George Emmor Spear

Last updated 1 Mar 2024 in Spear–Johnson Family.

Individual

Born: 26 Sep 1898 in Linden, Dallas County, Iowa, United States

Died: 16 Feb 1991 in Custer, Custer County, South Dakota, United States

Father: David C. Spear (1862 – 1940)

Mother: Eva Penrose Maris (1868 – 1937)

Supporting evidence for: , , , ,

Family #1

Spouse/Partner: Winifred E. Wilson (1901 – 1934)

Married: 15 Jun 1924 in Murdo, Jones County, South Dakota, United States

Supporting evidence for:

Child: {private}

Family #2

Spouse/Partner: Veronica "Phronie" Josephine Breck (1915 – 2005)

Married: 4 May 1935 in Quinn, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States

Supporting evidence for:

Child: Georgia Sue Spear (1943 – 2001)

Child: {private}

Miscellaneous Facts

Events

Burial: 19 Feb 1991 at Hill City, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States

Education Level: 8

Employer: Northwest Engineering, Aft Mar 1934

Employer: Genevea Steel, Aug 1942 at Orem, Utah County, Utah, United States

Employer: Menlove Construction, Abt Sep 1942 at Provo, Utah County, Utah, United States

Cemetery: Hill City Cemetery at Hill City, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States

Supporting evidence for:

Attributes

Residence: at Linden, Dallas County, Iowa, United States

Residence: at , Lyman County, South Dakota, United States

Residence: at Lincoln Township, Lyman County, South Dakota, United States

Residence: at Murdo, Jones County, South Dakota, United States

Occupation: logger

Residence: at , , South Dakota, United States

Occupation: machinist in a lumber mill

Residence: at Township 1 South Range 5 East, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States

Occupation: road construction laborer at Interior, Jackson County, South Dakota, United States

Residence: at Township 2 South Range 5 East, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States

Residence: at Hill City, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States

Occupation: hauling gravel

Residence: at Green River, Emery County, Utah, United States

Occupation: feldspar miner

Residence: at Township 2 South Range 5 East, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States

Residence: at Hill City, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States

Residence: at Provo, Utah County, Utah, United States

Residence: at Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, United States

Residence: at Granger, Salt Lake County, Utah, United States

Residence: at Keystone, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States

Residence: at Hill City, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States

Supporting evidence for:

Stories

Homesteading in South Dakota

[These two stories were told by George to Veronica, his wife.]

Story 1

We left Wessington Springs around the middle of April 1906 with two or three teams and wagons. My father and mother (Mr. and Mrs. D. C. Spear), my brother Kenneth and sister Mary.

We got to Chamberlain and ferried across the Missouri River, then camped about two miles west of the river on Medicine Creek.

It rained real hard that night and the next morning we had our first experience with gumbo. Everything was wet so Dad said we better drive up to the top of a little hill in the sunshine and dry everything out and eat breakfast.

So we hitched up and started out and the gumbo began to roll up on the wagon wheels; so Dad drove out in the grass and it started to roll up the grass. By the time we got to the top of the hill the wheels would hardly turn. But by after breakfast the mud had settled so it would not pick up anymore.

We got into Presho that night and set up camp as that was the end of the railroad at the time. Our emigrant car got in that night. We had all our household goods, an old sow, and a cow in it.

Milton Cook traveled with the livestock. We had brought his horses and wagon over land as he was homesteading about nine miles north of Dad's place.

It was raining when we left Presho with our first loads so we only got about twelve miles and stayed at Mr. England's place. The next morning there was a cold northeast drizzly rain falling so Mr. England suggested we leave wagons at his place and double the teams on the other two wagons as the ground was awfully soft.

We had to cross a creek just west of the buildings so Mr. England came and showed us where to cross and told us if we got too far upstream there was a hole that we could get stuck in. Dad and I had a load of lumber so we crossed first and made it ok, then pulled up on higher ground to see if Mr. Cook and Kenneth made it.

Well, they got a little too far upstream and got stuck in the hole Mr. England told us about. So Mr. England brought a wagon down and we unloaded everything off the hay rack that was stuck except for the old sow that was in a crate.

We still could not get the wagon out. So we got a block and tackle from Mr. England and tied onto the end of the wagon tongue and pulled the tongue out of the wagon. Dad finally had to get down under the rack and got a big rope around the front bolster and axle then with the block and tackle we got it out.

Meanwhile, our load of lumber had sunk in the mud and it was stuck. So after fixing the tongue on the hay rack, we unloaded some of the lumber and got the wagon out.

We stayed another night at the England's and started out the next morning in nice bright sunshine. We go to the homestead that night and dad and Kenneth built a three-cornered pen for the hog, then another one onto it and put some boards across the top in which we spent our first night on Wild Rose Valley, which was the last day of April 1906.

Mr. Cook went on to his place the next day, then came back and went back to Presho and brought the other two wagons from the England ranch. After we got back from Presho again, Dad built our claim shanty so we could bring mother and Mary and the rest of our stuff from Presho.

