Dwight Spencer was born in Mansfield, Connecticut, on February 27, 1827. In 1851 he moved to Brooklyn, New York, and was employed as a bookkeeper and as a Sunday School worker until he was ordained in 1863. During the Civil War Spencer was a delegate for the United States Christian Commission. After the war he did evangelistic work and in 1869 became pastor at Fair Haven, Vermont. In 1880 Spencer became superintendent of missions for the Rocky Mountain District of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. His territory included Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. During his ten years in this position he started 30 churches and 33 Sunday Schools and built 25 meeting houses. After his tenure in the West, Spencer became secretary for the Wabash District of the Baptist Home Missionary Society for southern Illinois and Indiana and later for the New York District. He held that position until his resignation in 1901. During his stay with the Home Missionary Society he furthered his education earning a Masters of Arts degree in 1882 from Madison University, and in 1896 a Doctor of Divinity degree from Ewing College. In 1901 he became pastor for the Baptist Church in North Sutton, New Hampshire, and in 1906 pastor in Cheshire, Massachusetts. Spencer was married to Martha Hovey of Gorleyville, Connecticut, and the couple had a son, James Hovey Spencer. Martha Hovey Spencer died in 1908. Dwight Spencer died on September 17, 1910. James Hovey Spencer was born February 17, 1860, in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Brown University in 1882. After a year as principal of Greenwich Academy in New York and four years as an insurance salesman, he went to Rochester Theological Seminary. Staying only a year, he moved to Montana in 1889. In 1890 Spencer became the first Baptist minister ordained in Montana. During his first tenure he was pastor at Boulder, Butte, Helena, and Anaconda. While in Butte he met and married Cora Singleton Wishon. The couple's children included Marion, Frances, and Dwight Spencer. In 1897 James Hovey Spencer left Montana and went to North Adams, Massachusetts, staying there fourteen years. He then served in Colorado, with pastorates at Denver and Colorado Springs. During this time he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Brown University. After 1917 Spencer spent several years working for the national church and held short pastorates in Toledo, Ohio, and New York City. He then served as pastor-at-large for the Montana Baptist Convention, and briefly held pastorates in Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1928 he entered semi-retirement until his death in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on August 11, 1940. James H. Spencer was a member of the World Survey Committee for the Northern Baptist Convention, vice president of the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, trustee of Colorado Women's College, vice president of the Colorado Baptist Convention, and president of the Colorado Baptist Assembly. Marion Spencer was born August 1, 1900 in North Adams, Massachusetts. Frances Spencer graduated in the class of 1921 from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. Dwight Spencer was a lieutenant in the marine corps during World War I. Spencer Wilson, a grandson of James Hovey Spencer, taught history at a college in New Mexico and wrote several articles about members of his family.