DANIEL SPILMAN
1848 Whitton, England-1915 Iowa, USA
Emigrated 1870
1 Thomas SPILMAN
abt 1565 Harlow, Essex, England
..... + Mary BRIGHT December 28, 1572 Roxford,
Essex, England
......... 2 John SPILMAN November 09, 1589 Manuden, Harlow, Essex, England - July 24, 1643
............... +Martha HILLS abt 1596 Clavering, Essex, England (parents: Nicolas & Margaret Hills) - c1647
.................... 3 Capt. Thomas SPILMAN abt 1615 Essex, England - 1683 Old Walcot Hall, South. of Alkborough, Lincolnshire, England. External link bottom of page for more.
.......................... +Mary Unknown c1615 - Oct. 21, 1666
............................... 4 Thomas SPILMAN July 4, 1648 Hornchurch, Essex, England- 1705 Barrow-Upon-Humber, Lincoln, England
...................................... +Mary GOODHAND abt 1650 Goxhill, Lincolnshire, England - 1728 Barrow-Upon-Humber, Lincoln, England (2nd wife)
........................................... 5 Thomas SPILMAN Mar 19, 1690 Barrow Upon Humber- July 7,1740 Winterton, England
................................................. +Eleanor THURLEY/FURLEY
June 4, 1699 Roxby cum Risby, Lincs - Apr 26, 1772 (parents William Furley
and Hellen Thompson)
...................................................... 6 John SPILMAN Jan
10, 1741 Walcot, Lincs, England - April 10, 1816 Walcot, England
............................................................+Catherine EPWORTH
1749 Whitton, Lincs, England- Jan 2, 1815 Whitton (John/Catherine [Longbottom]
Epworth)
................................................................. 7 John SPILMAN Nov
1, 1776 Alkborough, Lincoln, England - Dec. 20, 1850 Whitton,
Lincoln, England
.......................................................................+Ann (Nancy) PENROSE Jan
19,
1769 Welton, E Yorkshire - Oct 25,1865 Whitton (John & Sarah
[Burrell] Penrose)
............................................................................
8
Thomas SPILMAN Feb 27, 1809
Whitton, Lincs, England - June 20, 1888 Whitton, Lincs, England
...................................................................................
+Harriet AITKEN Mar 14, 1820 Walcot, (Alkborough) -
Aug 3, 1899 Whitton, England (Alexander Aitken
& Eleanor Forman)
........................................................................................ 9
Daniel SPILMAN
1848 Whitton, Eng- 1915,
IOWA, USA
.............................................................................................. +Thea ANDERSON 1852 - 1927 (Ole/Thuvi Olson)
| Daniel was the second son of
Thomas Spilman and his wife
Harriet Aitken. He was born November 24, 1848
in Whitton, England in
what is known as the White House. The
Spilmans lived here from the early part of the 1800's until they moved to
Grove Farm on Whitton's main Street in about 1853. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist religion, is rumored to have once spoke on the green in front of this house. Though that may have only been rumor, there had indeed been a Methodist prayer chapel built to the back left of the building (now gone). Wesley was from Epworth, England which was not far from Whitton. Photo taken 5/2002 LMD. |
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 (photo 1979 LMD) |
As the family became larger the family moved to a very nice
house known as the Grove in Whitton. (photo 1979 LMD) Tom
Smith writes, "Grove Farm, Whitton. Probably the first Spilmans to live here were Thomas and Harriet and they moved from The White House in about 1853 to accommodate their growing family which eventually numbered ten children. The house was eventually sold in 1977 following the death of Thomas Levick Spilman, Thomas' grandson." |
Thomas and Harriet rented a large tract of land from Mr. Goulton Constable which totaled about 330 acres. Daniel knew farming and had the idea to come to America to farm and earn a lot of money. He then planned to return to England and buy his own farm (noted in his letters). He did buy a farm in Clear Lake, IA but married and never returned to England.
The Spilman's farm in Whitton overlooked the Humber River and Whitton Church. Below are some views from the farm taken in May 2002 (left) and in February 1979 (Right). The Whitton Church tower in the background of the right picture.
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Below is a map of the Lincolnshire area east of Manchester, England.
The first Spilman Ancestor we are able to identify lived in Harlow, Essex,
England in the late 1500's. In 1660 Captain Thomas Spilman came to
Alkborough from Harlow, England. He and his brother Edward moved to
Alkborough after the English Civil War. For more information see the web
page of Tom Smith.
