The James Glaspell Family

GLASPELL, STATHEM, LYTER, BURROWS

Posted By: Carol Bawden (email)
Date: 3/6/2008 at 10:41:41

JAMES GLASPELL, son of Enos and Sarah English Glaspell, was born 7 April 1789 (same month Washington was inaugurated). probably in Stow Creek Township, Cumberland County, NJ or possibly in Lower Alloway Creek Twnshp, Salem County, where Enos owned land in 1787.

James b 7 Apr 1789 Cumberland Co., NJ, and Jane Stanthan/them/Stathan/them had 8 children b. NJ, OH, KY
1. Elizabeth b 1814 NJ
2. Silas G. b 1816 NJ
3. Enos b 1818 OH
4. Isaac Stathem b. 1820 OH
m. Melissa "Elizabeth" Lyter
5. Ruth b. 1823 OH
6. Mary Jane b. 1826 OH
7. James N. b 1830 OH
8. Barton S. b. 1832 KY

James is said to have become a schoolmaster. He was married in Cumberland County 19 October 1814 to Jane STATHEM, dtr of Isaac and Elizabeth Perry Stathem.

They had 2 children: Elizabeth and Silas born in NJ. They migrated to Hamilton County, OH in 1817 near Cincinnati with relatives and friends including Stathem cousins. They settled in Cheviot, Green Twnshp, where Enos was born in the summer of 1818. The 1820 census of that district lists James ‘Glaspy’ on p. 158. Between 1820 and 1830, Isaac, Ruth, Mary Jane, and James were born. The 1830 census of Hamilton County shows head of household as James ‘Gillespie’.
In Keeliga, The Pretty Land: The Colorful Story of Green Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, Harry L. Hale, 1949, James G. Glaspell’s name is listed as a pioneer in Sec 17. This is the only known reference to a middle initial for James.

After the 1830 census, James and family moved to Ludlow, Campbell (now Kenton) County, KY, across the Ohio River from Cheviot and Cincinnati. (There is a ferry at Ludlow which crosses the Ohio and connects with the road to Cheviot.) They did not own their own property in KY where they were members of the Disciples of Christ Church. Barton Stone Glaspell was born in Ludlow on 12 October1832 named for one of the founders, Barton Stone.

James was a farmer and may have been a teacher. He is said to have conducted one of the early village schools in his home. Family tradition says he compiled the “Glaspell Speller”. (No such item has been found). His brother John who remained in NJ was also a school teacher and farmer.

After about 20 years in the Cincinnati area, James headed west. In the 1840 federal census, the Glaspells are living in Scott County, IA.

J.M.D. Burrows, in his book Fifty Years in Iowa 1838-1888, Davenport, Glass & Co, 1888, describes the village of Davenport in July 1838: “a beautiful little hamlet of 15 houses with a population of about 150 persons”.

Burrows had gone from Cincinnati to Rock Island, IL on business, then crossed the river to Davenport and decided to emigrate there. He returned in 1839 along with other Cincinnati families including James Glaspell who is said to have come in August. By the beginning of 1840, Davenport’s population was about 500 with 100 houses. Burrows returned to Cincinnati in 1839 to buy stock for his new venture Davenport mercantile store and he wrote:

Another great help to me was the assistance I received from James Glaspell, Sr., the progenitor of the Glaspell family. He was an excellent man, salt of the earth—a man in whom there was no guile. He lived under the bluff, a half-mile below me. He called on me the day before I left and said ‘Neighbor Burrows, I want you to do me a favor. You are going to Cincinnati. When I left Covington, Kentucky, I made an auction of my cattle, farming implements, etc. They were sold on a year’s credit and my agent writes that he has made some collections. Now will you be so good as to cross over to Covington and get whet money he has on hand? I shall not need it for some time, and if it is any help to you, you can use it.’

