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WILLIAM SPRAGGS and EMILY ATTWOOD

(S8 and S9)

19 Jan 2002

Born: c1819 Walsoken, Norfolk County, England[1]; baptized 29 Sep 1819 at Wisbech, St. Peter, Cambridgeshire[2] son of John Spraggs and Patience Wade 

Died: ---- 1864, probably at Downers Grove, IL[3]

Marriages:

(1) 2 Apr 1844 to Susan [Susanna] Johnson, spinster, at the General Baptist Chapel[4], Wisbech, in the district of Wisbech St. Peter's, Cambridgeshire, England.  Susan's father was John Johnson, a carpenter, who was deceased at the time of Susan's marriage.[5]  Susan was b. c1821 in Wisbech and she was 30 years old as of 20 Mar 1851.[6] 

On 29 Jul 1853, at the age of 32,  Susanna died at Walsoken (also referred to as New Walsoken by another source) from consumption which she had suffered for six months.  John William [sic] was present at the time of her death.[7]  Susan was buried 11 Aug 1853, at the age of 32, at Wisbech General Cemetery, Plan C466.  No grave marker remains.[8] 

(2) 15 May 1854 to Emily Attwood, at the Providence Chapel, Walsoken, in the district of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England.  The ceremony was according to the rites of the Primitive Methodists.  Witnesses were William Hammond and Hannah Bone.[9]  Emily was b. c1832 in West Walton, Norfolk.[10]  She was a 26 year old spinster living at the Crescent in Wisbech when she married.[11]  In 1861 she was enumerated as being 29 years of age.[12]

 It is probable that Emily was the daughter of John Attwood and Jane Knight of West Walton.[13]  In 1841 John, at the age of 50, was an agricultural laborer, in West Walton.  In 1854, at the time of Emily's marriage, her father was a laborer.  If her parentage is found to be correct, Emily then also had two sisters, Caroline and Sarah Harriot.  Caroline was b. 28 Feb 1823 and baptized 8 May 1831. Sarah Harriott was b. 5 May 1835 and baptized 10 May 1835.  A brother, Middleton, was b. 9 Aug 1827 and baptized 8 May 1831.

 Children:  From the marriage with Susan Johnson:

 (1) Eliza Jane, b. 21 Feb 1855 at Walsoken[14] and bapt. 22 Apr 1855.[15]  In 1861 she was six years old and a scholar.[16]  She d. 26 May 1863 at Walsoken when she was 8 years old.  The cause of her death was typhoid and her father was present when she died.[17]  Another source said that her residence was at New Walsoken. She was buried 3l May 1863 at Wisbech General Cemetery, plan C467. No grave marker remains.

 From the marriage with Emily Attwood:

 *(1) Arthur William, b.16 Mar 1856 at Walsoken.  At the age of 5, in 1861, he was a scholar.  He d. 29 December 1915, at La Grange, IL  (see separate file)

 (2) Emily Louisa, b. 10 May 1859 at Walsoken.[18]  In 1861 she was 2 years old.[19]  She d. 25 Aug 1944, at Los Angeles, CA.  Emily married James T. Edwards 28 Oct 1885 in Cook Co.[20]

 Biography:  On 2 Dec 1839 William witnessed a marriage between William Brooks and Elizabeth Tiffin at Wisbech St. Peter parish. In 1844 William was employed as a gardener in Wisbech, following the same vocation as his father.  For some unknown length of time he was a gardener at the Peckover estate located on the quay of the River Nene in central Wisbech.  His residence at the time of his first marriage was on Timber Market Street in Wisbech.  In 1851 William was employed as a grocer and draper. It is possible that Susan, his first wife, assisted him in this business.  At the time of her death he was classified as a gardener.[21] 

By the age of 33 (1854) William was a widower with a child so he remarried and the couple lived on Marshfield Road in Walsoken, a village next to and east of Wisbech, but in Norfolk county. William continued being a gardener in 1855 and 1859[22], and by 186l three children, including two from his second marriage, comprised the family. 

