DeSoto Parish, Louisiana; Biography: Spilker - s142

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Submitted by Gaytha Carver Thompson
Typed by Trudy Marlow
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           Spilker Bros., the firm composed of W. C. and
         C. T. Spilker, established their business in Glos-
         ter in 1887, and carry a stock of general mer-
         chandise, valued at about $4,000.  They are live,
         energetic business men, and have one of the lead-
         ing mercantile establishments in the town.  Both
         were born in De Soto County, the former in 1861,
         and the latter in 1863, and they are the sons of
         William G. and Lena (Malhusen) Spilker, both of
         Baden Baden, Germany.  The parents, when but
         children, came to this country, settled in Marshall,
         Tex., and here, when grown, were united in mar-
         riage.  Soon after they moved to De Soto Parish,
         and they are now living at Keatchie, where Mr.
         Spilker is engaged in the confectionery business,
         and is also postmaster at that place.  He was a
         turner by trade.  During the stirring times of the
         late war he served in the Confederate army, prin-
         cipally in the beginning of the war. He is a mem-
         ber of the Masonic fraternity, and he and wife are
         worthy and consistent members of the Presbyterian
         Church. His father, Theodore Spilker, died in
         Germany, and the mother in Texas. The maternal
         grandfather of our subjects, Rev. William Mol-
         husen, a minister in the Presbyterian Church, died
         of yellow fever, in Galveston, Tex.  W. C. and C.
         T. Spilker were reared and educated in Keatchie,
         and after leaving school they clerked for a few
         years in Shreveport and Galveston, Tex.  In 1887
         they began business for themselves, in Gloster, La.
         and are among the leading merchants of the place.
         Their stock of goods is first-class and complete,
         and they are doing a good business, all the result
         of their honesty and reliability.  Aside from their
         mercantile interest, they are the owners of 1,220
         acres of land near Gloster, with about 500 acres
         cleared, and they are also quite extensively en-
         gaged in raising stock.  W. C. Spilker was mar-
         ried in 1888 to Miss Carrie Moore, daughter of
         Nicholas and Carrie Moore, the mother now living
         in Keatchie, but the father died about 1880.