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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York published by John M. Gresham & Co. in 1891. These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary. Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more. There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.
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JOHN T. SPEAR was born in Boston, Massachusetts, July 29, 1855, and is the son of Thomas Spear (see sketch of Thomas Spear in another part of the book). His ancestors were of Irish birth and lineage, he himself being removed from the land of his father, Ireland, by one generation. When his parents removed to Chautauqua county, he was but nine years of age. He attended school and remained in Chautauqua county until he was eighteen years of age, when he returned to Boston and remained three years. When about twenty-four years of age he crossed the continent to the Pacific coast, and after traversing a part of the coast, remained three months in San Francisco. At the expiration of this time, he again returned to the east, came to Chautauqua county and engaged in the hardware business at Sinclairville, first independently, and then subsequent to 1880, in partnership with his brother. In addition to his mercantile business, he has also been a dealer in real estate and at the beginning of President Harrison’s administration received the appointment of postmaster at Sinclairville. He is a thirty-second degree Mason; a stalwart republican, politically, and although a religious man by nature and in life, he is not connected with any particular denomination. He is a good business man, is an efficient and accommodating postmaster and is altogether regarded as a substantial, enterprising citizen.
John T. Spear, on April 28, 1880, was united in marriage to Florence A., daughter of Nelson Osborne of Chautauqua county, New York.
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This family biography is one of 658 biographies included in Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York published in 1891.
View additional Chautauqua County, New York family biographies here: Chautauqua County, New York Biographies
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