James H. Spencer was born on March 27, 1840 in Gratiot, Lafayette, Wisconsin to Hiram Spencer and Henrietta (Horton) Spencer. His father died when he was a baby, and he was raised by his mother and stepfather (George Renwick). He grew up in Milville, Jo Daviess, Illinois (George and his mother moved the family to Jo Daviess in 1842). On March 8, 1866, he married Abigail Hatton in Winnebago, Illinois.
They had seven children: Nettie May (b. June 14, 1867), Georgia Belle (b. April 24, 1871), Ernest, Harry J. (b. December 1878), Alta Irene (b. February 1881), James Frederick (b. January 15, 1883), and Sarah Frances (b. January 1885). The family resided in Rush, Jo Daviess, Illinois. James was a farmer who owned 40 acres of land in Jo Daviess. He farmed his land until his death on February 21, 1909. He was buried at the Townsend Cemetery in Rush Township, Illinois.
The full story of James’s brother Amza Spencer, edited by Grace Greenwood & Jeff Gurvine:
