Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 800 - 801

THOMAS E. SPEER, a very prominent and wealthy farmer, stock-raiser, merchant and real-estate dealer, of Illinois Township, is a native of Franklin County, Ind., where he was born Nov. 30, 1850, and is the son of Joseph and Annie (Masters) Speer.

              Joseph Speer, the father of our subject, first drew the breath of life in Pennsylvania in 1809, and was the son of John and Catherine (McCune) Speer. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother of County Antrim, Ireland. Joseph Speer was united in marriage, in May, 1837, with Annie Masters, whose birth took place Aug. 17, 1813. Joseph was one of a family of fourteen children, as follows: Annie, Samuel, Joseph, Edward, Margaret, Mary, Sarah, Catherine, Jane, Matilda, Caroline, Eliza, Thomas and William.

              The subject of our sketch was the eighth child of his parents, who had a family of nine children, as follows: Margaret, who was born March 12, 1838, and is a teacher in Kansas; Mary Elizabeth, born Oct. 25, 1839, married Clinton Genoways in September, 1869, and is the mother of three children, and a resident of this county; John William, born Jan. 29, 1841, married Elizabeth Baird, in 1869, is the father of four children, and resides in Chatsworth, Livingston Co., Ill.; Samuel Masters, born Feb. 4, 1843, married Sarah M. Stout in February, 1873, is the parent of one child, and a resident of this county; Christopher, born June 10, 1845, and died of scarlet fever, in September, 1847; Catherine Cornelia, born Nov. 3, 1846, who married John Tamminy, in February, 1873, and died June 2, 1879, leaving three children, two living and one dead, in Champaign County, Ill.; Matilda Josephine, born Oct. 6, 1848, and died Sept. 7, 1879, of consumption; Thomas Edward, the subject of our sketch; and Emma Charlotte, born Oct. 31, 1853, at home with her parents.

              Mr. Speer was reared in the county of his birth, and received his education in the common schools of that locality. He remained at home beneath the parental roof until October, 1867, when he sought in Woodford County, Ill., to better his fortunes, and to encourage his efforts, and engaged at farming, which he followed until 1872. At that time, the tide of emigration having set toward the Golden State of Kansas, he concluded to cast his lot in that favored land, and accordingly came to Sedgwick County. After locating here for a short time, he returned to his home in the Sucker State, but soon came back to Kansas. About this time he entered into a contract with the United States Government to furnish wood and hay to the posts in the Indian Territory, and for seven successive years followed that line of business. At the expiration of that time he returned to Kansas, but has since traveled in the States of Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas.

              Mr. Speer is one of the large land-owners of this State. He has a fine farm of 240 acres of well-improved land in this county, also ten acres in one tract and five in another, close to the city of Wichita, and five lots in the city, which latter have a value of $7,000. He is also the possessor of 160 acres of land in Sumner County, 160 acres in Pratt County, eighty acres in Barber County, and 320 acres in Clark County, all in Kansas. These are all partly fenced, and are a high grade of farming land. He deals in real estate, handling both city lots and outside property, and has acquired, by perseverance, energy and economy, a very handsome fortune. He is a progressive, thoroughgoing and public-spirited citizen, and wields great influence in the community where he lives. In politics he gives the Republican party his cordial support.

              A matrimonial alliance was contracted by Mr. Speer, Nov. 22, 1887, in Sedgwick County, Kan., at which time he led to the hymeneal altar Miss Laura McGlaughlin, who was born May 29, 1867, in Mercer County, Ill., and is the daughter of Levi and Mary (Moore) McGlaughlin, who were natives of Pennsylvania, and now residents of this county.

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