Ross-Pike-Highland County OhArchives Obituaries.....Spurgeon, Lafayette 'Lafe' October 30, 1989 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ohfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ralph Cokonougher rcokon@hotmail.com December 15, 2006, 3:31 am From the 31 October 1989 Greenfield Daily Times of Greenfield, Ohio: SPURGEON Lafayette Spurgeon, 83, of 850 Nellie St., Greenfield, formerly of Cliff Run Road, Bainbridge, died at 11:20 P.M. 30 Oct. 1989 in Edgewood Manor. Born April 22, 1906 in Pike County, he was the son of Jacob-Alexander Spurgeon and Lillie May (Levy) Spurgeon. A farmer, Mr. Spurgeon was a member of the Bible Missionary Church of Greenfield and the Eagles Lodge. He was preceded by four sisters and is survived by a special niece, Cora Dickess, and her two grandchildren, Joshua and Jason Dorow, all of Greenfield, and nieces and nephews including Rosa White and Ethel Bennett, both of Greenfield. Service at Murray’s Funeral Home. Burial in South Salem Cemetery. Additional Comments: 1. Lafe's obituary also appeared in the 31 Oct. 1989 Record-Herald of Washington C.H., Ohio. 2. Lafayette was also known as “Lafe”. He was married twice, to Flora Coe and Ester (I don’t know her last name.). He had no children. I remember him as very large, very friendly, very humble, and well-liked by all in the community. Since the obituary does not list Lafe’s sisters, I am including his parent’s family group sheet below. Jacob Alexandria Spurgeon, born June 11, 1859 in Fayette County, Ohio; died November 12, 1938 in Buckskin Township, Ross County, Ohio. He was the son of James Thomas Spurgeon and Sarah Ellen Lytle. He married Lillie Mae Levy April 17, 1892. She was the daughter of John Levy and Nancy J. Lawson. Children of Jacob Spurgeon and Lillie Levy are: i. Nellie Irene Spurgeon, born March 12, 1902 in Pike County, Ohio; died August 04, 1986 in Greenfield. Highland County, Ohio; married Glen Ryan December 24, 1922. ii. Harriet Almira "Hattie" Spurgeon, born October 18, 1893 in Pike County, Ohio; died January 09, 1942 in Greenfield. Highland County. Ohio.; married Charles Henry Benson 1909. iii. Cora Emeline Spurgeon, born November 26, 1898 in Pike County, Ohio; married Ralph Hoffman March 08, 1915. iv. Lafayette "Lafe" Spurgeon, born April 22, 1906 in Pike County, Ohio; married (1) Flora Coe; married (2) Ester ?. v. Nora Ellen Spurgeon, born September 05, 1912 in Pike County, Ohio; died April 30, 1987 in Greenfield. Highland County, Ohio.; married (1) Harold "Tony" Dwight Hester September 07, 1926 in Mason County, Kentucky.; married (2) Harry Layton Smith September 19, 1973 in Chillicothe, Ohio. 3. The 1906 Birth Record of Lafayette is on file in the Pike County, Ohio Probate Court, page S-4, Vol 4, and reads : "Spurgeon, Laffayette. born April 22, 1906 in Newton, Pike Co., Ohio. Male. Color - white. Father - J.A. Spurgeon. Mother - Lillie May Levey. residence of parents - Newton township." 4. The following article about Lafe’s wife, Flora, is from an old, undated newspaper clipping. The clipping does not have the name of the paper. Family oral history states that, at the time of this incident, Lafe and his wife were dirt poor, and their farm had failed to produce the income necessary for their living expenses. They had no money to buy food, and they had no food in storage. Winter had come, and Lafe knew that if they stayed on the farm, he and his wife would starve to death. He decided that they had to leave and go to stay with relatives until he could find a job or some other way to make a living. However, Flora refused to leave her home. Lafe stayed with her as long as he could, pleading with her to leave with him, but his efforts were fruitless. Finally, he was forced to leave her at the farm, in order to save himself. Lafe was normally a very big man, to the point of being considerably overweight. When he left Flora at the farm though, he was nothing but skin and bones. Lafe’s family years later said that they had never before, and never after, seen Lafe so skinny, or so near death, as he looked when he left the farm. The story of what happened to Flora is told in the newspaper article. BAINBRIDGE WOMAN SAVED FROM SNOW, PEPPER DIET. Chillicothe, Feb. 3 - (Special) - Mrs. Flora Spurgeon, 52, near Bainbridge, who told authorities she had existed on a diet of snow and pepper since the day after New Year's, was safe and warm in the Ross County Infirmary today after Clinton Claytor and Edward Simon, Sheriffs deputies, and Mrs. Mary Laeger, Ross County Relief Director, had removed her from her hillside home. They found her clad only in a pair of men's trousers, a light shirt and a pair of thin shoes. She was lying in an old feather ticking, and was markedly emaciated from the snow and pepper diet on which she had existed. She had to be carried out on a stretcher to Ohio 41, a distance of two miles from her secluded shack. Mrs. R. M. Cryder, matron at the county home, said Tuesday afternoon, that the woman seemed improved after being fed, bathed and placed in a warm bed. Deputies stated that the Spurgeon house was ready to fall down and the stove in the room had not had a fire in it for more than a month. Snow, knee deep, was found beside the stove. Arrangements have been made to care for a dog and five pups that have been staying in a snow bank, outside the shack. The dog's visit to the store of W. B. Thorp, caused him to promote the investigation, when he recalled that he had not seen the woman in Bainbridge for several weeks. The woman's husband or other relatives are being sought by Mrs. Laeger, but no clues are available. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/ross/obits/spurgeon656nob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ohfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb