>From The Portrait and Biographical Album of Rock County, Wis., publ, 1889 - page 833, 834 JOHN C. SPENCER, born in the village of Little Falls, Herkimer Co., N.Y., May 17, 1838, is the third son of A. C. and Lucina (DYE) SPENCER, the father being a native of Vermont, of English descent, and the mother of Cattaraugus County, N.Y., of Irish descent. In the autumn of 1845, when John was in his seventh year, his parents emigrated to the West, settling at Danville, Ill., at which place his father followed the occupation of school teacher; later his parents removed to Covington, Ind., thence to Bloomington, Ill, and in 1852 the family removed to Janesville, arriving here in December of that year. Our subject received his limited education in the private schools of that day, the first public school he attended being at Covington, that being the first term of the free public schools of Indiana, in the winter of 1849. In his boyhood previous to coming to Janesville, John was employed in the summer season herding cattle and sheep on the prairies of Illinois; in the summ! er of 1852 he drove team hauling earth in the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad between Bloomington and Randolph Grove, eight miles south, and also north of Bloomington to the present site of Normal; he drove one of the ox teams (four yoke) employed in breaking the ground for the planting of the Phoenix Nursery at Bloomington. In December, 1852, he entered the employ of the Janesville Gazette, then owned by Messrs. ALDEN & HOLT, carrying papers one day each week. In March, 1853, he entered the office as an apprentice, and with the exception of two months, January and February, 1854, he has been constantly employed in that office, and has successively filled every mechanical department in that establishment, taking a greater liking to the news department. For ten years past Mr. SPENCER has been in charge of the local department of the Gazette, as city editor. With the exception of Hon. David ATWOOD, of the Madison Journal, he is the oldest newspaper man in poi! nt of service in one office in the State of Wisconsin. On the organization of Janesville Fire Department in 1855, he became a member, being appointed as torch boy of Company No. 2, and has from that time to the present been constantly connected with that organization, holding every official position in his company, serving twelve years as Secretary of the Fire Department, two years as Assistant-Chief-Engineer, two years (1885-6) as Chief, and is now serving as First-Assistant-Chief. The recent re-organization of the fire department was mostly by his suggestion, and it is his aim to further increase the efficiently of the department bring it up to the maximum, thereby decreasing the insurance rates sufficient to meet the cost of its maintenance, including the hydrant rental. Mr. SPENCER is frequently appealed to by the citizens in reference to the local events of the past, and he is said to be almost a perfect encyclopedia in relation to the history of Janesville and Rock ! County, and no man has a more extended acquaintance in the county. As city editor of the Gazette, he lays no claim as a brilliant writer, yet he is a hard worker, and aims at getting local news of which the columns of the Gazette are an illustration of his success. Socially, he is a member of the A.F. & A.M. and I.O.O.F. fraternities. Politically, he is an outspoken Republican, yet he never allows his politics to cause estrangements in his personal relations with others. On the 30th day of October, 1870, Mr. SPENCER was united in marriage with Miss Helen M. BROWN, a native of Portage, Wis., and daughter of the late Daniel G. BROWN of this city. This union has been blessed with three daughters and two sons - Marion E., born Aug. 28, 1871; Clara, Feb. 6, 1874; Llewellyn R., Jan. 30, 1882; Jessie, Nov. 13, 1884; and Harrison M., Nov. 11, 1887. All are abiding at the family home, 217 North Bluff Street.