The Spilman Homestead

The Spilman Homestead. . Early German Settlers , In 1714, the Governor of the Virginia Colony, Alexander Spotswood, seized an opportunity to establish a mining operation for iron ore and gold on the Western frontier along the Rapidan River. In his quest for skilled laborers, he induced mining families from the Nassau-Seigen district of German (east of present day Bonn) to immigrate to the Virginia colony and settle in an area now known as Germanna, between Culpeper and Fredericksburg., By the mid-1720s the venture had failed and the immigrant Germans left Germanna and established their own settlements in Germantown (Fauquier County), the Little Fork Colony (centered in the area known as Jeffersonton) and the Hebron Colony (Hebron Valley, Madison County)., The Little Fork Colony, with the first land grant 1729, grew to 13 families from the Germanna/Germantown groups. Founding families of this colony would include the names of Speilmann (Spilman) and Fishbach (Fishback)., The Spilmans , The eminent researchers of German settlements in Virginia, Dr. B.C. Holtzclaw, Dr. Woodford Hackley, and John Kemper, did not confirm exactly which Spilman built here. The chart, above left, shows how the early generations were related., Germantown's Johannes Speilmann (born 1675), the immigrant, married Mary Elizabeth Fishbach, sister of immigrant Johannes Fishbach (born 1691) of the Little Fork Colony. Their sons, John (born c. 1718) and James (born c. 1721), would be the first Speilmanns to cross the Rappahannock River to live and farm in what would become Culpeper County in 1749. John's son, also John (born 1740), has been verified as a Revolutionary War patriot and was 'plaqued' by the Sons of the American Revolution (S.A.R.)., John the patriot's son, Conway Spilman (born 1787), married Nancy Fishback, a great grand-daughter of Johannes Fishbach. In small, insular communities of this age, intermarriage was common and there were dozens of such connections among the families of the Little Fork Colony. Conway was the Postmaster for Jeffersonton, 1822-1827, following his brother, William K. Spilman, who apparently died in office., Conway died in 1860, but the house stayed with the family for two more generations; the last was Edward Martin Spilman, who died about 1928. There is no known cemetery here. John, the Patriot, Conway and his wife, Nancy, and at least one more Spilman are buried in the Fishback's Fleetwood cemetery, a mile to the east., On August 25, 1862 the residents here had a front row seat to one of the most dramatic spectacles of the War Between the States. About five in the morning they would have been wakened by the lead ranks of General Jackson's corps tramping west on the normally deserted wagon road to Winchester. It would take more than four hours for all 24,000 troops to pass by on their 56-mile, two day flank march to the Manassas II battle., The Home , The house was built in stages. The first, running north to south, was served by two massive axe-hewn fieldstone chimneys on the south side. The rear of the left side eventually became an indoor kitchen with a smaller chimney in back. Later an "L" was anchored on the east side by a large fourth chimney near the stone pile. The initial bedroom was over the main section and was served by a narrow circular staircase. The "L" added two more bedrooms upstairs with very low headspace., The main beams, up to 8 by 8 inches square, show the characteristic Roman numeral chisel marks of the classic 'scribe rule layout' framing method used in Europe before 1800. Wall sections of multiple beams were first laid flat on the ground, and after cutting each tenon, the outline was scribed on the beam underneath. Both the tenon and its mating surface were then marked with chiseled numerals for later assembly. The roof rafters were natural, straight, unshaped tree limbs. Family information, deeds, and methods place the original construction date between 1740 and 1760. It has always been known as the Spilman Place., The Record , In 1937, the WPA (Works Project Administration) in Culpeper, as in many other places, researched and recorded local history, especially extant structures. Their notes frequently indicate having spoken to living old-timers of the day. The researcher for the Spilman Place wrote, "It is said that George Washington stayed here while surveying the County around 1750." If true, he may have used the original section, or an earlier, smaller structure built to 'seat' the land grant., 20th Century Residents , This property passed out of the Spilman family about 1928. Along with many others nearby, it was bought by the successive operators of the eventual 5,000-acre cattle farm based at Rosedale (the first to import Angus cattle to Virginia; now South Wales Golf Course). There were three periods of ownership: 1) the original Armstrong clan of Culpeper County whose first immigrant was John Armstrong (born c. 1776) from County Durham, England; 2) Colonel Albert Pierce, a utility magnate from