There were lots of chokecherries and plum bushes along White Clay Creek and we had a lot of wild fruit that year so we had a lot of wild fruit those first years on the claim.

There were also lots of prairie dogs and rattlesnakes. There were so many wild roses along the creek that folks called it Wild Rose Valley.

Story 2

I was working in the timber in the Black Hills in 1926 and Dad and Mom came out and spent the winter with us, and got out the lumber to build the present house in Wild Rose Valley. He shipped the lumber back in the spring of 1927 and he and Kenneth built the house in 1929 and 1930.

Dad was pretty fussy about his work so he used a knife to mark his boards with instead of pencil.

They finished the house in the spring of 1930 and Mom and Dad move to the Black Hills that summer to a little place they had bought in 1926.

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General Notes and Anecdotes

As a young man, George had a Fordson tractor and helped farmers around Draper to break the prairie sod. [interview-private-2006-b]

The Fordson Model F (almost certainly the model he owned) had a reputation not only for being difficult to start and run, but also for having a tendency to tip over backwards when moving up even a shallow incline. According to Wikipedia, "One farm magazine recommended that Ford paint a message on each Fordson: 'Prepare to Meet Thy God.'"

After his marriage to Winnifred in 1924, the couple moved to the Black Hills in South Dakota in 1925 or 1926. In the hills they worked and lived in various logging camps just west Keystone (Pennington County) and northwest of Custer (Custer County). [interview-private-2006-b]

While George and Winnifred were in Pennington County in the middle of 1930, their household also included Winnifred's mother Marianna, and a boarder named Albert Fish. [This was not the infamous Albert Fish, who was almost 30 years older, and committing his crimes in New York and along the east coast.] [census-us-1930-ps-sd-pennington-66-7b]

After Winifred died in 1934, George's new son was given to the care of his Aunt Mary while George rebuilt his life, working for much of that time in road construction for Northwest Engineering near Interior (Jackson County, South Dakota). There he met Veronica, who worked as a nanny for the cafe owners and occasionally waited on tables. It was while working in the capacity as a waitress that she met George, and they were married in 1935. [interview-private-2006-b]

When they returned to the Hills that fall, they retrieved George's son from Mary and went to live with D.C. and Eva Spear in their cabin. The cabin had been purchased in 1926 or 1927 from Charlie and Grace Snyder. [interview-private-2006-b]

Although he did not build the cabin, D.C. did build the stone retaining wall in front. This took two years, using two horses and some basic tools: a stone boat (a sledge), chains, bars, hammers, and chisels. This wall has since become something of a local landmark. [interview-private-2006-b]

George worked in road construction for the next couple of years, heading to Wyoming about 1939, later returning to the Hills where he worked cutting pitch posts, trying his hand at prospecting, and gathering scrap metal. [interview-private-2006-b]

George ventured west to Nevada in 1940, to try his hand at prospecting for gold. This venture didn't pan out, and he returned after a few months. [interview-private-c1980s]

In 1942, the family moved to Provo (Utah County, Utah). George worked for about 3 weeks at Geneva Steel in Orem, then went to work for Menlove Construction and stayed with the company for the next 18 years. While in Provo, his daughter Georgia was born. [interview-private-2006-b]

The family moved to Salt Lake City in the summer of 1944, where sons private, private, and private were born. In 1949 they moved to Granger, Utah, where daughter private was born (in Murray, where the closest hospital was located). [interview-private-2006-b]

During their stay in Salt Lake City, George and Veronica provided a temporary home for her brother Albert and his wife and children, while Albert looked for construction work in Utah. [interview-private-kelly-2009]

The family moved back to Keystone in 1960, living in the cabin they had left in 1942. George tried his hand at mining but was unable to earn a living from it, so he worked in maintenance for an ore processing plant in Keystone, and did some carpentry for individuals. He finally retired in the early 1960's, and soon started building a new house behind the cabin. [interview-private-2006-b]

Supporting evidence for:

Research Notes (Conflicts/Spelling/Followup)

SPELLING

Surname: This database uses Spear. The 1930 U.S. Census uses Speer. [census-us-1930-ps-sd-pennington-66-7b]

Surname: This database uses Spear. The obituary for Louisa Brech uses Spears. [obituary-louisa-brech-1960]

FOLLOWUP

The D. C. Spear family may have been living in Wessington Springs, South Dakota from about 1903 to 1906, moving from there to Lyman County, South Dakota in April/May 1906. However, there is no direct reference to George in those parts. While he was almost certainly included in "family" the source does not report that, so his presence at that time isn't being recorded as a fact in this database. [book-proving-up-jones-county-history-1969]

While logging, he worked in various locations in the Black Hills. May have been working for a man named Overgard. [interview-private-2006-b]

Although the obituary of David C. Spear indicates he lived in Hill City, this was likely only his postal address, and he still lived outside of town. [obituary-david-spear-1940]

Although the compiler knows that George worked as a carpenter while employed by Menlove Construction from 1942, there is no direct source evidence for that beyond what is implied by working for Menlove.

Supporting evidence for:

Sources

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