Roger Chew Weightman (1787-1876) - Find a Grave Memorial

Politician. Roger Chew Weightman was elected the 8th Mayor of Washington D.C., serving between 1824 to 1827. After serving seven one-year terms as an alderman, he was originally appointed the city's mayor at the sudden death of Mayor Smallwood. As mayor, he was on the committees for the many memorial statues in Washington D.C. including later the Lincoln Memorial. He became a charter member of the Washington National Monument Society. He was on the committee that managed President Thomas Jefferson's funeral. The last letter that President Thomas Jefferson wrote before his death was a decline to an invitation sent by Mayor Weightman to attend the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He ran as a candidate for mayor unsuccessfully again in 1850. Professionally, he was a printer, purchasing a printing business in 1807 and becoming the printer for the United States Congress. He wrote articles for Washington D.C.s first newspaper, the "National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser." Serving at the rank of first lieutenant in Washington D.C.'s Light Horse Cavalry, he was captured during the War of 1812, when the British army invaded Washington D. C. Later in 1821, he was appointed cashier at the bank of Washington. With an income of only an army pension, in 1851 he was appointed chief clerk of the patent office. In 1861 General Weightman was commissioned Brevet Major General of the Militia of the District of Columbia by President Abraham Lincoln and reorganized the militia at the dawn of the American Civil War. In 1833 he was the Grand Master of the Masons of the District of Columbia. A sterling and influential citizen, he was given a military display at his funeral with many dignitaries attending.

Bio by: Linda Davis