My Genealogy Hound

JOSEPH SPANG, the well-known Pottstown brick manufacturer, residing at 104 South Charlotte street, in that borough, was born in York, Pennsylvania, August 6, 1839. He is the son of Jeremiah and Catharine (Fricker) Spang, both of whom were born in Pottstown. They had a family of five children-three sons and two daughters--of whom three are now living: John, of Philadelphia; Joseph, of Pottstown; and Mary, widow of Mahlon Coller, also of Pottstown.

Jeremiah Spang (father) was a millstone-maker. He removed to York, Pennsylvania, living there a number of years, and then returned to Pottstown, where he resided until his death in 1876, in his sixty-fourth year. His wife died in 1887, aged nearly seventy-six years. He was a Lutheran in religious faith, and she was reared a Catholic.

Adam Spang (grandfather) was a native of Montgomery county and also a burr-maker. He was married three times and had seventeen children in all. He died at the age of upwards of seventy years.

Anthony Fricker (maternal grandfather) was born in New Hanover township, Montgomery county.

Joseph Spang lived in York until he had reached the age of eighteen years. He attended the public schools there, being reared partly upon the farm and partly in the town. He pursued the even tenor of ordinary life until the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861, when he enlisted for the defense of the government in Company C, Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, for three months, and at the expiration of his term, re-enlisted in Company A, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers. He enlisted a third time in the field and served to the end of the war. At first a private, he became successively corporal and sergeant. He was slightly wounded in the battle of Petersburg. Mr. Spang participated in the following engagements with the commands to which he belonged: in the seven days fighting before Richmond; in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, Petersburg. He was in the hospital at York, Pennsylvania, and returned to his regiment when convalescent, and was afterwards engaged in the action of Hatcher’s Run, South-Side Railroad, Farmsville, and Appomattox Court House.

After the war Sergeant Spang returned to Pottstown and engaged in the brick manufacturing business which he has conducted successfully ever since.

On December 26, 1865, he married Miss Emma H. Craver, daughter of William M. and Priscilla A. (Clayton) Craver. They have had four children: Anna Priscilla married Harry G. Rinehart, of Pottstown, and they have four children: Claude, Carl, Evalyn and Mildred. Ella May died in infancy. William H., a typewriter and stenographer, married Ella May Burk. Joseph died at the age of six months.

Mr. and Mrs. Spang are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he is a church trustee. He is also a member of Richards Post, No. 595, Grand Army of the Republic, and of Encampment No. 22, Union Veteran Legion.

Politically Mr. Spang is a Republican, being an active worker in behalf of the interests of that party. He cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He served in the town council for a term of three years.

In 1891 he built an elegant home for himself, in which he now resides, and owns several other properties in Pottstown.

William M. Craver (Mrs. Spang’s father) was born in Pennsylvania and her mother in Maryland. They had a family of eight children, of whom seven are still living. Her father was a hatter in York. He died in 1876 at the age of fifty-nine years. His wife survived until 1887, when she died at the age of sixty-seven years. In religious faith both were members of the Lutheran denomination.

Daniel Craver (Mrs. Spang’s grandfather) was a native of Pennsylvania and a hatter by trade. He was of German descent. His wife was Rebecca Neff. Both lived to be upwards of seventy years of age. They had a family of six children. Mr. Craver’s father was George Craver.

Mrs. Spang’s maternal grandfather was John Clayton. He was a native of Maryland, but his parents came from England. His wife was Harriet Houchman. He lost his life by accident in middle age, but his wife lived to be upwards of eighty. They had a family of three daughters.

Mr. Spang’s family are descendants of Michael Spang, who emigrated from Germany to this country about one hundred and fifty years ago.