See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 886 for the following marriage informationfrom Lawrence County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds (1822-1865):
Pheba J. Sparks & Francis Parker, 1865. (Book 5, p. 77)

SQ p. 4645:

"Phoebe Jane Sparks, daughter of Garrett and Betsy (Boggs) Sparks, wasborn about 1845. She was married to Francis ["Frank"] Parker in 1865 inLawrence County, Kentucky. He had been born about 1845. We have foundno records of this couple after the 1900 census was taken of LawrenceCounty. According to that census, and information furnished by arelative, it appears that they had ten children."

SQ p. 751:

"Phyllis Elaine Sparks, daughter of Ernest S. and Marjorie E. (Tinker)Sparks, was born June 14, 1925, at Parrish, Wisc. She was wed to MylesHarold Weber at Merrill, Wisc., on July 28, 1946. He was born March 24,1921. Myles is an accountant for a construction company in Milwaukee,Wisc. They have two children: (1) Geanne Lee Weber, born Nov. 16, 19482at Milwaukee, Wisc.; and (2) Rlchard Weber born in 1952, also atMilwaukee."

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3942: They had eight children: Selce (m), Ivel, Gusta, Ini s,Hollie, Flora and Richard (sic) Sparks.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 4458: He was married to Ruth Hardy, and they lived in Brow nCounty, Texas. Apparently they had no children.

!NOTES:
SQ 3867: Pricey Sparks was married to Chester Douglas.

SQ p. 4573:

"Priscilla Sparks, daughter of Nathan and Nancy was born on September30, 1820, in Wilson County, Tennessee. The earliest record that we havefound of her is in the settlement of her father's estate in 1845. Sheand her brother, William C. Sparks, owed the estate $15.00 which wassecured by two notes, one for $5.00 and the other one for $10.00.Priscilla was married to James R. Green on September 24, 1845, in WilsonCounty, Tennessee, by the Rev. D. B. Moore, M.G. James had been bornabout 1820 in Tennessee. When the 1850 census was taken, he andPriscilla had three children. Also living in their household wasPriscilla's mother, Nancy Sparks, age 64 years."

!BIRTH:
See ST. VINCENT BAPTISMAL RECORDS, UNION COUNTY KENTUCKY GENEALOGY ,VOL 2,
FHL 976.9885 D2h, page 1: March 6, 1877, Priscilla Jane dau of Franci sSparks &
Mary Alice Thomas. Sponsor Lizzie Hite b. Jan 24, 1877.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY for March 1957, Whole No. 17, at p. 192:

OBITUARY OF DR. PROCTOR SPARKS

"Once more we must report the passing of one of the charter members ofThe Sparks Family Association. On January 16, 1957, death cameunexpectedly to Dr. Proctor Sparks at his winter home in St. Petersburg,Florida. Members will recall that when the Association was formed inMarch, 1953, Dr. Sparks not only predicted that it would succeed, butthat within two or three years there would be a membership of at leastthree hundred. In order to encourage the founders of the organization,Dr. Sparks announced that he would donate one hundred dollars to theAssociation when that goal was reached. Early in 1955 the threehundredth member joined and Dr. Sparks mailed his check to theSecretary-Treasurer. The founders will always remember Dr. Sparks forthe encouragement which he gave at a time when they were uncertain thatthe Association could succeed.

"Dr. Sparks, who was one of the best-known physicians of Ashland,Kentucky, was sixty-seven years old at the time of his death. He wasborn on June 7, 1890, at Martha, Kentucky. Dr. Sparks was agreat-great-great-grandson of John Sparks (1753-1840/41) whose life wassketched in The Sparks Quarterly of December, 1955. His descent fromJohn Sparks was through the following line: The eldest son of John andSarah (Shores) Sparks was Levi Sparks, born Oct. 2, 1778, in SurryCounty, N. C., died Oct. 21., 1351, in Lawrence County, Kentucky. LeviSparks married twice and by his second wife, Sarah Lyon, was the fatherof Calvin Sparks, born Nov. 9, 1806. Calvin Sparks also married a girlnamed Sarah Lyon. Calvin and Sarah Sparks were the parents of NelsonSparks, born June 1, 1845, died Feb. 26, 1932. Nelson Sparks was marriedon Dec. 15, 1863, to Sarrilda Holbrook, who was born March 4, 1849, anddied Dec. 18, 1920. Nelson and Sarrilda Sparks were the parents ofMeredith Benton Sparks, born Nov. 24., 1866, died Nov. 29, 1933. MeredithBenton Sparks was married on Sept. 22, 1887, to Cynthia Alice Bailey, whowas born March 21, 1869, and died Feb. 25, 1952. They were the parentsof Dr. Proctor Sparks.

