1849 - 1921

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• Birth	27 Jul 1849	Wiess Bluff, Jasper county, Texas
  Gender	Male
  Census	30 Sep 1850	Jasper county, Texas   [6]
  Census	28 Jul 1860	Newton, Jasper county, Texas   [7]
  Census	16 Jul 1870	Jasper county, Texas   [8]
  Died	22 Jun 1921	Beaumont, Jefferson county, Texas
  	Died of acute "??" of the heart and Bright's disease.
  Buried	Magnolia Cemetery, Beaumont, Texas
  Person ID	I1452	mykindred
  Last Modified	19 Mar 2009 00:00:00
  Father	Simon W. Wiess, b. 1 Jan 1800, Lublin, Poland
  Mother	Margaret (Elizabeth?) Sturrock, b. 12 Jun 1814, Dundee, Scotland
  Family ID	F546	Group Sheet
  Family	Elvira Elizabeth Janes, b. 2 Feb 1852, Bowie county, Texas
  Married	23 Mar 1870
  Children	1. Edward M. Wiess, b. Abt 1872   2. Sarah Nevada "Vada" Wiess, b. 28 Mar 1873, Beaumont, Jefferson county, Texas > 3. Clyde "Clydie" Wiess, b. 27 Dec 1874, Luling, Caldwell county, Texas   4. Everett Massena Wiess, b. 3 Aug 1877, Round Rock, Williamson county, Texas > 5. Blanche Imogene Wiess, b. Oct 1879, Round Rock, Williamson county, Texas   6. Iva G. "Ivy" Wiess, b. Dec 1881, Texas > 7. Evelyn E. Wiess, b. 29 Sep 1887, Texas
  Family ID	F576	Group Sheet

• Event Map

  Event Birth - 27 Jul 1849 - Wiess Bluff, Jasper county, Texas  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth




