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         JOHN SPROWS, a resident of Toolsboro, this county, was born in Belvidere, Warren Co., N. J., in 1821, and is a son of Reuben and Phoebe (Updike) Sprows. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, though of Dutch ancestry on the paternal side, and Irish on the maternal side. His mother was a native of England, and her father, Samuel Updike, was a miller in that country. Reuben Sprows followed the occupation of shoemaking, and also engaged as a veterinary surgeon. During the War of 1812 he served as a private. He and his wife belonged to the Society of Friends, and the death of the father occurred in 1830, the mother surviving him until 1850.

At the age of nine years our subject left his home and went to work in a rolling-mill, serving an apprenticeship of nine years in the iron and steel business, and then working under instructions for the succeeding four years. After he had gained a thorough knowledge of the trade he secured employment on the Hudson River, at Queensboro, for a year, and then went to Charlotte, N. Y., where he remained until 1848. In that year he went to Mexico, sailing from New York, and there engaged in manufacturing iron at San Rafael, making that his home for about three years, being foreman of the works in which he was employed. In 1851 he went from Vera Cruz, Mex., to New Orleans, and from there proceeded up the river to Tools’ Landing, where the town of Toolsboro is now situated, and purchased 160 acres of land, but engaged in chopping wood during the first winter.

Here our subject became acquainted with Rhoda M. Ives, the widow of Cicero Ives, and on Feb. 20, 1852, they were united in marriage. Their married life was of short duration, Mrs. Sprows dying in February, 1853. Shortly after their marriage Mr. Sprows purchased a 140-acre tract of land in Jefferson Township. In 1854 he bought some lots in Toolsboro, where he had made his home continuously since. In that year he was united in marriage with Emily M. Matthews, widow and second wife of Solomon B. Matthews, who had previously been united in marriage with Evaline Smith, who died in 1847, leaving three children: John Henry, who died at Jackson, Tenn., while in his country’s service, being a member of Company I, 1st Missouri Engineers; Sidney, now deceased, also a soldier in the same company and regiment, and who served three years; Mary Ellen became the wife of Frank Bross, an attorney-at-law, who died in Memphis, Tenn., of yellow fever, in 1868, and she subsequently married A. Kimball, a farmer of Jefferson Township.

Mr. Sprows’ second wife was called to her final home Oct. 31, 1882, and he was again united in marriage to Mrs. Peckinpah, whose maiden name was . . .

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. . . Phoebe A. Willets. In September, 1861, Mr. Sprows responded to his country’s call for troops, and enlisted in the 1st Missouri Engineers as a machinist, and served until March, 1862, when he was discharged for disabilities, having lost the sight of one of his eyes. Socially, he is a member of the G. A. R. Post and also of the I. O. O. F.; religiously, he is a Spiritualist, and politically, an ardent Republican. He has held the office of Township Trustee, and is one of the respected men of the community.