"Dr. Sparks was a graduate of the Louisville Medical School, havingreceived his M.D. degree in 1917. He practiced for a while in Louisa,Kentucky, before moving to Ashland where he enjoyed a large practiceuntil he retired about four years ago. In recent years he had beenspending the winters in Florida and took a number of cruises on DeltaLine boats as ship's doctor. He had just returned from a voyage to SouthAmerica on board the S. S. del Norte when he died of a heart attack.

"Dr. Sparks was a member of the Unity Baptist Church, a Mason, aKentucky Colonel, a member of the Kentucky Medical Association and theAmerican Medical Association, past-president of the Boyd County MedicalSociety, and past-chairman of the Board of the Salvation Army. He hadalso served as director of several local business institutions, and hewas active in civic affairs.

"On June 10, 1908, Dr. Sparks married Miss Mary Gambill who precededhim in death on December 15, 1951. He is survived by two daughters, MissJoy Sparks of Ashland, Kentucky, and Irene (Mrs. Mike L.) Graney ofMiddleton, Ohio, and one grandsons Michael Proctor Graney.

"The accompanying photograph is Dr. Sparks's passport picture and wastaken only a few months before his death." (See photo on SQ p. 192)

SQ p. 4651: "He is in the cover picture of this issue of theQUARTERLY." (June 1996, Whole No. 174)

!NOTES:
SQ 1702, 3231: Married Robert Hawkins.
In what might have been her second marriage, a Rachel Sparks marri ed
William Scott on 28 Oct. 1755 in St. Luke's, Queen Annes County, MD . See
p. 60 of records as cited in MARYLAND MARRIAGES 1634-1777, Compiled by
Robert Barnes, Baltimore, 1987, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., p .110.

SQ 3795: Rachel Sparks, daughter of William and Ann Sparks, born ca.1754 in Frederick County, Maryland. She was married to John Rose in, webelieve, 1773. She was still living in Surry County, North Carolina, in1843 when she applied for a pension based on her husband's service in theRevolutionary War. According to record cept by John Rose and sent to theWar Department with Rachel's pension application, there children were(here lists, see family information sheet).

***************************************

See the SPARKSQUARTERLY, December 200, Whole No. 192, pp. 5443-61:

A MYSTERY SOLVED!WHERE DID WILLIAM SAMPLE SPARKS GET HIS MIDDLE NAME?

FROM HISMATERNAL GRANDFATHER, WILLIAM SAMPLE (DIED 1682)

By Russell E. Bidlack

We begin this article with grateful acknowledgement to JoyceBastasch, a long-time member of our Association, who lives in PalosVerdes Estates, California. It was Mrs. Bastasch who discovered andcalled this writer's attention to information contained in the publishedcourt records of early New Castle County, Delaware, thus enabling us tosolve a mystery that has long mystified descendants of William SampleSparks (ca.1700-ca.1765), son of William, Jr. and Margaret Sparks. Anarticle about William Sample Sparks was published in the QUARTERLY ofDecember 1989, Whole No. 148, to which further details regarding his lifewere added in the QUARTERLY of June 1997, Whole No. 178, as part of anarticle devoted' to his daughter, Rachel (Sparks) Bicknell. The mysteryhas pertained to the source of the middle name of William Sample Sparks.The record noted by Mrs. Bastasch is the will of William Sample father ofMargaret Sample, the future wife of William Sparks, Jr. Dated December11, 1682, William Sample's will was probated three weeks later, onJanuary 1, 1683. (The old Julian Calendar was then in use, so these datesare slightly different under our Gregorian Calendar used since 1752.) Thefull text of the will of William Sample will appear later in this article.

