. Leonard Weeks, the earliest known ancestor of our subject on the pater- nal side, came to New Hampshire from England, and settled about 1620 in what is now Greenland, Rockingham County. His son Joshua was the great- great-grandfather of John Porter Weeks, the subject of this sketch. Joshua Page 864 Weeks' son William was the father of Major William Weeks, who served in the Continental Army during the Revolution. He is said to have been one of Washington's staff officers. He was paymaster in 1776 and later. Deacon William, son of Major William Weeks, and the father of John Porter, was a native of Hopkinton, N. H. On May 26, 1835, he married Louisa, daughter of the Rev. Huntington Porter, of Rye. They had five children, namely: Ann L., Ellen M., Sarah. P., George W., and John Porter. Ann L. died on July 8, 1889. Ellen M. lives at the old homestead. Sarah P. died on February 10, 1895. George W. met with a tragic death, being killed at the Bay Side Railroad crossing on January 7, 1893. He left a widow, Mrs. Sarah L. Robinson Weeks, and one son, William. John Porter Weeks was the youngest of the family. He resided with his parents until September 16, 1861, when he enlisted in Company K, Fifth New Hampshire Volunteers. He was mustered into service at Concord, N. H., on October 12, 1861, going thence to Virginia, where he remained in camp at Alexandria during the winter of 1861-62. Although the youngest member of the company, he was promoted to corporal the same year. While in the army he was taken sick, first with measles, and then with lung fever, which obliged him to go to the camp hospital and Fortress Monroe, where he later rejoined his regiment. Mr. Weeks was then taken ill with typhoid fever, which confined him for three weeks in the hospital at David's Island, N. Y. After a furlough he was discharged on account of disability. He served as corporal but was discharged as sergeant. He and his brother, George W., then took charge of the home farm, and in 1878 erected a fine house and barn, all new buildings on the west side of the road. Mr. Weeks owns three hundred acres of land, carrying on general farming and dairy business. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party, having been chairman of the Republican Club for twenty-five years. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and takes a great interest in it. Mr. Weeks has been twice married: first on April 26, 1870, to Ellen, daughter of Hon. Charles Hatch, a member of one of the prominent families in this section. She died June 16, 1874. On September 14, 1876, he married Laura A., daughter of Nathan R. Foss. She was born in Strafford, N. H., December 30, 1851, and died May 30, 1910. They were the parents of three children: Mabel P., born July 11, 1878; Carrie F., born March 28, 1881, and Alice H., born November 12, 1882. Mr. Weeks attends the con- gregational church, where he has served as deacon since the death of his father. Their children are in the seventh generation from Leonard, the immigrant ancestor of the family, and they are now living on a part of the land owned by him more than three centuries ago.