Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/666

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
632
SPIES
SPINOLA

gen by Jabob Cornelissen Maiz, secretary of the admiral, was published under the title "Speculum orientalis. occidentalisque Indiæ navigationis, quarum una Georgii a Spielbergen, altera Jacobi Lemaire, auspiciis directa est, annis 1014 usque 1618" (Leyden, 1619; French translation, Amsterdam, 1621 : German translation, Frankfort, 1625). It is reprinted in Samuel Purchas's "Pilgrims." and epitomized in James Burney's "Discoveries in the South Sea" (London. 1803-'17).


SPIES, August Vincent Theodore, anarchist, b. in Landeck, Germany, 10 Dec., 1855; d. in Chicago, Ill., 11 Nov., 1887. In 1871 he came to the United States and learned the upholsterer's trade in Chicago. In 1876 he became interested in the labor movement, and the next year joined the Socialists. He became in 1880 publisher of the "Arbeiter-Zeitung," and in 1884 its editor and business manager. He was a ready writer and speaker, of good moral character, and had great influence with those of socialistic tendencies. He first became well known by his connection with the labor troubles in Chicago in the spring of 1886. His paper advocated anarchy, and his speeches, when referring to the government and the customs of his adopted country, were bitter, denunciatory, and defiant. On 3 May labor strikes and mob violence had closed most of the machine-shops and manufactories in Chicago. A crowd, estimated to contain 12,000 men, carrying the national flag reversed, assembled to wreak vengeance upon those that continued to work. An attack was made upon the latter. They were defended by the police, who shot five rioters, arrested eleven, and dispersed the mob, which an hour before was addressed by Spies from the top of a freight-car. Spies went to his office, indited a "Revenge Circular," which was printed and circulated, summoning the workmen to arms to destroy the police. Another one, calling a meeting for the next day at Haymarket square, urged workmen to come armed and in full force. In the evening a large crowd assembled, and were addressed by Spies and others, when 180 policemen advanced and the crowd was ordered to disperse, whereupon a bomb was thrown into the midst of the police and exploded. Sixty-two policemen were wounded, one was killed on the spot, some others died of their wounds, and many were maimed for life. Great excitement prevailed in the city, and many arrests were made of those that were supposed to be instigators of the Haymarket massacre. All were discharged but seven--Spies; George Engel, a native of Hesse, Germany (b. 15 April, 1836): Oscar Neebe, a tinner (b. 2 July, 1850, and educated in Germany); Adolph Fischer, a printer, and native of Bremen, Germany (b. in 1861); Louis Lingg, a carpenter (b. 9 September, 1864, at Carlsruhe, Germany); Michael Schwab, a journalist (b. in Bavaria, 9 August, 1853); and Samuel Fielden (b. in Throckmorton, England, 25 February, 1847). These were indicted by the grand jury, and arraigned in court for murder on 21 June. Albert R. Parsons, a native of Montgomery, Alabama (b. 24 June, 1848), who had been indicted but had escaped arrest, gave himself up to be tried with his associates. The trial continued till 20 August. All were found guilty and all sentenced to death except Oscar Neebe, who was sent to the state-prison. They remained in Cook county jail till November, 1887. Louis Lingg committed suicide by exploding a dynamite bomb in his mouth on the 9th. The death-sentence of Schwab and Fielden was commuted to imprisonment for life on the 10th, and the remaining four were hanged on 11 November, 1887.


SPINNER, Francis Elias, financier, b. in German Flats (now Mohawk), N. Y., 21 Jan., 1802; d. in Jacksonville, Fla., 31 Dec., 1890. His father, John Peter (b. in Werbach, Baden, 18 Jan., 1768; d. in German Flats, 27 May, 1848), was a Catholic priest, then embraced Protestantism, married, emigrated to the United States in 1801, and was pastor of Reformed churches at Herkimer and German Flats until his death, preaching at first in German alone, and afterward alternately in German and English. The son was educated carefully by his father, who required him to learn a trade, and apprenticed him at first to a confectioner in Albany, and afterward to a saddler in Amsterdam, N. Y. He engaged in trade at Herkimer in 1824, and became deputy sheriff of the county in 1829. He was active in the militia organization, and by 1834 had reached the grade of major-general. In 1835-'7 he was sheriff, and in 1838-'9 commissioner for building the state lunatic asylum at Utica. When he was removed from this post, on political grounds alone, he became cashier of a bank at Mohawk, of which he was afterward president for many years. He held various local offices, was auditor and deputy naval officer in the naval office at New York in 1845-'9, and in 1854 was elected to congress as an anti-slavery Democrat. He served on the committee on privileges and elections, on a special committee to investigate the assault made by Preston Brooks on Charles Sumner, and on a conference committee of both houses on the army appropriation bill, which the senate had rejected on account of a clause that forbade the use of the military against Kansas settlers. Gen. Spinner was an active Republican from the formation of the party. He was twice re-elected to congress, serving altogether from 3 Dec., 1855, till 3 March, 1861. During his last term he was the chairman of the committee on accounts. When the Lincoln administration was organized, Sec. Salmon P. Chase selected him for the post of treasurer, which he filled, under successive presidents, from 16 March, 1861, till 30 June, 1875. When, during the war, many of the clerks joined the army, Gen. Spinner suggested to Sec. Chase the advisability of employing women in the government offices, and carried into effect this innovation, though not without much opposition. He signed the different series of paper money in a singular handwriting, which he cultivated in order to prevent counterfeiting. When he resigned his office the money in the treasury was counted, and when the result showed a very small discrepancy, many days were spent in recounting and examining the books of accounts, until finally the mistake was discovered. On retiring from office he went to the south for the benefit of his health, and for some years he lived in camp at Pablo Beach, Florida.


SPINOLA, Francis B., soldier, b. in Stony Brook, Long Island, N. Y., 19 March, 1821; d. in Washington, D. C., 12 April, 1891. After an English education he began business in New York city, where he was elected alderman and supervisor. He subsequently served as a member of the assembly and as a state senator, and in 1860 was a delegate to the Democratic National convention at Charleston, S. C. In 1862 he raised the Empire brigade of New York state volunteers, and on 1 Oct. he was commissioned as brigadier-general. He served in the National army till the close of the war, resigning on 8 June, 1865. He was subsequently connected with banking and insurance companies in New York city, returned to the state senate, and in 1886 was elected to congress for the term ending 3 March, 1889. He was re-elected.