My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE H. D. SPECKER is one of the worthy German-American citizens of Johnson County, and has been a factor in its development and prosperity. For the past four years he has been engaged in the cultivation of his farm on section 3, township 47, range 27. Frederick Specker, the father of our subject, was born in Germany about 1796, and succeeded to the old homestead, where he lived during his entire career, his death taking place about 1880. To himself and wife, whose maiden name was Mary Pachman, were born seven children, of whom George was the fourth.

The birth of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch occurred March 14, 1854, in Hanover, Germany. He received a good education in the excellent schools of the Fatherland, and was employed at farming until he was about eighteen years of age. Desiring to see something of the world, he secured a position on the “Uncle,” a sailing-vessel, but did not like the life, and at the end of eleven months, on the vessel’s arriving at Philadelphia, he obtained permission to go into the city for the purpose of purchasing a suit of oil clothing, and did not return. The ship was commanded by Captain Heitmeier, and had gone from Bremen to the West Indies, where they took a cargo of sugar, returned to Queenstown, then shipped to Liverpool, where the boat was unloaded, and after laying in a supply of salt started for the Quaker City.

Young Specker entered the employ of a confectioner with the determination of learning the trade. Being ambitious and an apt pupil, he was soon qualified to fill an important position, and for several years commanded excellent wages. In 1881 he set his face westward and stopped in Louisville, Ky., for a few months. Then, proceeding to Lexington, Mo., he continued to work at his trade until 1883, when he opened a shop of his own in Odessa. For nearly four years he enjoyed a good trade and was fast acquiring a fortune, but his fancy led him back to the pursuits of his boyhood and he became desirous of leading the independent life of a farmer. Purchasing eighty acres of his present homestead, he soon succeeded in obtaining a foothold, and his farm to-day shows that its management is in master hands.

March 27, 1883, Mr. Specker married Dora Schuessler, of Lexington, Mo., and they have become the parents of seven children. The family circle is yet unbroken by death and the household is a very happy one. The children are named as follows: Anna, Fred, George H., John E., Willie A., Otto F. and Almer C. Mr. Specker is a member of the Reformed Church. Politically he uses his ballot in favor of the Republican party. By all who know him he is held in the highest respect, and he well deserves the confidence of his fellows.