STAFFORDSBURG
SPHAR BRICK COMPANY. The Sphar Brick Company, located about two miles from Maysville, near the Ohio River in Mason Co., was established by A. C. Sphar, who also started the Maysville Brick Company. The Maysville Daily Independent reported in 1935 that the company was organized in 1904. However, according to other sources, it may have begun as early as 1878. At least during 1906–1908, the Sphar Brick Company and the Maysville Brick Company were operating at the same time. The Sphar Brick Company was incorporated in July 1912 by A. S. Clark, H. T. Miles, E. A. Robinson, A. C. Sphar, E. S. Sphar, and W. N. Stockton. Sphar and his wife, who together owned 387 of the 500 shares, controlled the company. The capital stock of the corporation was $50,000, divided into shares valued at $100 each. A. C. Sphar was president and H. T. Miles was secretary and trea surer. After Sphar died in 1920, A. S. Clark and H. T. Miles assumed ownership of the company. In 1908 the company had five rectangular brick kilns, a drying shed, two sorting sheds, a structure for storing bricks and hay, a corn crib, an oil house, a polishing house, an office, a brick machine with an 85-horsepower engine, and a water tank. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad provided transportation for the brickyard. By 1914, additions to the property included two large brick kilns and a second drying shed, and by 1926 a small hotair drying shed and a new brick machine had been added. By 1922 the Sphar Brick Company had a large and well-equipped modern brickyard. Heinrich Ries described Sphar’s operation as follows: “Clay was excavated with a steam shovel, loaded into dump cars, and hauled to sheds. A brick machine was used to produce 30,000 to 45,000 pressed bricks per day. Tunnel dryers were employed to dry the bricks prior to firing. Seven rectangular kilns, including five downdraft and two up-draft kilns, were used to fire the bricks.” The company later produced a wire-cut “Face Building Brick” in smooth and rough textures. Ries noted that the bricks were a good red color, usually a deep or dark red; textured bricks were fired to different shades of red. Sphar bricks were sold in Kentucky and other states, almost exclusively through dealers. The company used the Sphar brand name on its bricks. The Sphar Brick Company’s corporate status expired on July 15, 1937. In December 1955, a new corporation with the same name was incorporated by F. H. Peters and Mrs. M. R. Peters of Dayton, Ohio, with 15,000 shares of stock without par value. F. H. Peters was president; the company employed 35 men in 1955–1956, had 40 employees in 1957–1958, and had 35 employees in 1959–1960. The company closed sometime between 1959 and 1961. Kentucky Death Certificate No. 23181, for the year 1920. Ries, Heinrich. The Clay Deposits of Kentucky: An Economic Consideration of the Pottery, Brick,
and Tile Clays, Fire Clays, and Shales of Kentucky, with Notes on their Industrial Development. Series 6, vol. 2. Frankfort: Kentucky Geological Survey, 1922. The Spirit of Greater Maysville & Mason County. Maysville, Ky.: Daily Independent, 1935.
Charles D. Hockensmith
SPILMAN, FRANCIS “FRANK” (b. 1756, King George Co., Va.; d. September 22, 1828, Alexandria, Ky.). Frank Spilman, a Revolutionary War veteran, a civic leader, a humanitarian, and the founder of the city of Alexandria, Ky., came to the highlands of central Campbell Co. in 1796. He named the town he founded after the one he had left in Virginia. During the Revolutionary War, Spilman served as a sergeant in the Virginia Cavalry and later served with Gen. George Rogers Clark. According to Spilman family tradition, Spilman met his wife Rebecca by honoring the request of a dying soldier. While he was serving in the army, a buddy named Mumford, when near death from a battle wound, asked Spilman to take care of his wife Rebecca. Spilman married her in 1786, and the couple had eight children. Spilman was a shoe and boot maker by trade; but in his new town of Alexandria, he became a civic leader, serving as justice of the peace, county commissioner, and road surveyor. In 1819 he donated 12 acres of land on which to construct public buildings and had the town lots platted. After his close friends Benjamin and Jeannette Beall died, Spilman raised their two infant sons. He was a strong advocate of education and each day took children to the Walnut Hills Academy in Cold Spring, which was the finest school in the area. The original Spilman log cabin was located just north of where the First Baptist Church now sits. Spilman died in 1803 and was buried in the Spilman Family Cemetery, next to the church. Wessling, Jack. Early History of Campbell County. Alexandria, Ky.: Self-published, 1997.
