Francis "Frank" Spilman

Frank Spilman was born in Virginia and died in 1828 in Alexandria. He married Rebecca Erskine, the widow of an army buddy named Munford in Virginia 1786. When the buddy was dying, he had Frank promise to take care of his wife. Frank and Rebecca came to Campbell County in 1790. It is said that he named this section of Campbell County after his home town of Alexandria, Virginia.

The original Spilman log cabin was built on Washington Avenue just north of where the First Baptist Church now stands. He was closely associated with the history and growth of Campbell County serving as a justice, a commissioner, sheriff, road surveyor, and leader of the small community. Note: It is thought that he is very close kin to James and Thomas Spilman whose father, Thomas died in 1782 in King George County, Virginia. James, at least settled in the region of Alexandria, Kentucky by 1800. His wife was Sarah and he died in Alexandria in 1803. His widow, Sarah was aided in settling her husband’s property by Frank Spilman, who in 1821 sold her sixty acres of land. Later in 1825, she sold this land and was known as "of Rush County, Indiana". It is not clear as to the correct parentage of some of the early Spilman marriages in Campbell County.

Frank was a shoe and boot maker by trade. When his good friends Benjamin and Jeannette Beall both died in 1811, he and Rebecca raised their children Samuel and James. In 1819 Frank had the town of Alexandria laid out into lots and began selling them to settlers. Later he donated 12 acres of land on which to build the first public buildings. On February 22, 1834, Alexandria was officially made a city by the State Legislature.

(Complied by Elizabeth Morrow Cooley and is part of the collection of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Norwood, Ohio and is reprinted her with the permission of the director, Alma Ryan. It is intended for the free use of researchers and is not to be sold.)

Source: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kycampbe/frankspilman.htm