Ventura
County
Biographies
MRS. AGNES
IDELLA (BURNHAM) SPENCER
Mrs.
Agnes Idella (Burnham) Spencer was born in Chaplin, Windham County,
Connecticut, December 14, 1866. Her parents were Chester and Mary (Canada)
Burnham, the former born in Hampton, Windham County, Connecticut, March 13,
1843, and the latter in New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, October 16, 1842.
Chester Burnham, of English descent, was a son of Asa
Burnham, a grandson of Adoniah Burnham, a
great-grandson of Andrew Burnham, a great-great-grandson of Ebenezer Burnham, a
great-great-great-grandson of Josiah Burnham and a
great-great-great-great-grandson of Deacon John Burnham. The last named who was born in 1618, settled
in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and passed away in 1694. Deacon John Burnham, a solider of the French
and Indians wars, was a son of Robert and Mary (Andrews) Burnham, who were
married in 1608 in Norwich, Norfolk, England.
John Burnham fought in the Revolution.
Mrs. Mary (Canada) Burnham, the mother of Mrs. Agnes Idella Spencer, was
Scotch and French descent. Her
grandfather, Captain Pierre Brugman, born in the
family chateau in France, became the owner of three merchant ships. Her father died in Los Angeles, January 26,
1925, at the age of eighty-one years.
Her mother is still living, aged ninety.
Agnes
Idella Burnham acquired her early education in the
Old South School of Hartford, Connecticut, where she completed the high school
course as a member of the class of 1886.
She also studied pipe organ and sang in church choirs until the age of
fifty. Until her marriage she was very
active in the work of the Memorial Church, built by Mrs. Samuel Colt, and she
was also a valued member of the Hartford Choral Society and the Shakespeare
Club.
On
the 24th of august, 1891, at the Church of the Good Shepherd in
Hartford, Connecticut, Agnes Idella Burnham was married by the Rev. Samuel
Hart, dean of the Berkeley Divinity School, to the Rev. Uriel
Heber Spencer, M. A. The Rev. Spencer
was born in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, March 27, 1864,
and completed a high school course at Springfield, Massachusetts. Subsequently he was graduated from Trinity
College of Hartford, Connecticut, and later received the degree of Master of
Arts from his alma mater as a member of the class of 1890. The following year he removed to Nebraska and
two years later, in 1894, assumed the pastorate of Christ Church in Ontario,
San Bernardino County, California. He
resided in the city of Orange for two years and afterward became rector of St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church in Ventura, California.
Returning east, he resided for a time in Ivoryton,
Connecticut, but eventually returned to Ventura, California, where he died soon
afterward, having suffered a prolonged illness.
His death occurred January 9, 1902, when he was in his thirty-sixth
year. To him and his wife were born
three children: Philip B. served in the
World War in Company H, Seventy-sixth Infantry, U. S. A., and is a thirty-second
degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner.
He married Dorothy Broome of Ohio, and has a daughter, Barbara. Chester Burnham served in the Sixteenth Coast
Artillery Detachment at Fort Mills Corregidor, Philippine Islands, during the
World War and lost his life as a result of his service, dying January 21,
919. Agnes I.,
died at the age of thirteen years.
Mrs.
Agnes I. Spencer worked for the national marketing bill before congress in
1916, sponsored by David Lubin, and was associated
with Mrs. David McCann in the Outlook Association as a public speaker and as
secretary. She was in charge of the
information bureau at Red Cross headquarters during the first six months of
America’s participation in the World War, in 1917, and was associate organizer
of the salvage department with its originator, Mrs. Otheman
Stevens. She rendered effective service
to the government in the Liberty Loan drives as precinct secretary, with Mrs. Isador Dockweiler as chairman. A staunch supporter of the Republican Party,
Mrs. Spencer served on the election board as judge in 1917, 1918 and 1919. She was an organizer and charter member of
the woman’s auxiliary to American Legion Post No. 8, in 1920, and served as parliamentarian. In 1924 she became a member of the Gold Star
Mothers, of which organization she was president for two years. She has been a lifelong member of the
Episcopal Church and has taken an active and helpful part in its work as
organist and Sunday school teacher. Her
activities have reached out along many lines of usefulness and all who know her
hold her in warm regard and high esteem.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 789-791,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S VENTURA BIOGRAPHIES