James Nelson Spickerman was born 3 April 1834 in Albany, New York to Andrew Spickerman and Catherine Budd.¹ As a boy, he resided with his family in Hillsdale, Columbia County, New York, where his father was town supervisor in 1844-45.² When his family moved to Nassau, Rensselaer County, New York, he went to live with his uncle John G. Budd, who also resided in Nassau. Sometime between the years 1850-1855, he married Jane (surname unknown). It was a very brief marriage, for she apparently died, and James packed up and left for Illinois with his two brothers George and John.³

A deed dated 3 March 1859 shows that James’ brother John and his father-in-law William H. Gallup had a business arrangement with Reuben Whaples, a well-known land speculator. Reuben Whaples was a native of Connecticut, who had moved to Illinois and became the second settler of Oak Ridge, now known as Oak Park. It is assumed that James then became acquainted with Reuben’s eldest daughter Julia Ann.⁴ The two of them were married 11 February 1860 at the 1^st Methodist Episcopalian Church in Chicago. Julia, the first of nine children, was born 13 October 1839 to Reuben Whaples (1800-20 October 1865) and his wife Margaret Jane Spitzer (18 February 1822-1900) in Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois.⁵

Shortly following their marriage, the young couple moved to Malta, DeKalb County, Illinois, where they shared a house with James’ brother George and a laborer named John O’Dell from New York (who later left).⁶ While James farmed, Julia took care of the household and their four little children. Between the years 1870-73, James and his family decided to leave Malta and move to Kansas. They settled in Howard Township in Labette County, near the border of Cherokee Territory (now known as Oklahoma). Shortly after that, their fifth child, John, was born in 1873.⁷

Unfortunately, tragedy struck the family 5 May 1876 when James and Julia’s eldest child, Charles, died. By 1880, James and Julia had in their employ a nineteen-year-old servant named Amanda Wear. It is possible that Amanda was hired to help around the household following the death of Charles, but she was no longer working for them by 1885.⁸

On 19 July 1887, there was an addition to the Spickerman household when Julia, at the age 41, gave birth to her last child Katherine.⁹ During that period, they were residing near Talala, Rogers County, Indian Territory (Oklahoma).¹⁰ By 1800, James and Julia with their youngest, Katherine, were renting a house in Independence, Montgomery County, Kansas. The older children had already married and moved away.¹¹

James’ health was beginning to fail and the family returned to Oak Park about 1907 to be near Estella and William, who both were childless and did not have the responsibility of rearing a family. William then became the sole caregiver for his parents and provided them with a place to stay at his home. Shortly James passed away 28 July 1908 at the age of 74. The funeral was held two days later at two o’clock in the afternoon at William’s house on 201 S. Maple Avenue, and James was buried in Forest Home Cemetery in the nearby town of River Forest.¹² Julia lived with William until her death 28 January 1926. The funeral services were held two days later on the 30^th, on a Saturday afternoon at 2:30.¹³ She was buried next to James in Forest Home Cemetery. At their graves stands the family gravestone that says "Spickerman". There are four empty plots next to them, but none of their children are buried with them.¹⁴

They had five children:

Charles "Charlie" W. Spickerman was born 3 April 1862 or 1863 in Malta. On 5 May 1876, Charlie died at the age of 13 in Kansas.¹⁵ His burial place is unknown.

Estella "Stella" Budd Spickerman was born 13 October 1864 in Malta. She was no longer living with her parents around 1885. She married George W. Columbia 7 July 1887 in Cherokee, Cherokee County, Kansas.¹⁶ It is assumed she became widowed because she later married Clifford Butterfield before 1902. She and Cliff resided in Chicago and had no children.¹⁷ Later, she probably moved to California to be close to her baby sister Katherine because she passed away 11 April 1942 in San Bernardino County, California.¹⁸ Her burial place is unknown.

Reuben Andrew Spickerman was born 13 June 1869 in Malta.¹⁹ He married Ina Lillian Mason 31 December 1891 in Edna, Labette County, Kansas.²⁰ More about Reuben Andrew Spickerman will be discussed in the Reuben Andrew Spickerman family branch.

William "Willie" Arthur Spickerman was born 21 or 31 July 1871 in Malta.²¹ At the age of 19, William moved to Oak Park in 1890 to live among his Whaples relatives. His uncle, Delos Hull, was the current postmaster of the Oak Park post office and probably gave William a job in the post office. William worked every postal office job possible—substitute carrier, clerk, superintendent of mails, acting postmaster and assistant postmaster in Forest Park. The only job he never had was janitor! He finally became postmaster of the Oak Park branch 3 March 1925 until 13 February 1931.²² William married Dove (surname unknown) and had no children.²³ It is unknown when he died, but according to Reuben’s obituary, William was already dead before 6 December 1952. Even though he paid for the Spickerman family plot in Forest Home Cemetery, he is not buried there.²⁴

John George Budd Spickerman was born 17 September 1873 in Howard Township, Labette County, Kansas.²⁵ He married Ella L. Dawson 7 September 1896. Ella’s brother Richard married Louella Mason, sister to Reuben’s wife Ina.²⁶ Ella was one-eighth Cherokee.²⁷ They resided in Talala, Rogers County, Oklahoma, and then moved to Rexford, Thomas County, Kansas. He and Ella’s burial places are unknown, but they may be buried in Rexford.

They had eight children but only two survived childhood:²⁸

1. Helen J. Spickerman was born 25 June 1899 in Oklahoma. She married Glen Dible and resided in Rexford, Thomas County, Kansas. Helen died 2 January 1978 and is buried in Rexford Cemetery in Rexford. She and Glen had a son named Kenneth Dible.²⁹
2. William Glenn Spickerman was born 10 September 1901 in Talala, Oklahoma. At the age of 35, he filled out his social security card and stated that he worked for the Pacific Greyhound Lines, Inc., which was based in San Francisco, California. But he gave his permanent home address as 604 Iron St. in Albuquerque, New Mexico. What is really strange is that he filled out the card as George Spickerman but signed it Glen Spickerman. It is unknown if George was his real name or a nickname he went by. He died in August 1970. It is unknown if he ever married or where he is buried.³⁰

Katharine Jane Spickerman was born 19 July 1887 in Cherokee Territory, now known as Oklahoma.³¹ She married Mel L. Brown 12 March 1909 in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri.³² She and Mel then moved to California where all their children were born. Based on their children’s birth records, they lived in Humboldt County and then Los Angeles County. Around 1926, they settled in Pomona, San Bernadino County. Later, they moved to the nearby town of Upland. On Valentine’s Day in 1962, Katherine died at the age of 74 in Willows, Glenn County, California.³³ Her burial place is unknown, but she is probably buried in California.

They had six children:

1. Donald N. Brown was born 2 February 1910 in Humboldt County, California. He died 3 July 1990 at the age of 80 in Glenn County.
2. James Stanley Brown was born 6 September 1912 in Los Angeles County, California. He died 18 April 1962 at the age of 49 in San Bernadino County.
3. George Lyle Brown was born 15 August 1914 in Los Angeles County. He died 28 June 1978 at the age of 63 in San Bernadino County.
4. William Dale Brown was born 15 January 1917 in Los Angeles County. He died 25 June 1974 at the age of 57 in Orange County, California.
5. Dollie Ann Brown was born 7 May 1924 in Los Angeles County.³⁴ It is unknown if she died or is still living.
6. Stella Mae Brown was born 17 August 1926 in Pomona, San Bernadino County.³⁵ It is unknown if she died or is still living.