Spencer Spears (The following is transcribed from “A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Merced, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa, California”, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892) S.K. Spears, one of the substantial farmers of Merced County, was born in St. Lawrence County, New York, January 17, 1829, a son of Ira and Phoebe (Tyler) Spears; the mother was a relative of President Tyler. The parents removed with children to Canada in 1832 and located at Prescott, where the father had a large foundry; he placed the machinery of the steamer Carolina. His death occurred in Orleans County, New York, in 1857. Along with that great army of gold-seekers, Mr. Spears came to California in 1849, making the journey via Cape Horn, aboard the Mary Waterman. He left New Orleans in September, 1849, and landed in San Francisco March 14, 1850. At New Orleans he was second clerk of the Belle Key, a Mississippi river steamer, and he was also in the employ of Hussey, Bond & Co., ship chandlers; it was this firm that put him in charge of the cargo of the Mary Waterman at a salary of $25 a month while on the voyage, and $250 a month while unloading at San Francisco. From July 15, 1850, to 1853, he was engaged in mining. He then erected a sawmill on Sutter creek, which he operated three years; this was not a profitable investment, ending disastrously to Mr. Spears; he went to San Francisco, and thence to Merced County, where he purchased a ranch near Merced Falls, from William Nelson; in 1857 be bought 180 acres where he now lives; this land is well improved, and he has been very successful in the raising of livestock, especially sheep. Mr. Spears was married January 11, 1853, to Martha Wigginton, a native of Kentucky, and they are the parents of the following named children: Peter, Minnie, the wife of John Ellert; Mary, deceased in September, 1888, wife of Enoch Ackers; and Frank, who was killed by a mule team at the age of seven years. The mother of this family died in 1883, and in 1884 Mr. Spears married Miriam Stribbling, a native of California. Their children are: Edna, Leonard and Miemary. Mr. Spears was elected Road Master in 1890, a position he still holds and fills with great efficiency.
HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS
Its Past and present
Chicago: Donnelley, Loyd & Co., Publishers, 1878.PEAK, JACOB H. farmer and stock raiser, Sec. 23, P.O. Franklin; oldest son of Absalom and Rebecca Pak, natives of Tennessee, where Jacob was born, May 26, 1829; the following autumn the Peak family, then consisting of husband, wife, and three children, set out in a covered wagon for the far West, settling in Morgan County; purchasing a farm of 80 acres, the head of the family built a log cabin of the usual description, no floor, rough logs, etc.; Absalom Peak lived in Scott County from the time of his settlement until he died, May 23, 1867; it should be stated the farm property settled on first was afterward merged into Scott County; he became a successful farmer, an energetic man, who contributed very materially to the present prosperity of the county in which he lived; the wife, aged seventy-three, is living on the old estate in Scott County; when quite young, Jacob attended school in a log cabin that stood near where the town of Exeter is now located; at Exeter also attended school; in 1852, purchased a farm of 119 acres, in the vicinity of the old homestead; two years later married Miss Matilda Campbell, daughter of John B. and Cynthia Campbell, who settled in Scott County prior to the deep snow; in 1857, Mr. P. moved from Scott County to Morgan, and there purchased part of the farm he now owns, comprising then 160 acres; now owns 400 acres; in 1862 enlisted in Co. F, 129th Regt. Ill. Vol., in Scott County; was in the battles of peach Tree Creek, Buzzard Roost, Resaca, Dalton, siege of Atlanta; with Sherman in his famous march to the sea; he attained to the rank of third sergeant; honorably discharged at the close of the war; has six children now living: Scott, Alice, May, Mary L., Kate L., Dora, and Lulu; John C. deceased.
