JOHN S. WEIDMAN.

Success  is not necessarily a  matter of genius, as held  by many.  Success is rather the outcome -of clear judgment, persistency and rightly applied energy.    The successful man is he who plans his own advancement and accomplishes it in spite of opposition. Difficulties and obstacles. will always disappear before determination, and unfaltering energy, and, while the road to prosperity does not seem plain, there can ever, be found a path leading to the goal but, one must be willing      to fight, for the battle of life, is never won by the timid and hesitating, at least in anything, but a mediocre degree. Among the worthy and progressive citizens of Isabella county is John S.    Weidman, well-known lumberman and banker, who has gained a prestige in the business world through his own efforts-sheer force of his individuality, a truly deserving, self-made man.

Mr. Weidman was born in Kenockee township, St. Clair county, Michigan, May 10, 1852, where he continued to reside until fourteen years of age, when his parents moved to a farm in Mecosta county, twelve miles south of Big Rapids, on the Muskegon river. Mr. Weidman attended school in winter until he was seventeen years of age, starting in life as a river driver at that time, going out into the world to make his own living, and his ambition, physical courage and endurance manifested all along the road of life, has resulted in winning large success and accumulating a competency. He worked on the Muskegon river during the summers as a log runner until he was twenty-five years old and in the woods in the winters, being foreman of various lumber operations. On July 3, 1877, at Big Rapids, was performed the ceremony that united Mr. Weidman and Margaret A. Mitchell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William G. Mitchell, of that city, and this union has resulted in the birth of six children, namely: Lenora D., Mildred A., John S., Jr., Robert, Lucille and Evan, all of whom are living, the oldest son, John S., Jr., being  engaged in the lumber business in upper Michigan.

After his marriage Mr. Weidman engaged in the lumbering business six miles south of Morley, taking contracts on which he cleared $1,000 during the first winter. He continued lumbering for the next nine years, in the meantime developing the farm which he had previously purchased. In 1887 he had added very largely to his farm, and, as there was considerable good timber, he erected a saw mill which he successfully operated for the next six years, cutting, his own timber and buying other in the neighborhood, cutting in all about twenty-five million feet. In 1892 he purchased a large tract of timber land in Hinton and Millbrook townships, Mecosta county, which he afterward sold. In 1893 he purchased a tract of several thousand acres of timbered lands in Isabella county, where he erected saw, shingle and planing mills, founding the village of Weidman, and where for sixteen years he conducted very extensive lumbering operations, cutting ten million feet of lumber annually. In addition -to cutting into lumber the logs which came from his own land Mr. Weidman purchased very extensively from adjoining owners. The village of Weidman is now recognized as one of the most thriving villages of this section and, with the fine farming country which surrounds it, it is destined to become a place of considerable importance. In igo3 Mr. Weidman purchased the private bank of Webber & Ruel in Mt. Pleasant, which was later incorporated as a state bank under the name of the Isabella County State Bank, of which institution he is the largest stockholder and president.    He is also president of the Weidman Banking Company and the Rosebush Banking Company. In September, 1905, Mr. Weidman moved his family to Mt. Pleasant, where he resides at the corner of Main and Maple streets.    Mr. Weidman is a thirty-second-degree Mason, and in politics a Republican. He is an attendant at and a supporter of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Mr. Weidman is regarded by all as a man of unusual business qualifications, keen, alert, far-seeing and a man who is capable of predicting with remarkable accuracy the outcome of a present transaction.   He is straight- forward and honest in all his relations with his fellow men and is in every way deserving of the high esteem in which he is held by everyone. His word has never been questioned, his integrity in all things being well known and he, therefore, has the confidence and good will of all classes.