Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
SPECHT, John Sr.
SPECHT, John Sr. (Byron, Germany, 1807--Dubuque County, Oct. 24, 1866). Specht arrived in the United States in 1832. He remained in New York City a short time and then moved to Dubuque where he lived five years working as a carpenter.
He moved to Peru Township and purchased 1,300 acres of land and settled down. He lived there the rest of his life. Upon his death, he left 1,300 acres of land in Iowa, land in Minnesota, and the only ferry to operate between Specht's Ferry, Potosi, and Dubuque. The land was divided among his children and the ferry became the property of his widow.
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Portrait and Biographical Record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton Counties, Iowa. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1894, p. 145