Sidney Roper Weisiger

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, the way Duane sees it on the road through Victoria County. Sidney Roper Weisiger. Born November 29, 1906, into a pioneer Victoria County family.

That means he grew up hearing the old stories, the kind passed around kitchens and front porches, the kind that don't make it into textbooks unless somebody fights to put them there. And Sidney, it turns out, was exactly that kind of somebody. He came up understanding that history is a living thing, fragile as smoke if you don't cup your hands around it.

He served as county sheriff. He answered the call when World War II came and put in his time with the Navy. And then, when the noise of all that had settled, he turned his full attention to the place he'd always known.

Victoria. The county his family had helped build. Starting in 1971 and running right through 1975, Sidney put pen to paper in the pages of The Victoria Advocate.

Two columns, two windows into the past: Vignettes of Old Victoria and Sidney's Journal. Week after week, he laid those stories down in print, doing for Victoria's heritage what the old-timers had done for him around that family table. He died May 23, 1975.

The columns stopped. But the work didn't disappear. His widow, Hilda, made sure of that.

She donated his entire collection of historical research to Victoria College, every note, every thread he'd followed, every piece of the past he'd managed to hold onto. That's the thing about a man like Sidney Weisiger. He knew the stories weren't really his to keep.

They belonged to Victoria. And thanks to him and Hilda both, Victoria still has them.

What the marker says

(November 29, 1906-May 23, 1975) Born to a pioneer Victoria County family, Sidney R. Weisiger grew up with stories of the area's early history. After a term as county sheriff and naval service during World War II, he devoted the last years of his life to preserving Victoria's heritage. His "Vignettes of Old Victoria" and "Sidney's Journal" appeared in "The Victoria Advocate", 1971-1975. After his death, his widow Hilda donated his entire collection of historical research to Victoria College. (1981)