For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 282
NICHOLAS SPILGER....Many sons of Illinois have been attracted to Iowa and in Muscatine county have established homes under conditions so favorable as scarcely to be equaled elsewhere in the Union. Among that number may be named Nicholas Spilger, who owns a valuable farm in Goshen township. He was born at Rock Island, Illinois, January 13, 1851, and is a son of George and Catharine ( Vetter ) Spilger, both of whom were natives of Germany. The parents came to America about 1850, spending about a year in Chicago, at the end of which time they located upon eighty acres of government land in Rock Island county, Illinois. There they lived until their deaths, which occurred in the month of September, 1854, passing away within two days of each other. There were three children in the family: Peter, who died in infancy; Nicholas, our subject; and Margaret, now the wife of August Fuhr of Rock Island county.Nicholas Spilger received his education in the common schools and when old enough began working as a farm hand. At twenty-six years of age, having acquired sufficient capital, he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Mercer county, Illinois, which he cultivated for three years and then sold. He next acquired eighty acres which lies about one and a quarter miles north of the farm where he now lives and there he spent sixteen years, in the course of which he gained a great deal of valuable experience in agriculture and stock-raising and decided to make his permanent home in that region. Accordingly he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Goshen township, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation and provided with all the conveniences for up-to-date operations. In addition to general farming he has been very successful in the raising and marketing of cattle, hogs and horses.
On the 10th of February, 1881, Mr. Spilger was united in marriage to Miss Mary Weiss, a daughter of George and Elizabeth ( Fuhr ) Weiss, who were the parents of twelve children: Mary; Catherine, the wife of George Stemm, of Johnson county, Iowa; Margaret, who makes her home with our subject; Philip,of Muscatine county; Louisa, John, Clara, and Emma, at home; Christian, of Muscatine county; Valentine, who died in infancy; Lydia, at home; and Barbara, the wife of Charles M. Timm, of Muscatine county. Two children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Spilger: Albert J., who was killed by lightning on the home place July 27, 1898; and Philip G., who now assists in the management of the farm. The wife and mother died in 1884 at the age of twenty-nine years.
Mr. Spilger has enjoyed both the joys and the sorrows of life, the untimely death of his son one of the severest blows he has ever known. He is a consistent member of the Lutheran church and in the hour of his bereavement was sustained by a faith in a Divine Providence which does all things well. In his political belief he adheres to the republican party. Beginning more than thirty years ago, he labored diligently until he acquired a competence and he is today one of the prosperous men of the county, his good fortune being due to his untiring industry and indomitable will. His wife was to him indeed a helpmate and his home is one of the attractive gathering places of the township.
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