[2][3][4] Having secured the 1871 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, Weston was named by the legislature as the official governor after a close election.

[7] In 1875, in the final days of his term as governor, Weston ignited controversy by invalidating ballots to engineer a Democratic majority in the State Senate.

In districts 2 and 4, Democrats James Priest and John Proctor narrowly placed first over their Republican opponents, Nathaniel Head and George Todd.

The 7–5 majority in the State Senate then voted on party lines to reject a challenge to Priest's and Proctor's qualification.

[10] Son of Amos and Elizabeth Betsey Wilson Weston, he married Anna S. Gilmore on February 23, 1834; they had five children: Grace W., James Henry Weston, Edwin Bell, Anna Mabel, and Herman.