G. A. Sprecher, M. D., formerly a practicing physician of Cincinnati, Ohio, and now the proprietor of the well-known “Colton Pharmacy,” which is located in the center of the city, has been a resident of Colton since 1884. The Doctor has found time to identify himself with and aid in the business and public enterprises which wrought the wonderful change in the city of Colton during the five years antedating 1889. His drug store, the Colton Pharmacy, is one of the most complete in the city, and a credit to any community, for Dr. Sprecher is a thorough master of his profession, a skillful druggist and chemist. He has been prominent in building up the city in which he has large real-estate interests. Aside from his residence and business property he owns quite a number of cottage residences. He has also 640 acres of ranch land in Riche Canon, three and a half miles southeast of Colton, and property in Perris and other places.
The Doctor was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1844. While a mere lad his parents moved to Ohio and settled in Clark County, where he was reared and schooled. His educational facilities were of the best, and he entered as a student in the Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio, of which his father was president. In January 1863, he cast aside his books and devoted himself to his country as a private soldier in the Seventeenth Ohio Battery; after a few months in the service he was promoted to hospital steward and served faithfully until the close of the war and peace was once more proclaimed. During his service he took part in hard campaigns, sieges and hotly con tested battles, among which were the siege of Vicksburg, Red River Expedition, Port Hudson, Arkansas Post, siege of Mobile and assault and capture of Fort Blakeley. The Doctor received his honorable discharge in 1865. He then returned to his studies and upon completing his classical course entered upon the study of medicine, and graduated from the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati, after which he engaged in the practice of his profession, and for the ten years or more preceding 1880 was a practicing physician in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
In 1881 he came to California and located in Oakland, and in 1884 he came to Colton. The Doctor is well known in the professional and business circles of the county. He is a member of San Bernardino County Medical Association, Southern California Medical Association and the California State Medical Society. He is a Republican in politics, a member of the County Central Committee and a worker in the ranks of his party. He is a member of Colton Post, No. 130, Grand Army of the Republic, and is a Past Commander in the order of Knights of Pythias.
Dr. Sprecher was married in 1883 to Miss Lizzie F. Bashford, the daughter of Governor Coles Bashford, formerly Governor of Wisconsin, and later Attorney General of Arizona, at the organization of the Territory. Dr. Sprecher’s father is the Rev. Samuel Sprecher, D. D., LL. D., a native of Maryland and a noted divine, well known in the Eastern and Middle states. He was for more than thirty years the president of the Wittenberg College of Springfield, Ohio, and at this writing (1889) is president of the San Diego College of Letters. He came to Southern California in 1886, and has since resided in San Diego. Luther M. Sprecher, a prominent attorney and Justice of the Peace of Colton, is a brother of Dr. Sprecher. The Rev. Dr. S. P. Sprecher, of Cleveland, Ohio, is another brother.
