Spendlove family of
Corby and Stanion, Northamptonshire, England
The insights in this short history are available to us because John's son Joseph kept a journal that records the following historical glimpses into the lives of the John and Mary Spendlove family.
John Spendlove was born 6 April 1794 at Stanion, Northamptonshire, England. His wife, Mary Slawson was born at Corby, Northamptonshire, England on 5 Oct. 1794. Their children were John, Edward,
Mary, William, Susannah, Rebecca, Hannah, James (died in infancy), James, Joseph, Benjamin and Ann Victoria. The family lived in a little two room adobe house built in the west end of the small English town, Stanion...
From the Parish registers of Stanion:
John Born: 10 August 1816 Chr: 22
Dec. 1816
Edward Born: Chr: 13 Sept. 1818
Mary Born: Chr: 2 July
1820
William Born: Chr: 19 May 1822
Susannah Born: Aug. 1823 Buried: 24
Sept. 1824
Rebecca Born: 12 May 1825 Chr: 29 Nov. 1825
Hannah Born: Chr:
25 Feb. 1827
James Born: Chr: 16 Nov. 1828 Buried: 12 Feb. 1829
James
Born: 17 Mar 1830 Chr: 15 Aug. 1830
Joseph Born: 18 Dec. 1832 Chr: 20 Jan
1833
Benjamin Born: Chr: 2 Mar. 1834
Ann Born: 18 May 1836 Chr: 23 May
1836
Two stillborn children were not listed on the registers of
Stanion and remain unnamed.
Joseph records the following:
"My
father's name was John Spendlove. He was born in the village of Stanion, on the
6th day of April 1793 (1794). He was a hard working man and the father of a
large family. He was a thick, stout man about 5 ft. 6 inches tall with gray eyes
and a stern disposition. He loved his children and I can say he tried to teach
us the things, in life, he wanted us to do the best he knew how. My father had
narry a brother, only three sisters: Mary, Ann, and Sarah. (Research in Stanion
registers show there were 6 in the family: Mary, Ann, Sarah, William, John, and
Susannah. William and Susannah died while young.)
My mother's name was
Mary Saluston (Slawson). She was born in the village of Corby, Northamptonshire,
England, some two miles from Stanion, in the year 1794. The day of the month she
was born I know not. (The Corby records show that Mary was christened the 5
October 1794, daughter of John and Mary Dixon Slawson.) My mother was kinda tall
and thin with gray eyes and a kind face. I am not sure, I was only 4 years old
when she died. I remember one brother and one sister of my mother's-Joseph and
Rebecca. Whether she had any more, I do not know. Joseph had one son, and
Rebecca had three daughters. My mother never heard the gospel while she was
living and my father heard it but did not know much about it. This is what I
remember of my father and mother." (Research on Corby records show the Slawson
family as follows: Joseph, Benjamin, John, Ann, Rebecca, and Mary all sons and
daughters of John and Mary Slawson.)"
After the birth of the
youngest daughter, Ann, Mary complained of pains in her back and
side. She never seemed to get her strength back and passed away on 31
Dec 1836 at 42 years of age. This left John a widower with 10 children
from ages 20 years-7 months. Joseph writes: "Mother had gone and
would not return until the appointed time of the Lord that took
her. My sister, Mary, then cared for us." John never
remarried.
This must have been a sorrowful time for
the family. Joseph, John's son, later wrote in his journal that his
father would stand for hours looking at the spot where his mother was laid to
rest believing that he would never see her again as he had known her in this
life. The minister of the church had told him this. Mary had been a faithful
member of the Church of England. She had taught her children from the
Bible, and named her son, Joseph, after the great
prophet of the Bible because he was such a bright and quiet baby."
Joseph, also wrote in his journal,
that his father (John) told him of a dream his Grandmother, Susannah
Mossindue Spendlove had. She related that she had seen, in her dream,
her son
reading the old Bible to his family when two young men came into the
room. They took the old Bible out of his hands and gave him another
book that had a shiny cover and after reading from this book, for a
while, he got up and went with the strange men. When she awoke
she wondered what the new book was and told her son about the dream,
saying that something very important would come into his life some-day
and he should prepare himself to receive it.
In 1848, John, the oldest son of John and Mary, heard the restored
gospel preached by missionaries who traveled in pairs, and preached
from not only the Bible, but also from The Book of Mormon, now known as
Another Testament of Christ and that was translated from golden
plates by the prophet, Joseph Smith. John was baptized and then brought the "good news" to his
father, John Sr.
John Sr., William, James, Joseph and Ann also accepted the
gospel.