Spears, Barton W.

Born: 1823-10-22 New York

Died: 1885-12-09 Cook County, Illinois

Born in Farmington in Ontario County, New York, Barton W. Spears was a newspaper editor and publisher, business manager, real estate and railroad investor, bank founder, and a Democrat, then Whig turned Republican. He grew up on a farm until age eight, when he moved to the Michigan Territory. He worked as an errand boy for several years, then, in 1837, became an apprentice at a local Democratic newspaper called The Watchtower. At age nineteen he finished his apprenticeship and became foreman of the Michigan Whig. Soon after, he married Ellen Chapman, with whom he eventually had at least three children. Barton began publishing and editing a paper on his own, while also studying penmanship and bookkeeping. His hard work and new business skills brought him to the attention of the Columbus Statesman, which he began editing. He later relocated to Chicago, Illinois and, in September 1854, partnered with John L. Scripps and William Bross to form the firm Scripps, Bross and Spears. Together they owned the Daily Democratic Press, of which Barton became the business manager. While there, he oversaw the mechanical department and made improvements to the paper's printing press. He also began investing in railroads and real estate and established a bank. In July 1858, the paper was consolidated with the Chicago Tribune and, in late-October 1858, Barton left the paper.

Franklin William Scott, Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois, 1814-1879, vol. 6 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1910), 63; John Moses and Joseph Kirkland, eds., The History of Chicago Illinois (Chicago: Munsell, 1895), 2:13; American Phrenological Journal 25 (November 1857), 100; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Ward 1, Monroe, Monroe County MI, 350; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 5, Chicago, Cook County, IL, 89; Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916, Cook County, 9 December 1885, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Gravestone, Oak Hill Cemetery, Nyack, NY.