My Genealogy Hound

Alfred A. Speer, mayor of Chamois, Osage County, and a member of the firm of Speer & Steinman, dealers in general merchandise, was born in Carroll County, Ind., in 1858, and is a son of William W. and Nancy (Douglas) Speer, natives respectively of Butler County, Ohio, and Kentucky. The parents were married in Carroll County, Ind., and in 1866 removed to Kansas, afterward locating in Jackson County, Mo., where the father died about 1877, and the mother in November, 1886; both were members of the Presbyterian Church. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Tunis Speer, who was of Scotch descent, and died in Indiana. Mrs. Nancy Speer was a daughter of Thomas Douglas, a farmer, of Scotch-Irish descent, who died in Switzerland County, Ind. Alfred A. Speer was the eldest of a large family of children, and received his education at the common schools and at the United Presbyterian School in Jackson County, Mo. He went to Kansas with his parents, and when fifteen years of age returned to Indiana, where he worked on a farm two years, and then went to Jackson County, Mo., and the following two years worked at such work as he could find. He then accepted the position of contractor of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, in which capacity he was employed until 1884, when he removed to Chamois, Osage County, and was there employed by the same company until the strike in 1886. In the latter year he engaged in his present business of general merchandising in partnership with Mr. Steinman, and the firm have been reasonably successful. They carry a complete stock of goods and their annual sales are large. In March, 1886, Mr. Speer married Narcie, daughter of Dr. Thomas J. and Rebecca Mahon. Mrs. Speer is a native of Osage County. They have one son. Mr. Speer was elected mayor of Chamois in 1888, and is one of the rising young men of the county. He is a Republican politically and is a member of the K. of P.