James C. Spencer

Last updated

James Clarence Spencer
Texas State Representative from Henderson County
In office
1939–1941
Preceded byJap Lucas
Succeeded byJap Lucas
In office
1947–1949
Preceded byJap Lucas
Succeeded byJack Y. Hardee
Personal details
Born(1914-05-11)May 11, 1914
Athens
Henderson County
Texas, USA
DiedDecember 25, 2009(2009-12-25) (aged 95)
Lubbock, Texas
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s)(1) Oneita Hildebrand Spencer (divorced) (2) Catherine Clay Cox Spencer (married 1959-2009, his death)
ChildrenCharles H. Spencer
One step-daughter
Residence(1) Athens, Texas
(2) Lubbock, Texas
Alma mater Texas Tech University
Georgetown University
Occupation U.S. Postal Service employee

James Clarence Spencer (May 11, 1914 – December 25, 2009) [1] was a survivor of the Bataan Death March during World War II and a Democratic politician from Athens, the seat of Henderson County in east Texas.

Bataan Death March 1942 march moving prisoners of war during WWII

The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from Saysain Point, Bagac, Bataan and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, via San Fernando, Pampanga, where the prisoners were loaded onto trains. The transfer began on April 9, 1942, after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. The total distance marched from Mariveles to San Fernando and from the Capas Train Station to Camp O'Donnell is variously reported by differing sources as between 60 and 69.6 miles. Differing sources also report widely differing prisoner of war casualties prior to reaching Camp O'Donnell: from 5,000 to 18,000 Filipino deaths and 500 to 650 American deaths during the march. The march was characterized by severe physical abuse and wanton killings, and was later judged by an Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Democratic Party (United States) political party in the United States

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party.

Contents

Background

Spencer was born in Athens, the fifth of six children and the last surviving offspring, of Charles Augustus Spencer, a veteran of the Spanish–American War, [2] and the former Lillian Freeman. [3] At the age of twenty-four, he entered the Texas House of Representatives, serving two nonconsecutive terms from 1939–1941 and 1947–1949. [4] Spencer also served a term as the Henderson county judge, but his obituary does not clarify his dates of service in that position. [3]

Spanish–American War Conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States

The Spanish–American War was an armed conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba, leading to U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. The war led to emergence of U.S. predominance in the Caribbean region, and resulted in U.S. acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions. That led to U.S. involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately in the Philippine–American War.

Texas House of Representatives

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 Census, each member represents about 167,637 people. There are no term limits, with the most senior member, Tom Craddick, having been elected in 1968.

The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, and sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civil or criminal jurisdiction. In the United States, however, there are some "County Courts" which exercise primarily administrative functions, in which case the County Judge may exercise largely or solely executive authority and be equivalent to the county executive in other local government areas.

Bataan Death March

Between his state legislative terms, Spencer was a United States Army medic, who attained the rank of sergeant. [3] He was held as a prisoner of war for three years in the Philippine Islands, after having survived the notorious Bataan Death March. [2] Spencer told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in a 2008 interview that his captivity occurred during "a time of scarcity. Three years of near starvation with only meager rations of rice." [2]

United States Army Land warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces

The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution. As the oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States of America was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself descended from the Continental Army, and dates its institutional inception from the origin of that armed force in 1775.

Medic umbrella term for a person involved in medicine

A medic is an umbrella term for a person involved in medicine. The following fall under this term: a medical doctor, medical student and sometimes a medically-trained individual participating in an emergency such as a paramedic or an emergency medical responder.

Sergeant military rank

Sergeant is a rank in many uniformed organisations, principally military and policing forces. The alternate spelling, "serjeant", is used in The Rifles and other units that draw their heritage from the British Light Infantry. Its origin is the Latin "serviens", "one who serves", through the French term "sergent".