Jack Wessling
SPLIT ROCK CONSERVATION PARK. Split Rock Conservation Park at Petersburg in Boone Co., more commonly known as Split Rock, is a unique outdoor conservation education facility. It was opened to the public, on a limited basis, in spring 2002 by Wildlife Conservation Kentucky Inc., whose mission is to address the conservation issues in the Northern Kentucky area. Split Rock is a 165-acre park located at the confluence of the Ohio River and Woolper Creek. The highlight of the park is the geologically significant formation known as Split Rock, a conglomerate formed by an Illinoian glacier some 132,000 to 300,000 years ago. The park offers educational programs on the archaeology, the ecology, the geology, and the history of the area, including evidence of early human habitation at Split Rock. All education programs stress the need for visitors to conserve these valuable local resources for the community while exploring the park’s two miles of trails. Included in
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the park are scenic overlooks, ponds, 40 acres of native grasses, more than 10 different species of native trees, a four-acre wetland, and wildlife watering holes. By 2005 more than 4,500 visitors had experienced this unique outdoor center for educational and scientific research. Split Rock works with local cultural, historical, and scientific organizations to enhance and expand its conservation mission. “Conservation Field Day,” KP, September 7, 2005, 2K. Jacobs, Mark. Interview by Gabrielle Summe, March 26, 2006, Petersburg, Ky. Jacobs is executive director of Split Rock Conservation Park. Uhde, Andrea. “Rock Solid Treasure,” KP, May 24, 2002, 1K. Wildlife Conservation Kentucky. “Split Rock.” www .splitrockpark.org (accessed April 1, 2006).
Gabrielle Summe
SQUIRESVILLE. Squiresville in Owen Co. is five and a half miles west of Owenton along Ky. Rt. 1982. The village of Squiresville reportedly derived its name from the number of squires and magistrates who once lived there. Within the commonwealth of Kentucky, anyone who becomes a squire or a magistrate can use the title for life. Local surnames such as Montgomery, Nuttall, Burke, Long, and Bibb were common in the village. A post office existed there from 1871 to 1903. For many years, there was a school at Squiresville. The town was the boyhood home of Gen. Gerald “Jerry” Walter Johnson, an ace fighter pi lot of World War II who rose in his military ser vice career to become the U.S. Air Force inspector general. It was also the home of Richard C. Arnold, MD. Arnold, a career U.S. Public Health Ser vice employee, revolutionized the treatment of syphilis by demonstrating the effectiveness of penicillin as a therapeutic agent. At the Squiresville Cemetery are the graves of Rena Lusby Yancey, an Owen Co. poet and historian, and members of her family. Rena Yancey was the author of Kentucky Trails (1957), a book of poems. Houchens, Mariam Sidebottom. History of Owen County: “Sweet Owen.” Louisville. Ky.: Standard, 1976. Rennick, Robert M. Kentucky Place Names. Lexington: Univ. Press of Kentucky, 1984.
STAFFORDSBURG. Staffordsburg is a small Kenton Co. community located southeast of Independence. It is flanked by White’s Tower to the west and Visalia to the east. Like many communities with their roots in the early 1800s, this small town developed around the need for a place for local residents to worship. In 1877 Rev. J. W. Hughes, later instrumental in the forming of Asbury College at Wilmore, held ser vices at Staffordsburg in a small school building. A year later, a one-fourthacre piece of land owned by W. W. Coleman was conveyed to be the building site for the new Ebenezer Methodist Church. Although two general stores, a school, and a blacksmith’s shop were already present, it was only after the church’s arrival