Bedford County , Pennsylvania
Ancestor Stories
 
 
The Richard Spiser / Spicer Family
 
 
Reese Spicer spicerv@camasnet.com has submitted the following "Brickwall":
The following is my "Brickwall", one of many in my Spicer line. The story is long and drawn out
but each sentence contains a clue (I hope) to what might be my historical heritage. I ask the reader
to please bear with me in the telling of this story.

In 1777, during the Revolutionary War, Gen. John Burgoyne amassed asizable army in Canada
with the idea of invading New York via the Lake Champlain - Hudson River corridor. His plans were
thwarted in Oct. 1777 by Gen. Gates at Saratoga. His remaining army consisting of about 5000 British
and Hessian soldiers were not treated as Prisoners of War but were promised passage home as soon
as transport became available. They were called the Convention Army and were first quartered near
Cambridge Mass. Lack of supplies and a fear of a British attempt at rescue, they were moved to
Charlottesville, Va. and again in 1780 they were moved to places in Maryland. My story concerns
one of these soldiers who, it seems, elected to remain in America.

The 1810 Bedford Co., Dublin Twp Census
Richard Spiser/Spicer, age 45+ and wife also age 45+ first showed up here with their family.
Their ages indicate that they were born before 1755 and probably in England, although I can not rule
out the fact that he may have been a Hessian. Their family consisted of, 2 males 16 - 26 yrs of age,
whom I believe is Ritchard / Richard and Samuel, who show up in 1830 with families. 2 females 10 - 16,
and one female 0 - 10 who may be Elizabeth b. Sept. 3, 1800. She married Adam Bowman and moved
to Ohio.

The 1820 Bedford Co. Census - Where did they go?
Is it possible for a census enumerator to miss a family completely or did this family just pack up and
move on. This census had absolutely no one by the name of Spicer, or even a close spelling of the
name. I checked and compared the neighborhood which was basically the same with few changes,
but no Spicers.

The 1830 Bedford Co. Census - Paydirt, I hope !
Ritchard / Richard Spicer and family, his brother Samuel and family are back. Ritchard is on
page 16, line 2, and Samuel with name customerily misspelled is on page 19, line 22. Ritchard /Richard
is in virtually the same neighborhood as the first Richard in 1810, just maybe a few homes away.
Ritchard's family consists of himself and wife both 30 - 40 yrs of age, one male 10 - 15 yrs of
age who qualifies as Hiram b. 1818, my GGGrandfather, whom I will get back to later.
Two females 0 - 5 and one female 15 - 20.

The 1840 Bedford Co., Bedford Twp. Census
Here we have Richard Spicer with either a new family or it is a different Richard. He has one
male 0 - 5, himself 50 - 60, one female 0 - 5, and the only consistencies from 1830 are two females 5 - 10,
they would be the two 0 - 5 in 1830. He has three females 10 - 15 and one female 30 - 40. If he is the same Ritchard / Richard from Dublin Twp, he has had some drastic family changes. Either he is widowed with
a daughter or daughter in law living in the household, or he is widowed and taken on a younger wife with children of her own. His son, the one I hope is Hiram, is obviously off on his own, with his own family.

1850 Exit Bedford Co.
I guess the Spicers moved on from here as the only ones left are brother Samuel, a Sarah, Susan and
a Mary E., all in the new Fulton Co., Dublin Twp. Richard may have died and his children moved on
west. I know for sure that Hiram did. I found Hiram in Jan. 1850 getting married to Lydia Scott in
Stark Co. Ohio. They were there in September when the 1850 census was taken and Hiram had a
6 year old son with him. This makes me think that he had been married before in Pennsylvania.
After 1850 Hiram and Lydia disappeared until 1870. I found them in Kosciusko Co. Indiana with
5 children all born in Indiana and without the oldest boy.

Thats my story and it needs help. I believe that the answers lay in Bedford and Fulton Counties,
Dublin Twp. If anyone can help it would be most appreciated

Thanks
Reese Spicer
Please send your information and / or comments about the Richard Spicer family to Reese Spicer at:
spicerv@camasnet.com
 
Do you have an Ancestor Story or Brickwall that you would like to submit for posting on this page, please contact - clabaugh@richnet.net
 

Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 Tom Clabaugh