Biography of James M. Weeks, pages 1023 / 1024.  History of De Kalb County, 
Indiana.  Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, 1885.

James M. Weeks, one of the most prominent and successful of the pioneers of 
De Kalb County, lives on section 32, Wilmington Township, where he settled 
in June, 1836. At that time the country was infested with wild animals and 
Indians, and the former made night hideous with their howling.  The Indians 
were peaceable but were beggars and thieves. He entered 160 acres from the 
Government on the northwest quarter of section 32, and has brought it from 
its wild wooded state to its present valuable condition. When he first came 
to the county he worked by the day or job at anything he could get to do.  
He at one time split 1,000 rails twelve feet long for William Thomas for 50 
cents a hundred, receiving his pay in two bills, and the bank which issued 
one of them suspended payment the next day, and $3 was all he realized for 
the job.  He has cleared 10 acres of his land with his own hands, and has 
cleared nearly twice as much for others settlers.  He met with serious 
discouragement’s when a young man, but his determination and pluck have 
carried him through all difficulties, and he is now reaping the reward of 
his hard labor.  Mr. Weeks was born May 26, 1814, in Rockbridge County, 
Va., a son of John and Margaret (McQuillen) Weeks.  His father died in 
January, 1815, and his mother when he was ten years old. He is the 
youngest of four children.  His brother John lives in Union Township; a 
sister Jane married Jacob Platter, and is now deceased; and Mary is the 
wife of Vinage Russell, of Miami County, Ohio.  Mr. Weeks lived with an 
uncle till seventeen years of age, and then learned the blacksmith’s 
trade, at which he worked five years, when he came to De Kalb County.  He 
was married Dec. 18, 1849, to Mary Hay, a native of Germany, daughter of 
Valentine Hay.  Their only child died at the age of ten and a half months.  
Mrs. Weeks died Oct. 3, 1872.  She was an exemplary Christian woman, a 
member of the Lutheran church, and was beloved by all who knew her.  
Cornelius Platter, a son of Mr. Week’s nephew, is living on his farm and 
superintends the work.  He was born in Defiance County, Ohio, Sept. 12, 
1861, a son of James Platter, the first white child born in the county.  
He was married to Eliza Davis, daughter or Isaiah Davis, and has two 
children---Charles and Harriet E.  Mr. Weeks is therefore living with the 
fourth generation.   

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com