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Alternate Spellings - Spolander, Spolater, Spoleder, Spoledder, Spoleather, Sporlader, Sporleder, Sporlarder, Spalader, Sparleder, Sportletter, Spelander
Links - German Families, Muhlenburg, Beard, Jackson, Drury; Thirtyacre, Tieman
Contacts - Sarah Cady is descended from Augustus James Sporleder, Jr. We thank Jan Dunlap for information on Charlotte Dreiszigacker Spolader Gordon and Amelia Spolader Shafer Dreiszigacker Drury.
Photos - Augustus James Spolader Family courtesy of Sarah Cady; and Cyrus and Caroline Spolader Beard Family courtesy of Barbara Frisby - see links under individual families
Thomas Spolander has signed our old Guest Book and indicates that the Spolander family originally derives from the village of Spöland in North Eastern Sweden near the city of Umea.
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Augustus and Amelia Spolader of Hanover, Germany, are the progenitors of the Mercer County Spolader families.
Germans to America lists the following family on the ship Rebecca, Bremen to New Orleans, 8 May 1853, Aug. Spoleder, 41, tailor, Prussia; Aug., 21, shoemaker, Saxony; Caroline, 41, Prussia; Amalie, 15, Brunswick Hesse; Mina, 9, Brunswege Hesse; Lina, 7, Brunswege Hesse; Juste, 4, Brunswege Hesse; Elise, 9, Brunswege Hesse. Curiously different destinations are given: Augustus, Sr., to St. Louis, Augustus, Jr., and Caroline, Cincinnati, Amalie, Mina & Lina, New Orleans, and Juste and Elise, Texas. It appears this was not too unusual as various family members were "farmed out" to work to pay their passage over. Though indentured servants were common in the 1700's the similar practice of arranging work exchange for fare payment was also prevalent in the 1800's. There are some similarities between the family who came on the Rebecca and the Augustus Spolader family of Mercer County. Unfortunately, there are also a number of differences, making it difficult to say for certain it is the same family. Carrie (Caroline) in the 1900 census does give 1853 as the date of immigration. At the bottom of the page we have attempted an analysis of the ship records and the Mercer County family records.
The 1860 census in Mercer County lists the Augustus Spolader family in New Boston Township: Augustus Spolader, 52, farmer, born Hanover; Amelia, 51, born Hanover; Caroline, 15, Hanover; Jane, 12, born Hanover; and James 3, born Illinois. The family is living very near Muhlenbergs and Hildebrands, showing that these German families did group together, probably because of language difficulties when they first arrived. There is also the possibility that some of the families came together to America.
The 1870 census lists Augustus Spolater, age 57, farmer, born Hanover, in Eliza Township. Amelia is given as Mene (note similarity to ship list names), age 57, born Hanover. Son James Albert Spolater is now 13. We do not find a marriage record for James Albert in Iowa or Illinois. When time permits we will try to locate him in the 1880 census.
Amelia and Augustus Spolader are buried in Shields Cemetery, Eliza Township. (Shields Cemetery photo.) Amelia's dates are 6/19/1812 to 3/15/1904. Augustus's dates are 6/4/1812 to 10/25/1878. There are also children's burials in Eliza Creek Cemetery: Rebecca, daughter of A. & A. Spolader, died September 1854; Elizabeth, daughter of A. & A. Spolader, aged 2 months (no readable date on stone); (damaged stone) September 1854; (damaged stone), 5 yrs. The stones are all together so they may represent four children of Augustus and Amelia. In the Shields cemetery the Spoladers are buried with Schraders and Muhlenbergs, continuing the German connection.
Mary Spolader Tieman Family
Living near the Augustus Spolader family in 1860 is Augustus Tieman, age 30, born Hanover, tanner, with wife Mary, age 23, born Hanover. Augustus Teeman married Mary Spoleather on 12/17/1853 in Mercer County. This is undoubtedly another daughter of the Spolader family. They are not found in the 1870 census in Mercer County. They may have gone to Iowa with other members of the Tieman family. When time permits we will try to find them in the 1880 census.
Augustus James Spolader, Jr. Families
Son Augustus James Spolader married first to Charlotte Dreiszigacher (Thirtyacre) on 24 April 1857 at Muscatine, Iowa. The marriage was shortlived as Charlotte was back home with her family by the 1860 Census and remarried in 1863. There were apparently no children from the marriage to Augustus James.
Augustus married next to Cynthia Ann Jackson on 1/6/1859 in Mercer County. She may have been a daughter of John Jackson of North Carolina who married (2)Henrietta Tieman in 1859. They are found in the 1860 Census in Keithsburg Township: Augustus Sporlander, age 28, farmer, born Hanover, wife Cynthia, age 22, born Indiana. Sarah Cady tells us that Cynthia and two daughters born of this marriage died of the fever in Mercer County during the Civil War.
