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Mrs. Jeanne "Queen Mab" Weis, age 89 formerly of Canton, passed away January 21 in Elizabethtown. She was born in Paris and was the only midget in her family. She attracted the attention of the Great Barnum and Bailey Circus and toured as the smallest actress in Europe, 38 inches tall and weighing 45 pounds. She came to America and in 1906 married Casper Weis. He was leader of the Midget Band and she was the star of the Lilliputians. Thinking retirement, in 1913 they purchased Hillside, Fanny Davenport's spacious mansion one mile north of Canton. They resided there until it was destroyed by fire in 1951. They lost all their midget furniture and souvenirs in the fire and resided in the Elliot Apartments until Mr. Weis died in 1965, age 92.
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Canton Midget Marks Birthday, but Casper Weis only
Admits to Being “Past 80”
Elmira Sunday Telegram – April 20, 1955 By, Mrs. Leon Keagle (Eleanor Parsons "Keagle") Canton – To most people April 19 is just another Saturday, but for Casper
Weis, Canton’s famous little watchmaker and one-time stage star, it marked
his birthday. But which birthday?
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| Picture Caption: Bottom - On their 48th Wedding Anniversary,
September 19,
1954 According to the 2 dates of birth we have he would have been either 77 or 83 |
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The decorated wedding cake was sized to the bride’s dainty proportions
but inadequate for the crowd of well-wishers who were served decorated
individual cakes and other refreshments by Mrs. Allen Courtney, Mrs. Edward
Snyder, Mrs. Agnes McBlane, Mrs. Louise May and Mrs. L. J. Keagle.
Miss Joan Madeline Smits and Casper H. Weis
were married on Sept. 20, 1906, in New York City. In reminiscing
of their wedding day, Mrs. Weis said they were in Coney Island’s “Midget
City” at the time, and like many other actors wished to be married in New
York’s “Little Church Around the Corner,” but could not find it.
Mr. Weis explained the church was not listed in the directory by that name,
so they were married in a Methodist Church. “The minister was so
tall that he had to sit in a chair while performing the ceremony,” he added.
[piece missing] ………the countries of Europe and made appearances in
South Africa and British Columbia. Mr. Weis is a native of Luxembourg
and has toured with shows in Europe as well as the United States.
He is an expert watchmaker, having learned his trade in Europe. During
much of his life in Canton he was official watch repairman for the Altoona
Railroad shops.
After their marriage, the Weises played in vaudeville and musical shows
throughout the United States and Europe, appearing in Lowe’s Theaters as
Queen Mab and Mr. Weis. Mab played the part of Mrs. Tom Thumb in
“Mr. Barnum” in Atlantic City; Mr. Weis was Hans of “The Katzenjammer Kids,”
playing the Walnut St. Theater, Philadelphia, and many other large cities.
Mr. Weis became a member of LuLu Temple Shrine while living in Philadelphia,
and now holds a life membership, having been a member 52 years. He
is the smallest Shriner in the world.
Mrs. Weis was born in Paris, France, the daughter of a milliner, and
the only midget in the family. She appeared in most of………
Mr. and Mrs. Casper WEIS are shown in a photo taken in December of 1936. The other man was identified as Nathan Palmer of Canton and was six foot, one inch tall.
Casper H. Weis, 92, of Canton RD 2 died in the Troy Community Hospital Tuesday morning. He had been in failing health for some time. Mr. Weis was known as the smallest Shriner in the world. He was only 44 inches tall. He was born in Luxembourg April 19, 1872, and came to this country about 1897. He learned the watchmaking trade at the insistence of his father and was a graduate of a German watchmaking school where he became a "master watchmaker."
When he arrived in this country he was employed as the head watchmaker for Lit Bros. in Philadelphia and resided with Mr. Lit while he worked there. Mr. Weis was also a well known performer on the stages in this country and in Europe. In the early 1900's he was a member of the Coney Island Midget Village and there met Jeanne Douvain of Paris. They were married in 1906 in New York City and have since been known as the most famous midget couple in the world.
Once they traveled back and forth across Europe, appearing before such august personages as Queen Victoria of England, the Czar of Russia, the President of France and others. Audiences in all sections of the United States, Cuba and Canada knew them, too. They applauded him as Major Weis, impresario of midget entertainer, and hailed his wife as Queen Mab, the smallest actress in the world.
Casper Weis' mother was of normal size and his father was a royal game keeper with the rank of captain, a six-footer and a "stout fellow" too. Of eight children, two, Casper and a sister, were midgets.
Among the acts in which the two little folk played were Original Lilliputian Co., five years feature of Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth. Royal American Lilliputian Co., Hans and Fritz Co., Katzenjammer Kids Co., Captain and the Kids Co, Mutt & Jeff Co., Soldier Girl Co., Mr. Barnum Co., Midget Follies Co., and in vaudeville on many circuits. Nearly always after matinee performances, the little folks held a reception for the children.
