Ulmer Ancestry

Samuel Spall
(Spaul or Spaule)
(born, abt. 1772 in England)

SPECIAL NOTE:
Before there was the Internet, as early as the 1970-80s, Willa Roessler Taylor researched the Samuel Spall lineage. Willa did some amazing work! The results of her findings are currently in the care of her family. Now, as I check for more information about the Spall lineage using tools and information available via the Internet, some 40 to 50 years later, I'm astonished by the accuracy of Willa's report.

This Spall family section is dedicated to Willa Roessler Taylor.

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The Spall name has several different spellings of the name. Even within records that pertain to Samuel himself we find records showing his surname was spelled different at different times. For example, in 1820 the census list his name as having been spelled as "Spaul"; later census spell the family name as "Spall". There is also some indications that the family surname may also have been spelled as "Spaule".

Samuel Spall was born about 1772 in England. Census reports listing Samuel fluctuate to some degree as to the actual age of Samuel. However, a rare obituary mention in the Seymour Times on December 1, 1864 did report Samuel's death. That report stated his age at the time of his death as being "about 100 years old".

At this time it isn't known if Samuel came to America with his parents, or if he emigrated by himself. Records, that we are currently aware of pertaining to Samuel, start with the 1820 census of Lexington Township, Scott County, Indiana. In that census he is shown to have been living close to Jacob Ulmer; Joab Babbit; William Herrod; and Nathan Baker. If Samuel was in Indiana prior to 1820 is unknown at this time, there is no 1810 census for Indiana. Indiana did not become a state until December 11, 1816.

Although the fact that Samuel Spall lived close to Jacob Ulmer in 1820 is most interesting to me, because of my personal genealogy quest about the Ulmer family's history. The study of the Samuel Spall family also has other interesting results as well; Samuel Spall (Spaule) married a Rebecca Ulmer (Ulmore), on the 24th of August, 1820, in Scott County, Indiana.

A copy of that marriage record can be seen on this site 

Rebecca Ulmer is now believed to have been a daughter of Jacob Ulmer. The likelihood of her being of another Ulmer family lineage is reduced due to the only Ulmer family that lived near Samuel Spall in 1820 is known to have been Jacob Ulmer; and of course the households of his sons' of Scott County, Indiana. Rebecca was born in Kentucky (per the 1860 census) in 1795. Kentucky is also where George Ulmer, son of Jacob Ulmer is reported to have been born in 1789. Likewise, is George's older brother, William Ulmer, born in 1787, believed to have been born in Kentucky. The simple fact that Rebecca is also listed as having been born in Kentucky increases the odds of her as being a sibling to George and William Ulmer. No other Ulmer is known to have been in that area, so close to the Spall family, at that time. It's also unlikely that a single woman, of the age of 25, would have moved to that part of Indiana as early as 1820 had she not had family there as well. The area was still very much a wilderness in 1820.

Other reports from the work of Willa Roessler Taylor have provided us with more insight about Jacob Ulmer, father of Rebecca. It is now known that Jacob Ulmer purchased land from the Rogers family as early as 1804. That rare land document can be seen on this website. Click

A few weeks back a researcher related to the Samuel Spall lineage was kind enough to share a a copy of Jacob's land transaction. Before that, the only record known of and proving Jacob was in Indiana before the 1820 census, was the marriage record of George Ulmer and Elizabeth Wardell in Clark County on March 26, 1815. That area of Clark County in 1820 became Scott County. Along that same line of information, the area where Samuel Spall lived, known as Jackson County, was also cut from Clark County before Scott County was formed; Jackson County was formed in 1816. Because the 1820 census list Samuel as living in Scott County in 1820, it would mean that Samuel later (after 1820) moved to Jackson County, Indiana. An early book states that Samuel Spaul (Spall) settled in Jackson County in 1821. The census of 1830 confirms he was there by then.

Properties the Spall Family owned can be seen on the 1893 Plat Map

A clip from the 1820 Scott County census listing of Samuel Spaule is available. Click

 A clip from the 1830 Jackson County census listing of Samuel Spall is available (notice name spelling change). Click

Summaries of the 1850 and 1860 census reports for Samuel and Rebecca are shown below:

1850
Name: Samuel Spall
Age: 74
Estimated birth year: abt 1776
Birth Place: England
Gender: Male
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Vernon, Jackson, Indiana
Family Number: 997
Household Members: Name Age
Samuel Spall 74
Rebecca Spall 56
Thomas Spall 19
James Spall 15
George Spall 13

1860
Name: Saml Spall
Age in 1860: 88
Birth Year: abt 1872
Birthplace: England
Home in 1860: Vernon, Jackson, Indiana
Gender: Male
Post Office: Retreat
Household Members: Name Age
Saml Spall 58
Rebecca Spall

Currently the database file contains more information about the children and other descendants of Samuel and Rebecca Spall.

Currently the descendants of Samuel Spall is being added to this site. Although still not completed you can view what is now available here.

More information about the Samuel Spall family is to be added to this site, please check back.