John Randolph Spears (1850–1936) was an American author and journalist. Biography John Randolph Spears was born at Van Wert, Ohio on April 21, 1850. He married Celestia Smiley on November 11, 1873. In 1875, he became editor of the East Aurora Advertiser, and the next year he founded the Silver Creek Local. He was a reporter on the Buffalo Express from 1880 until 1882, when he joined the staff of the New York Sun. Later, devoting himself to writing, he settled at Little Falls, N. Y. He died in Utica, New York on January 25, 1936. Publications The Hatfields and the McCoys: The Dramatic Story of a Mountain Feud (1888) The Gold Diggings of Cape Horn (1895) The Port of Missing Ships and Other Stories of the Sea (1896) The History of Our Navy from its Origin to the Present Day (five volumes, 1897-1899) The Fugitive (1899) The American Slave Trade (1900; new edition, 1907) David G. Farragut (1905) A History of the United States Navy (1907) The Story of New England Whalers (1908) A History of the American Navy (1909) The Story of the American Merchant Marine (1910) Master Mariners (1911) Online reading (Also 1927, 1960, 1971, 2008 editions) References External links Historical Materials from Southern Patagonia Works by John Randolph Spears, Google Books History of Buffalo, New York People from Van Wert, Ohio 1850 births 1936 deaths Historians from Ohio