Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Processing Information
Preferred Citation
Separated Materials
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Biographical / Historical Notes
Scope and Content
Arrangement
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Title: Harrell Weaver Family Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS 223
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.25 Linear feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1862 August 7-1994 November 25
Abstract: This collection documents Harrell Weaver and his extended family including the Weaver, Thing, Wells, and Snethen families.
Family members played active roles in the military from the Revolutionary War to World War II as is documented in the collection’s
family biographies, records, certificates, and news articles.
creator:
Weaver family
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Jody Valente on October 24, 2011.
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Preferred Citation
Harrell Weaver Family Papers, MS 223, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
Separated Materials
Original photographs of Weaver and Thing families separated to SDHC Photograph Collection, Accession 2002/052.
Liberty War Map (1917) separated to SDHC Map Collection, located in unprocessed, early maps.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Certificate of appointment for Leonard Wells (1865) is faded and discolored.
Biographical / Historical Notes
Harrell Lee Weaver was born on August 18, 1923 to David Franklin Weaver and Natella Thing Weaver. Harrell’s family was very
active in the military; his great grandfather’s great uncle, Thomas Wells, served in the Revolutionary War and subsequent
family members served in the Civil War, World War I and in World War II.
Harrell grew up in Logan Heights in Southeast San Diego and attended Logan ElementarySchool, the same school that his mother,
Natella T. Weaver, attended. Harrell’s father, David Franklin Weaver, had been mustard gassed while serving in World I, which
greatly affected his health. When Harrell was nine and half years old, his family moved to Tecate to live on the 240 acre
ranch owned by his great grandfather, Damon Thing. When Harrell was twelve years old, his father passed away at the age of
forty-two. Upon his father’s death, Harrell and his mother moved back to San Diego where he attended Woodrow Wilson Junior
High and Herbert Hoover High School; while in high school he was a member of ROTC and was promoted to sergeant. He graduated
early at fifteen years old. At age eighteen, he began working as an engineer with the U.S. Government Fire Department. Harrell
L. Weaver was drafted into World War II in December 1942. He began as a private in Company D, 83rd infantry training battalion
and took part in the Battle of Saipan of the North Mariana Islands, shortly after D-Day. After three days he was rendered
unconscious by an exploding shell; the medics were forced to cut off his clothes, including his size 14-D shoes. He spent
two months recovering at Guadalcanal Hospital. He was then assigned to a casual company, as all of his personal records had
been abroad a ship that had sunk at sea. There were no 14-D shoes to be found on the islands, so he was provided with jobs
that enabled him to go barefoot, from filling bags of drinking water, to stringing telephone lines to driving trucks that
hauled aerial torpedoes, nitro glycerin and detonators. Harrell was discharged on November 11, 1945, Armistice Day.
After Harrell was discharged from World War II, he could not find employment in San Diego so he travelled to Los Angeles,
where he met his future wife. On October 17, 1958 Harrell Weaver married Mary Schultz. Harrell Weaver passed away on November
20, 1994 at age 71.
Harrell’s father, David Franklin Weaver, was born in Colorado on November 30, 1892 to Franklin B. Heath and Mary Weaver Heath
and was given the birth name of David Franklin Heath. He was adopted by his maternal grandparents and given the last name
of Weaver. He was inducted into the service on September 18, 1917 and served in World War I with Company E, 364th infantry,
91st division. He took part in the following offensives of 1918: St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne Offensive (also known as the Battle
of the Argonne Forest), and Ypres-Lys. He served as a sniper for the intelligence section and was honorably discharged in
April, 1919. He passed away on August 19, 1935.
Harrell Weaver’s paternal great grandfather and David Weaver’s grandfather, Thomas Foster Weaver, served in the Union Army
during the Civil War. Thomas F. Weaver was born in 1835 and served in Company D, 2nd Regiment of Colorado Calvary. He entered
the service in June 1862. He was discharged when the war ended on June 20, 1865, at age 30. His wife and Harrell’s great grandmother,
Emma Josephine Rook Weaver, had two brothers who also served in the Union Army.