PORTRAIT & BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM OF MORGAN AND SCOTT COUNTIES, ILLINOIS
Chicago: Chapman Bros., Publishers, 1889. JACOB H. PEAK was born in Anderson County, Tenn., on May 26, 1829. His father, Absalom Peak, came to Scott County, Ill., Sept. 29, and died May 23, 1867. He married Rebecca Butler, whose parents lived and died in Anderson County, Tenn. Their marriage occurred in 1822. The old lady is now living in Scott County on the farm taken up by her husband in the first decade of the present century. She was the mother of ten children. The following six of whom grew to maturity: Sallie, Germania, Jacob H., Luke, William and Mary J. Sallie(Sarah?) was married twice. Her first husband was C. T. Gillham, by whom she had two children, Harriet and Delos. Her second husband was I. J. True, by whom she was the mother of four children. She is deceased. Luke went to California in 1853, where he married and is now farming in Merced County, that State; William married June Leib, and is farming in Scott County, this State. They have two children: Charles and Leo D.; Mary married John W. Morrison. They are now living in Vernon County, Mo., with their four children: Charles, Delos, Willard and James. Jacob H. Peak married Mathilda Campbell, whose father came from Tennessee. In her father's family there were sic children, four of whom are living: Newton J., James P., Mary Jane and Matilda. Newton J. married Susan Simmons. They are now residing in Scott County, and have six children: Ann, Mollie, Lucy, Lizzie, Lois and Norman; James P., married a Miss Bacon, and is now living near Odell, Gage Co., Neb. They have four children: Minerva, Ralph, Ira and Matilda. Mary Jane married George W. Camp. They reside in Riggston this State, and have eight children: Charles, Mark, John, Cynthia, Joseph, Alice, Fannie and Florence. Mr. Peak, whose name appears at the beginning of this sketch, was the father of seven children, four of whom are living: Mary J., Kate, Dora and Lula. Kate married Sherman Luttrell, and is the mother of two children: Rova May and Lois. Alice (deceased) married Jacob Bowyer of this county. She left three children, who are living with their grandfather. Their names are Scott P., Mary J., and Herschel. When Mr. Peak commenced life his possessions consisted of a horse, saddle and bridle, but by hard work on a farm, he accumulated enough money from his monthly wages to buy a place containing 118 acres of partially improved land, soon after his marriage. He afterward sold this farm and purchased a quarter section of land in this county, adding each year thereto, until he now owns 330 acres of rich Illinois prairie. This farm is all under a high state of cultivation, and upon it have been erected good buildings. He does a general farm business and is eminently successful. He is one of that class of farmers who believes that if anything is worth doing at all, it is worth doing well, and upon that precept he has built up a reputation as a farmer whose method of operations might be profitably imitated. His wife and children are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Peak, politically, is a sound Democrat, and firmly believes in the principles of his party, although he has kept aloof from politics and has held no office except that of Township Trustee, a position whose duties were discharged in his usual painstaking manner. He has often served on the county juries and as a Juryman has invariably given satisfaction. In a summary of his life Mr. Peak may be truly called a representative Illinois farmer. Among the pleasant homes of Morgan County, views of which appear on these pages, few are more attractive externally or internally than the country residence of Mr. Peak. It portrays the comforts of rural life amid the pleasant prospects of Nature.