The family emigrated to the United States in early 1864[23], when William was a market gardener.[24]  The change was undoubtedly due either to personal or geographic economic problems, the desire to see friends and relatives there, or possibly because of the death of the oldest daughter Eliza Jane in May 1863.  However, hardships turned to total disaster after the crossing had been accomplished.  Their grandson, Arthur William Sprague, recalled family memories that within six months of arriving in the land of promise, the parents died from diphtheria or typhoid, probably at Downers Grove, IL.

Following the deaths of their parents, Arthur William and Emily were apparently unofficially adopted and reared thereafter by Emily's uncle John Attwood and wife on their farm in Downers Grove, IL.  It is not evident what the geographic destination of the Spraggs was once they landed in America. However, it is clear that there were several people from the Wisbech area who had settled in the Downers Grove vicinity prior to the Spraggs' arrival there.  It has not been determined whether or not the Spraggs had purchased land before their deaths.

It should be noted that by 1870 the Spraggs children were called by the name Sprague.  This change was made either when immigration officials processed the Spraggs or because the children or Emily's uncle John Attwood desired a form of their name that was more common in the United States.  Adjustment to their orphaned immigrant situation must have been difficult enough without having the added problem of an unusual name in their new community and family.

In the Main Street cemetery in Downers Grove, IL, there are two flat white marble grave markers which read simply "William Spraggs 1821-1864" and "Emily L. Spraggs 1829-1864".  These markers are obviously relatively new and are replacements for original ones.  No documentation has been discovered regarding the deaths or burials of the Spraggs.  There do not appear to be surviving records in the village of Downers Grove or in the DuPage county clerk's office of this unfortunate couple.

[2]Parish Register, Wisbech St. Peter

[3]Grave marker, Main St. Cemetery, Downers Grove, IL

[4]The church was erected in 1803 at Ely Place (the Crescent).  It was "a plain building, differing little in style from the adjoining houses on both sides." In 1836 the congregation erected a "commodious building used as a Sunday School by the society, and a girls' British school during the week.  Post Office Directory of the Norfolk County, London: W. Kelly and Co., 1847

[5]Marriage certificate for William Spraggs and Emily Attwood, General Register Office, London

[6]Census of 1851, Walsoken; FHL film #0193661  Her marriage certificate said she was of "full age" (at least 21) at the time of her marriage

[7]Death certificate for Susanna Spraggs, General Register Office, London.

[8]Wisbech General Cemetery records

[9]Marriage certificate, GRO.  The Primitive Methodists "have a small but neat chapel in New Walsoken erected in 1836.  This chapel will seat about 400 hearers. The Primitive Methodists profess to restore Methodism to what it was in the days of John Wesley.  They originated in Yorkshire, about thirty years ago, under the leadership of Hugh Bourn and others."  Post Office Directory of the Norfolk County, London: W. Kelly and Co., 1847

[10]Census, 1861 for Walsoken

[11]Marriage certificate

[12]Census, 1861 for Walsoken

[13]Emily's marriage certificate stated her father to be John Attwood

[14]Birth Certificate, Walsoken Registration District

[15]Wesleyan Methodist Register of Baptisms 1852-1870.  This is the original book, not a copy, and was viewed by A.W. Sprague in May 2001 at Shire Hall, the Cambridge County Record Center, at Cambridge, England

[16]1861 Census for Walsoken

[17]Death certificate for Eliza Jane Spraggs, General Register Office, London.

[18]Birth Certificate, Walsoken Registration District

[19]1861 Census for Walsoken

[20]Certificate #00096960

[21]Certificate of death for Susanna Spraggs, General Register Office, London.

[22]His children's birth certificates stated that William was a master gardener

[23]U.S. Census, 1910 for DeKalb, IL

[24]Certificate of death for Eliza Jane Spraggs, General Register Office, London.