William L. Spicer
| William Leach Spicer | |
|---|---|
| Chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party | |
|
In office 1962–1964 |
|
| Preceded by | Benjamin Charles Henley |
| Succeeded by | John Paul Hammerschmidt |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 10, 1918 Yell County Arkansas, USA |
| Died | September 23, 1991 (aged 72) Arkansas |
| Spouse(s) | Freda Cowell Spicer |
| Children |
David Spicer |
| Residence | Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas, USA |
| Occupation | Businessman |
David Spicer
Michael Spicer
William Leach Spicer (October 10, 1918 – September 23, 1991) was a businessman from Fort Smith, Arkansas, who from 1962 to 1964 was the embattled state chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party.
Originally supported for the position by Winthrop Rockefeller of Morrilton, Spicer soon broke with Rockefeller, the party's key financial backer, over matters of policy issues and party function. Spicer declined to seek reelection as the chairman, but he had resisted intraparty calls that he resign before his term ended in August 1964. He suggested that he could support a "Republicans for Faubus" organization against Rockefeller's gubernatorial bid in 1964, but he remained committed to Republican presidential nominee Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona, whom Rockefeller supported once Goldwater was nominated.
A native of Yell County in western Arkansas, Spicer was the only child of William Jacob Spicer (1893-1979), a Methodist minister for sixty-four years, and the former Ora Leach (1896-1989), hence his middle name. The couple married in 1917 in Logan County, Arkansas. William J. and Ora Spicer are interred at Oak Hill Memorial Cemetery in Booneville in Logan County.
Spicer's paternal grandparents were Monroe Moses Spicer (1876-1926) and the former Delia C. Cummings (1873-1957); they are interred at Stony Point Cemetery, also in Logan County.
In the 1930 census, Spicer was living with his parents in Woodruff County in eastern Arkansas. In the 1940 census, Spicer, then twenty-one, was listed as residing still with his parents in Wynne in Cross County, also in eastern Arkansas, where his father, then forty-six, was a pastor. In 1946, Spicer married the former Freda Cowell in Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, possibly while having been on military duty during World War II. The couple had three children, David, Michael, and Sarah Spicer. Mrs. Spicer died in Australia in 1983.
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