Sperry Name Study

Surnames/tags: Sperry Speary Spearry

Welcome to the Sperry One Name Study

About the Project

The Sperry Name Study project serves as a collaborative platform to collect information on the Sperry name. The hope is that other researchers like you will join the study to help make it a valuable reference point for other genealogists who are researching or have an interest in the Sperry name.

As a One Name Study, this project is not limited to persons who are related biologically. Individual team studies can be used to branch out the research into specific methods and areas of interest, such as geographically (England Sperrys), by time period (18th Century Sperrys), or by topic (Sperry DNA, Sperry Occupations, Sperry Statistics). These studies may also include a number of family branches which have no immediate link with each other. Some researchers may even be motivated to go beyond the profile identification and research stage to compile fully sourced, single-family histories of some of the families they discover through this name study project.

Also see the related surnames and surname variants.

Once you are ready to go, you can also show your project affiliation with the ONS Member Sticker:

If a team does not yet exist for your particular area of interest, please contact the Name Study Coordinator: Charlotte Shockey for assistance.

Teams / Research Pages

• England Sperry's
• Germany Sperry's

Add the following to the top of your profile if you'd like to be part of the study: {{One Name Study|name=Sperry}}

Project Leader: Charlotte Shockey

Member: Ruth Speary

Shockey One Name Study Goals

The objective of this study is to identify all Sperry cousins. The sort out the brickwalls and find solutions. There are two groups of Sperry's in America: one group migrated from England to Connecticut and one group from Germany to Pennsylvania. We have hopes of finding out if both the group of Sperry's are distantly related through DNA.

Farthest back of the England Sperry's is John Sperry.

Farthest back of the Germany Sperry's is Peter Sperry, son of Hanss Spiri and Sara Bergir.

Below is the category for the England group.

Sperry's of Connecticut List.

What You Can Do

1. Work cooperatively together with other Sperry profile managers to create the best Sperry tree possible.
2. Search out original rather than derivative documentation and add sources to Sperry profiles.
3. Write comprehensive, well-sourced biographies for Sperry profiles.
4. Check for duplicates and request merges.
5. Contact Sarah to request PPP status for those profiles that meet the criteria for project protection. This will protect them from an incorrect merge.
6. If you are a male with the Sperry surname or a variant and haven't already, please consider testing your yDNA through the Sperry Family Tree DNA Project (link below) so that we can all have a better understanding of our heritage and possibly make new discoveries.

Sperry Brickwalls

• John W Sperry, b. abt 1814 Connecticut
• Fredercik Loring Sperry, b. 14 Nov 1827 CT, d. 26 Aug 1898 Iowa
• John Casper Speary, b. 11 Mar 1871, NJ; d. 9 Feb 1957 NJ
• John Speary, b. 2 Apr 1827 Switzerland, d. 31 Jul 1891 TX
• Mary Alice (Speary) Reed, b. 10 May 1870 MO, d. 14 Mar 1941 MO
• Jacob Sperry, b. 1567 England, d. 1647 England
• Jacob Sperry, b. abt 1760 VA, d. abt 1798 VA
• Unknown (Sperry) Smith, b. abt 1740
• Dinah (Sperry) Beach), 9 Sep 1732, d. 8 Apr 1768 CT
• Peter Sperry, b. abt 1730
• Thomas Sperry, b. 1734 - VA

• G2G Search of Sperry

The Sperry Name

The main spelling of the Sperry name is "Sperry" no matter if the ancestor came from England or Germany.

Name Variations

Sperry

Spearry

Speary

Spiri

Notable Sperrys

• Thomas Edison
• Paul Alling Sperry, invented Sperry Boat Shoes
• Chuck Sperry, artist
• Dr. Warren M. Sperry, invented the "Sperry Method"
• Elmer Ambrose Sperry, Inventor of the gyroscopic compasses
• Lawrence Burst Sperry, Sperry Manufactures

Sperry Place Names

• Sperry, Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Sperry, Iowa

Sperry Businesses, Etc

• Sperry Shoes
• Sperry Gyroscope
• Sperry Tents
• Sperry Associates Federal Credit Union
• Sperry Chalet
• Sperry Marine
• Sperry's Restaurant, Saratoga Springs, NY
• DR Sperry & Co
• Sperry Van Ness
• Sperry & McHoul Funeral Home
• Sperry New Holland
• Sperry Rand Corp.
• Sperry Univac

Sperry DNA Studies

Sperry DNA Project

Some surnames found in Y-DNA connection are: Pate, Pait

Sperry Family Origins

These origins are based on New York Passenger List from Ancestry.com.

• England
• Germany
• Ireland
• France
• Great Britain
• Baden

Name Distribution

Sperry Name Distribution

Spearry Name Distribution

Speary Name Distribution

Books Written By Sperrys

The following are books written by Sperrys and descendants that are not of a genealogical matter.

Sperry Resources

• Steele, Lorissa E.. Ancestry and descendants of William Curtis of Marcellus, N.Y.: also some allied families, Sperry, Matteson, Worden and briefly, Beardsley, Blakely of Blackesley, Clapp, Dyer, Hinckley, Parker, Templeton and Wilcox. Pasadena, California: L. E. Steele, 1912. Digital. Heritage Quest Online.
• Rodney Prestage Homer, The Sperry Family Line: of Jeremiah Sperry of Minnesota, 1802 - 1870; Descendants of Richard Sperry of the New Haven Colony 1615 - 1698 (N.p.: n.p., 1969).
• Thomas Sanford, the emigrant to New England: ancestry, life, and descendants, 1632-4 : sketches of four other pioneer Sanfords and some of their descendants in appendix