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Alexander Spilman was born in Mississippi, but later moved west with his family to Illinois and Kansas. He was one of Salina's five town founders, and worked as a surveyor, soldier, probate judge, farmer, attorney, register of deeds, Kansas legislator, businessman, and mayor of McPherson throughout his life. Mary Campbell was the granddaughter of town founders Alexander and Christina Campbell. Married to Dr. Martin Palmer, founder of the Institute of Logopedics in Wichita, Kansas (Heartspring), Mary worked as the public relations coordinator for the Institute. The Campbell family helped to preserve historical documents and artifacts relating to the founding of Salina. Mary donated many items to the Salina Public Library and the Saline County Historical Society, many of which are now in the collections of the Smoky Hill Museum.
William A. Phillips was born in Scotland in 1824. He came to America while still a young man, and worked for the New York Tribune during the early 1850s. Phillips was instrumental in organizing the Salina Town Company, and chose the land for the City of Salina in 1857. Phillips also built the first saw mill and grist mill in Salina. James Muir was born in Scotland, and traveled to Randolph County, Illinois where he met Alexander Campbell in the 1850s. Muir helped form the Salina Town Company, along with Alexander Campbell, AC Spilman, David Phillips, and William Phillips. Muir and Campbell also constructed a dugout in 1858, one of the first permanent shelters in Salina. |
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Mary Campbell
