We only know about Amelia Spicer's life because of the unhappy events that brought her to the attention of the police and the courts. She was born in Bloomington October 6, 1891 to German immigrants, Fred Melke and Augusta Link. She married Frank Spicer (22) at the tender age of 14 in 1905 according to her obituary.
The first notice taken of the Spicer family was in 1912, when Frank attempted suicide by shooting himself with a pistol. He was distraught over not having any work. His occupation was sodding and other landscaping work, which is highly seasonal.
In October 1915, Frank was arrested for beating Amelia, who was then the mother of five children at the age of 24. The oldest was 8 years old. The day following his arrest, Amelia filed for a divorce, alleging cruelty and non support. The cruelty was witnessed by neighbors and the police, and possibly Frank was not able to support his large family. The family of seven lived in a two room "house" that was described as barren and dirty on the far southwest side of the city.
In January 1916 Amelia had apparently left Frank and the children. Frank was brought in for drunkedness. The Pantagraph was acerbic when the reporter noted that two of the Spicer children had "sensibly" died, two had been placed with other families and just three were still in the home. This means that Amelia had been pregnant for six and one quarter of her years between her fourteenth and twenty fourth year. This was during a time when married women of means and education could easily obtain birth control, but poor women were denied this "luxury."
A month later Amelia was found living with a young man named Henry Fisher. They were living with Fisher's mother, who had been told that the couple had married in Moline. The two were arrested, fined and thrown in jail. Amelia was given the choice of going home to her husband but she said "no, thank you" and chose to stay in jail for a month.
Amelia disappears from the papers for several years except for one domestic call to the Spicer home when Amelia had hysterics after a long day of work in July 1916. Then in March of 1932, Amelia, along with her little 20 month old daughter Anna Mae, died in the hospital. She left behind her husband and only three children, five others having died before her. Her sad and troublesome life was over. As the daughter of poor, and underpaid, immigrants Amelia's early marriage may have been encouraged to alleviate the strain on the family finances.