1. SPICER
2. SPICER
3. SPICER
4. SPICER

Lanklyn Sylvester Spicer 1884 1970

Lanklyn Spicer was my great-great grandfather, and his name fit as he was a very tall lanky man and I am told he had a wonderful twinkle in his eyes. He lived up north on a farm in Bruno Minnesota. He grew beautiful roses and was quite proud of them.

Lanklyn came from a large family, with nine brothers and sisters. As a young boy, Lanklyn’s family frequently moved by covered wagon back and forth from Nebraska, where he was born, to Minnesota. The reason for these frequent moves was due to the various Indian ‘uprisings.’ In 1895 on the family’s last journey back to Minnesota, Lanklyn’s younger brother Nathan contracted diphtheria and passed away near the city of Winnebago. Lanklyn’s family settled in Faribault, Minnesota before permanently setting in Sandstone, Minnesota.

According to his sister Evelena, Lanklyn had a wonderful sense of humor and was quite a prankster. He and his siblings all learned to play various instruments, Lanklyn learned to play several instruments quite well, and the family often entertained themselves with 'concerts.'

Lanklyn grew up on the family farm but had the Spicer wanderlust and eventually left home to see what life had to offer off the farm. He surprised his family when he returned to the farm in 1909 with a new bride, Estella Mae O‘Connell. In 1912 Lanklyn’s brother’s family came to visit Lanklyn’s growing young family including a son recently born. Joy turned to sorrow when it was discovered that the visiting relatives had brought ‘the fever’ with them. Lanklyn’s wife and new born son caught the fever and the child soon passed away. The local undertaker left a small white box out on the deserted street in front of Lanklyn’s home. After fetching the box, Lanklyn and Estella said their goodbyes and placed their infant inside. Securing the lid, Lanklyn then placed the box back out in the street to be picked up by the undertaker for burial.

Life was hard at the turn of the century but Lanklyn managed to support and raise 8 children. As a farmer Lanklyn didn’t have modern conveniences such as tractors and reapers, the land was plowed while walking behind a horse or mule and water was ‘drawn’ from a well he had to dig. Wood had to be chopped for fuel to heat the house and cook meals. Vegetable gardens were essential and were hoed by hand. Meat was raised and hunted to feed the family.

Lanklyn was a quiet man, at least in his later years, who enjoyed spending his evenings sitting in his easy chair reading his Bible and watching the small green tree frogs that would cling to the glass of the big picture window he sat beside.

1. Cecil William SPICER b. 10 Jan 1910, Pine Lake, Pine County, Minnesota; d. 15 May 1974, On the Amtrak train enroute to Pasco, Washington; bur. 18 May 1974, Coon Rapids, Anoka County, Minnesota.
2. Thelma SPICER b. 25 Aug 1911, Pine County, Minnesota; d. 17 Dec 1991, Sandstone, Pine County, Minnesota; bur. 1991, Sandstone, Pine County, Minnesota.
3. Baby boy SPICER b. 1912, Pine County, Minnesota; d. 1912, Pine County, Minnesota; bur. 1912, Pine County, Minnesota.
4. Cora Igsli SPICER b. 27 Oct 1913, Brook Park, Pine County, Minnesota; d. 9 Nov 1913, Brook Park, Pine County, Minnesota; bur. 19 Nov 1913, Pine County, Minnesota.
5. Faith Oralie SPICER b. 19 Oct 1914, Pine Lake, Pine County, Minnesota; d. 14 Aug 2001, Moose Lake, Carlton County, Minnesota; bur. 19 Aug 2001, Minnesota.
6. 1. Robert Claude SPICER b. 29 Oct 1920, Pine Lake, Pine County, Minnesota; d. Jan 2001, Moose Lake, Carlton County, Minnesota; bur. Jan 2001, Minnesota.
7. Baby boy SPICER b. 29 Oct 1920, Pine Lake, Pine County, Minnesota; d. 29 Oct 1920; bur. 1920.
8. Bryan Monroe SPICER
9. Elaine SPICER
10. Baby boy SPICER b. 29 Oct 1920, Pine Lake, Pine County, Minnesota; d. 29 Oct 1920; bur. 1920.

