BIOGRAPHY - JOHN SPINDLER
John
Spindler, a retired farmer living in Paxton, was born in Knox county, Ohio,
April 16, 1832, his parents being John and Jane (Yurek) Spindler, the former
a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ireland. The father was a farmer
by occupation. The family numbered four children: David, deceased; John, of
this review; Malinda, the deceased wife of William Potts, of Ohio; and
Samuel P., who has also passed away.
John Spindler, whose name introduces this record, was educated in the district schools and in early life engaged in farming with his father, whom he assisted until he attained his majority. In 1858 he came to Illinois, settling in Logan county, where he worked as a farm hand until 1862. In that year, his spirit of patriotism being aroused by the continued attempt of the south to overthrow the Union, he joined Company F of the Seventy-third Illinois Infantry under Captain Montgomery and after the resignation of Captain Bennett, he became the commander of the company. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Jacquies, who was a professor in the Female College at Jacksonville, Illinois. Mr. Spindler participated in the battle of Perryville, March 18, 1862, and was also at Stone River and Chickamauga. At the latter place he was wounded and taken prisoner. His left arm was shattered, the ball passing from his left side through the lower portion of his chest and coming out in the central part of his stomach. After being wounded he lay on the ground for several days at Chickamauga creek in the care of Confederate surgeons. From there he was taken to Richmond and placed in Libby prison, where he remained for six or seven months, after which he was transferred to Macon, Georgia, where he continued for some time. He was afterward sent to Augusta, Georgia, and thence to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was paroled and returned to Logan county, Illinois, being exchanged. After this he was sent to St. Louis, Missouri, to take charge of a company of paroled prisoners, and there remained from March until May, 1865, when he was transferred again to his regiment, which at that time was in the state of Tennessee and which from the time of its enlistment had been connected with the Army of the Tennessee. On the formation of his company in 1862 Mr. Spindler had been elected sergeant and after the battle of Stone River was made second lieutenant, which rank he held until mustered out of service at Springfield in 1865. He had a creditable military record, for on the field of battle he had always been faithful, and he also experienced the hardships of the southern prisons.
Soon after the war Mr. Spindler returned to Logan county, where he engaged in farming on rented land. There he remained until 1868, when he removed to Ford county and purchased land four miles east of the place, securing three hundred and twenty acres, for which he paid twenty dollars per acre. He has since increased his holdings to four hundred and forty acres and as the years passed he brought his land under cultivation, transforming it into productive fields, from which he annually gathered rich harvests that found a ready sale on the market. Year by year he was thus enabled to add to his capital and he is now living retired, his income being sufficient to supply him with the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.
Mr. Spindler was married first in Logan county, Illinois, in 1865, to Miss Mary E. Evans, who lived for only a short time thereafter, and on the 6th of August, 1868, he wedded Miss Sarah F. Smead, a daughter of Ranaldo and Elizabeth (Crow) Smead. The mother died during the early girlhood of her daughter. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Spindler have been born three children: Jennie, the wife of Nicholas Berdine, of Hebron, Indiana; Anna, the wife of Oscar P. Wright, of Paxton and Mary, the wife of John Frederick, also of Paxton. Both Mr. and Mrs. Spindler are active workers in the Methodist Episcopal church and are numbered among its most faithful and helpful members. Mr. Spindler belongs to Paxton Post, G. A. R., and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades, with whom he went on long, hard marches, or stood in the ranks of battle, facing the enemy's bullets. The family is one of prominence in the community and no history of this part of the state would be complete without mention of Mr. and Mrs. Spindler, who are justly termed representative citizens of Ford county. In his business career Mr. Spindler made a most excellent record, his success being attributable to his judicious investments, his careful utilization of opportunity and the alert and enterprising spirit which has in its vocabulary no such word as fail.
Extracted 17 Oct 2016 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, author E. A. Gardner, Volume 2, pages 784-788.