Typical of the time, the name "Sample" was spelled in a variety of waysamong the court records of early New Castle County. When Williaim Samplemade his will, for example, he signed his name "Will: Sempell." When hehad been granted a tract of land (600 acres) in the colony of Delaware onApril 19, 1681, his name was recorded as "William Semple." In a taxrecord dated June 12, 1684, for this same 600 acres, his widow's name wasgiven as "Widdow Sample." Although William Sample Sparks seems to havesigned his name by mark, others spelled his middle name as Sample. Exceptin quotations, we will use that spelling here.

Because of the mystery pertaining to the origin of the name Sample, wehave noted our inability to account for it in a number of articles thathave appeared in the QUARTERLY. Our earliest mention of William SampleSparks was in the issue for June 1961, Whole No. 34 (p.557). There wenoted that the signatures (by mark) of William Sample Sparks and RachelSparks had appeared on the inventory taken in 1749 of the estate ofJoseph Sparks who had died that year in Frederick County, Maryland.Joseph Sparks was an uncle of William Sample Sparks. (Maryland law thenrequired that two relatives, as well as the estate's two major creditors,sign the inventory of the possessions of a deceased person as part of theprobate process.) There were other references to William Sample Sparksin later issues of the QUARTERLY, often including the question of why thename Sample had been chosen for him.

It was not until the issue of the QUARTERLY of December 1989, Whole No.148, that we presented a detailed record of the life of William SampleSparks. There we noted that he had used his middle name only when hemight otherwise have been confused with a cousin or nephew also namedWilliam Sparks. We even speculated that he might have chosen "Sample,"himself, to use as a middle name merely to prevent this confusion, ratherthan having been christened "William Sample Sparks." this remains apossibility, but whether chosen by his parents at the time of his birthin or about 1700, or whether it was added by himself at a later time, wecan be sure it had come from the name of his maternal grandfather,William Sample. While this grandfather had died some two decades priorto the birth of his namesake, William Sample Sparks's mother, Margaret(Sample) Sparks, dooubtlesstold him of her father who had died while shewas still a little girl.

Based on a predominance of evidence gathered over many rears, we statedin the 1989 article, as we had done in earlier references, that WillamSample Sparks was a son of William Sparks, Jr. William Sparks, Jr. wasthe eldest son of the immigrant, William Sparks, who died in Queen AnnesCouny, Maryland, in 1709. (See the articles in the QUARTERLY of March1971, Whole No. 73, and December 1992, Whole No. 160, for information onWilliam Sparks' [died 1709] and his family.) We also noted in the 1989article that William Spatks, Jr. had been married twice, his first wife,Margaret, mother of William Sample Sparks, having died prior to 1730.

Until Mrs. Bastasch's discovery, we believed that the maiden name ofMargaret had been Hamilton based on a New Castle County, Delaware,document of March 31, 1696, that had been copied incorrectly. Thiserroneously copied record appears in New Castle County, Delaware, LandRecords, 1673 -1710, compiled by Carol Bryant, pp.76-77. It can easily beunderstood how this error had been made from the 200-year-old handwrittencopy of the original by a Court clerk. Furthermore, women then rarelyowned land, so in copying this document, Ms. Bryant had doubtless justassumed that the land in question had pertained to a man.

A photocopy of this 1696 deed, recorded in New Castle County deed bookB1, pp. 101-02, has been obtained from the Hall of Records in Dover,Delaware. In this there is the identification of "William Sparks of theprovince of Maryland and Margaret his wife, the daughter of JosineHamilton, later of New Castle, Delaware ..." In this first recording ofthe name "Josine" in the 1696, it could easily be interpreted as"Josiah," but when her name was repeated later in the deed, the spellingis clearly "Josine." We now know that, following the death of WilliamSample in 1682, his wife, Josine, had been married to a man namedHamilton. Margaret, wife of William Sparks, Jr., was, asthis 1696 deedindicates, a daughter of Josine Hamilton, but Josine had been JosineSample when Margaret had been born in the 1670s.

