REVEREND JOSEPH J. WEEMS

The following bio was taken from page 438 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

Reverend Joseph Jones Weems, Cumberland Presbyterian minister, Civil War soldier, farmer, and merchant, was born in Scott County, Mississippi, about 1831, the son of Joseph I, and Elizabeth Ann (Mellard) Weems.

As a young man, Reverend Weems felt a call to serve as a minister of the gospel. At the time he was a member of the Methodist faith, which required considerably more schooling than he had, so they would not license him to preach or pastor a church. The Lord’s calling was so strong that Reverend Weems left the Methodist Church and joined the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, whose educational requirements were not as strict which he could easily meet. He became licensed to preach and was sent forth to organize new churches. During his ministry he was sent from Mississippi into Louisiana and in 1876 to the Pine Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Rusk County.

Before Reverend Weems’ leaving Mississippi, the Civil War broke out and he responded to the call of duty and enlisted as a soldier to help the infantry. He was stationed at Vicksburg during major battles but was fortunate that the Lord saw he was not injured and could return to his church work. The story has been handed down through the generations that he served guard duty four days and nights without relief so that when relieved he went to sleep in one of the barn-like structures and slept through one of the major battles which was fought only a short distance away.

Shortly after his return from the Civil War, Reverend Weems met and married Mary Jane Smith, who was born March 29, 1836 in Mississippi. He was elected constable of Scott County and sworn in by his brother, Melvin Weems. It was after he served his term in this office that he was sent to Louisiana and finally into Texas.

While the Weems were still in Mississippi, four children were born: Magothen, Nancy, Lawson, and Martha. Another child was born in Louisiana, Frances Elizabeth; and the sixth child, Wiliba Irving (Willie), was born after the family moved to Rusk county and the Pine Grove community.

Reverend Weems settled his family on the Newman place about three miles from Pine Grove. Besides pastoring the Pine Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church, he farmed land and at one time operated a general store in the Pine Hill Community.

Mary Jane Weems died February 17, 1880 and was buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery. Reverend Weems married a second time and the couple had one son, Robert Lee. Reverend Weems died in 1911 and was buried beside his first wife in the Pine Grove Cemetery not far from the church he faithfully served.

Submitted by Anna Beth Butler