- JOHN C. SPENCER, born in the village of Little Falls, Herkimer
Co., N.Y., May 17, 1838, is
- the third son of A. C. and Lucina (DYE) SPENCER, the father
being a native of Vermont, of English descent, and the mother
of Cattaraugus County, N.Y., of Irish descent. In the autumn
of 1845, when John was in his seventh year, his parents emigrated
to the West, settling at Danville, Ill., at which place his father
followed the occupation of school teacher; later his parents
removed to Covington, Ind., thence to Bloomington, Ill, and in
1852 the family removed to Janesville, arriving here in December
of that year. Our subject received his limited education in the
private schools of that day, the first public school he attended
being at Covington, that being the first term of the free public
schools of Indiana, in the winter of 1849. In his boyhood previous
to coming to Janesville, John was employed in the summer season
herding cattle and sheep on the prairies of Illinois; in the
summer of 1852 he drove team hauling earth in the construction
of the Illinois Central Railroad between Bloomington and Randolph
Grove, eight miles south, and also north of Bloomington to the
present site of Normal; he drove one of the ox teams (four yoke)
employed in breaking the ground for the planting of the Phoenix
Nursery at Bloomington. In December, 1852, he entered the employ
of the Janesville Gazette, then owned by Messrs. ALDEN &
HOLT, carrying papers one day each week. In March, 1853, he entered
the office as an apprentice, and with the exception of two months,
January and February, 1854, he has been constantly employed in
that office, and has successively filled every mechanical department
in that establishment, taking a greater liking to the news department.
For ten years past Mr. SPENCER has been in charge of the local
department of the Gazette, as city editor. With the exception
of Hon. David ATWOOD, of the Madison Journal, he is the oldest
newspaper man in point of service in one office in the State
of Wisconsin. On the organization of Janesville Fire Department
in 1855, he became a member, being appointed as torch boy of
Company No. 2, and has from that time to the present been constantly
connected with that organization, holding every official position
in his company, serving twelve years as Secretary of the Fire
Department, two years as Assistant-Chief-Engineer, two years
(1885-6) as Chief, and is now serving as First-Assistant-Chief.
The recent re-organization of the fire department was mostly
by his suggestion, and it is his aim to further increase the
efficiently of the department bring it up to the maximum, thereby
decreasing the insurance rates sufficient to meet the cost of
its maintenance, including the hydrant rental. Mr. SPENCER is
frequently appealed to by the citizens in reference to the local
events of the past, and he is said to be almost a perfect encyclopedia
in relation to the history of Janesville and Rock County, and
no man has a more extended acquaintance in the county. As city
editor of the Gazette, he lays no claim as a brilliant writer,
yet he is a hard worker, and aims at getting local news of which
the columns of the Gazette are an illustration of his success.
Socially, he is a member of the A.F. & A.M. and I.O.O.F.
fraternities. Politically, he is an outspoken Republican, yet
he never allows his politics to cause estrangements in his personal
relations with others. On the 30th day of October, 1870, Mr.
SPENCER was united in marriage with Miss Helen M. BROWN, a native
of Portage, Wis., and daughter of the late Daniel G. BROWN of
this city. This union has been blessed with three daughters and
two sons - Marion E., born Aug. 28, 1871; Clara, Feb. 6, 1874;
Llewellyn R., Jan. 30, 1882; Jessie, Nov. 13, 1884; and Harrison
M., Nov. 11, 1887. All are abiding at the family home, 217 North
Bluff Street.
-
- Taken from "The Portrait and Biographical Album of
Rock County, Wis." (c)1889, pp. 833-834.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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