William Christian Weber Papers, 1858-1940

Summary

Creator:

Weber, William Christian, 1853-1952

Abstract:

Detroit, Michigan businessman and civic leader. Business correspondence relating to Weber's activities as a dealer in timber lands, his role as a member of the Art Commission in the development of Detroit, Michigan's Cultural Center, his involvement in the construction of the Detroit-Windsor bridge and tunnel and his activities during World War I; and correspondence and class notes of his sons, Harry B. and Erwin W. Weber, while attending University of Michigan; also photographs, including family portraits, aerial views of Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, photographs of the construction of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge, and glass negatives of family vacations in Upper Michigan, Ontario, and Quebec; and maps of land and timber holdings

Extent:

28 linear feet (in 30 boxes)
15 oversize volumes
15 oversize folders

Language:

English.

Call Number:

86260 AC Aa 2

Authors:

Finding aid prepared by: Thomas L. Jones, 1973-1974; Leonard A. Coombs, 1990 (land records only).

Background

Scope and Content:

The William C. Weber papers cover 28 linear feet (30 boxes), outsize folders, and 15 outsize volumes. Besides information on timber and mineral lands in Michigan, the important aspects of the Weber papers include information on the development of the Cultural Center of Detroit and Weber's very controversial role in it, items on the Detroit-Windsor bridge and tunnel and the development of the Border Cities, and the papers of his two sons, especially the letters they wrote as students at the University of Michigan and their class notes and examinations.

There is one foot of materials related to the Cultural Center (Box 19 and outsize folders) and another of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge (Box 20 and outsize folders).

Architectural site plans and property maps of the Detroit Cultural Center are also found in the outsize unbound material.

The collection includes maps relating to Weber's his land holdings in northern Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, including maps of land survey, of timber estimates, and tax and title status for Michigan lands, maps of Windsor subdivisions, maps of coal mining region around Caryville, Tennessee and property maps of the Detroit Cultural Center.

Biographical / Historical:

William C. Weber, a life-time resident of Detroit, was a land dealer in Michigan involved in lumber and minerals, as well as the owner of land in Detroit and the Border Cities (later Windsor, Ontario). Weber and his wife Emma (Behr) had two sons, Harry (born in 1888) and Erwin (born in 1892). Both sons went to the University of Michigan: Harry attended from 1907 to 1909 when he left to become his father's partner; Erwin attended from 1912 until graduation in 1916. Harry died in 1967. He and his wife Helen (who died in 1973) left no children. Erwin died in 1918 at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center from influenza.

In the first two decades of the century, Weber was involved in cultural events in Detroit, especially the development of the Cultural Center of the city of Detroit on Woodward Avenue. He and Joseph L. Hudson were the chief financial backers of the Art Commission's acquisition of the land on which the Main Library and Detroit Institute of Arts now stand. After Hudson's death in 1912, Weber became embroiled in a controversy over the design of the Cultural Center, failing, however, to sway other members of the commission to his position.

In the twenties and early thirties, Weber was interested in the construction of the Detroit-Windsor bridge and tunnel primarily because he held property in the Border Cities located strategically near the Canadian side of the bridge and near the industrial development of that area. During these years, he also was negotiating with the Ford Motor Company over land deals and the development of mineral lands in Michigan.

Acquisition Information:

The collection was donated by Mrs. Harry D. Weber, William C. Weber's daughter-in-law (donor 4727 ) to the University of Michigan Library (donor 1278 ) in about 1969. It was thereafter transferred to the Michigan Historical Collections.

Arrangement:

The William C. Weber papers are arranged in five series William C. Weber, Erwin C. Weber, and Harry B. Weber, Photographs and Maps. The William C. Weber series is further arranged in seven subseries:

1. William C. Weber papers
   • Correspondence, 1858-1940 -- Box 1-15
   • Letterbooks, 1878-1931 -- Box 16-18
   • Business and Property Records, ca. 1880-1934 -- Box 18
   • Papers Relating to the Detroit Cultural Center -- Box 19-20 and Outsize
   • Papers Relating to Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge
   • Land and Timber Records, 1870s- ca. 1920? -- Box 20-23
   • Record of Land Purchases and Taxes, 1868-1928 -- Outsize
   • Miscellaneous, ca. 1870s-1914 -- Box 23
2. Erwin C. Weber papers, 1900-1918 -- Box 24
3. Harry B. Weber papers, 1906-1934 -- Box 25
4. Photographs -- Box 26-30
5. Maps (Outsize

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Business records.
German Americans -- Michigan.
Land use -- Michigan.
Logging -- Michigan.
Mines and mineral resources -- United States.
Municipal government -- Michigan -- Detroit.
Tunnels.
World War, 1914-1918.
Bridges.
Camping.
Construction industry.
Farms.
Fraternities and sororities.
Interiors -- Fraternities and sororities.
Iron industry.
Iron mining.
Mining.
Quarrying.
Recreation.
Ships -- Great Lakes.
Tunnels.
Forests and forestry -- Michigan -- Maps.
Mines and mineral resources -- Tennessee -- Maps.
Real property -- Michigan -- Maps.
Real property -- Michigan -- Detroit -- Maps.
Real property -- Ontario -- Windsor -- Maps.

Formats:

Architectural drawings.
Aerial photographs -- Michigan -- Detroit.
Albums.
Glass photonegatives.
Photographs.
Maps.

Names:

Big Bay Lumber Company.
Detroit Arts Commission.
Detroit (Mich.). Cultural Center.
Ford Motor Company.
Section Two Mining Company.
University of Michigan -- Students -- Correspondence.
University of Michigan -- Student notebooks.
Holmes Literary Society (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Huron Mountain Club.
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America. Epsilon Chapter (University of Michigan)
University of Michigan -- Students -- Social life and customs -- 1901-1910.
University of Michigan -- Students -- Social life and customs -- 1911-1920.
University of Michigan -- Student housing -- 1901-1910.
University of Michigan -- Student housing -- 1911-1920.
Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway Company -- Maps.
Behr family.
Weber family.
Hudson, Joseph Lowthian, 1846-1912.
Ortmann, Charles L., 1830-
Rothschild, Sigmund, 1837-1907.
Weber, William Christian, 1853-1952.
Weber, Erwin William, 1892-1918.
Weber, Harry Behr, 1889-1969.
Weber, Johann Christian.

Places:

Ambassador Bridge (Detroit, Mich. and Windsor, Ont.)
Canada.
Detroit-Windsor Tunnel (Detroit, Mich. and Windsor, Ont.)
Marquette County (Mich.)
Tennessee.
Windsor (Ont.)
Ambassador Bridge (Detroit, Mich. and Windsor, Ont.)
Belle Isle (Detroit, Mich.)
Canada.
Detroit (Mich.) -- Panoramic views.
Detroit-Windsor Tunnel (Detroit, Mich. and Windsor, Ont.)
Georgian Bay (Ont.)
Hancock (Mich.)
Houghton (Mich.)
Ishpeming (Mich.)
Mackinac Island (Mich.)
Marquette County (Mich.)
New York (N.Y.)
Superior, Lake.
Alcona County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Alger County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Antrim County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Arenac County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Baraga County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Bay County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Caryville (Tenn.) -- Maps.
Charlevoix County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Cheboygan County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Chippewa County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Clare County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Crawford County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Delta County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Dickinson County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Emmet County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Gladwin County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Gogebic County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Houghton County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Iosco County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Iron County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Isabella County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Kalkaska County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Keweenaw County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Luce County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Marquette County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Midland County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Missaukee County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Ogemaw County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Ontonagon County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Oscoda County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Otsego County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Presque Isle County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Roscommon County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Schoolcraft County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Windsor (Ont.) -- Maps.