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WILLIAM SPURGEON, deceased, an honored pioneer of the Hawkeye State, crossed the Mississippi in 1852, and was a resident of this section for a period of over thirty years. Mr. S. was a native of Kentucky, and was born March 4, 1795. When a lad of twelve years old his parents removed from Kentucky to Ohio and were among the early settlers of Clinton County. There, his father, James E. Spurgeon, established a comfortable home for his family, and our subject grew to manhood, receiving careful home training and a fair education in the common schools. He remained with his parents until his marriage, the maiden of his choice being Miss Hannah Davis, of New Lancaster, Va. Her father was a farmer of Fayette County, a straightforward business man and a highly respected citizen.
Mr. Spurgeon remained in his native State for a number of years after bis marriage and then concluded to seek his fortune in the Western country, of whose growth and development he had heard such glowing reports. A few of his friends had already located in the Hawkeye State and he decided to join them. He was accompanied by his family, and they made the journey overland with teams, being thirty days on the road. They located first in Benton County, but the following spring crossed over the line into Linn County and rented a body of land in Fayette Township, where he remained for a time as a tenant. He then returned to Benton County, purchased a farm in Canton Township, on section 33, and established a comfortable home, where he passed the remainder of his days. His decease occurred Sept. 30, 1879, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. His faithful wife, the companion of all his wanderings and labors, had preceded him to the better land ten years before, dying in 1869 at the age of sixty-seven years. Their household consisted of eight children, as follows: Margaret E. became the wife of James Crawford and died in 1880; the living are — Cynthia; Martha, the wife of James Benson; Daniel; Sarah, the wife of Eli Cue; Harvey; William H. and Samuel.
Source Citation: "1887 Benton County, Iowa Biographies" [database online] Benton County IAGenWeb Project. <http://iagenweb.org/benton/>
Original data: "Portrait and Biographical Album of Benton County, Iowa." Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1887, p. 368.
Transcribed by: Sue Soden. Submitted to the Benton County IAGenWeb Project on February 18th, 2009. Copyright © 2009 The IAGenWeb Project.
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