In 1872, John Q. Weaver was elected to represent the old 4th Ward on the School Board of the City of Portsmouth, Ohio, making Weaver the first African American elected to a public office in the history of Portsmouth and Scioto County, Ohio. Weaver had been born free in Murfreesboro, North Carolina on 25 November 1825 and was named in honor of John Quincy Adams, who was President at the time. Weaver was a barber by trade and first came to Portsmouth in 1858 on board the Steamer Bostona, where he worked for Captain William McClain. In the 1870s, he would operate the Biggs House Barber Shop and Bath Rooms on Front Street, offering his services in the city's most luxurious hotel.