The march involved the forced transfer to prison camps of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners, including later Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who had been captured by the Japanese in April 1942 at the Bataan Peninsula. The emaciated prisoners were compelled to march sixty miles in tropical heat without food and medication. Only 54,000 survived the nearly week-long march, characterized by extreme physical abuse inflicted on the men by their captors. Spencer said that he survived the march because of his "belief in Christ and determination." He indicated that he would again undergo such brutality to "help my country." [2]

Ferdinand Marcos former President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. was a Filipino politician and kleptocrat who was the tenth President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. A leading member of the far-right New Society Movement, he ruled as a dictator under martial law from 1972 until 1981. His regime was infamous for its corruption, extravagance, and brutality.

For his meritorious service, Spencer was awarded the Bronze Star. He was an active member of the Hub of the Plains chapter of American Ex-Prisoners of War. [3]

Family life

In January 1959, Spencer married the former Catherine Clay Cox (November 4, 1914—March 10, 2011), or "Katy," a native of Dallas, Texas. Her parents, William Elias Cox and the former Mary Ida Clay, were rural schoolteachers who reared their family in Henderson County. James and Katy first met when they were nine years old at a spelling bee in Athens, Texas, and then again in a chemistry class at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where both were students. [5]

Spelling bee competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually with a varying degree of difficulty

A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually with a varying degree of difficulty. The concept is thought to have originated in the United States, and spelling bee events, along with variants, are now also held in some other countries around the world. The first winner of an official spelling bee was Frank Neuhauser, who won the 1st National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in 1925 at age eleven.

Chemistry is the scientific discipline involved with elements and compounds composed of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties, behavior and the changes they undergo during a reaction with other substances.

Texas Tech University Public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States

Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the main institution of the four-institution Texas Tech University System. The university's student enrollment is the seventh-largest in Texas as of the Fall 2017 semester. The university shares its campus with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, making it the only campus in Texas to house an undergraduate university, law school, and medical school.

From a previous marriage to the former Oneita Hildebrand, Spencer had a son, Charles H. Spencer (born 1954), who is married to Anita Spencer, of Houston, Texas. James and Oneita Spencer lived in Texarkana, but the obituary does not indicate whether their residence was in Texas or Arkansas or how long they lived there. [3] In 1936, Spencer received a degree in textile engineering from Texas Tech, presumably motivated by cotton which was then prevalent in east Texas. Nine years later upon his discharge from the military in 1945, Spencer served on the police force of the U.S. House of Representatives while he attended law school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. His obituary does not indicate if he received a law degree. With his second marriage, he moved to Lubbock to take a position with the U.S. Postal Service, which he held until his retirement in the middle 1980s. He was a member of the Masonic lodge. [3]

From her previous marriage, Katy Spencer had a daughter, Ann (a 1962 graduate of Texas Tech). Katy Spencer graduated from Texas Tech in 1934 at the age of nineteen with a degree in chemistry. She had a long career as a medical technologist, much of it at the Methodist Hospital in Lubbock, but also earlier at the Ragland Clinic in Gilmer in Upshur County, Texas. [5]

James and Katy Spencer were married just a few days short of fifty-one years. He died on Christmas Day 2009 in Lubbock, and she followed him in death some fifteen months later. They were members of the United Methodist church and are interred at Resthaven Cemetery in Lubbock. [3] [5]

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References

  1. ↑ "Spencer, James Clarence". Social Security Death Index . RootsWeb. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Former POW James Spencer values service to others". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal . September 22, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "James C. Spencer obituary". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. December 27, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Legislative Reference Library of Texas: James C. Spencer". lrl.state.tx.us. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "Catherine Spencer obituary". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, March 14. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by
Jap Lucas		 State Representative from Henderson County, Texas

James Clarence Spencer
1939–1941

Succeeded by
Jap Lucas
Preceded by
Jap Lucas		 State Representative from Henderson County, Texas

James Clarence Spencer
1947–1949

Succeeded by
Jack Y. Hardee
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