Briefly,
Captain Thomas Smith and his brother Edward, leased Walcot estate in Alkborough
for 15 years. Thomas also farmed at Winteringham. The family stayed in
this general area through the birth of Daniel Spilman in 1848 and still into the
year 2002. The villages and parishes of Whitton, Alkborough, Winteringham, Winterton, Burton Upon Stather have all seen
Spilman families. The Whitton Grove Farm that Dan lived on bordered the Humber
River (Map).
As previously noted, Epworth was not far from Whitton and was the home of John Wesley and the Methodist religion. The Methodist religion was very strong in this area of Lincolnshire when Dan was here. According to Tom Smith, the Spilman family allowed a Methodist Chapel to be built on to the White house where Daniel was born. No doubt Daniel grew up learning the teachings of John Wesley. John Wesley had come to the Alkborough Churchyard to give a sermon to a group of people. Perhaps there were Spilman families was among them.
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Alkborough Church. John Wesley gave a sermon
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Walcot in Alkborough, home of Capt. Thomas Spilman in 1660.
Dan's GGGrandfather. |
In addition to farming, Thomas and Harriet Spilman owned the boat shown below. The Sloop "Walcot" was built when Dan was 6 years old. Dan no doubt traveled on this boat along the Humber River. Tom Smith said that Dan's father was,
"supposed to have sent him to work on a farm on the North side of the river (maybe with one of his cousins around Goole who were doing well ) but he soon came back as he didn't like some aspect of the job and this is supposed to be one of the reasons he decided to go and see what the New World had to offer. If he did not like it over there ...well, he could always come back....."
In the first letter we have from Daniel Spilman to his
brother Tom, he refers to being in Ferriby - perhaps he worked in North Ferriby
during this time.
In this letter, Daniel says to Tom,
"When I was at Ferriby you said you thought I could not earn my meat and clothes and as much pocket money as I was getting with working. "
He goes on to talk about how well he is doing in Calamus, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin as if to say he is making out much better than he expected.
From the web site of Tom Smith he writes,
"1854 When Whitton was a Port. The Sloop 'Walcot' at
Whitton Pier Built in 1854 by John Wray, (1796-1884) Shipbuilder of Burton
Stather for £380. Length of
Keel 54' 6", breadth of beam 14' 9", height 6' 6" from bottom of
keel to top of skin. Photo - Collection of TMS"
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Daniel's Grandfather, John Spilman 1776-Dec. 20, 1850, was
listed as a miller on his death certificate. Daniel's father, Thomas
Spilman, also operated the Whitton Mill. This photo was copied from
Nigel and Wendy Spilman in Whitton 5/2002. Neither the date of the
photo, nor the people in the photo have been identified.
Tom Smith
has another copy of this same photo on his web page and he notes:
"Whitton's windmill stood in Mill
Close a 1.84 acre field now part of Mill Field , just to the south west of
the village. It was a four sail tower mill with a circular brick body and a
timber cap, which contained the windshaft. This meant that only the cap had
to turn to face the wind.
When it was demolished the mill stones were taken and used as the
centrepieces of raised garden beds at Grove Farm. |
The image we get of Daniel Spilman is that he was born the second son into a family that owned a boat, ran a mill, and farmed approximately 330 acres of land. Daniel appears to be of the Methodist religion. He worked for a while on the North Side of the Humber River and apparently it was there that he decided he might try going to the "New World" - America to see what he could do there. In the letters he writes back to his family in England he says that he intended to make enough money farming in America so that he could buy himself a farm in England and return to his home Country. Instead he ended up staying in Clear Lake, Iowa, USA and having 9 children. Dan's nephew John Ellerker Spilman would also venture out into the new world in the Country of Canada in 1928.
Daniel left for America in 1870 at the age of 22. We have yet to find the ship he sailed on, and his port of entry. We know that his family in England remained very important to him. He wrote letters home and even kept in touch with his 12 year old sister Mary Spilman. In fact, Daniel had a Grandchild named after his sister Mary and the two of them used to write each other and exchange photographs in the early part of the 1900's. Daniel had written a number of letters to his brother Thomas Spilman between the dates of 1870 - 1877. These letters were kept and passed down from Thomas to his son Tom, to his daughter Kathleen Ann Aitken Spilman (Mrs. Alan Wood). These letters help us understand a bit more about Daniel and his life in America.
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Daniel Spilman
1848-1915 - Life in England before going to the United States. |
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Minnie
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Harry |
Thomas
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Annie |
Daniel ,
Jr. |
Kate
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Alexander |
Lillie
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Select each child to find ancestor branches.