Speer Family and Descendants in AmericaThis link is for my most recent uploaded database, hosted by RootsWeb.com:
<http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=DESC&db=berryhill2011&id=I893
It is as COMPLETE as I have at present. If you find errors, have additional information or family photos you would to share with me — email me. As my schedule allows I will add photos I have found that relate to this “branch” and related families.
Thank you for visiting.
– Cathy Ann Abernathy
weavercat@gmail.com
5 references to speer in this book
1. on Page 105:
“Its warrant was granted on June 4, 1852, to “John Brownlee, W.M., John C. Speer”
2. on Page 107:
“A.J. SPEER HOME, LOWNDESVILLE. This home was built in 1854 by Julius F.C. DuPre, who became a professor”
3. on Page 118:
“118 SPEER PLANTATION. The original house appears to date to the 1780s. William Speer Sr”
4. on Page 119:
“GEORGE WASHINGTON SPEER. Pictured in his Confederate uniform in 1861 in Charleston, South Carolina”
5. from Intro Pages:
“Bob Speer, who cheered us on and collected photos; our hue West photo “scout” Mr. Millen Ellis; and Mr. Bill Rogers (past … “
via Amazon.co.uk: Books: Abbeville County (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)).
Original members of the famous Speer Family delight the students at Ben Speer’s Stamps/Baxter School of Music, Nashville, August, 1994.
Mary Tom (Speer) Reid was the original alto of The Speer Family. When she married in 1954, and became a minister’s wife, she left the group to support her husband’s ministry and raise her family of three children. After the untimely death of her husband, she returned to Nashville and became the secretary for Ben Speer Music where she still works on a full time basis. Mary Tom has rejoined her brothers and sister and is back singing with the First Family of Gospel Music. She can still hold her own with the best of vocalists. Students of the Stamps-Baxter School of Music, of which she is a staff member and dorm mother, have come to love and adore her. Bill Gaither has said that he gets numerous comments about Mary Tom’s smile and pleasantness on the Homecoming Videos. That smile and pleasantness is not put on for the cameras, but is the way Mary Tom is in real life.
via Mary Tom Speer.
Ben Speer was an active member of The Speers for the majority of his life. From the time he was a small child to the early 1990′s, he was lead singer for The Speers. In 1997, when the Speer brothers and sisters reformed the group as a family, Ben returned as lead singer for the First Family of Gospel Music. He is also the baritone singer for the Homeland Quartet. In addition to his singing responsibilities, he is a partner of Suite 16 Recording Studio and produces the famous Homeland EZ Key Soundtracks. Shortly after the first Bill Gaither Homecoming Video was released, Ben became Music Director for the video series. He coordinates all music for the videos and is a regular member of each live Homecoming Concert date. Ben owns and operates Ben Speer Music. Each summer, he helps out the youth in gospel music by sponsoring the Stamps-Baxter School of Music. Ben is a member of the GMA Hall of Fame and of the SGMA Hall of Fame.
via Ben Speer.
Brock Speer Videos [Comedy, Classics and Character - 1988 - several parts]
Biography by Sandra Brennan & Bil Carpenter
An important reference point in the appreciation of traditional Southern gospel quartet singing, the Speer Family emerged when there were countless Southern gospel quartets, but continued to perform into the 1990s. Although the Speer lineup had changed over the years, their music in the ’90s was still true to the music they were making when the group was formed by patriarch G.T. in 1921.
G.T. Speer was born in a rural community near Fayetteville, Georgia, and worked as a teacher at the Stamps-Baxter School of Music in Dallas. He also taught at the Vaughan School of Music, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. The first incarnation of the Speers was formed in 1921 with his wife Lena… Read More…
GOGR Music History -
The Speer Family
Dad Speer once recorded a song entitled “Time Has Made a Change.” Although at the time, that seemed a long ways away for the Speer children, but it finally happened.
Although the nucleus for the Speer Family remained secure for many years, the “adopted” Speers were like a revolving door. As mentioned in the previous article, soprano Caroline Traylor passed away after a bout with cancer. The Speers didn’t immediately replace her and recorded two projects without a soprano vocalist. “Stepping Out on Faith” and “Celebration at Sea” featured the voices of Ben, Brock, and Faye Speer with Harold Lane. Harold Lane left the group in 1988. He was replaced by Bill Itzell and Jane Greene joined as soprano vocalist. The Speers continued to experience success on the charts with this group. “Saved to the Uttermost” and “He’s Still in the Fire” were two of their greatest recordings.
GOGR Music History -
The Speer Family
The Speer Family moved to Nashville, Tennessee shortly after Brock was discharged from the Air Force. Brock felt the calling of God to the ministry and he enrolled at Trevecca Nazarene College. The Speer Family established themselves amid the music world of Nashville. They had a morning radio show and traveled around singing their gospel music. At this time, there were few mixed gospel groups traveling about the country.
Brock would have probably become a minister, had his father not experienced some dental problems. It’s amazing how God works His magic. Dad had his teeth extracted, and he began experiencing some trouble speaking from the stage. He turned the emcee duties over to Brock, and Brock soon found out that he could do his own version of sermonizing without the benefit of a pulpit. Through the ministry of music, Brock was able to relay the gospel to countless thousands.
GOGR Music History -
Through the years, my writings have seemed to feature male quartets and trios, but I also have a secret love in my heart for a few select mixed groups. My favorite mixed group is the Speer Family. They were featured on the first gospel concert that I ever attended, and I fell in love with their classic sound. That night, the group consisted of Brock and Ben Speer, Jeannie Johnson, Harold Lane, and Ann Sanders. This was shortly after Jeannie Johnson had joined the group, and I remember that she was featured quite prominently that evening.
The members of Speer Family have had a great impact upon the history of gospel music. Five of them are members of the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame. George Thomas Speer was a noted gospel songwriter and teacher. He married the love of his life, Lena Brock, in Athens, Alabama February 27, 1920. Lena and Tom (who will forever be known as Mom and Dad Speer both in their professional life and in my writing) shared a love of gospel music, and were raised in singing families. Dad Speer often said, “I met a singer’s daughter at a singing convention, got married in a singer’s home, and raised a singing family.” Nothing could better express the life of Mom and Dad Speer.
weavercat