The fourteenth annual re-union of the Spencer-Benham
Association took place at the home of Mrs. Clarinda Case in
Eagle Point Township, Ogle County, Illinois, on June 22,
1911.
Although the weather was sultry the attendance was good;
about 110 being present which is about one-half the
membership.
Members were present from Polo, Freeport, Lanark,
Milledgeville, Chadwick, East Moline, Sterling and
Hazelhurst.
Under the dense foliage of the hard maples there was a light
breeze and no one complained of the great heat. Had it not
been for the automobile the attendance would have been small
as horses could not have endured the long distance drives
beneath the torrid sun.
The meeting was pronounced as good as any of the many
gatherings of the Spencer-Benham clans.
That there was real joy in the meetings of friends long
separated was easily seen, although not unmixed with sadness
when the thought did come that since the last gathering three
of the loved ones had passed over the silent river to the
life beyond. The list of our dead was not read at the reunion. The names are: Mrs. Lucinda Jenkins, Milledgeville, Ill.,
Naaman Woodin, Sunnyside, Washington, and William Spencer,
Milledgeville, Ill. After the dinner the resident, E.R.
Spencer, of Sterling, Ill., called the Association to order
and requested the Re. Z.T. Livengood of Milledgeville, (who
together with his wife was an invited guest) to ask the
Divine blessing upon the assembly.
The oldest member of the association is Allen Benham
Spencer, who was present. President E.R. Spencer pinned on
the lapel of this aged man's coat a silver badge on which are
engraved the initials of the association and the year 1911.
Mr. Spencer will be 92 years old in September next.
The silver spoon, one of which is given each year to the
youngest members, was presented to Gerald Eugene Doherty.
Gerald is four months old and is the son of Forrest E.
Doherty and Ola Spencer Doherty.
The genealogy of Gerald E. Doherty runs as follows: He is
the son of Ola Spencer Doherty who is the daughter of Elias
R. Spencer, who is the son of Naaman Spencer, Jr., who is the
son of Naaman Spencer, Sr., and Diantha (Benham) Spencer, who
were the progenitors of the western branch of the Spencer
family.
The officers elected for the ensuing year were; President
Elias R. Spencer of Sterling, and Henry Elsey of Hazelhurst,
secretary and treasurer. "It was a splendid meeting," was the
opinion of all.
The Rev. Z.T. Livengood dismissed the association by
pronouncing the benediction upon them. It will interest all
who know Uncle Allen Spencer, and many who do not know him,
that thee is lots of energy and vigor in him yet. He recently
went to the top of an eighteen foot ladder which was placed
against an apple tree from which hung a large swarm of bees,
carried them down and hived them. Small bunches of bees
gathered upon other limbs which he cut off and carried down
and placed in the hive. There seems to be a mutual
understanding between Uncle Allen and the bees. They do just
as he wishes them to.
- Henry Elsey
