Dr. Ernestus De Spitzer, surgeon-general, who was born in Heilbronn, in the Kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, April 6, 1709.  He descended from the ancient Von Spitzers, a family of noble knights, who flourished in a town of the same name in lower Steiermarke, a German province, where they were enrolled among the nobility in the early part of the fourteenth century, having been allied to royalty itself.  The family controlled the city government of Heilbronn from 1062 to 1682.  His grandfather, Dr. John Von Spitzer, who was also an LL. D., was burgomaster of the city of Heilbronn for over forty years.  Ernestus de Spitzer, the first of the family to come to America, sailed from Rotterdam, Holland, on the ship "Two Brothers," Thomas Arnot, captain; and on the ship's list he wrote his name with a "De," the Latin for "Von."  He landed in Philadelphia, October 13, 1747, and later settled in Schenectady, N. Y., where he practiced medicine and surgery for many years with success.  Dr. Spitzer was a very important personage in that city, being one of the first practicing physicians, and is mentioned in both Pearson's and Saunders' early history of that part of New York State.  He served with distinction in the French and Indian War as surgeon, at the garrison at Oswego, N. Y., from October 28, 1753, to May 22, 1755, and later received an appointment as surgeon-general of the Provincial forces.  Dr. de Spitzer was married to Barbara Wilfelin, of Dutch ancestry, by whom he had three sons and one daughter, Garret, Aaron, Erastus jr., and Elizabeth.  Garret and Aaron served in the Revolutionary War.  Their descendants married into the Schermerhorn and Astor families.  After the French and Indian War he returned to Schenectady and practiced his profession until his death, which occurred Oct. 8, 1789.  His remains were buried in the old Dutch cemetery in Schenectady.  In 1901 his monument was restored by his descendants, and the names of his sons, Garret and Aaron, who served in the War of the Revolution, were placed upon it.

Garret De Spitzer, physician and soldier, was born in Schenectady, N. Y., June 20, 1758, oldest son of Dr. Ernestus and Barbara (Wilfelin) de Spitzer.  He was known as a great Indian fighter, and served in the War of the Revolution, after which he returned to Schenectady.  A few years later, with his family, he removed to Wastina, now Rotterdam, N. Y., where he was one of the first practicing physicians.  He was married to Annatje, daughter of Nicholas and Susannah Sixbury, and had eight children, six sons and two daughters, Aaron, Nicholas, Jeremiah, Peter, John, Joseph, Susannah and Barbara.  Dr. Spitzer died in Rotterdam, N. Y., June 2, 1801, and was buried in the old Dutch cemetery, Schenectady, N. Y.

Nicholas Spitzer, physician and stock farmer, was born in Schenectady, N. Y., November 26, 1783, second son of Dr. Garret and Annatje (Sixbury) de Spitzer.  He practiced medicine in Schenectady until he was fifty-two years of age, when, on account of poor health, he gave up his profession, and, with his family, removed to Medina, Ohio, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock farming.  His health was not improved by the change, and in a few years he retired from business, his oldest son, Garret, taking charge of his affairs until the close of his life.  When he went to Ohio he left off the prefix "De" to his name, which was frequently done in the early years of the republic.  His health was greatly improved without business cares, and he lived to be an old man.  He was married to Nancy, daughter of Jacob and Maria (Schermerhorn) Bovee, and had four sons and five daughters, Garret, Aaron, Matthew, Jacob, Maria, Susan, Sallie, Sarah and Mary.  Dr. Spitzer died at Medina, Ohio, Dec. 6, 1868.

Aaron Bovee Spitzer, banker and business man, was born in Schenectady, N. Y., October 8, 1823, second son of Nicholas and Nancy (Bovee) Spitzer.  He was a general business man, and considered a good judge of credit and values, and was engaged in the banking business for several years with his oldest son, Ceilan Milo Spitzer, and Ludwig Wideman.  He was a lover of horses, owned a stock farm near medina, and bred some very fine specimens.  Mr. Spitzer retired from active business in 1886.  He was married to Laura Maria, daughter of Joseph and Harriet (Draper) Perkins, and had one son, Ceilan M. Spitzer.  He was married the second time to Anna Maria Collins, and by this marriage had three sons, Frank P., Garret E., and Sidney Spitzer.  He was a life-long Republican, and at the time of his death a member and deacon of the Congregational Church.  He died in Medina, Ohio, May 13, 1892.

