Biographical
Sketch
Charles Augustus Weyerhaeuser
was born on 2 April 1866 to parents Frederick (1834-1914) and Sarah
Weyerhaeuser. Charles apprenticed at various jobs within the family
timber business before taking over management of the Pine Tree Lumber
Company in Little Falls, Minnesota, with family friend Richard "Drew"
Musser when they both were in their mid-twenties. The boys' fathers
Frederick Weyerhaeuser and Peter Musser had formed the company along
with seven other lumbermen on 24 June 1890. Drew Musser, whose father
was company president, presided over sales and served as secretary for
the organization while Charles managed the company's logging, sorting,
and milling activities. Under their collective management skills, the
Pine Tree Lumber Company was debt free and earning solid profits by
1899.
Charles Weyerhaeuser and
Drew Musser were close friends as well as business partners. When Charles
married Frances Maud Moon in Duluth, Minnesota, on 14 December 1898
and moved into a grand home he built overlooking the Mississippi River
in Little Falls, Drew Musser built a luxurious home next door. The two
men entertained business dignitaries together at their homes while their
wives participated in the local social and charity scene. In 1920 the
Pine Tree Mill closed, and Charles and Maud moved away from Little Falls.
The Mussers' daughter Laura Jane later resided in the former Weyerhaeuser
home.
Charles and Maud Weyerhaeuser
had one son, Carl
Augustus Weyerhaeuser, born in 1901, who devoted his life to art
and literature. He served on the boards of many museums and was very
interested in historic preservation. His three sons are: Charles A.
Weyerhaeuser, Henry G. Weyerhaeuser, and Robert M. Weyerhaeuser.
Charles and Mauds's daughter,
Sarah Maud, married Walter S. Rosenberry, Jr., on 20 June 1930. Charles
did not live to see his daughter wed because he died unexpectedly of
blood poisoning on 15 February 1930 while on a cruise around the world
with Maud. The Weyerhaeuser family embraced Sarah Maud's new husband
and brought Rosenberry into the family business. Sarah Maud and Walter
produced daughters Lucy Rosenberry and Elise Bancroft Rosenberry (who
later married Robert Moore Phares) and sons Charles Weyerhaeuser Rosenberry
and Walter Samuel Rosenberry III (who later married Margaret Jane Ross).
Throughout his long career
as a timber executive, Charles Augustus Weyerhaeuser was a director
of numerous successful enterprises. He served on the board of directors
of Boise Payette Lumber Company from 1927 to 1930 and of Northwest Paper
Company from 1898 to 1930. He was president of Potlatch Lumber Company
from 1903 to 1930 and served as a director of Weyerhaeuser Timber Company
from 1928 until the time of his death in 1930.