Harrell’s maternal great grandfather, Leonard Bates Wells, was born on January 29, 1827. He also served in the Union Army,
along with his brother, Ferdinand, and was enlisted in the army on August 7, 1862, with Company A, 81st Illinois Regiment
Volunteers. From 1863 – 1865, he served in the following battles: Thompson Hill; Champion Hill; Raymond, MS; Vicksburg, MS;
Nashville, TN; Spanish Forts, AL; Jackson, MS; and Red River Expedition. His windpipe was badly wounded at the battle of Vicksburg,
but he made a full recovery. He also suffered gunshot wounds in the hip, leg and had erysipelas. He was promoted to First
Sergeant at Vicksburg in June, 1863, and was promoted to Second Lieutenant shortly before his discharge on August 5, 1865.
Leonard B. Wells passed away on May 22, 1912. Family notes document that he was related to Zachary Taylor, the 12th President
of the United States and that Mrs. Jefferson Davis, wife of the leader of the Confederacy during the Civil War, was a distant
cousin.
Harrell’s mother, Natella Thing Weaver, and the women of her family were also engaged civically. Harrell’s great grandmother
on his maternal side, Susan Harrell Wells, and his grandmother, Rezilia Wells Thing, were both members of the U.S. Grant Circle
#26 Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic. His grandmother, Rezilia, held every office within the Circle and served as
president twice. She was also a charter member of the Nancy Hanks Lincoln Tent #5, Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil
War, which was established in San Diego in March 1909. Harrell’s mother and his aunt, Lorietta, also joined the efforts of
the Nancy Hanks Lincoln Tent #5.
Natella Thing Weaver served as the historian for Amaroc Auxilary and also served as the family historian, providing family
history to Dorothy Clark Schmid who was a historian for Dulzura, California, located northwest of Potrero and Tecate, where
the Thing family settled. Her father, Charles Edward Thing and one of his brothers, Joseph Lucien Thing, were early pioneers
in San Diego and had land claims and cattle ranches in an area they deemed “Thing Valley.” Together, they opened the Thing
Brothers Store in Tecate, located forty-five miles south, just across the border in Mexico.
The Thing family had previously had the last name of Hogg, and ancestors were of English and Wales descent. As recounted by
Natella Thing to Dorothy Clark Schmid, someone in the family desired that the name be changed and went to a judge in England
to do so. When the judge asked what they would like the new last name to be, they replied, “change it to anything”, as they
hadn’t decided upon a different last name. The judge designated the new last name to be “Thing.”
Scope and Content
This collection documents Harrell Weaver’s family tree and includes information about experiences the extended family had
while serving in the military, from the Civil War to World War II. The collection contains biographical and genealogical information
on the Weaver, Wells, Thing, and Snethen families, documenting their personal and military activities. This information was
primarily documented by Harrell Weaver’s mother, Natella Thing Weaver, and his wife, Mary Weaver. Family records of births,
deaths and marriages, as well as official marriage and birth certificates are included in the collection. Documentation of
military involvement and service include the enlistment and discharge certificates for Leonard Wells from the Union Army during
the Civil War, as well as Reserve Officer’s Training Course (ROTC) certificates for Harrell Weaver. Newspaper articles document
family announcements, events, and war experiences.
Arrangement
Items in collection are arranged by subject.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number 970718.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Schmid, Dorothy Clark, b. 1895
Snethen family
Thing family
Thing, Charles Edward
Thing, Damon
Thing, Joseph Lucian
Thing, Rezilla Wells
Weaver family
Weaver, David Franklin
Weaver, Harrell Lee
Weaver, Natella Thing
Weaver, Thomas F.
Wells family
Wells, Leonard Bates
Armed Forces
Civil war
Genealogy
Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands)
San Diego (Calif.)
Tecate (Mexico)
World War, 1914-1918
World War, 1939-1945