Chicago; and 3) New York movie producer, John C. Clark. The story of this home from 1928 to 1975 is that of its various tenants., In 1930, Charles M. Clement lived here. Charles was the eldest son of the celebrated Jeffersonton Baptist preacher, Rev. Charles Clement; and eventually opened Clement Insurance in Culpeper. The Thayer's, with eventually eleven children, lived here until 1933. Will Thayer ran the small store in Jeffersonton just below the Methodist Church. Thayer children intermarried with other local Jeffersonton families, who still live here today., Until 1940, the was the home of 'Big Mort' Colvin and family including son, 'Little Mort', both of whom worked for Pierce and Clark on the ranch, and are part of the family for which Colvin Road here is named. Big Mort's brother, Clifton, better known as 'Cooter Mite', lived here during the war and housed several Germans. By Executive order in early 1942, German and Italian aliens were forced to find housing away from both coasts. Some may have left homes in Washington, DC. Relocation camps were provided only for Japanese aliens., In 1945, Rancher John Clark got into financial trouble and this part of the ranch was bought by Mr. Wood, a Florida investor. About 1953, Wood hired Jack Kinser to manage 100 head of Hereford cattle, directly challenging the Rosedale-Angus tradition. Kinser was Blacksburg-trained and thought he knew more than the local ranchers. He hired the tenant, Marvin Carroll, his boy, Gerald, and Clinton Cunningham to plant forty acres of sudan grass north of the house, and put the cattle on it to graze. Sudan is used as silage, and is much too rich for grazing. The cattle almost died and had to be driven to an available field up on the Rappahannock River near the current bridge. When they recovered, Kinser put them back on the sudan. Just as the cattle began 'running' themselves to death again, landlord Wood showed up to check on his considerable investment and fired Kinser on the spot, but retained Carroll., As the Rosenberger's cropping and Angus herd prospered just across the road, this old Spilman home was rented by other local families until 1975. May Virginia Wince, with her two youngest children, hauled water from the Rosenberger's because the Spilman's main water source had always been a spring far down the steep slope to the rear. The Wince's kept sizable vegetable gardens in front of the house and to the left., This once proud building, approaching a quarter millennia, last served George Settle, ignominiously storing supplies and material for his plumbing business., In a short 15 years, undergrowth took over the entire property and the house could not even be seen from the road. In 1998, untended for 30 years, it was deemed beyond salvage and the County razed it to develop the park., Caption upper right: , The 13 Little Fork Families (In order of known land grants) , Holtzclau = Holtzclaw 1729 , Fischbach = Fishback 1730 , Wayman = Wayman 1739 , Speilmann = Spilman 1747 , Grim = Crim 1747 , Coantz = Coons 1747 , Otterpach = Utterback 1747 , Jung = Young 1748 , Noeh = Ney 1748 , Bach = Back 1748 , Hoffman = Huffman 1748 , Mueller = Miller 1748? , Heimbach = Hanback 1748?, Caption Upper Left: , Spilman Family Tree , Johanes Spilman, 1673 (Germany) - c. 1729 , m. Mary Elizabeth Fischbach, 1691 - c. 1763, John Spilman, c. 1718 - c. 1770 , m. unknown, John Spilman, Jr., 1740-1815 , m. Elizabeth Kelly, c. 1740-1779, Conway Spilman, c. 1787-1860 , m. Nancy Fishback, 1793-1835, Captions Lower Left: , The Roman numeral III in the beam above illustrates a building method called "Scribe Rule." The numbers, sometimes called marriage marks, were used to ensure each element of a mortise and tenon joint was accurately matched. By the early 1800s a new practice called "square rule" carpentry allowed elements to be mixed and matched., Shown after its removal from the house, this beam is an example of early "mortise and tenon" joinery. The cavities are "mortices" cut to accept tenons - the modern equivalent of 2x4 studs. Looking closely one can see the wooden peg joining the two structural elements. Also evidenced here above the tenon are the slash or cut marks left by the hand hewing of the beam with an adz., The photo depicts one of four chimneys on the house. Note the broader base toward the lower portion ascending through the sloping "shoulders" to the more narrow stack. Its existence is a credit to the use of local field stone, the right mix of clay and water to form the mortar, and excellent workmanship. In many of the chimneys of this era the stone stack has been replaced by a brick one., Taken while the house was still standing, this photo depicts and example of an early house foundation of dry-stacked (no use of mortar) stone. A full tree was hewn flat enough to lie level on the stone foundation and support the upright or vertical elements of the house. Note the slash marks as well as fitted joinery of two logs to extend the length., Prepared with contributions from the citizens of Culpeper.