An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H.K. Hines, D.D., The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, IL., 1893 D.A. SPENCER, secretary and manager of the Home Fire Insurance Company of Seattle, was born in Watertown, Connecticut, in 1840. His parents, George C. and Eliza (Partre) Spencer, were natives of the same State, descended from Puritan stock, of English and French Hugnenot ancestry. George C. followed a varied occupation in Connecticut and subsequently moved to Newburg, New York, where he engaged extensively in the manufacture of soap. His son, the subject of this sketch, attended the common schools and then entered Williston Seminary in Massachusetts, where he completed his education. He then joined his father at Newburg and was engaged in the factory up to 1860, when he went to China and for four years was employed in the commission houses of Bull, Purdon & Co. of Thong Kong and H. Fogg & Co. of Shanghai. In 1804 Mr. Spencer returned to the United States and began the study of law with his uncle, Judge John Pitcher, of Mt. Vernon, Indiana, a lawyer of prominence, who died in 1892, aged ninety-eight years, and being the last living member of the first Indiana Legislature. Mr. Spencer was admitted to the bar at Mt. Vernon, in 1865, when by reason of the illness of his mother, he returned home and at his father's urgent request joined him in the manufacturing business. In 1868 the factory was sold and our subject engaged in the life insurance business in New York and Pennsylvania. This occupation he followed two years, then accompanied his father to Atlanta, Georgia, and engaged in manufacturing. On account of the unsettled conditions existing in the South the business was not a success, and Mr. Spencer entered the Government service in the office of the United States Marshal at Atlanta, and as cashier and Chief Deputy remained until 1877, when he was appointed United States Treasury Agent, and served in that capacity until January 1, 1880. He then resigned and settled in Keokuk, Iowa, and was there appointed Deputy County Treasurer, and held the office until 1884, when he removed to San Francisco, and, in January, 1885, went into the office of the Pacific Insurance Union. In February, 1887, he became special agent and adjuster for the Oakland Home Insurance Company, which position he resigned in October, 1889, to accept the secretaryship and general management of the Home Fire Insurance Company of Seattle. This company was established in 1888 by the leading bankers and business men of the city, with a subscribed capital of $100,000. Only ten per cent of which was paid up. When the great fire of 1889 swept through the city of Seattle, like many another local company, the Home had a large amount of insurance in that portion of the city which burned and the loss to the company amounted to $85,000. In spite of the fact that almost every stock holder was an individual loser, the money was at once put up and the losses paid promptly as those of any other company doing business in the city. The stockholders immediately voted $150,000 additional stock, which with the exception of small amounts was taken by the original holders; and there has been comparatively little change in the company to this date. When Mr. Spencer assumed the management the company was doing very little business, but his experience added a new impetus, and the company is now classed among the first of the State. Mr. Spencer was married at Newburg, New York, in 1868, to Miss Ida J. Rayner, a native of New York city. They have two children, Mary and Edward A. Mr. Spencer is a devotee of his profession, and, being endowed with keen foresight and good judgment, is eminently fitted for the position to which he was so honorably called. Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in January 2004 by Jeffrey L. Elmer * * * * Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the individual featured in the biographies.