Spearman, Arthur D.

Arthur D. Spearman, S.J. was born on August 26, 1899, in Wheaton, Illinois. He was the son of Frank Spearman (1859-1937), a convert to Catholicism, essayist and novelist who specialized in tales of the West such as Whispering Smith. Father Spearman entered the Society of Jesus on June 15, 1918 and was ordained on June 25, 1931. Most of his priestly life was spent in the California Province. His work embraced teaching and writing but his principal assignments were as Prefect of Libraries. Spearman's career was concentrated mostly at Santa Clara with side posts at various California facilities, notably the librarianship of the then Loyola University of Los Angeles from 1937 to 1948. It was during this period that Father acquired the interesting collection of autographs filed under his name, and also a library of finely translated, edited and bound works from the Spanish presses of the 1940s. From Loyola, after sundry missions, Father Spearman returned to Santa Clara where he died on May 9, 1977.

From the description of The Arthur D. Spearman, S.J., autograph collection, 1925-1947. (Loyola Marymount University). WorldCat record id: 42839739

Biographical Essay

by Mary Shipsey

Arthur Dunning Spearman was born August 26, 1899 at Wheaton, Illinois. His father, Frank Hamilton Spearman, was a well-known author of Western novels and short stories. He was the sixth child of Frank and Euginie Amelia Lonergan Spearman. The six children listed in his genealogical table are Thomas Clark, Thomas Lonergan, Eugene, Elaine, Frank Hamilton and Arthur Dunning. Of these only four are pictured or mentioned in his papers; Thomas Lonergan and Elaine do not appear.

The Spearmans moved from Wheaton to Hollywood, California in 1905 after Frank Hamilton Spearman's best-selling novel, Whispering Smith, was purchased by early filmmakers to make a movie. In 1906 the family spent a year in Rome and Florence. An audience with the Pope made a deep impression on ADS (see his autobiographical notes, folder 27). The family spent summers on Nantucket, perhaps also visiting relatives in Maryland.

Spearman's education began at parochial schools in Rome, Evanstown and Chicago (Loyola). He attended Saint Vincent's Preparatory School in Los Angeles, before entering the Society of Jesus at the University of Santa Clara in 1918. ADS spent two years as a scholastic at Santa Clara before continuing his studies at Gonzaga. In 1921, constant insomnia and headaches forced a break from his studies at Gonzaga. He was sent home to live with his parents for a year. Subsequently Spearman was stationed at St. Ignatius Mission, Montana. There he began to write stories, which were related to him by the old missionaries, and these stories were published regularly in the Western Jesuit. His interest in Indians increased.

ADS returned to Gonzaga and completed his BA in Theology in 1926 and his MA in English in 1927. In 1927-28 he taught high school English and history as a scholastic at Gonzaga. Spearman began studies for the Sacred Theology Licentiate (STL) in 1928 at Weston College in Weston, Illinois. The rector at Weston thought he was "too meticulous" to be ordained; ADS was transferred to St. Louis and ordained a week later on June 25, 1931. He was awarded the STL at St. Louis University in l932.

After ordination ADS suffered a physical breakdown from which he never fully recovered. He attributed this to the "over-intensity and mild friction" of 13 years of novitiate and difficult study. It is unclear how long this illness lasted, or where he was when it overtook him. ADS returned to Santa Clara in 1933-34 as a teacher of English and religion, before moving to Los Angeles as director of the Loyola library from 1935 to 1947. He was transferred to San Diego in 1947 to work in Spanish-speaking and African American parishes. During the 1949 to 1954 period he began his research in the history of early Maryland and Delaware, and he compiled a four-volume family history.

In 1954 Spearman moved to Loyola University in Los Angeles and began his research on the early Mission Santa Clara and Santa Clara College. He returned to Santa Clara in 1957 as the university archivist, and he continued his historical research. From 1957 to 1971 ADS also served as chaplain of the Santa Clara Carmelite nuns and of the Catholic Daughters. He was chairman of the Historical Landmarks Commission from 1960 to 1964, and was curator of Mission exhibits at the DeSaisset Museum from 1960 to 1971.

Spearman was a prolific writer, producing books, essays and articles on the history of Mission Santa Clara and Santa Clara College, family history, religion, and Indians. His first major book was The Five Franciscan Churches of Mission Santa Clara, 1777-1825, published in 1963; in 1967 he published a biography titled John Joseph Montgomery, Father of Basic Flying. The guide to the Spearman collection includes a complete bibliography of his writing.

ADS suffered a stroke in 1971, which sharply curtailed his involvement in local history and research, although he continued as archivist. Spearman died at Santa Clara on April 9, 1977.

From the guide to the Inventory of Papers of Arthur Dunning Spearman, S.J., 1899-1977, (Santa Clara University Archives)