Spear Family

Born in Chautauqua County, New York, on 1816 July 1, Dr. David Osborn Spear was oldest son of the twelve children born to John (1788-1886) and Polly Osborn (1796-1840) Spear. David married Margaret Conner on 1840 August 15 in Kosciusko County, Indiana, and they had seven children: John, Harriet (who married Vincent Gray), Louisa, Jane, Charles, George, and Sonora (who married William Collins). The family moved to Michigan and Iowa and by 1860 resided in Texas. David Spear was among the first doctors sent by the government to treat Indians. He was also one of the founders of Weatherford, Texas; helped lay out the town square; and was the first County Recorder. His oldest son, John Nelson Spear, was a Texas Ranger on the mission that rescued Cynthia Ann Parker from the Comanches. David Osborn Spear died at Fort McKavett, Texas, on 1874 March 14.

John Nelson Spear, a younger brother of David Osborn Spear, was born on 1818 August 6. According to a letter he wrote to David, John arrived in California on 1849 October 15. He eventually settled in San Francisco, where he worked in an undertaker’s casket shop. John Nelson Spear committed suicide on 1856 December 16 after a bout of depression.

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