JOHN P.F. WEAVER, contractor and builder, brick manufacturer, president of the Globe Publishing Company, and vice president of the Ogden Iron Works, is one of the most enterprising men of Council Bluffs.

Mr. Weaver was born in Adams County, Pennsylvania, September 7, 1846, and was reared near Gettysburg. His parents, J.G. and Maria (Fisher) Weaver, were both natives of Pennsylvania. He traces his family history back five generations on both sides, the original ancestors being German and English. Both parents are still living at the old home in Adams County, Pennsylvania. John P.F. was reared on a farm, and by virtue of his father being a plasterer he learned that trade.

At the age of seventeen Mr. Weaver entered the service of his country, enlisting in February 1863 in Company H, Twenty-First Pennsylvania Cavalry, and served till the close of the war. He was mustered out at Lynchburg, Virginia, and received his discharge at Harrisburg, July 14, 1865. Mr. Weaver was in seventeen engagements at the siege of Petersburg, and, in fact, all of the principal battles from 1863 until the close of the war.

The war over, he returned to his old home, and there engaged in agricultural pursuits until the spring of 1866. Then he completed his trade. May 31, 1869, he started west landing in Council Bluffs on the fourth of June. He has since made this city his home. In 1870 he entered into a partnership with George A. Jacobs, with whom he was associated until the fall of 1876, when Mr. Jacobs withdrew from the company. Mr. Weaver continued the business alone, and as time moved along he gradually enlarged his operations and made many other business ventures, meeting with decided success in all his undertakings. He has been in the brick business since 1880, now manufacturing from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 brick annually, employing an average of fifty men and doing a $50,000 business.

In December 1888, he entered into partnership with Thomas Bowman in the Globe Publishing Company, he being the president. In 1887 he associated himself with the Ogden Iron Works of which he is vice president. Mr. Weaver was one of the founders of the Council Bluffs Canning Works, also one of the founders of the Council Bluffs Driving Park, and is a member of the Board of Trade. He is a stanch Democrat and during the years 1888-89 was a member of the City Council. He is a member of the I.O.O.F., No. 184, Hawkeye Lodge.

Mr. Weaver was married May 1, 1878, to Miss Mary Hilferty, who was born May 6, 1856. Her father, Charles Hilferty, came to Iowa when she was quite young and she was reared in this state. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have four children: Laura, May, Howard and John, all at home.

Mr. Weaver is a self made man in every respect: his education was obtained through his own efforts, and his success is due to his honesty, pluck and perseverance.