A transcription of this entire 1696 deed follows, with a minimum ofpunctuation added for clarity:

Know all men that John Bisk of the Town of New Castle, Taylour, andWilliam Sparks of the province of Maryland and Margaret his wife, thedaughter of Josinh [?] Hamilton late of New Castle deceased, for avaluable Consideration to whom in hand paid by Benjamin Sweet of theTown of New Castle aforesaid the recept whereof they do herebyAcknowledge Have given, granted, Enfeofed and by these presentsConfirmed unto the said Benj. Sweet a certain Lott of ground in the Townof New Castle containing in bredth thirty foot and in lenth from sewer tostreet bounded to the Eastward by Front Street, to the Westward by LandStreet, to the Northward by the land of the said John Bisk and to thesouthward by a house and gound lately belonging to the said JosineHamilton, deceased, which said lott was confirmed by patent from FrancisLovelace, Esqr. Governour under his Royall highness James Duke of Yorkthe Eighth of Aprile 1672 unto Isaac Tine with other lotts theretoadjoyning To Have and to hold the sd lott of ground and premisses withfencings and Improvements to the sd Benj. Sweet and his heirs and behoefof him, his heirs and assigns forever under the Yearly rent according tothe Lord of the Soyle. And the said John Bisk, William Spark and Margarethis wife the premesses & every part thereof to the said Benj.Sweet andhis heirs against them and their heirs and all other persons whatsoevershall and will warrant and forever defend by these presents
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
-5445-
(Transcription of deed, continued.)

In witness whereof
they have hereunto sett their hands and sealls this 31st of March 1696
Sealled and delivered in
the presence of

Lendorr 0 sterhaven John Bisk
Jacob Allrichs Eliz: Bisk
Henry Wright William Sparks
Sarah Bisk
Acknowledged in Open Court held at New Castlethe 16th
of June 1696 as wittness my hand and seal of the court

Based on the published copy of this deed, as noted earlier, this writerstated, erroneously, in his 1989 article, as in earlier references in theQUARTERLY, that Margaret, wife of William Sparks, Jr., had been adaughter of "Josiah Hamilton." We know now that Josiah Hamilton did noteven exist. The photocopy of the officially recorded copy of the deed inquestion clearly reveals that it was Margaret's mother who was describedas "late of New Castle deceased." Although when Margaret's mother,Josine, died, she was married to a man named Hamilton, her earlierhusband had been William Sample (or "Semple"), as proven by his willdated December 11, 1682. This will was recorded "vetbatim" in the recordsof the Court of New Castle meeting January 1, 1683, at Which session "Thelaest [i.e. last] will and Testament of William Sempill, Late of NewCastle, deceased" was produced (i.e., probated) by two of the witnesses,John Biske and Jonas Arskin. The text of this will follows:
The Last Will and Testament of William Sample

In the Name of God amen this 11th day of december in the yeare of or LordGod 1682. I: William Sempill, Inhabitant of New Castle upon delawareRiver being Sick and weake in Boddy but of perfect mind and memorythankes be Given unto God, Therefore calling unto mind the mortality ofmy Boddy and knowing that itt is appointed for all men once to dye, Doemake and ordayne this my Laest will and Testament in manner and formefollowing That is to say first and Principally I: give my Soule into theHands of God who Gave itt to mee and for my boddy I: commend itt to theEarth, to bee burried in decent Christian manner, noteing butt att theGennerll: Resurection I: shall Receave the same againe by the mightypower of God, And as touching Such worldly goods as itt hath bin pleasedGod to bless me in this Lyfe tyme wth I: Give devyse bequeath anddispose the Same in manner & forme following Vizt: First I: give, devyseand bequeath unto my dearly beloved wyfe Josyn Sempill and my Littledaughter Margaret wth: Rest of my wifes Children all my p'sonall Estateas goods and Chattles & moveables to be Equally divyded and distributedto my wife and daughter Margret and the rest of my wyves Children to use,occupy and dlspose of as Shee my said wyfe Shall See necessary andconveniety for the use of my sd: wyfe and daughter Margaret and my wyvesChildren, only Excepted -5446-

