Acknowledgement: This History of Lowell has been made possible largely through the great generosity of the business men and institutions mentioned in the following pages. Grateful acknowledgement is extended.

Any firm or establishment which will "give and take" in one community for over half a century must have an abiding faith and love for that community. For over three scores years the name of Weekes had been very closely associated with the history of Main street. When the names of the strongest "boosters" for Lowell are listed, the name of Weekes will be found somewhere near the top.

Augustus W. Weekes was born in Keene township May 27, 1850, and lived the life of a farmer’s boy until he was eighteen. At the age of fourteen he tried to enlist in the army, but was rejected on account of his youth. He attended the district school, the Grand Rapids High School and the Michigan Agricultural College; teaching during the Winter to defray his expenses.

In 1874 he was united in marriage to Henrietta Bailey, to which union a daughter, Ora, and a son, Harold, were born. In 1872 he entered the dry goods store of N. B. Blain, with whom he remained until 1880, when he formed a partnership with E. R. Collar at the same line of trade and continued there in until 1888, when he retired on account of ill health. In 1890 he re-entered business in the store now occupied by his son, H. L. Weekes. This location was formerly in the hands of the J. L. Hudson Company of Detroit.

Mr. Weekes was supervisor of Lowell township for five terms and was chairman of the Board at the time of the dedication of the present court house at Grand Rapids. In 1891 he was elected president of Lowell. The following year he was elected to the House of Representatives and served the second representative district for three terms. In 1900 he was elected as State Senator from the Seventeenth district and served two terms. He then retired from politics, devoting the remainder of his life to the dry goods business. Augustus W. Weekes departed from his life on August 7^th, 1916.

Harold L. Weekes was born in the village of Lowell, Feb. 20, 1882. He left the Lowell High School at the completion of the junior year and entered Ferris Institute. He graduated from the commercial course in 1901. He then entered his father’s store as dry goods clerk.

In 1905, he was united in marriage to Carrie E. Davidson, to which union four children were born: Donald G. Weekes, of Youngstown, Ohio; Richard, who died in infancy; and two daughters, Phyllis and Jean, of Lowell.

In 1914 the partnership of A. W. Weekes & Son was formed and since the death of his father in 1916 Harold Weekes has actively carried on the present dry goods business.

Harold L. Weekes has resided in Lowell all his life, is affiliated with the Masonic lodge, F. & A. M. No. 90, and has been a member of the Methodist church since 1898. He has served as township treasurer two terms, served as village trustee seven years and two terms as school trustee, and has been an active member of Lowell Board of Trade since its organization. We trust that the names of Weekes will be seen in the business section for many years to come.