General Cyrus Spink
General Cyrus Spink was born in Berkshire County, Mass., March 24, 1793. Both on his father's and mother's side he came of Revolutionary stock. His father, Shibuah Spink, served through a large part of the Revolutionary war, and was at the bloody struggle known as the Battle of Long Island, and passed through the memorable scenes of suffering, privation and patriotism of the winter encampment at Valley Forge, 1777-8. His mother, Delight Spink, had a brother in the American army at Valley Forge, and he died during that terrible winter. The parents of General Spink were of the Quaker denomination, and his father was one of the few of that belief who took up arms in defense of the rights of his country. One of General Spink's sisters ultimately became a preacher among the Quakers. Shibuah Spink and family removed from Berkshire County, Mass., to Chautauque County, New York, somewhere about 1800. From thence General Spink set out to seek his fortune in Ohio in the spring of 1815. He made some excursions through the State, but for the time being engaged in teaching school at Kendal, in Stark County, he then being 22 years of age. Hon. Joseph H. Larwill, who was County Surveyor of Wayne County, in the fall of 1815 came across General Spink at Kendal, and without any acquaintance, other than perhaps a kindly word from Judge Wm. Henry, subsequently an honored citizen of Wooster, at once appointed him Deputy County Surveyor. The appointment and oath of office bear date October 18, 1815, and he continued to act as the Deputy Surveyor under Mr. Larwill until December, 1816. All the recorded surveys during that period, or nearly all of them, are in his hand, and were made by him.
In December 1816 he was appointed County Surveyor, and continued to fill that post until December, 1821. During a part of this latter period he was also District Surveyor. In the meantime, from September 26, 1820, to October 15, 1821, he performed the duties of County Auditor for more than a year, and for such service received pay for 72 days' labor at $1.75 per day, or $126 for the whole period. The contrast between the expense of the Auditor's office then and now is very suggestive. He was married to his surviving companion, then Nancy Campbell Beall, daughter of General Reasin Beall, February 19, 1819, fifty-nine years ago. In the fall of 1821 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the Ohio Legislature, and faithfully served in that capacity during the winter of 1821-2. During a portion of the time from 1816 to 1822 General Spink was clerk in the Land Office, then located at Wooster, either under Colonel Sloane, in the Receiver's office, or General Beall, in the Register's office. From 1822 to 1824 he was with General Beall in the Register's office, and on the resignation of General Beall, in 1824, he was appointed his successor. His first commission as Register was issued by President James Monroe, and bears date January 14, 1824.
He was reappointed by President J. Q. Adams for four years, by commission dated January 28, 1828. He was removed by President Jackson in 1829. He was one of the Presidential Electors for Ohio in 1844, and met with the College of Electors to cast the vote of Ohio for Henry Clay.
He was a member of the State Board of Equalization for this Senatorial District in 1846, and attended the sessions of the Board at Columbus in the fall of that year. He was a delegate to the Baltimore Whig Convention of 1852, which nominated General Scott for the Presidency, though he never endorsed the platform of that Convention. In 1856 he was appointed by Governor Chase one of the directors of the Ohio peniten- tiary, but resigned his office in the summer of 1858. In the fall of 1858, he was nominated at Lodi in Medina County for Congress, and triumphantly elected. For a period of 44 years, he was intimately connected with the interests, progress and the prosperity of Wayne County. He came to when a young man, and spent the fire of youth, as well as Wooster the years of manhood there. He faithfully performed every duty imposed upon him, and from early manhood to the day of his death he secured the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens. He shared the toils of the early settlers, slept with them in their cabins, and camped with them in the dim old woods. From 1815 to 1821 he traversed the county more and became more intimately acquainted with the settlers than, perhaps, any other man of his time. There are a few survivors yet whose memories recall most vividly in the wilderness camp-fire and the night bivouac with General Spink in the solemn woods. But they are fast passing away.
He was a man of fixed principles and settled convictions, and through his whole life sought to do no violence to them. He read extensively, thought much and had an exceedingly retentive memory. Opposed to change he tended to conservatism, but when convinced that wrong would be perpetrated or extended by conserva- tism, he was a radical. He was slow in forming attachments, but true as steel to them when once formed. He was a devout believer in the Christian religion, and for twenty years of his life he was an exemplary and honored member of the Baptist church. Few men possessed as exten- sive and correct stores of information on political matters as did General Spink. He was an acute observer, and for the last thirty years of his life, he preserved, in some shape, a record of what transpired of importance in the political world. General Spink died in Wooster on the 31st day of May, 1859, in the 67th year of his age. He was the father of six children. Lieutenant Reasin B. Spink, who served gallantly in the war of the rebellion, to whom we are indebted for the data of this sketch, was his youngest son. {loadmodule mod_ext_custom,In-Article}
Although elected he was never permitted to take his seat in the council of the nation, for in the sound maturity of advanced manhood and enriched intellect, he was summoned to the high assemblage of purified spirits, and that loftier Congress constituted and chosen of God.
His death was announced in Congress by Mr. Blake, his successor from this district, when the following resolutions were adopted:
Resolved, That the members of this house, from a sincere desire of showing every mark of respect due to the memory of Hon. Cyrus Spink, deceased, late a Representative from the State of Ohio, will go into mourning by wearing crape on the left arm for 30 days.
Resolved, That the proceedings in relation to the death of Hon. Cyrus Spink, be forwarded by the Clerk of this House to the widow of the deceased. Resolved, That as a further mark of respect for the memory of the deceased this House do now adjourn.
Resolved, That the Clerk communicate a copy of the foregoing proceedings to the Senate.
Hon. John Sherman, of Ohio, said:
I have known General Spink from my boyhood. His manly form is now before me, as distinct in my memory as you, sir, or any of our associates around me, is distinct to my view. He was not a great man in the sense in which that term is used. The flashes of genius did not disturb his judg- ment, nor the fierce energy of ambition consume his strength, or consign his name to the adulation of friends, or the hate of foes. * * * Trained in the early days of Ohio, when the life of a pioneer was a continual war with uncultivated nature, he lived to see the forest give way before the labor of a hardy race; the rude log hut superseded by the comfortable mansion, and scattered settlements, commenced in a wilderness, rising into cities, towns and villages. In this contest of civilization he was not an idle spectator; he performed a part. If he did not conquer a land flowing with milk and honey, he, and those like him, made one. His conversation was a local history. Added to the information he acquired by his intercourse with men, he had read much and communicated his information with a genial humor that always made him a favorite, especially with young men. * * * If he had lived to add the personal acquaintance of his fellow members to the testimony of his friends, the death of but few of our number would have caused more personal grief. He would have been true to his party associates, and yet kind and forbearing to all. He commenced his political career as a supporter of President Monroe; was attached to the Whig party during its existence, and at his death was a earnest Republican. * * * But he has been called to that mysterious realm, through whose darkening gloom reason cannot guide us; but he has left to his colleagues and friends an example of rectitude and Christian purity, demanding our respect and worthy of our emulation.
From History of Wayne County, Ohio, From the Days of the Pioneers and First Settlers to the Present Time, by Robert Douglass, 1878