I: doe devyse and bequeath & Give unto my Little daughter Margaret allmy Estate in Christina Creeke or upon a brainch of the said Creeke boathReall & personall movements and imovables, goods and Chattles wth: allthe increase to the Soale and proper use and behoffe of she my saiddaughter Margartet itt being my will that first of all my wyfe JosynSempill puts on and upon the Plantation in Christina or brainch of thesd Creeke for the use of my daughter Margaret Soe manny Cowes, Sowes andother Chattell and What Els I: am allreaddy obliged to put upon theaforsd Plantation all being for the Soale and proper use and behoofe ofmy daughter Margret, until Shee Marryeth or Comes of age, the Increaseto be att the disposal of my wyfe Soe Long as she remains a widdowprovyded She my wyfe Keepes the old Stoke good, and in the next place, ifitt please God to call mee out of this world I: doe ordaine Constituteand appoint my beloved friends Mr. James Walliam & Samuel Land of theTowne of New Castle, to bee executors: of what what worldly Estate Ishall Leave behind mee, and to use the best of their Indeavors for thebennefitt of my wyfe, my daughter Margret and my wyves Children, with allthat my wyfe Josyne Sempill pay all Just debts due from me, to others,and that sheereceive all debts due from others to mee, and I: doe herebyutterly disallow Revoake & Annull all and Every other former Testaments,wills, Legacies, bequeaths. Executors: By me in any wise before this typenamed, willed, or bequeathed, Ratifying and Confirming this and noneother to bee my Laest [last] will & Testament whereof I haue hereuntoSett my hand & Seale the day & yeare above written--

[signed] Will: Sempell (LS)
Signed Sealed published
pronounced. declared by
the sd: William Sempill
as his Laest will & Testament
In the Presence of us --
J. D haes [Johannes DeHaes]
Jan Bisek [John Bisk]

In this will, a symbol from Old English and Old Norse, the Runiccharacter called the "thorn," was used for the letters th, as in the,this, etc. The symbol resembles the letter y, and many editorssubstitute a y for the thorn, thus spelling the word "the" as "ye" or"that" as "yt " implying that "the" had been pronounced "ye" or "that" as"yet;." Since the thorn was not a y, this writer prefers to substitutethe letters "th" to retain the pronunciation that the original writer hadintended.

From the will of William Sample, it is apparent that his wife Josine, hadbeen married previously, and that she had had children by that earlierhusband. Unfortunately, however, William Sample did not mention thesurname of Josine's children by her earlier marriage. We will return tothis question later in this article.

From the wording of his will, its seems apparent that William Sampleintended that his two friends, James Walliam and Samuel Land, serve asexecutors of his estate, although he qualilied their appointment with thewords "use the best of Indeavors for the bennefitt of my wyfe, mydaughter Margret and my wyves Children... The Court record indicatesthat when this will was presented to the Court for probate, WilliamSample's widow, Josine, made the claim that her husband had intended thatshe administer his estate, and that James Walliam and Samuel Land should"bee understood only as overseers & assistants to the widdow [herself] inthe performand of her husbands will." Josine must have been a strong andbold woman for her day, for the justices accepted her argument.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
-5547-

Before returning to a discussion if the provisions that William Samplemade in his will, it may be appropriate to review the dating system thenin use in England and her colonies. As noted, it was on January 1, 1683,that William Sample's will was presented for probate in the New Castlecourt. The meeting dates for this session of the court were recordedhowever, as follows: "Att a Court Held in the towne of New Castle...thefirst and 2d dayes of the Elleventh month called January annoq.Dom.1682/3." It was under the old Julian Calendar, which remained inuse in England and her colonies untill 1752 that January was counted asthe eleventh month of the year and February as the twelfth. The new yearbegan on March 25th, in keeping with vernal equinox, but all of March wascounted as the first month of the year.

Dating back to the time of Julius Caesar, the Julian calendar had beenadopted in the Christian world during the Nicene Council in A.D. 325.While based on the solar year and divided into 365 days, plus an extraday every fourth year, the Julian calendar was found to exceed the solaryear by eleven minutes, amounting to a full day every 131 days. This wascorrected in 1582 with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, which weuse today, by having no leap year in centenial years not divisable by400, and to correct the cumulative error that had grown over thecenturies, ten days were dropped and January was designated as the firstmonth of the year. Because it was Pope Gregory XIII who ordered that thenew calendar be adopted, it was named for him. For this reason, theGregorian calendar was ridiculed by Protestant nations, includingEngland, calling it a "Catholic Calendar".
With Henry VIII having broken with Rome, England insisted on continuingto count the passing of time with the old Julian Calendar longer than didthe rest of Europe. Particularly in the world of trade and travel, thetwo calendars caused growing confusion. In the American colonies, thecustom grew to use "double dates" during January and February and themost of March. Thus, the New Castle Court session beginning on January 1,1682 under the Julian Calendar was written "1: January: 1682/3" Underthe Gregorian Calendar this was New Year's day, 1683. The Englishparliament finally adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, by which timeit was necessary to drop eleven days, and throughout England and thecolonies in 1752, September 2 was followed by September 14.