Augustus J. Spolader enlisted in Company G, 124th Illinois Infantry, on August 4, 1862 from Keithsburg, along with his brother-in-law Charles Shafer (see below). Augustus mustered out on August 15, 1865. He probably took advantage of special land offers in the West for Civil War veterans as he moved to Kansas around 1870. Sarah Cady has sent us more information on the family.
Augustus James Spolader married Deborah Clark, daughter of William and Deborah French Clark, on 10/19/1865 in Geneseo, Henry County, Illinois. They had two daughters, Louisa Augusta (8/19/1866) and Leota Arobine (10/26/1868) in Illinois before moving to Kansas. In Ottawa County, Kandas, they had another daughter, Sarah Catherine (6/25/1871). They then homesteaded in Bloomfield Township, Mitchell County, Kansas, where two more children were born: Ida Bell (8/24/1874) and William Claymence (4/22/1877). Sarah sent us a photo of the family: Standing (L to R) Ida Belle, Sarah Catherine, Leota Arobine, Louisa Augusta; Seated (L to R) William Claymence, Augustus James, Deborah.
Amelia Spolader Shafer Driesigacker Drury
Daughter Amelia Spolader was born 6/5/1840 in Germany and died 7/24/1909 in Mercer County. She married first to Charles Shafer about 1859. Charles and Amelia are found in Millersburg Township in 1860: Charles, age 25, farmer, born NJ; Amelia, 18, born NJ (NJ as birthplace is an error in the transcription as they were both born Germany). Charles Shafer enlisted in Company G, 124th Illinois Infantry, on August 4, 1862 from Keithsburg. He mustered in on September 10, 1862, and died of wounds at Memphis, Tennessee, on June 18, 1863. His name is listed on the Soldier's Monument in Aledo.
On 19 November 1863, Amelia Schoper married John L. Driesigacker (Thirtyacre) at Muscatine, Iowa. John was father of Charlotte who married Amelia's brother Augustus. There is more about John and Amelia's family on the Thirtyacre page.
After John Thirtyacre's death, Amelia married third to James Drury, son of John and Mary Reynolds Drury, on 27 May 1886. She is mentioned as Mrs. James Drury in the obituary of her son John Lawrence Thirtyacre. Amelia and James Drury are buried together in New Boston Cemetery (her birth and death date are from the tombstone).
Caroline Spolader Beard Family
Daughter Caroline Spoledder married Cyrus Beard, son of John & Charity Brady Beard on 7/3/1864, in Mercer County. Cyrus had married first to his cousin Mahala Beard and gone to Kansas. He returned to Mercer County where Mahala is buried and married Caroline. There are several articles about Cyrus and his family on the Beard page. There is a photo of Cyrus, Carrie, and family (courtesy Barbara Frisby) on the Beard Page {or Click} Carrie and Cyrus had eight children but we have not yet been successful in sorting out which of his children belonged to Mahala and which to Carrie. Cyrus and Carrie returned to Kansas in about 1865 so they are not found in the 1870 census in Mercer County. When time permits we will check the Kansas census records. When Caroline's sister Amelia died in 1909, sister, Mrs. Syrus Beard, was given as "of Los Angeles."
Sarah Jane Spolader Muhlenberg Family
Daughter Sarah Jane Spolader married Frederick Muhlenberg on 12/28/1867 in Mercer County. Sarah Jane Spolader Muhlenberg lived out her life in Mercer County. They owned land in Section 28 & 33 in Eliza Township (see plat map). Sarah Jane and Frederick are buried in Aledo Cemetery. There is more on the family on the Muhlenberg page.
Comparison of 1853 Ship Record (Rebecca) to Mercer County Spolader Records
Ship List....................................Mercer County Records
Aug. Spoleder, 41......................Augustus Spolader, 41
Aug. Spolader, 21......................Augustus James Spolader, 21
Caroline, 41...............................Amelia Spolader, 41
Amalie, 15.................................Amelia Spolader, 13
Mina, 9......................................Unknown child in cemetery?
Lina, 7.......................................Caroline, 8
Juste (f), 4.................................Jane, 5
Elise, 9 mo.................................Unknown child in cemetery?
Additional children Rebecca, Elizabeth, and James Albert were born in Mercer County (was Rebecca named for their ship of passage?).
Updates:
Corrected the parents of James Drury to John and Mary Reynolds Drury as mentioned in the 1903 Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Mercer County (correction thanks to Jan Dunlap.)
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