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS
& HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY
Munsell Publishing Company, Publishers, 1906. PEAK, JACOB H., (deceased), formerly a prominent farmer of Morgan County, Ill., living on Section 13, Town 14, Range 9, where his widow, Mrs. Matilda Peak, still resides, was born in Anderson County, Tenn., May 26, 1829, the son of Absalom and Rebecca (Buttler) Peak, who were the parents of eighteen children. Upon coming to Illinois, the Peak family first settled in Scott County, where Jacob H. was reared to farming and educated in the public schools. On November 5, 1854, he was married to Matilda Campbell, daughter of J. B. and C. B. Campbell, her father being a native of Tennessee, but of Scotch and German descent, who moved to Illinois in the fall of 1830. To Mr. and Mrs. Peak seven children were born, four of whom survive, viz.: Mary L. wife of H. Q. Rimby, a merchant of Winchester, Scott County; Lois Kate, wife of Sherman Luttrell, a farmer of Morgan County, and Lulu A., wife of Edgar L. Sweet. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet and Dora A., wife of J. P> Woods, now reside with Mrs. Peak and assist in the management of her estate. Mr. Peak in his day was a typical Illinois farmer, beginning the battle of life with little or no capital, and by industry, thrift and good management accumulating a very valuable estate. He settled about two and half miles north of the village of Franklin in 1868, and there began improvements on his farm, in 1877, erecting the present commodious residence. Improvements continued until the farm of 330 acres was brought to its present condition of fertility and completeness. Mr. Peak was a member of the Christian Church, to which faith his widow and children adhere. He served his district as Township Trustee, and in national affairs voted the Democratic ticket. He followed general farming in his later years, but previously had been a breeder of Durham cattle and other thoroughbred stock. Mr. Peak died September 25, 1894, and his widow, who survives him, resides on the family homestead with the mature relatives mentioned above, as well as her two grandchildren, Allyn P. and Cullen B., aged, respectively, seven and two years. Last Updated (Sunday, 13 July 2008 15:12)
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Luke Peak (The following is transcribed from “A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Merced, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa, California”, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892) LUKE PEAK is a pioneer of 1849. – Born in Morgan County, Illinois, October 11, 1832, he is a son of Absalom and Rebecca (Butler) Peak, natives of Tennessee. He is the fourth of their family of eleven children; he received his education in the common schools, and was reared to the life of a farmer. At the age of seventeen years, however, he left the parental roof, setting out for the Pacific coast; there were seventy-five men in the company as far as Independence Rock on the Sweetwater River. The company divided on account of food for stock, and continued the journey, traveling with ox teams. They started April 5, 1849, and arrived in Sacramento September 22, of the same, or rather, reached the present site of Sacramento. The first work Mr. Peak secured was shaving staves for barrels; then for three weeks he engaged in the all-absorbing occupation of mining. Later his father bought some whale boats, and a number of men accompanied him to San Francisco; the names of those making the voyage are: Luke Peak, Absalom Peak, Newt Kirkpatrick, R.R. Holiday, Wiley Brazil and C.S. Weaver. After a few days Mr. Peak went to the redwoods of Contra Costa County, where he made shingles and sawed lumber with a whipsaw; he sold the lumber for $250 per thousand. He remained in this place from December 1849, until April, 1850. He then rented some land and turned his attention to horticulture and gardening; afterward he entered the employ of Elam Brown, and drove a team for him, receiving $100 per month. In November, 1850, Mr. Peak returned to Illinois, via the Isthmus; he embarked at San Francisco on the sail ship South America, and was out forty-four days from San Francisco; he walked across the Isthmus in two days, and then took the steamer to New Orleans, thence by the steamer Western Belle to St. Louis, and after that a tramp of 100 miles to his old home, which he reached February 14, 1851. He tiled the soul and attended school during the winter until March, 1853, when again he set out for the Golden State. There were ten wagons, thirty men, five women and two children in the train. After a long and tedious journey of seven months they arrived at their destination, Taylor Valley, Contra Costa County. Here Mr. Peak was engaged in agriculture for two years, renting his land. In 1855 he purchased land and farmed until 1860, when he went into the coal mines near Mount Diablo, where he continued in business until 1864; he then again began tilling the soil, but in 1872 he came to Merced County and went in the live-stock business near Athlone. At present he rents about 1,000 acres near Merced, and a pleasant residence on Main and H streets, Merced. He was married August 5, 1858, to Mary A. Hancock, a native of Tennessee. Seven children blessed this union; Alice, John, Luke, and Nancy are living; George, Lizzie and James are deceased. Mr. Peak is a strong advocate of the principles of temperance, and has been an active member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church since 1855. In 1859 he was made an elder of the church, and still holds the office; he was elected Clerk of the Session in 1859, and filled that position until 1888. He is a man of great integrity of character, and is highly respected by the entire community.
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