Weeks Family Genealogy

Leonard Weeks — of the Weeks farmstead, immigrant ancestor.
(Based on the findings of Janet Ireland Delorey in the articles referenced above, and on the research of Dr. Neill DePaoli noted on our Farmstead History Page.)

Leonard Weeks was born in England about 1633, a date based on four depositions to New Hampshire courts between 1672 and 1705. The specific place of his birth is unconfirmed, and his parents are unknown.

Evidence indicates he was an unmarried teenage servant or hired man of a shipmaster, Capt. Francis Champernowne (1614-1687), and probably arrived in the coastal New Hampshire/Maine region in the late 1640s, but no later than 1655. Leonard Weeks first lived and worked on Capt. Champernowne’s farm. which was located on what is now the grounds of the Portsmouth (N.H.) Country Club.

Judging from the probate inventory of Samuel Weeks, he was the most successful of the Weeks farmstead owners. In addition to his thriving farm, in 1697 Portsmouth selectmen authorized Samuel Weeks to build a mill on the Winnicut River for cutting timber and grinding grain. The most visible indicator of his economic status was the distinctive brick house (pictured at right) built about 1710. Records indicate that Samuel Weeks owned oxen, cattle, horses, and pigs; grew corn and wheat; harvested salt marsh hay; kept bees for honey; and expanded his land-holdings. 

Grenville Weeks, son of Dr. Cyrus Weeks (1806-1875, b. Sanbornton, N.H., d. Hoboken, N.J.) and Maria Child, followed in his father’s footsteps and became a surgeon. He spent many years among Native American tribes serving as a surgeon, and became secretary of the New York Indian Commission. During the Civil War he served aboard the USS Monitor, which sank on December 31, 1862 during a violent storm off of Cape Hatteras. The Monitor was overhauled in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1862 and returned to duty in November. She was ordered to join the USS Rhode Island and head to Beaufort, N.C. to participate in the Union blockade of the Carolinas. The Monitor would never make it. On December 30, she encountered a strong storm in the dangerous waters off of Cape Hatteras. Water began to flood the ship, faster than the pumps could pump it out. As the evening wore on, and no relief was in sight, it became obvious that the Monitor was in serious danger of sinking. She sent out distress signals to the Rhode Island, anchored nearby. Throughout the night, the men of the Monitor were removed via whaleboat to the safety of the Rhode Island. Only sixteen men out of a crew of sixty-two were lost — a remarkable feat of rescue given the deadly conditions. At 1:30 a.m., December 31, the Monitor sank. The wreck would be found 112 years later. Grenville Weeks wrote about his experience and the last hours of the Monitor. The Atlantic Monthly published “The Last Cruise of the Monitor” in March 1863. To read the full article, click here.

An artist, painter, & world traveler, he was known for his exotic oriental scenes. The son of well-to-do spice and tea merchants from Newton, Mass., his talent was encouraged, and at age 21 he opened his own studio. Decades of travel and productive years of painting followed. In 1895 he wrote and illustrated a book of travels, From the Black Sea through Persia and India, and two years later he published Episodes of Mountaineering. He died in Paris in 1903. The web site, www.edwinlordweeks.org, includes a detailed biography and images of 92 paintings.

also known as John W. Weeks, of West Newton, Mass. Born near Lancaster, N.H. Grandnephew of John Wingate Weeks (1781-1853); cousin of Edgar Weeks; father of Charles Sinclair Weeks. Republican. Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1881. Served in the U.S. Navy during the Spanish-American War; mayor of Newton, Mass., 1903-04; U.S. Representative from Massachusetts , 1905-13; resigned 1913; U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, 1913-19; defeated, 1918; candidate for Republican nomination for President, 1916; delegate to Republican National Convention from Massachusetts, 1916; member of Republican National Committee from Massachusetts, 1920; U.S. Secretary of War, 1921-25. Died in Lancaster, N.H. Interred at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. Congressional Biography; Wikipedia Page; Weeks State Park, Lancaster, N.H.; More on Weeks State Park. (John Wingate Weeks was instrmental in establishing the eastern state parks system and the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. Weeks State Park consists of his lands and home given to the state of New Hampshire by his son, Sinclair Weeks, and his daughter, Katherine Weeks Davidge.)

also known as Sinclair Weeks. Born in West Newton, Mass. Son of John Wingate Weeks (1860-1926). Graduated from Harvard in 1914. Republican. Served in the U.S. Army during World War I; mayor of Newton, Mass., 1930-35; delegate to Republican National Convention from Massachusetts, 1932, 1940, 1944, 1948, 1952, 1956; Massachusetts Republican state chair, 1937; member of Republican National Committee from Massachusetts, 1940-53; U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, 1944; appointed 1944; U.S. Secretary of Commerce, 1953-58. Unitarian. Died in Concord, Mass. Congressional Biography; Wikipedia Page.

Start your own Weeks surname research! To go to the Wikipedia page with a list of people with the “Weeks” surname — famous & infamous — ordinary & odious — and probably very few descendants of Leonard Weeks, click here.