1859 Warren Ohio Employment Contract – Judge Edward Spear – Sash Factory & Planing Mill

Original handwritten employment contract dated March 15, 1859, at Warren, Ohio, documenting an agreement between Thomas Webb and Edward Spear concerning work at Spear’s sash factory and planing mill.

Under the agreement, Webb was to work “faithfully, well and labor” for Spear for a term of two years at his sash factory and planing mill in Warren. Spear agreed to compensate him at the rate of $75 per year plus board, provided the work was faithfully performed.

The document is signed by both Thomas Webb and Edward Spear.

Edward Spear (1792–1873) was a prominent early resident of Warren, Ohio. Historical records identify him as an Associate Judge of the Common Pleas Court for seven years and a Justice of the Peace until his death. He was also active in Warren civic and religious life.

Spear was the father of William Thomas Spear, who later became a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio and served on that court for 28 years.

An appealing piece of original pre-Civil War Ohio history documenting labor, wages and the local woodworking industry in Warren just two years before the beginning of the American Civil War.

The surviving period docket notation on the folded exterior reads in part “Contract between Edward Spear and Thomas Webb.”

Date: March 15, 1859
Place: Warren, Ohio
People: Edward Spear and Thomas Webb
Document type: Handwritten employment contract
Industry: Sash manufacturing / planing mill

Condition: Good antique condition for its age. Original horizontal and vertical folds from historical storage, scattered small age spots and minor discoloration, light handling wear and edge irregularities. Writing and signatures remain clearly legible. The reverse/folded exterior retains its original handwritten docket notation. Please examine all photographs carefully for condition.

Historical note: Edward Spear’s identity and public service in Warren are documented in published histories of Trumbull County. Thomas Webb’s identity has not been independently established, and no additional biographical attribution is made.