Mr. John Speer was born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, Dec. 27, 1819. At the age of 18, he began learning the printer’s trade. In 1839, he went to New Castle, PA, where he published a Whig paper for about six months, supporting Gen. W. H. Harrison for President. On the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, he decided to emigrate to the Kansas Territory with his brother Joseph. They arrived in Lawrence Sept, 27, 1854. There was only one log house and the town was unnamed. The first party of the New England Emmigrant Aid Association had arrived and were in tents (100 men and one woman). Men were cutting hay on the corner of Massachusetts and Henry (8th) Streets.

On Oct. 15, 1854, they published “The Kansas Pioneer” in Ohio, dating it from Lawrence. It contained the proceeding of the meeting at Lawrence which named the town a few days before. The second issue of the paper was during the first week of January, 1855 and the name was changed to “Kansas Tribune.” Vol. 1, No. 2, July 1855, is devoted entirely to Gov. Robinson’s Fourth of July oration.

Mr. Speer was often in danger because of his fearless attack upon the institution of slavery. He was very influential in making Kansas a free state. As a member of the first Free State Territorial legislature, he introduced the first bill to establish a civil code in Kansas.

At the time of Quantrill’s Raid, Aug. 21, 1863, his printing office was burned, his two sons, John M. and Robert, were murdered. The remains of the latter were never found, but his body is supposed to have burned in the ruins of the town. John was shot down at the corner of New Hampshire and Henry (8th) Streets and the Speer House was set on fire but saved by his heroic wife.

In 1864, Speer was a delegate to the Grand Sovereign Union League of America, which nominated Lincoln for a second term as President. He was also the first State Printer.

He married Miss Elizabeth Duplissey McMohan on July 14, 1842 at Corydon, Indiana. She was a brave woman, a good wife, and a loving mother. She died April 19, 1876.

Mr. Speer had such an eventful career that a concise story must omit many things. As an author he is best known for his book, “Life of Gen. James H. Lane.” He composed the life of Lane as he set the type and did this unique thing when he was eighty years old and was living in Wichita with his son.

After leaving Kansas, Mr. Speer lived in Denver, CO where he died at he home of his daughter, Dec. 15, 1906