SPILMAN FAMILY ABROAD

From Harlow, Essex and Lincolnshire England

SITE MAP - Lincolnshire Spilmans:

-Researchers

-Surname Spilman - Coat of Arms

-Spilman Family Tree

-Daniel Spilman 1848-1915 Iowa, USA - Life in England before going to the United States
    -Birth Certificate,   Sloop Walcot, Whitton Windmill, Map of North Lincolnshire to America 1870.
      -Letters from America back to England
     -Dan's marriage to Thea Anderson and his farm in Clear Lake, IA
      Marriage Certificate, 1912 plat map, Photo of Thea, Thea's death certificate
     -Dan and Thea Spilman's children photos 1893, 1898, 1961

-William Spilman 1871 Yorkshire, England - 1906 California, USA

-New Zealand Connection Daniel 1845-? and Ann Spilman New Zealand

-John Ellerker Spilman to Canada 1928

-Aitken family

-Australian Connection
     Thomas Forman Aitken 1854 to Australia
     External connection to Aitken letters
     Aitken Family Tree

RESEARCHERS:

An in depth account of the English Lincolnshire Spilmans can be located on the web pages of Tom Smith http://spilman.genealogyvillage.com/ .  Tom has a web page for the Spilmans as well as information about Whitton, England the village where Daniel Spilman was born.  I visited with Tom in May 2002 and we decided it would be helpful to create an American Spilman web page for those descended from the immigrants.  Tom took me to Whitton and the neighboring villages to provide me with a lot of history about our family and to help me understand what it would have been like for my Great Grandfather Daniel Spilman.  Anne Spilman Wood also provided information and in 1979 she allowed me to copy a series of letters Dan had written.  In 1981 she took me to a Vicar to look at old hand written records of births, marriages and deaths.  I also obtained some birth/death/marriage records in London as well as the United States.

Eric Spilman of England is working on the 1500's history of the Lincolnshire Spilmans, but  parish records were stolen in 1814 from Harlow and never recovered.  He has information questionning a William and Grace Spilman, in the 1500's,  but at this time Thomas Spilman is the oldest ancestors we can directly connect with.  Eric's web page can be seen at http://www.familytracer.co.uk/index.htm

In the United States Irene Nichols did a lot to document the descendents of Dan and Thea and Anne Durregger put together a number of photos.  Information has been provided by different American Spilman families and noted.

This web page is intended to share this information and help the American Spilman family and other branches connect.

My visit to Whitton, England May 2002 with Tom Spilman Smith.

Other English Spilman/Spelman lines
 

*Information about the Espilemann family is being placed on the Lincolnshire Spilman web because both families lived in Essex, England during the same time period.  Lost parish records make it perhaps impossible to connect these two families, but one could speculate a connection.  The Espilemann family is being presented to show the parallel between our families, possible connection through Robert (1320-1391) to Sir William Espileman and to also show American and Australian immigration lines of this Spilman/Spelman family.  The lines include descendents who fought for American independence during the Revolutionary war.
 

The Espilemann family seems to start in Brokenhurst, Hampshire, England.  Within 3 generations a branch moves to Norfolk.  Stephen Spileman had two sons who have immigrant descendents to the Colonies.  Son, 1) John (1315-1392) has family that were Lords/Esq/Knights.  Sir Henry Spelman (noted Scholar and antiquarian) had 2 nephews who settled in VA.  Henry Spelman (1595-1623) came to Jamestown with Capt. John Smith.  Henry had a brother Thomas 1599-c 1638  who also came to the Virginia Colony.

Stephen's other son, 2)Robert (1320-1391) had family that moved into the Essex area.   Richard (1665-1750) from Danbury, Essex, England was the immigrant who settled in Middletown, Middlesex, CT by about 1700.  He had seven children.  One son was in the Revolutionary war and at least six of his grandsons also fought for American independence.

(Robert's line is most likely the branch that the Spilmans from Harlow, Essex (and Lincolnshire) could be connected.  The Essex/Lincolnshire branch is the primary family tree I have been following.  Parish documentation for Harlow, Essex was lost in the mid 1800's making it highly difficult to firmly connect the family.  It is speculated that the Harlow/Lincolnshire Spilmans descend from Robert (1320-1391) who moved from Norfolk to Suffolk.  His Grandson, William (born 1380) had two sons who moved to Essex.  The next 6 generations appear in the Essex area during the time of Thomas Spilman of Harlow (of the Lincolnshire branch) 

German/Prussian Spilmans
There are other American Spilman/Spelman/Spellmans that came to America from Germany/Prussia.  Earliest ancestor is Gotthard Spielmann born about 1525 outside, Sigen, Germany.  His descendent,   John Spielmann 1675-c 1728 came from Siegen, Westfalen, Prussia and settled in Germantown, Fauquier, Virginia about 1715.  Among his descendents was Thomas Spelman who served in the Continental Line for VA in the Rev War.  He lived in Culpeper, VA from c 1752-1822.  James Spilman 1763-1840 of Virginia also fought for American Independence.  Within a few generations, many descendents lived in Kentucky.  (Latter Day Saints records used with other online resources.)

Another German Spilman tree starts in 1761 with Clamor Heinrich Adolph Spellman in Hanover, Germany.  Clamor's son, Johann Friedrich Spellman, had a son who settled in Sibley Co, MN, USA. (Eternal website)