William Spicer had cancer in his face which required many surgeries to remove the cancerous tissue and bone. Due to the surgeries, William's face was horribly disfigured and his sinus cavities were exposed which drained constantly and required frequent dressing changes. Despite severe pain from the facial mutilation(s), and the exposure of his open wounds to bacteria and germs, William survived, albeit miserably, in this condition for many years. His son, Lanklyn also suffered from facial cancer, however, his malignancies were diagnosed in the early stages and less extreme measures of treatment was provided, i.e. burning the malignancies.

William Harrison Spicer made a blackboard for one of the first schools [in Holt County, Nebraska] which is written in "Before Today" a book about the people who settled Holt County Nebraska

The same book states, James Davis and Arina Wyman moved to Minnesota in 1855, a year before Arina Philinda Davis was born. Then moved their family to Holt County, Nebraska in 1878 with 13 children. Yet Arina and William Harrison's daughter, Valerie [Lanklyn's sister] was born in 1875, where I don't know but their 2nd child, Claude was born in 1877 in Atkinson, Nebraska, a year before the book claims Arina Phylinda moved to Holt County, NE with her parents! So it is questionable that Arina Wyman and James Davis moved to Holt County, Nebraska with their 13 children after all.

He was named after his uncle William Harrison, I

William moved his family back and forth between Minnesota and Nebraska on several occasions by covered wagon. On the family's last trip back to Minnesota, William and Arina's 6 year old son, Nathan, contracted scarlet fever and died near Winnebago City, Minnesota. Heart broken, William and Arina carried their small child away from the train and buried him under a small cherry tree on the prairie.

Once the towns people heard that someone on the train had died of the fever they wired to all of the towns and villages ahead to warn them, and the people on the wagon train were shunned and made to stay away from the towns and villages. In later years one of Nathan's brother's went back to Winnebago in search of his brother's small grave in order to place a headstone but was unable to find it.

1. Valerie SPICER b. 21 Mar 1875, near Zumbrota, Goodhue County, Minnesota; d. May 1949; bur. May 1949.
2. Claude Urban SPICER b. 1 Feb 1877, Near Zumbrota, Goodhue County, Minnesota; d. 31 Jan 1967, Harlan, Shelby County, Iowa; bur. Feb 1967, North Branch, Cedar County, Iowa.
3. Geneva Pearl SPICER b. 2 Jun 1882, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska; d. 8 Feb 1967; bur. Feb 1967.
4. 2. Lanklyn Sylvester SPICER b. 15 Aug 1884, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska; d. 3 Jun 1970, Brook Park, Pine County, Minnesota; bur. Jun 1970, Brook Park, Pine County, Minnesota.
5. Baby Boy SPICER b. 16 Jan 1886, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska; d. 16 Jan 1886, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska; bur. Jan 1886, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska.
6. Morton Cecil SPICER b. 13 Feb 1889, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska; d. 23 Dec 1922, Pine County, Minnesota; bur. 1922, Minnesota.
7. Nathan SPICER b. 27 Apr 1891, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska; d. 16 Apr 1895, near Winnebago City, Faribault County, Minnesota; bur. 16 Apr 1895, Under a tree near Winnebago City, Minnesota.
8. Zella Enid SPICER b. 29 Dec 1894, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska; d. 4 Feb 1973, Redondo Beach, Los Angeles, California; bur. 1973, Redondo Beach, Los Angeles, California.
9. Evelena Joy SPICER b. 10 Jun 1897, Mazeppa, Wabasha County, Minnesota; d. Aft 10 Jun 2002; bur. 2002.
10. William Edward SPICER b. 9 Jan 1899, Mazeppa, Wabasha County, Minnesota; d. Apr 1982, Faribault, Rice County, Minnesota; bur. 1982, Faribault, Rice County, Minnesota.
11. Nannie Bell SPICER

Marquis De Lafayette Smith b September 7, 1824 (son of Jesse and Mary Casselman Smith) traveled with Asa Holmes Spicer and family to Cortland, Kent Co., Mich. where they started a business in Shingle making. Lafayette stayed in Michigan. Asa left and went to Minnesota. The shingle making business didn’t work out.

1860 Courtland Kent County, Michigan Census p604 Courtland #504/448.

Marquis L Smith 35 M Shingle Maker N.Y

Catherine 33 F N.Y

Mary A. 13 F N.Y.