I collected about $1,000 and used it in getting many articles. When I reported to my neighbor Glaspell, he seemed much pleased, and said he probably would not need his money for a year, and when he did, he would give me a month’s notice. He would not receive any interest, considering I was doing him a favor, as he was afraid to keep so much money in the house. During the year, having a large family, he took a good deal of it out in goods from the store.

At this time, and for a number of years, we had no bank…farmers brought their money in and deposited it with me, the same as if I were a banker.”

Iowa was opened for settlement through the Blackhawk Treaty in 1834. James Glaspell was considered one of the original Davenport settlers.

The 1840 federal Scott County census lists:

James Glassell [sic] age 51

Jane age 48

Elizabeth age 26 in Oct

Silas age 24

Enos age 22

Isaac age 20 in Nov

Ruth age 17 in Nov

Mary Jane age 14 in Oct

James N. age 10

Barton S. age 8 in Oct

James bought a quarter-section west of Davenport described as SW ¼ Sec 27 T78 R3E. He took the west half of the section and had land atop the bluff with its beautiful view, plus bottom land for farming. It extended from Wilkes Ave. to Pine St. and from 4th to 11th, and included Fejervary Park. (Nicholas Fevervary, a wealthy Hungarian, bought 3,000 acres in 1852–53 including part of the Glaspell property, and built a palatial home there). In 1845, Lewis W. Burrows, James’ son-in-law, bought Lawson’s half that bordered Division Street.

According to family legend, Indians, nomads who were a nuisance rather than a threat to life, would stop to beg for food. On a Thanksgiving Day, a brave took a liking to one of James’ teen-age daughters and offered a fine collection of furs to own her. James was not interested and the young man offered more to no avail. The final offer: furs, 2 squaws, a papoose, and a fine pony. James would not trade and the brave gave up, but a certain amount of uneasiness existed.

When the Indians came for another hand-out, James went to the smokehouse for a ham or bacon. That night, someone emptied the smokehouse. The Glaspells were fairly certain who did it.

James was one of the first 2 elders of Davenport’s Disciples of Christ Church. Wife Jane, Silas, Ruth and Elizabeth and her husband Gabriel Abram McArthur (married 1840) were charter members. Silas married Susan Ricker/Riker in December 1841, and Enos married Rhoda Pearce 1845 but she died in May 1846.

James died 3 March 1847 sort of 58 years of age. His grave is in Davenport’s Oakdale Memorial Gardens Sec 6, Lot 24.

Jane Stathem Glaspell died after 13 years as a widow, Saturday, 18 Feb 1860 and is buried in Davenport’s Oakdale Memorial Gardens Sec 6, Lot 24 with 10 other Glaspells.

Children:
1.Isaac married Melissa Elizabeth Lyter Oct 1847.
2. Mary Jane married David Alward Burrows in 1850.
3. Widower Enos married second wife Sarah Avrill.
4. James N. died April 1854, unmarried.
5. Barton, the youngest married Martha Elizabeth Lyter, Melissa’s sister, in May 1854.

REFERENCES:
1. The Eldridge-Bawden Families, The Ancestry and Descendants of Duncan Campbell Eldridge and Stephen Bawden of Scott County, IA, author-compiler Alice Richardson Sloane, CG, commissioned by John Duvall Bawden, Bettendorf, IA (deceased 11 May 1992), Anundsen Publishing, Decorah, IA, 1986, in possession of the Davenport Public Library Special Collections.
2. GLASPELLS, Relatives of James Glaspell (1789-1847) and his wife Jane Stathem (1792-1860) manuscript compiled by Elsie Spry Davis, 710 2nd St., Coronado, CA 92118, 1985 (deceased), in possession of Carol Bawden Saldivar through Martha “Marti” Glaspell Gorun.
3. Oakdale Memorial Gardens database, 2501 Eastern Avenue, Davenport, IA 52803, 563-324-5121; Deb Williams, Office Mgr. obtained in 2007