John A. Spates (1843 - 1883)

Born 1843 in Maryland, United States

Died 2 Jul 1883 at about age 40 in Mount Savage, Allegany, Maryland, United States

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Biography

John was born in 1843, probably in Frostburg, son of Francis and Catherine Spates. Apparently the original and preferred spelling of the surname was Spades, as it appears in the 1880 census, but the misheard spelling became the one accepted.
John's Find A Grave memorial^[1] includes links to the memorials for his wife Anne and for the four children of John and Anne: John Phillip, b. 25 Jan 1875; Nellie, b. 2 Nov 1876; Francis Henry "Frank" b. 18 Feb 1879; and James William "William", b. 21 Feb 1881. There are obituaries attached to the memorials for Frank and William. John Spates was godfather for Patrick Meagher's baptism in 1891. Nellie Spates was godmother for Irene (Meagher) Murtha's baptism in 1894. Irene (Murtha) Toth remembered that as a child in Mt. Pleasant, Penn., in the late 1920's or early 1930's, members of the Spates family came from Frostburg to visit and gave her some sheet music that had been used at Frostburg's Palace Theatre, operated by Frank and William.
Obituary:^[2] Death from Sunstroke - While working in the railroad yard at Mt. Savage about 3 o’clock Tuesday afternoon John Spates, formerly of this place, was overcome by the heat and died at 6 1/2 o'clock the same evening. He had lately been employed as a teamster for Messrs. Shaffer & Munn, of that place, but quit driving with the expiration of last month. On Monday Mr. Spates joined the repair force of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania railroad and was doing his second day’s work when the calamity above stated befell him. He was a son of Francis and Catharine Spates, of this place, 40 years old and leaves a wife and four children. The remains were interred in Frostburg Thursday, attended by many friends and a large deputation of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Sources

1. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial for John Spates. There is no grave marker photograph; the information in the memorial possibly is from the Percy Cemetery book (cited below).
2. ↑ Frostburg Mining Journal 7 Jul 1883 edition, page 3, information forwarded from Bob Thompson.

• 1850 Census, Maryland, Allegany, p. 91B, District 5, 13 Sep 1850, Francis Spates family on lines 5-11, John on line 9, age 7.
• 1870 Census, Maryland, Allegany, Frostburg, p. 30 of Election District 5, p. 130b of Allegany County, 4 Jun 1870, Francis Spates family on lines 12-15, John on line 14, age 26, Miner.
• 1880 Census, Maryland, Allegany, p. 29 of ED 13, Mount Savage, p. 326 of the microfilm reel, 15 Jun 1880, John A "Spades" family on lines 46-50, John A. on line 46, listed as age 35.
• Commemorating Frostburg's Percy Cemetery, Frostburg State University, p. 110 includes a Spates family chart and details about John's death in the rail yard at Mt. Savage.
• 1890 Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, Maryland, Frostburg, p. 2 of ED 13, line 20, Ann Malee, widow of John A. Spates, (Ann's surname indexed as Mates). John served 25 Jul 1861 to 29 Sep 1864.
• Email exchanges, May 2001 and August 2021, between Jim Toth and Bob Thompson of Harrisburg, PA, g-g-nephew of John Philip Spates, who moved from Frostburg to Washington, DC, about 1910-1915.