William H. 5 M OHIO

Jessee E 3 M MICH

Maella L 10/12 F MICH



Asa H Spicer 28 M Shingle Maker N.Y

Nancy 27 F N.Y

Clarissa J 9 F Michigan

William 7 M N.Y.

Sarah A 5 F N.Y

Jessee 3 M Michigan

Asa 7/12 M Michigan


-Source; Kathie Lipscomb-

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Asa's son William Harrison Spicer believed that his step mother Hulda Page Robbins poisoned Asa. It is apparent Hulda did not get along well with her step-children as they were sent to live on their own shortly after she and Asa married. What is interesting is despite the seemingly bad blood between Hulda and Asa's children their descendants got along just fine as seen by the many marriages between Spicer and Robbins descendants. Hulda's grandson Elton Sylvester Robbins had a daughter Gladys, and 3 sons John, Henry [Hank] & Leo. Hulda's grandson John Robbins married Wilma Spicer [whom I believe was the daughter of Joel Isaac Spicer & Zella Enid Spicer. Zella Spicer was the daughter of William Harrison Spicer [the one who accused Hulda of poisoning Asa.] Henry [Hank] Robbins married Edna Spicer and Leo Robbins married Aileen Spicer. Edna and Aileen were the daughters of John Jesse (Jack ) Spicer & Cecilia Demarre. John Jesse Spicer was the son of Asa Holmes Spicer III & Lillian Sheldon. Asa Holmes Spicer III was the son of Asa Holmes II Spicer and Nancy Chapman and he was the step son of Hulda Page Robbins Spicer.

Asa and Hulda were married 31 years. I don't know if the story of Hulda poisoning Asa is true or why, after so many years of marriage, William believed his father met his death at the hands of his wife Hulda. Perhaps William so resented his step-mother for putting he and his siblings out that he blamed her for Asa's death.

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"hi, how have you been? its been a while since I wrote to you. I put the family tree away for a while but I'm back at it now. I found a story in the Mazeppa Tribune telling about a story in the Pine Island Record newspaper, about a Mrs. Spicer trying to poison her husband mar 6 1897 its actually an apology to Mrs. Spicer placed in the tribune by the authors of the story. it says we have learned that the statement regarding Mrs. Spicer was untrue and we were grossly misinformed by what we thought was a reliable source...."

Excerpt from an e-mail sent to me by John Sander on December 27, 2003

Information on the various Spicer Robbins marriages was supplied by John Sander, 3rd great grandson of both Asa Spicer and Hulda Robbins.
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Message Board URL:

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/lhIBAEB/654.3
Message Board Post:
I am also a relative of Royal Jesse Chapman. His daughter Abigail Jane was a sister to Nancy, who married Asa Spicer.
As far as I know, there has never been any connection between R.J. Chapman with any other known Chapman's in New York.
As I was doing some census research, 1850, in West Sparta, Livingston Co., NY I discovered that the Jacob Chapman family is enumerated next to the Asa Spicer (Sr.) family. Has anyone tried to tie these two Chapman's together?

==== SPICER Mailing List ====
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=surnames.spicer
Spicer Homepage: http://nlt.rootsweb.com/

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Asa and Nancy married in 1849 during New York’s Graft War and migrated to Minnesota shortly after the Civil War Draft Riots. The years from 1840 through 1866 was a bloody and violent period in New York brought on by "the Panic of 1837." The panic started on May 10, 1837 in New York City with the failure of banks and record unemployment levels.

By 1840, with the influx of immigrants organized crime steadily grew in New York. It infiltrated and dominated all aspects of New York’s life, from the criminal justice system, to those involved in politics, and the social elite down to the working class. Most businesses and political forums had an undercurrent of criminality and corruption. Politicians often used money from gambling operations to get elected, and organized crime figures worked closely with labor racketeers. The Irish played the dominant role in organized crime in New York, Chicago and other cities. Those involved in organized crime controlled the city. Graft by city leaders was prevalent throughout New York. They defrauded the city through padded and fictitious charges and also profited extravagantly from tax favors. The negative effects of organized crime on New York continued for many decades.

