Spore, Ohio

SIDNEY L. SPOKE, farmer; P. 0. Broken Sword ; was boru July 10, 1833, and is a son of David C. and Lucy L. (Long) Spore, the former born in Schenectady Co., N. Y., the latter of Canada, about fifty miles from Montreal. They moved to Chattield Township, this county, in June, 1837, and bought a piece of land with about three acres cleared and a log cabin. Upon this they labored and endured the privations of a newly settled country, the father teaching school in the winter time, at 50 cents a day, to obtain a sustenance for his family, and, on one occasion before leaving his family, the father had purchased a barrel of flour, lor which he had paid thirty-six days' labor in teaching, and which was to be delivered to his family ; so he tooli his departure, trusting that all would be well with his little flock. But not so ; on his return he found his family in a famishing condition, the flour not having been delivered, and they had subsisted for six whole days on nothing but parched rye. In 1857, after a twenty years' residence, they sold the farm, the mother afterward moving to Macon Co., 111., the father having died Dec. 25, 1862. The subject of this sketch has attended school only sixty-three days in his life, going bare-footed one and threefourths miles across the woods and through the snow ; the remainder of the time, until attaining his majority, being spent in assisting in the work of the farm. At 22 years of age, he taught school in the winter, and worked by the month in the summer for three j'ears, and then worked his father's farm for two jears. He enlisted in Co. I, 57th O. V. I., Oct. 8, 1862, and was sent to Nashville, Tenn., where he joined his regiment ; thence to Vicksburg, and was present at the time of Shermans defeat, in the eight-day siege. At that place he had his knapsack stolen from his back by a piece of shell which he never succeeded in bringing to justice. He then participated in the contest at Arkansas Post, which resulted in a glorious victory, for the Union forces took 8,000 prisoners, and reduced the fort. They were theu sent back to Vicksburg, with the combined force under Gen. McClernand, and worked on the canal at that place, and, on account of exposure, suflered from a severe attack of typhoid fever. After recovery from the fever, he was taken with chronic diarrhoea, sent to Lauson Hospital, at St. Louis, and then discharged on account of disability. To use his own language, he says : " I owe the preservation of my life to Mrs. Springer, of Boston, Mass., who was President of the Woman's Union Aid Society, Mrs. Dr. Jones, of St. Louis, and other noble members of that association. Through Mrs. Springer's eflbrts, who walked three miles to Gen. Schotields headquarters, and laid my case before him in person, I procured my discharge." His clothing having been lost, as also his descriptive list, he was unable to draw the necessary money or clothing for his return home ; so, without money or clothing, except a suit of underclothing, which the ladies of the association had given him, he left, the hospital in a weakened and destitute condition ; but through the kindness of the people with whom he came in contact, he was enabled to reach Bucyrus, where he was met by anxious friends. He remained at home recruiting his health for about fifteen months, when he re-enlisted in the 170th 0. V. I.; was promoted to 1st Sergeant, his command being at Nashville, Tenn., on post-duty, and was discharged June 17, 1865. There have been nine children in his family, five of whom are living - Sumner, born July 28, 1858; Honora, Sept. 6, 185;t; And D., July 20, 1861, died Feb. 18, 1880 ; Armeda, March 15, 1863, died March 30, 1863; Ona, June 6, 1864, died same day ; Rufus D., June 6, 1866 ; Benjamin M., Aug. 17, 1868 ; Motta, Jan 10, 1873, died Feb. 2, 1873, Loretta, Sept. 26, 1875. The surviving members of the family are at home, except Sumner, wlio is attending school at Oshkosh, Wis. Mr. Spore and wife are members of the Evangelical Association. He is a Republican.

Passage source: History of Crawford County and Ohio : Containing a History of the State of Ohio, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time ... a History of Crawford County ... Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Some of the Early Settlers and Prominent Men, Etc, published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Holmes Township - it names this place 1 more 1 time.