Jasper-Jones-Spalding County GaArchives Biographies.....Francis Marion Spear August 3 1846 - January 18 1918 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Gene Funderburk GeneFunderburk@msn.com August 19, 2003, 7:55 pm Author: Gene Funderburk Francis Marion Spear was the son of Jesse Spear and Isabella Coursey. He was born in Jasper County, Georgia on August 3, 1846 and died on January 18, 1918 in Griffin, Spalding County, Georgia. His family's homeplace was located between Gladesville and the Jones County line in Jasper County, Georgia. His father also had a farm in DeKalb County, Georgia located on the Fulton County line. Marion Spear lived in Atlanta for awhile working on his father's farm. They lived near the terminal station in a house up a hill from the station. There was a spring under the station where they went for water. Just before or during the Battle of Atlanta soldiers came and told the family they had to leave. They loaded what they could on a wagon and left. After traveling some distance they discovered they had not brought feed for the mule. So they returned to find some cannon balls had already passed through the house. It has been passed down that Marion Spear got his Mother and sisters out of Atlanta. His brothers were in the Confederate Army and his father died during the war. Marion Spear married Sallie Lavonia Marsh on July 24, 1869 in Jasper County, Georgia. She was the daughter of James William Marsh and Lucinda H. Lynch. In 1880 Marion Spear and his family lived in the Tilton District of Whitfield County, Georgia. July 1885 Francis Marion Spear and Sallie Spear joined New Hope/ Caney Creek Primitive Baptist Church, near Round Oak, Jones County, Georgia. They asked for their Letters of Dismission in in April 1908. Marion Spear and his family lived about 3/4 mile north of Caney Creek in Jones County. Marion Spear worked in the cotton mill at Juliette. After that he worked in the cotton mill in Griffin, Spalding County, Georgia. They rented out a company boarding house (for the cotton mill) in Griffin. Marion and Sallie moved into a company house where Marion died in 1918. Francis Marion Spear was buried at the foot of his daughter's (Minnie Spear Jackson) grave in the New Hope/ Caney Creek Church Cemetery. It has been passed down through generations that Francis Marion Spear was part Indian. Sallie Lavonia Marsh was born on March 31, 1852 in Jones County, Georgia and died on June 28, 1926. She had red hair. Sallie was buried next to Marion Spear in the New Hope/Caney Creek Church Cemetery. The children of Francis Marion Spear and Sallie Lavonia Marsh Anna Jane Spear May 18, 1870 - Jun. 2, 1870 Mary Lou Spear Jan. 14, 1872 - Apr. 17, 1933 Minnie Judson Spear May 19, 1873 - Oct. 31, 1917 Carrie Elizabeth Spear Jul. 29, 1876 - Feb. 4, 1951 Pearl Estella Spear May 11, 1878 - Nov. 28, 1880 Sallie Lavonia Spear Dec. 29, 1880 - May 20, 1923 Rose Ella Spear Aug. 3, 1884 - Jul. 9, 1942 Willie Mae Spear Sep. 13, 1886 - Dec. 3, 1936 James Marion Spear Jun. 23, 1889 - Mar. 1, 1943 Jessie Kate Spear Sep. 13, 1891 - Sep. 18, 1892 Arthur Lee Spear Dec. 20, 1893 - May 17, 1958 This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 3.5 Kb