Allen Lorenzo Spooner and Family

Biography

From Whence I Came:

Allen Lorenzo Spooner was the eldest of two sons. He was born 10 DEC 1881 in Hillsborough, Florida. He was the son of Charles W. Spooner who was born 26 AUG 1850 in Farmington, Oakland, Michigan, and died Circa 1886 in Brandon, Hillsborough, Florida in what family lore states as the result of a farming accident. Charles was the son of Lorenzo D. Spooner and Emily S. Chapman. He married Rebecca E. Allen 13 JUL 1879 in Hillsborough County, Florida. Rebecca was born 17 FEB 1854 in Wayne Twp, Cass Co., Michigan, and died 30 NOV 1929 in Benton Harbor, Berrien Co., MI. She was the daughter of Elihu ALLEN and Matilda MUNCY.

After Charles untimely death, Rebecca returned home with her two sons, Allen and Jessie, to her roots (Cass County, Michigan). Later Rebecca married Seneca Ebenezer Gage 3 AUG 1898 in Dowagiac, Cass Co., Michigan, son of Ebenezer GAGE and Minerva ALLEN. He was born 20 SEP 1848 in Wayne Twp, Cass Co., MI, and died 20 FEB 1914 in Cass County, Michigan.

Allen Lorenzo Spooner's grandfather Lorenzo D. Spooner was born MAR 1822 in Conneaut, Ashtabula, Ohio, and died 30 OCT 1854 in Farmington, Oakland, Michigan. Lorenzo was the son of Pardon Spooner and Mary Chapman. He married Emily S. Chapman 8 JUN 1843 in Munson, Geauga, Ohio. She was born 8 JAN 1824 in Ohio, and died after 1880 in Michigan.

Before continuing here. I have noted another large Spooner family in Berrien County in some of the earlier census for the same county. As far as trying to connect this family to "our" Spooner group, I do not think there is a direct lineage there.

Story of Allen -

Allen had a happy life but also experienced quite a bit of sorrow as four out of five wives, died prematurely.

His first marriage was to Catherine Ludlow, nicknamed Kate. Marriage in Benton Harbor Michigan took place on 5 Oct 1901. She would present 3 beautiful children to Allen. They were: Gladys Spooner, b. abt 1902, Talma Glenn Spooner b. 18 Jul 1904 and Irene Nellie Spooner b. 1 Sep 1915. Kate met an untimely death on 22 October 1918 and was laid to rest next to her father and mother in Crystal Springs Cemetery, Benton Harbor, MI. (See biography for Talma Ludlow on this site.)

Seven year later, Allen married Maude Vaughan 26 AUG 1920 in St. Joseph, MI. Maude was born abt 1878. This too would end sadly, for she died 24 Dec 1925 of Cancer. She was buried near some of her family members 27 DEC 1925 Crystal Springs Cemetery, Benton Harbor, MI. There were no children born to this union.

Then Allen married Anna, whom he later divorced and then remarried. We know very little about this lady other than the marriage seemed tumultuous.

Adeline Vaughn then entered the picture. A lovely and very attractive woman hailing from the great state of Texas. Married for a very short time, Adeline died of a heart attack 8 October, 1951 and was laid to rest in 11 Oct 1951, Riverview Cemetery, St. Joseph, Michigan.

Then grand-dad would marry one more time to a Louise May Prather. She would be the only wife to out live him.

But knowing who Allen Spooner was is more than just dates. I remember him always wearing a suit. Although he tried car sales, the career he was most noted for was that of a line-o-type operator for the Herald Press in St. Joseph/Benton Harbor area. In fact that is how he met his last wife Louise May Prather, who we just called May. May worked as a proof reader there. He said, upon retiring and the two of them heading to Florida, that he had never been happier.

Grand-dads children:

Gladys, the eldest daughter went on a ship cruise to England where she fell in love. She was married aboard ship to William Reginald Cryer in about 1931. They in turn had two children and lived out there years in Victoria Island, BC, Canada.

Talma Glenn Spooner, second oldest,born 18 July 1904, remained in the St. Joseph and Benton Harbor area. He and is wife Bernice (Bee) Chesher adopted two sons. Talma and Bee are both buried at North Shore Memorial Gardens in Berrien County, MI.

Irene Nellie Spooner, the last child was born 1 September 1915. She also remained in Berrien County and married James Lemuel Branson on the 21 of July, 1934. They had 5 children which as of August 2006 were still all living.

For more facts and figures on the above family, they may be viewed at rootsweb by doing a simple search.