Individual Details

Jacob Weber immigrated as a child with his family to the U.S. either in 1869 (1900 census), or in 1873 (1920 census), but most likely in 1873, as no 1870 census record for this family has been found. Either way, he would have been young, only seven or eleven years old. The Weber family lived in Iowa for a few years (1880 census) before settling in St. Paul, Minnesota. His father, Joseph Weber, died sometime between 1888 and 1895 and his widowed mother Anna lived in St Paul with her married daughter Marie. Marie had wed Daniel Paulus in 1887 but they never had any children. Both Jacob's sister and mother died in St Paul, 1914 and 1915, respectively, and are buried in Calvary Cemetery.
Jacob became a laborer for one of the railroad companies. Minnesota at that time had The Saint Paul and Duluth Railroad, Minneapolis & St. Cloud Railroad Company and The Northern Pacific. He probably met his future bride, Margaret Breuer, in St. Paul, Minnesota, as I have photo's of both of them from that locality.
Jacob left Minnesota for the west along with Margaret Breuer and her sister Rose Breuer with her husband John Milan. Barbara Deuhs', (Margaret's niece) mother said "The four (this was Jacob and Margaret (Breuer) Weber and John and Rose (Breuer) Milan) left in a covered wagon and grandfather (John Breuer) financed the trip. Evidently, they detoured to Missoula, Montana, for the birth of a Weber child. They continued on to San Jose, California" (Girgen). While the four did end up in California, the sequence of events was probably different from this. Jacob Weber and Margaret Breuer married in Missoula, Montana on August 5, 1889 and must have left Minnesota, unmarried, before that date. Did they travel together unmarried from Minnesota to Montana? That seems unlikely for that time period, and since John Milan and Rose Breuer married a year later on June 30, 1890 in Minnesota, they couldn't have left the state together. It's possible Jacob and Margaret traveled by rail, with John and Rose coming later with the covered wagon and belongings.
The decision to leave Minnesota was partly caused by difficulty finding work. Barbara wrote: "There was a railroad strike in Minnesota in 1895 or 1896. Anyone who went out on strike could not get employment with the RR afterwards, and apparently, it was hard to get any employment in St. Paul." As both couples had left Minnesota before this strike, employment might have been poor for some time.
After their marriage, Jacob and Margaret stayed in Missoula, Montana about nine years. Their first three children were born in Missoula; George in July 1890, Irene in 1892, and Francis in 1897. Francis's birth was published in The Missoulian on 9 Mar 1897, "Jacob Weber of North Missoula is rejoicing today over the arrival of a young son at his home and is treating his friends to the best in the land. Mother and son are both well." As the Northern Pacific Railroad ran through Missoula, Jacob probably found employment with them. Maybe he also considered ranching as land records show that Jacob patented 160 acres on 25 Jul 1898 near Missoula. Montana had just become a state when they married there in 1889. During their stay the town of Missoula saw its first horse drawn streetcars go into service, the opening of the Missoula Public Library in 1894 and the opening of the University of Montana in 1895.
Sometime after 1898 Jacob and Margaret decided to leave Montana. In the 1900 census both the Weber family and John and Rose Milan are found residing in Winnamucca, Nevada, another railroad town. Both Jacob Weber and John Milan continued to be employed by the railroad, Jacob as an engine inspector and John as a RR fireman. The company in Winnamucca was the Central Pacific Railroad. The Weber's last son, James, was born in Winnamucca March 1901. Margaret supplemented the family income by sewing. A family story says that while in Winnamucca, Nevada, not all the "ladies" she sewed for were of fine repute.
Shortly after the birth of their last child the Weber's moved one last time. They traveled west to Santa Clara County California where they purchased a ranch in the Purissima District, which lies in the wooded foothills of the Santa Cruz Range a few miles from Palo Alto. The records of Purissima School show Irene Weber enrolled in September of 1902. The Purissima district was at that time an agricultural area of orchards. Jacob and Margaret became fruit farmers, mainly apricots and prunes. The orchards were not enough to support the family though. Their main income came from employment in San Francisco. Granddaughter Marion remembers being told that after the 1906 earthquake, Jacob rode his bicycle all the way to their ranch from San Francisco.
Nearby, Los Altos came into being in 1907 with the building of new foothill rail lines (James 1524-3). The town had direct service to San Francisco, being on the line of the Southern Pacific Railway. Los Altos became known as an ideal residential place and was the nucleus of a large home center for San Francisco business men, many of whom commuted daily (Sawyer 298). The ability to commute was probably a boon to the Webers. Even still, they had a residence in San Francisco; during the 1910 census they were living at 2896 Folsom Street. Jacob's occupation was listed as a railroad coppersmith¹ while Margaret did dressmaker work at home. The oldest, George, was working as a railroad machinist. Margaret had a small grocery store in San Francisco at some point. There are pictures of teenage son Francis in the shop.
By 1920, they began living full time at their ranch on Purissima Road with fruit farming as their main employment. Their children had all left home. They maintained their Purissima ranch until their deaths, Jacob in 1923, Margaret in 1955.

¹ Before diesel-electric locomotives made steam locomotives outdated in the railroad industry, coppersmiths fitted the copper pipes used in steam engines. They twisted copper pipe forming bends, tee-pieces, cross-pieces, or into any conceivable shape required to fit what was needed (Fuller 166).

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The Anaconda (Montana) standard. [volume], August 14, 1896, Page 10
At the Hotels Missoula, Aug. 13. --- Guests at the hotels are:
...
The Kennedy -- J. Bradley, Wallace; Hugh A. Clark, Jacob Weber, Missoula
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San Jose Mercury-news, Volume XCV, Number 79, 17 September 1918
Real Estate Transactions.
Jacob Weber to Margaret Weber -- Lot 58 of subd of lot 2. Taaffe partition, part Rch La Purissima Concepcion; also lot 40 of sub of lot 2 and part lot 1, Taaffe partition, $10.

• 

Birth	28 May 1862	Koblenz, Germany
Immigration	1869 or 1873
Census	1880	Stacyville, Mitchell, Iowa, United States
Marriage	5 Aug 1889	Missoula, Missoula, Montana, United States - Margaretha Ann "Maggie" Breuer
Naturalization	3 Feb 1893	Missoula, Montana, United States
Property	25 Jul 1898	160 acres - Missoula, Missoula, Montana, United States
Census (family)	1900	Winnemucca, Humboldt, Nevada, United States - Margaretha Ann "Maggie" Breuer
Property	Apr 1905	Santa Clara, California, United States
Census (family)	19 Apr 1910	Assembly District 32, Precinct 12, San Francisco, California, United States - Margaretha Ann "Maggie" Breuer
Property	Sep 1918	Santa Clara, California, United States
Census (family)	2 Jan 1920	Mayfield Twp., Purisima, Santa Clara Co., California, United States - Margaretha Ann "Maggie" Breuer
Death	24 Oct 1923	Santa Clara, California, United States
Burial		Alta Mesa Cemetery, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, California, United States

Spouse	Margaretha Ann "Maggie" Breuer (1862 - 1955)
Child	George Joseph Weber (1890 - 1941)
Child	Irene Sybil Weber (1892 - 1946)
Child	Francis Breuer "Frank" Weber (1897 - 1965)
Child	James Walter "Jim" Weber (1932 - 1983)

Father	Josephus Weber (1822 - 1888)
Mother	Anna Weiler (1827 - 1915)
Sibling	Anton Weber (1857 - 1912)
Sibling	Anna Marie "Mary" Weber (1865 - 1914)
Sibling	Peter Weber (1868 - )

Notes