Nobles-Jackson County MN Archives Biographies.....Spafford, John A. 1837 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 19, 2006, 6:26 pm Author: Arthur P. Rose (1908) JOHN A. SPAFFORD, of Ewington township, Jackson county, was one of the very earliest settlers of Worthington. Although he has been a resident of Jackson county for a good many years his farm is just over the line from Nobles county and he is more closely identified with the history of Nobles county than he is with the county in which he lives. Mr. Spafford descends from one of the oldest families of America. For several centuries before the American family was founded the Spaffords, or Spoffords, as the name was originally spelled, were a people of high rank in England. So early as 1066 we find the name in the Doomsday Book, which is a book of record of the lands of England as parcelled out after the conquest of William, Duke of Normandy. The American branch of the family was founded by John Spofford, who came to America in 1638 with a colony under the leadership of Rev. Ezekiel Rogers. The colony was composed of many families from Yorkshire and made settlement in April, 1639, between Newbury and Ipswich, in Massachusetts. The name of John Spofford appears on the record of the first division of lands into homestead lots, which was made in 1643. His lot consisted of one and one-half -acres, and was located on Bradford street, so called, near the center of the present town of Rowley. In the spring of 1669 he moved to Spofford's Hill, in the west part of the town, and he was without doubt the first settler of Georgetown and the progenitor of all of the name in the United States and Canada. His wife was Elizabeth Scott, who came to America in the ship Elizabeth in 1634, when nine years of age. The John A. Spafford of this sketch belongs to the eighth generation in this descent. One of the sons of the original John Spofford was also named John. He lived on the site of the original settlement on Spofford's Hill, in what is jiow Georgetown, Mass., where he died April 27, 1696. Jonathan, son of John, was a resident of Rowley, where he died Jan. 16, 1772, aged 89 years. Jacob, son of Jonathan, emigrated to Salisbury, Conn., where he lived for many years, and where he died. Col. Solomon Spafford was a son of Jacob Spafford. He moved from Connecticut to Hallowell, Canada, at which place he died Feb. 2, 1837. One of the sons of Col. Solomon Spafford was Ira Spafford, who was born in Vermont, emigrated with his father to Canada, and settled at Hallowell, now Athol. One of his sons was Heman Spafford, the father of the subject of this sketch. Heman Spafford was born in Prince Edward county, Ontario, Canada. Feb. 8, 1805, and died in Picton, Prince Edward- county, August 26, 1876. He was married to Cecelia Abrams, who was born in Ireland in 1812 and died in Bloomington, Ill., June 14, 1894. To Heman and Cecelia Spafford was born John A. Spafford. His birthplace was Picton, Prince Edward county, Ontario, and the date if his birth was August 20, 1837. In his native county he grew to manhood. His early life was spent in securing a common school education and in working on the farm. When twenty-four years of age he left home and sought his fortune in the west. He departed from his native town on the 15th of April, 1861, and arrived in Chicago three days later. There he secured employment in the grain commission house of Baker & Spafford, for which firm he worked two years. In August, 1863, Mr Spafford moved to Wapella, DeWitt county, Ill., where for two years he was grain buyer for a Chicago commission house. During those two years he made considerable money, but owing to a general collapse in prices at the close of the civil war, he lost it all, and what was still worse he found himself considerably in debt. During the winter of 1865 he was engaged in buying and sacking corn and oats for the commissary department of the government through a sub-agent, who, at the close of the war, found himself over-stocked with grain for which the government would have no use. Mr. Spafford had contracted for much grain from the farmers, advancing some money on each lot, and when the department's demand was cut off, and the markets in the large grain centers tumbled fifty per cent or more, there was nothing left for him to do but take in the contracted grain at former prices, to wit: 65 to 70 cents per bushel for oats and 75 to 80 cents per bushel for corn, and put it on the Chicago market at 30 to 40 cents per bushel. In this deal His fortune was swept away, and for six or seven years he knocked about at various occupations until his removal to Nobles county. With the rush of homeseekers to southwestern Minnesota in the spring of 1872 came Mr. Spafford, the date of his arrival in Worthington being May 9. For a time he made his home in the new town, engaging in teaming for I. N. Sater, the pioneer lumber dealer, and other business men. In June he filed a homestead claim to the northwest quarter of section 26, in Ewington township, Jackson county, which is now his home. Three months later he returned to his old home in Illinois, straightened out his business affairs there, and on Oct. 6 returned with his family. He lived in Worthington until the spring of 1873, and then moved onto his homestead. He began farming then, but the grasshoppers took nearly everything, and late in the fall of 1875 he was forced to return to Worthington and seek employment. He secured work in the flouring mill, in the fall of 1876 being promoted to the office of head bookkeeper. His residence was in Worthington about a year and a half, and then he returned to the farm, which has been his home ever since. Mr. Spafford holds a record as a township officer which is equalled by few men. With the exception of the first year he has held a township office ever since Ewington township was organized. He was elected town clerk in 1881 and held the office for twenty-five consecutive years, finally giving up the office in 1906. Still longer service has he seen in the school district. When the district was organized in 1875 he was elected to the office of treasurer and a few years later to that of clerk. He still holds the office, making a continuous service of thirty-three years. Besides the offices mentioned he has been township assessor, member of the board of supervisors, and for a short time was chairman of the board. In 1894 Mr. Spafford applied to the post-office department for an office to be located on his farm. He was successful in his efforts, and in September of that year the office, named Spofford in his honor, (although the name was incorrectly spelled) was put in operation, with Mr. Spafford as postmaster. The next year he opened a general store and operated it in connection with the office. He continued this business six years, and then sold out the store and resigned the post-mastership. Mr. Spafford was married in Bloomington, Ill., April 5, 1865, to Mary Stoutz, daughter of Geo. Stoutz, a coach builder in the shops of the Chicago & Alton Railway company. To this union have been born seven children as follows: Edith Cecelia (Mrs. Joel Edward White), Aberdeen, S. D.; George Walter, Ewington township; William Charles (died in 1874, aged four and one-half years); Frank Addison, Ewington township; Clara Augusta (Mrs. Robert Edward Davis), Worthington; Emma Elizabeth (Mrs. Charles E. Gehrke), Ewington township;-John Heman, Ewington township. Mr. and Mrs. Spafford were both charter members of the Methodist church of Worthington, having brought letters from their church in Illinois. Additional Comments: Extracted from: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY MINNESOTA BY ARTHUR P. ROSE NORTHERN HISTORY PUBLISHING COMPANY WORTHINGTON, MINNESOTA PUBLISHERS 1908 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mn/nobles/bios/spafford43gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mnfiles/ File size: 8.2 Kb