James Lee Spicer and Florence Crick were married in 1914, both having
     come to Barber County before the turn of the century. They lived in the
     Hazelton and Kiowa communities most of their lives as farmes, renting
     the Nels Jansen farm north of Kiowa. There were seven of us children in
     the family. We went to the Union School and Kiowa High School.
       Being farmers we all worked hard in the fields, Milked cows, fed live-
     stock, and raised chickens. The summers were always long and hot and the
     winters were long and cold. In the winter we cut wood to last all year 
     for heating and cooking. The girls did housework, sewed, gardened and
     did some of the chores. We walked two miles to school.
       We did have some time for recreation - swimming and fishing in Medicine
     River which ran through our farm. We liked to hunt in the winter.
       Family names of close neighbors were: Nels Jansen, Roy Howard, John
     Whittle, Charlie Karp, Bert Nida, Roy Smith.
       Memories of home and experiences seem to all be during the Great Depression
     days. We had lots of illness in our family those years. Papa was a diabetic; 
     four of the famil had appendectomies; Ernie broke his leg. We all had the
     chicken pox and measles in 1933 and 1934.
       Early outstanding and enjoyable memories were the times we went to Grandpa
     and Grandma Spicer's for family reunions and Sunday dinners, also to Grandpa
     and Grandma Warrington's in Medicine Lodge.
       Our social life was centered around community activities - school and church.
     In 1934 and 1935, the young adults of the Union School District put on two
     three-act plays, "Deacon Dubbs" and "Everybodys's Getting Married." That
     was lots of fun!
       In 1937, I (Charles) became a Christian and was called to the ministry;
     I joined the Church of the Nazarene in Kiowa. I left the farm in 1939 to
     go to school in Hutchinson; I graduated from Bethany Nazarene College in 
     Bethany, Oklahoma, in 1943. Also - that year I took my first pastorate,
     was ordained by the church, and was married. Quite a year!
       We all worked hard and enjoyed our family and friends. We were poor and
     couldn't contribute much to the economy of the community, but neither were
     we a burden to the community. We took care of ourselves as law-abiding
     citizens; noe was ever arrested or had to go to court or jail. But - we owe
     a great dept of gratitude to all the wonderful people of Barbe County. Barber
     County is still "home" to us all.
       Opal married Leonard Cox, Van Mathew's nephew, and went to California in
     1935. By 1943 all the family except me had moved to California.
       Papa died in 1949 and Mother died in 1963. Opal Cox and ;Max Spicer died
     in 1977. The rest of the fmaily all live in California but my wife and me.
     We are semi-retired from 36 years of pastoral ministry and live in Amarillo,
     Texas. Helen Roelen and Edythe Stacy live in Los Osos, California. Ray Spicer
     and Ernest Spicer plan to retire there in a few years.
                
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas, pg. 434 
     Submitted by: Charles M. Spicer