General Ceilan Milo Spitzer, banker, was born at Batavia, N. Y., Nov. 2, 1849, eldest son of Aaron Bovee and Laura Maria (Perkins) Spitzer, and a great-great grandson of Dr. Ernestus de Spitzer.  Through his mother he is descended from James Draper, of Roxbury, Mass., and Quartermaster John Perkins, of Ipswich, Mass., the first of their families in America.  His great grandfather, Nathaniel Perkins, before he was of age, and aid-de-camp to General George Washington.  Mr. Spitzer's great-great-great-great grandfather, Hendricks Cornelius Van Buren, was a soldier in the Indian war of 1663, being stationed at Fort Cralo, in Papshire, and was an ancestor of President Martin Van Buren.  He is also a descendant on the maternal side (being the great-great-great grandson) of Jacob Janse Schermerhorn, founder of the family bearing his name in America, who came from Waterland, Holland, in 1636, and settled in Beverswyck, in the New Netherlands, where he became a man of wealth and prominence until his death in Schenectady in 1688.  Ceilan Milo Spitzer was educated in the schools of Medina, Ohio, whither his family had removed in 1851, and at Oberlin College.  He entered upon his active business career in 1869 by purchasing a half interrest in a drug store at Seville, Ohio, which he sold out two years later, and, with his father, opened the Seville Exchange Bank, under the style of  C. M. Spitzer & Co., a banking house which obtained immediate standing and reputation in the financial world.  In 1877 a branch bank was opened at Medina, Ohio, and in 1878 the German-American Bank of Cleveland, Ohio, was organized, the last enterprise growing in such immediate favor that Mr. Spitzer purchased the interest of Ludwig Wideman, who had become partner, in 1873, and during the next two years conducted a general banking and investment business.  In January, 1880, owning to financial depression, the bank failed, and soon after settled with its creditors on a forty per cent basis.  Ten years later, however, quite without legal or moral necessity, Mr. Spitzer paid all the bank's debts in full, an act which has deservedly given him a high reputation in the business world.  With Ludwig and Jerome P. Wideman, he opened the bank of Fremont, at Fremont, Ohio, in 1880, but he sold it the following year, and formed the firm of Spitzer, Wideman & Co., bankers, at Toledo, Ohio.  In the following year Mr. Spitzer purchased the interest of the Widemans, and formed a co-partnership with his cousin, Adelbert L. Spitzer, under the firm name of Spitzer & Co., Bankers.  In 1887 a branch office was opened in Boston, Mass.  In May, 1899, the Boston office was moved to 20 Nassau street, New York City.  The firm has enjoyed a continuous and permanent increase in prosperity, and is now the oldest and one of the most successful investment banking houses in the central west, buying and selling municipal bonds and other high-grade investment securities.  Mr. Spitzer is also a stockholder and director in six other banks, including the Ohio Savings Bank and Trust Company, and the Security Trust Company, Toledo; a director of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad Company, and president of the Spitzer Building Company, which erected, in 1893, the modern ten-story fire-proof building in Toledo.  In January, 1900, Governor George K. Nash appointed him quartermaster-general of Ohio, with rank of Brigadier-general.  Mr. Spitzer is one of the leading citizens of Ohio, and is never ready to foster or contribute to any citizens of Ohio, and is never ready to foster or contribute to any worthy artistic, business or benevolent enterprise in his adopted city.  He has always refused to permit his name to be used for any elective office, preferring to exert his influence and benefit his fellow men in the capacity of a private citizen and a general of financial affairs.  He is a member of the Toledo and Country Clubs, of Toledo, and the Middle Bass Club, of Put-in-Bay, also a member of the Ohio Society of New York.  He has traveled widely, both in this country and abroad, and his Colonial home, "Innisfail," on Collingwood Avenue, is filled with numerous choice specimens of the artistic and curious from all parts of the world, including a fine art gallery.  He was married in 1884 to Lilain Cortez, daughter of Alexander McDowell, a lineal descendant of Elizabeth, sister of William Penn, and a cousin of General Irvine McDowell.  They have no children.

Adelbert Lorenzo Spitzer, banker, was born in Medina, Ohio in 1852, youngest son of Garret and Mary Jane (Branch) Spitzer, and great-great grandson of Dr. Ernestus de Spitzer.  On his mother's side he descends from James Thompson, who came from England with a large colony, under the lead of Governor Winthrop, landing on New England shores in June, 1630; he was one of the first settlers of Charlestown, Mass.  He died in 1682, at the age of eighty-nine years.  The Thompsons in England were eminent in the intellectual, social and religious world, a number of them being knighted.  James Thompson, a descendant of James, the colonist, with four of his five sons of twenty-one years and upwards, signed, with others, a covenant, adopted July 1, 1774, to join in the defense of the colonies against the aggressions of the mother country.  Two of his sons, John and Joseph, had already served in the French and Indian Wars; four sons, James, Jonathan, John and Joseph, and eight of his grandsons, were in the War of the Revolution.  Mary Hancock, the wife of James Thompson, was a cousin of John Hancock, Governor of Massachusetts.  Another ancestor, John Thompson, was one of the framers of the National Banking Act, and established the First National Bank of New York, the first bank that was organized in the United States under this act.  He later established the Chase National Bank of New York City, the name being given in honor of Salmon P. Chase, who was Mr. Thompson's warm and personal friend.  Mr. Spitzer, through his mother, is a cousin of eorge K. Nash, Governor of Ohio.  Mr. Spitzer was educated in the local schools and the Lodi (Ohio) Academy.  At the age of twenty he entered the Exchange Bank of Seville, Ohio, and became cashier, and in 1873, in partnership with his brother, Amherst T. Spitzer, he established the banking house of Spitzer Brothers at North Amherst, Ohio.  In 1878 he purchased his brother's interest.  The following year he was elected a director of the First National Bank of Oberlin, Ohio.  In 1882 he sold out the North Amherst Bank and removed to Toledo, associating himself with his cousin, Ceilan M. Spitzer, in the banking and investment business, under the firm name of Spitzer & Co.  Mr. Spitzer is a stockholder and director in five other banks, including the Merchants National Bank and Home Savings Bank in Toledo, and is secretary and treasurer of the Spitzer Building Company.  He is a member of the Toledo Country and Polo Clubs, of Toledo, being president of the last named; of the Middle Bass Club of Put-in-Bay, and the Triton Fish and Game Club, of Canada.  He is a well-known horseman and an excellent whip.  He has a large stable of horses, and with his four-in-hand coach, has won several blue ribbons at different horse shows and driving associations.  In 1875 he was married to Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Lyman L. Strong, a descendant of Caleb Strong, Governor of Massachusetts, and cousin of William Strong, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  They have three sons and one daugher, Carl B., Lyman S., Roland A., and Luette Ruth Spitzer.