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Some of our Spracklens spelled their name Spracklin.  Here is a link to a Spracklen website with lots of information.

The following passage is copied from a typewritten manuscript.  It is probably a biography taken from a county history.   County Histories were popular in the late 1800s to the early 1900s.  People usually paid to have their biographies included in the County Histories.

    Maria Louisa Spracklen was born in Benton County, Iowa near the present site of Belle Plaine in 1858.   She was the eldest daughter of Peter and Catherine Spracklen.  Her father was born in Knox County, Ohio in 1826 and was of English Parentage.  Her paternal grandfather came directly from England.  Her mother was Catherine Russell who was born in Greenville, Tennessee in 1837.  She was of English and German parentage.  She came north to visit a brother.  Here she met Peter Spracklen, a widower with one child by a former marriage.  They were married in 1856.  There were nine children born to this union, all who grew to man and womanhood except one son who died in infancy.  Mrs. Heaton’s parents lived at Belle Plaine for many years where her father was an extensive landowner and a breeder of purebred stock.  Mrs. Heaton’s mother being an invalid for many years and she being the eldest child, she assumed much of the responsibility of the family at an early age.  She attended the public schools at Belle Plaine and later attended the teachers Normal at Vinton, Iowa where she met Mr. Heaton.

    After finishing their courses here they were both engaged in the teaching profession and were later married.

    Mrs. Heaton has one sister, Mrs. Sabina Dever, who lives in Oregon.  Her oldest brother, John W. Spracklen lives at Chadron, Nebraska.  Two others--Clement L. and Frank R. live at Sheridan, Wyoming.  Two brothers, George and Peter, and one sister, Fanny, have passed away.  One half sister, Mrs. Sarah Kenner, lives at Los Angeles, California.  Mrs. Heaton's father died in 1898 at the age of 72 years.  Her mother died in 1913 at the age of 76 years.

Peter D. Spracklen
HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA
In 1852, Peter Spracklen entered government land in Iowa and engaged in farming in Benton county until 1878, when he moved with his family to Pawnee county, Nebraska. During 1882, he ranged cattle near the river, then came into Dawes county to decide for himself concerning the value of the land to which he had heard settlers were beginning to come. In his estimation the prospect was favorable and he immediately hastened to the filing office at Valentine, where his friend, John Danks, of Long Pine joined him, and unexpectedly his son, John W. Spracklen, who had also determined on homesteading in the newly opened tract. Peter Spracklen had to make his way from his range camp to his camp on the Niobrara river near Valentine, and after the party had secured the numbers of sections, range and town, in order to make filings, they found so many other settlers already in the entry office, each one demanding priority, that they spent an entire day, going without their meals, before they secured their papers. John W. Spracklen secured the first homestead in his township, filing on section 29-32-49, and also, at the same time, April 5, 1884, filed on a timber claim on section 20, while his father filed on a homestead and timber claim adjoining his son's entries.
Peter Spracklen resided on his Dawes county land for some years or until his health failed, when he began to think of a home in another climate. In younger years he had read of the magnificent forests of Oregon and often expressed a desire to visit them and also, if opportunity presented, to kill a bear. So he sold his Dawes county land and moved to Oregon and lived in the shadow of the great trees until he had satisfied his ambition in regard to the bear, when he returned to Belle Plaine, Iowa, where he made his home for the rest of his life with a daughter, his death occurring in May, 1898, when seventy-three years old. His wife had homesteaded in Pawnee county, Nebraska, and the children completed paying for the land. She died in Pawnee county in 1913. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Of their nine children six are living, John W., being the only one residing in Nebraska.

John Andrew Spracklin was born on 9 January 1795 in Pitney, Somerset, England to Peter and Elizabeth Spracklen.  John emigrated to the United States (with a brother?) in 1817 and arrived in Philadelphia on October 3.  The ship he sailed on was the Brig Abigail which sailed from Bristol, England.  The rest of his family arrived in America seven years later.  He Married Lydia Goss on 9 July 1819 in Washington County, Ohio.  John died 19 June 1863 in Wayne Township, Knox County, Ohio.  He is buried in the Green Valley Methodist Cemetery there.

Peter Spracklen was born on 20 December 1774 in Pitney, Somerset, England.  He married Elizabeth Polly Andrews on 6 August 1784 in Somerset, England.  Peter Spracklen and his family left England on August 13, 1823 aboard the schooner Cane and arrived at the port of New York.  On the ship's passenger records, Peter was listed as 48 years old, his wife Elizabeth - 51 years old, and six children.  Peter's occupation was a tanner.   "They lived for a few years in Washington County Pennsylvania(?) before moving to Dudley Township, Hardin County, Ohio in 1835.  Both Peter and Elizabeth are buried in Lee Cemetery."  "History of Hardin County: Peter Spracklin, born in England. December 20, 1774, settled on land now owned by Mr. Mouser, on Section 13, about 1835 where he resided till his death, October 26, 1845.  His wife Betty was born June 6, 1771, and died November 13, 1860.  Their children were Alfred, Anna, Elizabeth, Parmelia, and George."  "Marriage notes for Peter Spracklen and Elizabeth Andrews: 11 August 1794, Peter Spracklin - Bachelor of Long Sutton, Betty Andrews - Spinster."

Elizabeth Polly Andrews was born on 6 June 1771 in Pitney, Somerset, England.  She married Peter Spracklen on 6 August 1794 in Somerset, England.  In 1823, she emigrated to the United States aboard the schooner Cane along with her husband and six children.  She and her family eventually settled in Hardin County, Ohio where she died on 26 October 1845??.