Mr. and Mrs. Weis became acquainted with Canton through Charles Siequist, a brother-in-law of Mrs. Weis. So, liking Canton they decided to settle down as they were a bit weary of the hurrying travel of their stage life. The Major, whom Canton folks have called "a good business man" had saved a good sum of money. He bought the old Davenport home, once a show place of the borough, and opened a watch repair shop.They became just plain Mr. and Mrs. Casper Weis of Center St., Canton - he, a good citizen and skilled watchmaker and they were a devoted couple.
The Major has belonged to many lodges and was especially proud of his Masonic affiliations. He was a life member of Richard Vaux Chapter No. 384 F. & A. M., Philadelphia; a life member of Jerusalem Royal Chapter No. 3 of Philadelphia and a 60 year member of Lu Lu Temple of the Shrine at Philadelphia. Once in a Shrine parade, they framed a jest at the Major's expense, calling him "The 21st of June, the Shortest (K)night".
Mr. Weis was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Canton and was also a member of the Canton Chapter of the Loyal Order of Moose.
Canton has long and justly been proud of her stage celebrities. The names of Mayos and Davenport are famous in Thespian annals and the name of Siequist, head of the renowned flying trapeze troupe, is also familiar there.But the name of Weis, the Major and his Queen Mab, will always be a proud name on the lips of the Canton folks. He was a fine man and a well-liked man in the community.
Surviving are his wife; a sister, Victorine, in West Germany and several nieces and nephews in Europe. Funeral services will be held at the Kleese Funeral Home, Center St., Canton, Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock with the Rev. Robert H. Cauffman, his pastor, officiating. Burial will be in Park cemetery in Canton.
Hillside 
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09 MAR 2004-
My father in law bought some old postcards at an estate sale and gave them to me to sell on eBay (he is a stamp collector looking for stamps). One of them intrigued me and I started looking into it. Your website tells me it is of Caspar Weis and Jeanne Douvain and some of the rest of their Lilliputian Touring Company. I have attached a photo of the postcard. I thought you might like to add the image to your website. Thanks for posting the information and educating me! I have just begun researching my genealogy and am now working on my DAR application. I have been lucky and have found a great paper trail left by my great-uncle. Marsha Wise |
Hallo dear Joyce,
within the research of my ancestors, I found your web-site and I thought the following being interested for you:
To my person: me, Hildegard Weis, I am the daughter-in-law of Oskar Weis, who is a brother of Caspar Weis and I would like to prepare a genealogy-tree.
On your sites of the internet, there's always spoken about the day of birth of Mr. Caspar Weis (midget/ lilliputian) known in Canton as being the 19th of April 1872 in Luxembourg. As far as I'm informed, this is not correct: actually, I do have the document of birth of Kaspar Hilarius Weis which says: 19th of April 1878, in Merchingen (nowadays called Merzig, in Germany (Saarland)).
We also have the following informations:
1) Caspar had 7 brothers/sisters (if you need more informations about
the names or others)
2) Informations about parents and grand-parents and something about grand-grand-parents
What I'm looking for is: informations about the descendants (!) of Caspar Weis. Maybe they dont't call themselves "Weis" anymore, but perhaps "White" or "With" or "Wise" because perhaps they changed their surnames.
If you are interested/ if you can help me, please re-contact me back, Lot's of thanks in advance for your help! I'm looking forward to hear from you,
Yours sincerely,
Hildegard Weis + Gabriele Weis (daughter of Hildegard Weis) hiwe@tele2.es
[Email address did not work - my response rejected]
| Newspaper articles found in Canton attic (With pictures)
Tiny Canton Theatrical Troupers -Friday October 4, 1935 Mr. and Mrs. Casper Weis, Canton theatrical people, shown with George Bubb, once their booking agent. Mr. and Mrs.Weis, the latter known professionally as "Queen Mah" live across the road from the two homes closely related to the theater-Crockett Lodge, built by the Mayos, and the Davenport residence. |
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| "Queen Mab" Height 40 inches
The German Lilliputian Troupe Lit Brothers' Free Theatre |
Queen Mab and Mr. Weis
The Famous Lilliputians Saturday, March 15, 1913 Compliments of Orpheum Theatre |
Wie ich auf Ihrer Website (http://www.joycetice.com/articles/little.htm) entnehmen kann, sind Sie an der Familiengeschichte der Familie Caspar Weiss interessiert.
Ich wohne in Merchingen (s. u.) und kann bestätigen, dass Caspar Hilarius Weiss lt. Familienbuch Merchingen, Nr. 651 am 21.04.1878 (KB 7 / S.155) in Merchingen getauft wurde. Die Eltern sind der Vater Ludwig Edmund Gabriel Weiss und seine Ehefrau Henriette Wilhelmi, mit evangelischer Konfession. Als Geschwister von Caspar Hilarius werden Maria Katharina Elisabeth (~ 21.05.1880 7/161), Martha Catharina (~ 26.02.1882 7/167 oo 16.05.1908 Lorenz Peter Ramsey ex Washington in Merzig) und Christina Hedwig Ernestine (~ 6.10.1883 7/171) genannt.
Weitere Einträge, wo die Familie herkam und wo sie hinzog finden sich lt. Familienbuch Merchingen in den Merchinger Kirchenbücher nicht.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Josef Bohr
Josef Bohr
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