Born in Connecticut, Fred A. Spencer received formal training in civil engineer-ing but went to work at a manufacturing company in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1858, Spencer emigrated to Kansas Territory and then two years later to the Colorado Territory. While in Colorado, Spencer worked as a civil engineer and miner. During the war, Spencer served as 1st lieutenant of Company G, 2d Colorado Cavalry. After the war, Spencer returned to Connecticut and worked in manufacturing and took care of his ailing father. He served as the Brigade Inspector of Rifle Practice in the Connecticut State Militia for eleven years.
Wheeler, “Fred A. Spencer.” In The Centennial: One Hundredth Anniversary of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Connecticut, 273–75.
Williams, Three Years and a Half in the Army; or, History of the Second Colorados, 169.