He served as Treasurer of the United States from 1861 to 1875, and was the first administrator in the federal government to employ women for clerical jobs.

His father was John Peter Spinner (born in Werbach, Baden, January 18, 1768; died in German Flatts, New York, May 27, 1848), a Catholic priest who became a Protestant, married Mary Magdalene Fidelis Brument,[1] emigrated to the United States in 1801, and was pastor of two German-speaking Dutch Reformed churches,[2] at Herkimer and German Flatts until his death.

His father instructed him in languages, and in the common schools of Herkimer County he learned English grammar, reading, writing and arithmetic.

Two years after his arrival, when his father found he was being employed as a salesman and bookkeeper, Spinner was removed from that situation and apprenticed to a saddle and harness maker in Amsterdam, New York.

On the recommendation of Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, he was appointed by President Lincoln as Treasurer of the United States and served from March 16, 1861, until his resignation on July 1, 1875.

During the Civil War, many of the clerks of the Treasury Department joined the army, and Spinner suggested to Secretary Chase the advisability of employing women.

[5] Douglas was so successful that Spinner later stated, "her first day's work settled the matter forever in her and in the women's favor.

The history Spinner gave of his signature was: I first practiced it while in the sheriff's office about 1835; I used it while commissioner for building the asylum at Utica, and as cashier and president of the Mohawk valley bank, and for franking while in congress.

The result showed a very small discrepancy, and many days were spent in recounting and examining the books of accounts, until finally the mistake was discovered.

[citation needed] In 1875, he ran on the Republican ticket for New York State Comptroller but was defeated by Democrat Lucius Robinson.

[4] It was completed in 1894, but never installed in front of the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, D.C.[9] Following years in storage, the Herkimer chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution petitioned for the statue to be transferred to his home town.