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Below is a family biography included in the History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania published in 1889 by A. Warner & Co.   These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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DAVID SPENCE, steel-roller, McKee’s Rocks, son of William and Ann Spence, was born in Manchester, England, in 1832; came to this country in 1865, and to this county in 1866. In 1868 he brought his parents to Pittsburgh, where they died, the father in 1870, at the age of seventy-five years, and the mother in 1871, at the age of seventy-eight. They left three children: Mary, (widow of William Blumley, of England), David and Ann (widow of Samuel Wilson, of Ireland). David Spence was first married in England, in 1853, to Emma Rowland, and by her had two children, Thomas R. and Henry R. Mrs. Spence died in England, in 1865, aged twenty-nine years. His second marriage occurred in 1867, with Ann J. Heslip, who bore him four children: William D., Charles W., George K. and Blanche (deceased). This wife died in 1875, at the age of twenty-six years. Mr. Spence’s third marriage occurred in 1879, with Prudence Heslip, sister of his second wife, and this union was blessed with four children: Annie B., Clarence G., Edgar T. and Olive P. Mr. Spence has followed steel-rolling for forty-four years, and has been in the employ of the Pittsburgh Steel-works twenty-two years. He rolled the wire for the cable for the New York and Brooklyn bridge, and is a master of his line of business. He is a member of the R. A.

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This family biography is one of 2,156 biographies included in the History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania published in 1889 by A. Warner & Co.

View additional Allegheny County, Pennsylvania family biographies here: Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Biographies

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