SPIELMAN, George A. - 1912 Bio (1869-1957)

SPIELMAN, OTTERBINE, WILLIAMS, GARDNER, HUMPHREY, KENDALL

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 10/1/2007 at 16:48:43

History of Jefferson County, Iowa -- A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol II, Published 1912, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago
Pages 406-408

George A. SPIELMAN, manager and partner of the general store of the M. M. SPIELMAN Company at Packwood and postmaster of the town, is one of the good substantial business men of his county. His birth occurred in the village of Merrimac, Iowa, July 21, 1869. The grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John SPIELMAN, were born and reared in Germany. In the prime of life they came to America and settled in Franklin county, Ohio, near Columbus, where the son, Lewis SPIELMAN, father of George A. SPIELMAN, was born. Lewis SPIELMAN married Matilda OTTERBINE, a native of Stark county, Ohio, and she was also of German descent. In 1844 they went to Iowa, locating in Walnut township, where he bought eighty acres of land, to which he later added until at the time of his death he owned one hundred and sixty-eight acres of very fine land. Here he resided -- one of the most highly respected men of Walnut township -- until the time of his death, on March 19, 1879. His wife remained on this farm until 1891, when she moved to Pleasant Plain, Iowa, where she now lives, greatly loved by all her acquaintances. They were the parents of nine children, of whom George A. SPIELMAN was seventh in order of birth. The others are: John W., a retired farmer of Worthington, Minnesota; Mary, the wife of Henry WILLIAMS, also a retired farmer of Worthington, Minnesota; Henry E., a farmer of Brighton, Iowa; Franklin, who died at the age of twenty-three; Lewis, who died at the age of one month; Jacob, who died at the age of two years; Tillie, the wife of William GARDNER, a government inspector of forestry at Cass Lake, Minnesota; and William, who died at the age of two years.

George A. SPIELMAN was reared under the parental roof, attended the district schools and later, Pleasant Plain Academy. He helped with the work on the farm until he attained his majority and then entered the general store of F. L. Eck at Pleasant Plain where he worked for two years. He was then employed in the store of Andrews & Powers in Pleasant Plain until 1895, when he moved to Packwood and established his present business. In 1903, under Roosevelt, he was made postmaster of Packwood, a position which he still holds. He has been for two years a member of the board of directors of the Farmers Savings Bank at Packwood.

On the 24th of October, 1894, Mr. SPIELMAN was married to Miss Minnie HUMPHREY, a daughter of Sanford and Margaret Frances (KENDALL) HUMPHREY. The father, a native of Penn township, Jefferson county, is of Irish-American descent and comes from an old Virginia family, the members of which were large land and slave owners. The mother was born in Miami county, Ohio, of German-Irish descent. Mr. and Mrs. KENDALL moved to Iowa when their daughter Margaret was only nine years old and located on a farm in Penn township, Jefferson county, where they lived a great many years. The last few years of their active lives they spent in retirement and both are now dead. Mr. and Mrs. HUMPHREY became the parents of ten children, of whom Mrs. SPIELMAN is the eldest. The others are: Alonzo, who is a liveryman at East Pleasant Plain, Jefferson county; Leward, who is superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company at Jacksonville, Illinois; Emmett, who is engaged in farming at Superior, Nebraska; Charles, who is a harness maker of Pleasant Plain, Iowa; Frank R., and employe of the Hall Railroad Signal Company of Syracuse, New York; Ina, who is attending college at Cedar Falls, Iowa; Zona, who is at home with her parents; and two sons, Clyde and Wilford, who died at the ages of nine months and twenty-two years respectively. Mr. and Mrs. SPIELMAN are the parents of two children, Guy H. and Mildred Irene, both of whom are attending the Packwood high school and are also employed as clerks in the postoffice.

George A. SPIELMAN has been very active in his life work and is recognized as one of the substantial business men of his township. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he takes an active interest in all local politics, being for six years clerk of Polk township, and also has served as a member of the Packwood city council and as city clerk. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America at Packwood, where he has been clerk of the lodge for fourteen years, and he is also connected with the Masonic lodge of Abingdon, Iowa. He and all his family are zelaous members of the Methodist Episcopal church. From a financial, social and political standpoint he may well be called one of the most prominent citizens of his township.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.