Weber

The Weber family is a significant international family with German origins, who were highly prominent during the 1800s because of the family patriarch Peter Weber, the twenty-third wealthiest person in history, who created railroad and shipping empires on the west coast. His descendants went on to build great Fifth Avenue mansions, Newport, Rhode Island summer cottages, and various other exclusive homes. The family members were the leaders of the high society scene, until the early 1900s, when the ten great Fifth Avenue mansions were torn down and fellow Weber homes were sold as museums and the like. The family suffered from a major downfall in prominence by the mid-1900s. Despite the family's downfall and major loss of fortunes, the Webers remain the eleventh wealthiest family in history. Branches of the family are found on the United States East Coast as well as a few in Michigan.