In March 1863 the National Conscription Act was passed. The act made all single men aged twenty to forty-five and married men up to thirty-five subject to a draft lottery. One of the major reasons for the draft riot was the act allowed drafted men to avoid conscription (I.e. the draft) by supplying someone to take their place or by paying the government a $300.00 exemption fee. Needless to say, only the wealthy could afford to buy their way out of the draft. On Saturday, July 11, 1863 The National Conscription Act, which was to initially be enforced in New York City, exacerbated long-simmering class tensions in the city. On the evening of Sunday, July 12th, working men and women met in the city's streets and saloons and read the names drawn during the previous day's draft lottery. Not surprising the names the appeared on the draft list consisted almost entirely of the working class and poor.

On Monday morning, workers from the city's railroads, machine shops, shipyards, and iron foundries gathered together to protest the unfairness of the draft. The large crowd then began moving uptown, gathering workers from workshops and factories along the way. Their goal was to march to the
Provost Marshall's Office at Third Avenue and Forty Sixth Street, where more names of those who were to be drafted would be drawn that day. Carrying "No Draft" signs, they cut telegraph wires and gathered weapons along the way.

Over the course of the next three days bloody street battles raged across New York City's rich and poor neighborhoods. One aspect of this riot that is often not told is that the rioters, most Irish and German immigrants, focused some of their rage on the city's black citizens who’s own struggles for work came up against the influx of immigrants The African Americans were not the only victims, the rioters also attacked any person or any business that represented wealth, prosperity, or propensity to be a Republican (whom the rioters held responsible for the segregations of the working class and the wealthy.)

Before peace was finally restored with the arrival of federal troops (many directly from the battlefield at Gettysburg) on Thursday, July 16, New York City's draft riot would become the nation's single most violent civil disorder, with more lives lost than in any other instance of urban domestic violence in American history.

Family ties really do bind us together!

Nancy is a descendant of our Davis line through her 8th great grandfather Thomas Davis who is a brother of James Davis who is Arina Davis Spicer's 8th gr grandfather. Both Thomas and James Davis are our 12th great grandfathers. Nancy Chapman Spicer is also Arina Davis Spicer's mother-in-law.

Our Peter Spicer is also Nancy's ancestor, he is her 5th gr grandfather through Peter's son Edward. Peter is also Nancy's husband Asa Holmes Spicer 3rd gr grandfather. Nancy's line comes through Edward and Katherine (Stone) Spicer, Asa's line comes through Edward's brother Jabez and his wife Margaret (Parke) Spicer, making Peter our 10th gr grandfather through Edward and our 8th through Jabez.

Interestingly, Peter Spicer's sister-in-law, Abigail Busecot, is also 10th great grandmother! Her daughter Katherine Stone is Edward Spicer's wife, and of course they are Nancy's ancestors. Abigail's sister Mary Busecot is Peter's wife and is Asa Holmes Spicer's ancetors. Abigail and Mary's father Peter Busecot is our 9th and 11th gr grandfather,

Other Chapman - Spicer family connections are listed in Royal Jesse Chapman's notes

1. Clarissa Jane SPICER b. 18 Aug 1850, Plainfield, Kent County, Michigan; d. 13 Mar 1945, Newport, Rock County, Nebraska; bur. Mar 1945, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska.
2. 4. William Harrison SPICER, II b. 8 Jul 1852, York State (Livingston County, New York, probably West Sparta); d. 20 Mar 1931, Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota; bur. 23 Mar 1931, Finlayson, Pine County, Minnesota.
3. Sarah Arina SPICER b. 30 Jun 1854, Plainfield, Kent County, Michigan; d. 26 Aug 1939, St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota; bur. 1939, Minnesota.
4. Alfred SPICER b. 1855, Plainfield, Kent County, Michigan.
5. Jesse Archie SPICER b. 7 Aug 1857, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan; d. 13 Jun 1927, Canistota, McCook County, South Dakota; bur. Jun 1927, South Dakota.
6. Asa Holmes SPICER, III b. 3 Aug 1859, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan; d. 13 Feb 1902, Bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota; bur. Feb 1902, Bemidji, Beltrami County, Minnesota.
7. Jane M. SPICER b. 3 Jun 1861, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan.
8. John Henry SPICER b. 14 Feb 1862, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan; d. 26 Jan 1914, Mazeppa, Wabasha County, Minnesota; bur. 28 Jan 1914, Mazeppa, Wabasha County, Minnesota.
9. Nancy Elisabeth (Libby) SPICER b. 16 Jul 1864, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan; d. 25 Mar 1894, Minnesota; bur. Mar 1894, Minnesota.

