Speer, John, one of the pioneer editors of Kansas, was born at Kittanning, Pa., Dec. 27, 1817. He was descended from Irish covenanters, was reared and educated in the country, and at the age of eighteen began learning the printer's trade in the office of the Register at Indiana, Pa. In 1839 he went to New Castle, Pa., where he started the Mercer and Beaver Democrat, a Whig paper that supported Harrison for president. In 1840 he went to Ohio, where he was connected with different papers, editing the Whig at Medina for eleven years. In Sept., 1854, accompanied by his brother Joseph, Mr. Speer located in Lawrence, Kan. In October he returned to Ohio and printed the first number of the Kansas Pioneer, dating it from Lawrence. Within a year it became the Tribune and was removed to Topeka. Mr. Speer was often in danger because of his fearless attacks upon the institution of slavery, but he remained undaunted and did much to make Kansas a free-state. In 1855 he sold his interest in the Tribune, and established the Republican at Lawrence. He was a member of the first free-state territorial legislature and introduced the first bill to establish a civil code in Kansas. At the time of the Quantrill raid in 1863, his office was sacked and his two sons were killed. In 1864 he was a delegate to the Grand Sovereign Union League of America, which nominated Lincoln for a second term as president. He was elected state printer in 1861, acted until 1864, held the same position in 1866 and again in 1868. While in this position he printed the early legislative journals and general statutes of 1868. On June 28, 1866, he was confirmed as United States revenue collector and at various times was a member of the Kansas house of representatives or state senate. Mr. Speer was one of the incorporators and treasurer of the Kansas Southern Railroad company. As an author his best known book is probably his "Life of Gen. James H. Lane," which was published in 1896. After leaving Kansas Mr. Speer lived in Denver, Col., where he died at the home of his daughter, Dec. 15, 1906.