• Documents		Wiess, Massena Death Certificate

• Notes

  After their father's death in 1868, Val and Massena Wiess operated the family store at Wiess' Bluff for the next two years.  It appears that they commuted back and forth to Beaumont, for, on August 8, 1868, he was elected county treasurer of Jefferson county. He resigned this office in 1871 when he moved to Round Rock, Texas, where he remained (subsequently at Luling) for many years in the mercantile and cotton business.     He spent his business career in Round Rock and Sour Lake Texas.  During that time, Williamson county was a frontier settlement.  The Tonkawa Indian tribe lived there (see their picture of 1898 on p. 17 of the book "Historic Williamson County; an Illustrated History" by John L. Leffler).  Shortly after Massena arrived in Round Rock, the notorious outlaw, Sam Bass, was shot in 1878.  Shortly before his return to East Texas, in 1898, the cornerstone was laid for the new Main building of Southwestern University in Georgetown, where his brother, William, would later serve on the board of directors.     Around 1902, Massena Wiess returned to Beaumont after a thirty-year absence while living at Round Rock and Luling in Central Texas. Other than his cotton-buying and mercantile activities, little is known of his stay there, but, after his return, Massena was the only Wiess brother to continue actively as sawmiller. For many years afterward, he was engaged in sawmill operations at Sour Lake, Texas, and, in his later years, maintained a real estate office in the Kyle building in Beaumont (his daughter married Wesley Kyle, heir to Obadiah Kyle's interest in the Beaumont Land and Cattle Company and its share of the Spindletop oil fortune). He also continued his interest in agricultural affairs and, until his death on June 22, 1921, devoted much of his time to the South Texas State Fair and its agricultural exhibits. His survivors included a son, Edward M. Wiess of Corpus Christi, and five daughters as follows: Mrs. N. H. Cook, Mrs. W. W. Kyle, Mrs. F. H. Votaw, Mrs. J. J. Elam, and Mrs. Virgil Keith. On the 1870 census, he and Elizabeth are living with his mother, Margaret Wiess.  On that census they give their marriage month as May. 1880 census, precinct 8, Williamson county, Texas: Massina Wiess, self, M, W, 30, TX, Genl Merchant, Poland, Scotland, Elvira E. Wiess, wife, F, W, 26, TX, keeping house, AR, TX Sarah N. Wiess, dau, F, W, 7, TX, TX, TX Clyda Wiess, dau, F, W, 5, TX, TX, TX Everet M. Wiess, son, M, W, 3, TX, TX, TX Blanche Wiess, dau, F, 6M, TX, TX, TX Auther W. Coffin, nephew, 21, (single), M, W, TX, clerk in store, PA, TX Augustus J. Brook(?), other, M, W, 30, VA, lumber clerk, VA, VA Saml. P. Williams, other, M, W, 26, LA, dry goods mch, GA, GA 1900 census -- Elizabeth is living in Beaumont, no mention of Massena 3-WD, Beaumont, Jefferson, Texas, series T623, roll 1650, p. 95 lines 59-66, Sabine Pass Ave. Wiess, E.E. Mrs, head, W, F, Feb, 1852, 48, M, number of years married 30 is marked through, 6 children, TX, TX, TX   "  , Vidia, daughter, W, F, March, 1873, 27, single, TX, TX, TX   "  , Everette, son, W, M, Aug, 187?, 23, single, TX, TX, TX   "  , Ivy G, daughter, W, F, Dec, 1881, 18, single, TX, TX, TX Ealem, James J, head, M, W, March, 1877, 23, married 3 yrs, TX, TX, TX, saw mill laborer    "  , Blanche I, wife, W, F, Oct, 1879, 20, married 3 yrs, 1 child, TX, TX, TX    "  , Kyle P, son, W, M, Feb, 1899, 1, TX, TX, TX 1910 census he is living with his daughter Blanche and her husband John Elam.  No mention of Elizabeth. 1920 census, pct 1, Beaumont, Texas, enumerated January 10, 1920 Wiess, Massena, Head, M, W, 70, married, Texas, unknown, Scotland   "  , Elizabeth E., Wife, F, W, 68, married, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee Cook, Norman, son-in-law, M, W, 39, married, Texas, England, Texas   "  , Nevada, daughter, F, W, 40, married, Texas, Texas, Te Janes, Jarrett, brother-in-law, M, W, 62, married, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee   "  , Brandon, nephew, M, W, 20, single, Texas, Texas, United States     Where did his name come from?  His father, Simon Wiess, had a great admiration for Napoleon Bonaparte and had named his first son after him, so it seems certain that Massena was named after Andre Massena, a highly-respected Marshal under Napoleon.     Andre Massena, French Marshal, Prince de Essling, Duc de Raguse (1758-1817) was a Marshal serving under Napoleon.  He was a key soldier in the stunning 1796 Campaign and the battles of Montenotte, Lodi, Castiglione, Bassano, Caldiero, Arcola, and Rivoli.  In 1799, Massena took command of the army in Switzerland and ran into Russia's Field Marshal Suvarov at the second battle of Zurich.  Victorious, his reputation soared and even the harrowing siege and eventual surrender of his men at Mantua could not tarnish it.  He fought at Marengo and succeeded Bonaparte as commander of the Army of Italy, but his unashamed looting required  his almost instant dismissal.  Marshal Massena was to regain his stature and he participated in further triumphs, but he died dishonored and broken.

• Sources

  [S739] Janes-Peek Family book. [S75] From Cotton Bales to Black Gold, p. 57. [S6] Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, J.H. Brown. [S2127] Beaumont's Fabulous Wiess Brothers: Business Leaders of early Beaumont, http://hans.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/wiess.htm. [S2128] A Brief History of Wiess Bluff, Texas. [S1519] 1850 census, 1850 census, TX, Jasper, Sept. 30, 1850, HH 76/77,  p. 225, roll M432-912. [S136] 1860 census, 1860 census, TX, Jasper, Newton P.O., p 17, (M653-1298, p 393), July 28. [S14] 1870 census, 1870 census, TX, Jasper, sub 23, p 29; 497.