James Anderson Davis was the first of his family to immigrate to America from Nova Scotia. Sometime after his arrival he met Arianna Wyman. They married in 1854 in Solon, Maine. It seems James wanted to stayed close to parent's & siblings as the migrated about America. Eventually the Davis clan joined a wagon train and landed in Bear Valley, Wabasha County, Minnesota where the family patriarch William Davis died in 1864.

According to family writings, "His brother Miner once said, 'I never knew my brother Jim until we came to the states. He was older, grew up first and was the first to come.' Also records show that he was married in Solon, Maine to Arina Wyman who was born on December 18, 1834 in Maine. He did it seems, migrate to Minnesota with the rest of the family, and made his home on a farm. They [then] came by covered wagon to the Atkinson, Nebraska area on November 12, 1878, homesteaded a farm and lived southwest of Atkinson until their retirement to a home in Atkinson. In] the same block were the homes of Robert Lumsden and Walter Armstrong. Here they lived the remainder of their lives with their daughter Jettie and their son Ira. They were known to all of their relatives as Uncle Jim and Aunt Riny."

I have seen copies of this excerpt written in so many places I cannot attribute the writing to it's author


*Note; According to the Wyman family records, the only available record of a Arina Wyman's birth on December 18, 1834 in Maine indicates her name was Arianna.

1. 5. Arina Phylinda DAVIS b. 11 Mar 1856, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa; d. 28 Dec 1928, Finlayson, Pine Lake Township, Pine County, Minnesota; bur. 31 Dec 1928, Finlayson, Pine County, Minnesota.
2. James W. DAVIS b. 19 Jan 1859, Chester, Wabasha County, Minnesota; d. 22 May 1904, Tolt Carnation, King County, Washington; bur. May 1904, Tolt Carnation, King County, Washington.
3. Ellen (Nellie) Amelia DAVIS b. Jul 1861, Chester, Wabasha County, Minnesota.
4. Lena Leota DAVIS b. 1863, Chester, Wabasha County, Minnesota; d. 1896; bur. 1896.
5. Evelena K. DAVIS b. 27 Dec 1864, Chester, Wabasha County, Minnesota; d. 3 Nov 1941; bur. Nov 1941.
6. Robert N. DAVIS b. 10 Jan 1867, Chester, Wabasha County, Minnesota; d. 23 Nov 1941, Tolt, Carnation, King County, Washington; bur. Nov 1941, Tolt, Carnation, King County, Washington.
7. Elizabeth Mae DAVIS b. Oct 1869, Chester, Wabasha County, Minnesota; d. 1954, Tolt, Carnation, King County, Washington; bur. 1954, Tolt, Carnation, King County, Washington.
8. Gilbert Rinaldo DAVIS b. 12 Nov 1871, Mazeppa, Wabasha County, Minnesota; d. 21 Nov 1947, Atkinson, Nebraska; bur. Nov 1947, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska.
9. Gilman Vivalde DAVIS b. 12 Nov 1871, Chester, Wabasha County, Minnesota; d. 9 Jul 1958, on his farm east of Stuart, Holt Coounty, Nebraska; bur. Jul 1958, Stuart, Holt County, Nebraska.
10. Julia Etta DAVIS b. 8 Jan 1874, Chester, Wabasha County, Minnesota; d. 1938, Atkinson, Holt County , Nebraska; bur. 1938, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska.
11. Amy Ann DAVIS b. 15 Jun 1876, Horton, Kings, County, Nova Scotia; d. 1958, Newport, Rock County, Nebraska; bur. Newport, Rock County, Nebraska.
12. Jettie Enid DAVIS b. 10 Apr 1878, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska; d. 1936, Tolt, Carnation, King County, Washington; bur. 1936, Tolt, Carnation, King County, Washington.
13. Ira Emery DAVIS b. 2 Apr 1881, Atkinson, Holt County, Nebraska; d. Tolt Carnation, Washington.