Jacob's Ladder
a summary of what is known about the earliest Spickards in America, focusing on Jacob T. Spickard and his descendants
(Author Unknown)
The first Spickards appeared in Colonial American records in Pennsylvania and Virginia some time before the American Revolution.
We have not found ship passenger lists for any immigrants with the last name Spickard. However, this can be explained by the fact that the spelling of German last names was difficult for English speaking clerks who did the recording. Spiker, Speakard, Spickhard, Spickhardt, and Spickert are a few of the avriant spellings which have been found in official records and which are probably all Spickard, the standard spelling since the late 1700s. Jacob sometimes spelled his last name Speakard even after he was living in Tennessee.
The assumption that the Spickards came from Germany is based upon strong family tradition and upon the statement by Jacob Spickard II that his father Jacob claimed to be a "full-blooded German". And he seemed proud of it!
From records in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky the migration of the family in the early history of the country appears to follow a pattern similar to that of many early settlers in Wilson County. This is a chronology of the early Spickard's in America:
Julius Spiker is listed in Ship Passenger Lists as arriving in Philadelphia in 1749. [NOTE: the "Hannes Spiker" listed on the same ship is almost certainly a male relative, not a wife -- js]. He was in Northern Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, in 1750, and was a member of the Virginia Militia.
Julius Spickert (quite possibly the same person) was one of the founders of the German Lutheran Congregation formed in Winchester, Virginia, on April 16, 1764.
In a court hearing on August 24, 1779, Elizabeth Spikeard, wife of Julius Spikeard (also spelled Speakard in some records) and mother of George Spickard, both soldiers, was granted relief in the amount of £30 sterling (English money). This is recorded in Augusta County, Virginia, records.
Mary, daughter of the Julius and Elizabeth above, was bound out until the age of 18 to James Quinn and later to John Smith, also in Augusta Court records.
On November 22, 1779, Elizabeth Speakard requested that her daughter Mary, formerly bound to John Smith (deceased) be bound to Nemiah Harrison.
Elizabeth Speakard complained to the court in 1783 of Nemiah Harrison's "use" of her daughter.
There are no further records for Julius and Elizabeth Speakard or of Mary. Their son George Spickard, born in 1757 in Virginia according to D.A.R. records, was listed in August County in the 1787 Virginia state census and later moved to Monroe County, Virginia, and Highland County, Ohio. In old age he applied for and received a pension as a Revolutionary War veteran, as verified by copies of his pension application. His female descendants have established eligibility for D.A.R. membership. His several children included a son named Alexander mentioned in his pension records. There is no proved connection between these Spickards and Jacob Spickard, although he appeared in August County, Virginia, in 1792 and is probably related to them in some degree.
On February 22, 1792, "Jacob Speakard, 16 years old 11th April next to be bound to Thomas Tombelason (?)". This indicates that Jacob Spickard was born April 11, 1776.
Phillip Spickard (in some records Specard) was appointed one of the trustees of Fincastle in Botetourt County, Virginia (near Roanoke). He was one of those appointed to plan the route of the proposed wagon road through the Valley.
Phillip Spickard's inventory is recorded in Will Book of Botetourt County in January 1793. In included "a large German Bible" and other books. His widow's name was given as Mary in the same record. She is also recorded as having sold some lots she inherited from Phillip.
A second Phillip Spickard (probably his son) married Catherine Sovian in Botetourt County Presbyterian Church on February 27, 1793. He is listed as living in Botetourt County in the 1810 Virginia Census along with Mary Spickard and Henry Spickard. There are many Spickards living in Fincastle and Roanoak, Virginia, assumed to be descendants of Phillip Spickard.
Catrin Spickard is listed in the 1790 Pennsylvania Census. There are no males over 16, 2 males under 16, and 3 females including the head of the household listed in Catrin's family.
David Spickard is listed in 1800 in York County in the Pennsylvania Census.
Jacob Spickard, a Lieutenant in the first militia of Wilson County, Tennessee, was appointed in May 1800. He was 24 years old at the time. The book West Wilson Neighbors mentions that he came to the neighborhood from Virginia about the same time as the Graves brothers, John and Benjamin, Blake Rutland, and John Shepard. He bought land on Stoner's Creek at a sheriff's sale in 1801, and is listed on the county's first tax list.
[You can find a chart of Jacob Spickard's descendents (compiled by Greg A. Tomerlin) at http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnwcogs/famhist/spicka01.htm]