Spawn, Henry

Birth

Henry was born in Knox on October 12, 1834, a son of William Spawn Sr. (B. abt 1814, D. unk) and his wife Temperance Benjamin (B. abt 1814, D.unk). William was one of eight children.. His siblings were:

• William Spawn (1844 - 1929)
• Isaac Spawn (1837 – )
• Zina Spawn (1839 – )
• Lewis Spawn (1842 – )
• Mary Spawn (1845 – )
• Franklin B Spawn (1852 – 1909)
• Elida Spawn(1854 – )

Ancestry.com - Hedman Family Tree

Marriage & Children

Henry was married before he left New York. He reportedly had 3 daughters, Esther Spawn, Julia Spawn, and Mary Spawn from that marriage

He married secondly on June 30, 1861, in Washara County, Wisconsin, Mary Young a daughter of Aaron and Abbie Young, who was born on March 28, 1846 in Illinois. They had the following known children:

• George Spawn born in Illinois
• Alice Spawn born in Iowa
• Charles Spawn born in Iowa
• Arthur Spawn born in Iowa

Military Service

Residence:	Roscoe, Illinois
Enlistment Date:	22 Dec 1863
Enlistment Place:	Roscoe, Illinois
Enlistment Rank:	Private
State Served:	Illinois
Regiment:	12th Cavalry
Company:	Company M
Promotion Date:	13 July 1865
Promotion Rank:	Full Commissary Sergeant
Muster Out Date:	13 July 1865
Muster Out Place:	Not stated

Additional Remarks:

Sources Used: Ancestry.com military databases

Death

Henry Spawn - Pomeroy, Calhoun County, Iowa, USA

Mary died on May 14, 1883. Henry died on August 1, 1912. Both were buried at Union Cemetery at Pomeroy, Calhoun County, Iowa.

Web: Iowa, Find A Grave Index, 1800-2012 about Henry Spawn
Name: Henry Spawn
Birth Date: 12 Oct 1833
Age at Death: 78
Death Date: 1 Aug 1912
Burial Place: Pomeroy, Calhoun County, Iowa, USA

Additional Research Notes

U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 about Henry Spawn
Name: Henry Spawn
Residence: Roscoe, Winnebago, Illinois
Class: 1
Congressional District: 2nd
Age on 1 July 1863: 28
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1835
Race: White
Marital Status: Married
Place of Birth: New York

Henry Spawn
Birth: Oct. 12, 1833
New York, USA
Death: Aug. 1, 1912
Iowa, USA

It is alleged Henry married 1) Charity Gaige, however her memorial is linked to Lewis Spawn and they are buried in NY. It seems there is confusion as to identity, since Henry's brother Lewis lived in SD. The 1870 census lists children Esther, Julia and George; no mention of Libbie or Bertha, although there is nearly a 12 year span between Julia and George.

He married Mary E. from Illinois, and was the father of 8: Julia, Libbie J., Bertha, George Henry, Alice, Charles, Clarence, and Arthur.

Henry and brothers Lewis and William served in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war ended, Congress passed a special Veteran's Act which allowed Veterans to claim a quarter section of land in the mid-west without "proving up" on their claim for a year as was required by the other pioneers. So, with 3 veterans in the family, some of the William & Temperance Spawn family packed their covered wagons and moved west to Pomeroy, Iowa, when the youngest child Elida was about 11 years old. She was the only girl in the family since Mary had died in infancy (sic). These pioneers put up with great hardships on their new land claims, one of the worst being great clouds of grasshoppers which destroyed their crops in 5 different years, the last two grasshopper plagues being in 1874 and 1876. Esther says she remembers Lewis telling of putting a cloth in the hay rake to form a sack then driving through the fields and dumping the hoppers into a pit they had dug so they could burn them. The snow blizzards were also a great hazard, the worst being in 1880 when it snowed for 3 days early in October. There was so much snow that year that the train of Illinois Central to Sioux Falls could not run for 5 months and many families were without food. Some homes ground their roasted wheat and barley for cereal and coffee substitute in their coffee grinders. Fuel consisted of their corn and twisted hay. In April the floods came and the high water mark of 1880 in Sioux Falls stands as the worst flood they ever had.

When William Spawn died in 1888 at the age of 74 in Pomeroy, Iowa, his wife Temperance went to live in the home of her 4th son, Lewis, at Brant Lake, SD. She stayed there until her death in 1896 at the age of 81." (reference Sherry Spawn Taylor, Wyoming 1999)

"Henry was a Civil War vet and had married in Schenectady, NY, and had three daughters. Apparently his wife had died or decided to stay in N. Y., because when the family went west he took Esther and Julia with him, but left Mary with a family in Schenectady (earlier comment was that Mary died in infancy!). Henry took a claim in Winnabego Co., IL and lived there 5 years. Then they moved to Calhoun Co., IA. Henry later moved to Del Rapids, SD where he owned 4 houses and some of his children lived in them."

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23785343

Additional Media

1850 United States Federal Census about Henry Spawn
Name: Henry Spawn
Age: 16
Birth Year: abt 1834
Birthplace: New York
Home in 1850: Berne, Albany, New York
Gender: Male
Family Number: 505
Household Members:
Name Age
Wiliam Spawn 36
Temperence Spawn 36
Henry Spawn 16
Isaac Spawn 12
Lina Spawn 10
Lewis Spawn 8
William Spawn 5

Sources