Early Historical Events in the Colony of Delaware

Another historical matter needing discussion in order to understand thedifficulty in tracing the forebears of William Sample Sparks is thecomplicaterd evolution of the the colony of Delaware. First it isimportant to note that New Castle County, Delaware, the place ofresidence of William Sample when he died in December 1682, very nearlyadjoins Queen Annes County, Maryland, the home of William Sparks, Jr. Itis not surprising that William Sparks, Jr. became aquainted with MargaretSample, for, though living in different colonies, they grew up but a fewmiles apart. They were probably married in Delaware in or about 1695.

Delaware did not come under English rule until 1664, the same year thatEngland took possession of Amsterdam in New York. Although its shore onthe Delaware River had been visited in 1609 by Henry Hudson, a Britishsea captain in the service of the Dutch West India Company, it had beenSweden, not Holland, that succeeded in establishing a settlement at whatis now Wilmington in 1638.

In 1651, the Dutch established a colony and built a fort at what is nowNew Castle, and in 1655 New Sweden capitulated to the Dutch.The Swedishcolonists on the Delaware remained, however, coming under Dutch rule.Then in 1664 when a war between England and Holland spread to the NewWorld New Amsterdamand other Dutch possessions in America were taken byan English expedition under James, Duke of York. The Swedish and Dutchsettlers on the Delaware River were permitted by the English to remain ontheir land byswearing allegiance to the King of England, and in 1673 theDuke of York's Bookof Laws introduced them to the English legal system.In the 1696 deed quoted earlier, the reference to "the Lord of the Soyle"meant the King of England. It is only after English rule do localrecords exist for what became the colony of Delaware.

In 1682, King Charles II extended the proprietary rule of William Penn toinclude, beyond the colony of Pennsylvania, the land on the DelawareRiver that eventually would become the colony of Delaware. Initially,however it became known as the "Lower Counties" of Pennsylvania. Thesethree "Lower Counties" were called New Castle, St. Johns, and Sussex,although St. Johns was changed to Kent County in 1682. In 1703, thesethree counties were granted their own assembly, which was an importantstep toward their becoming the separate colony of Delaware.

William Sample, Immigrant to Maryland

Although our earliest reference to William Sample in New Castle County,Delaware, found thus far is dated October 22, 1677, we believe that ifthere existed Dutch and Swedish court or land records prior to Englishrule, we would probably find his name there. We are certain, however,that he was neither a native of Holland nor Sweden, but that he had comefrom England. We further believe that he was the same William Sample whoarrived in Maryland in February 1653/4, i.e., it was 1653 under the oldJulian calendar but 1654 under the Gregorian Calendar.

At the Maryland Hall of Records there is a very early handwritten volumeof land records called "Liber A. B. & H." An expert in locating andinterpreting Maryland records, Dr. Carson Gibb, who has done researchfor us over a number of years, has provided us with photocopies of anumber of pages in this volume pertaining to William Sample.

As explained in The EarlySettlers of Maryland by Gust Skordas (Baltimore:Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968, p. ix), this "Liber A.B.& H" is atranscription completed in 1717 from much earlier records, most of whichare no longer extant. Included in this 1717 transcription is what wasonce called "Liber H (1650-55)," which no longer exists.

To interpret the earliest record pertaining to William Sample in "LiberA.B.& H." one must note that, to attract settlers to Maryland, LordBaltimore, the proprietor of the Colony, offered free land to any man orwoman who came to his colony
at his/her own expense. The number of acres provided had been reducedfrom 100 to 50 per immigrant by 1653 when William Sample came. Shippassage from England to Maryland cost about 20 pounds at that time, a sumthat few individuals desiring to emigrate to Maryland could pay. Manysuch men and women therefore, came as indentured servants, agreeing towork for the person paying their passage for varying numbers of years fortheir passage. The person paying for the passage would receive hisservant's "right" to the 50 acres.

The immigrant who "transported himself," i.e., paid his own way, or theperson who "transported" someone, would, soon after arrival in Maryland"demand" a "right" to the promised 50 acres. Upon receiving the written"right", he/she could then transfer (sell) it to another person. (For amore detailed account of this form of acquiring land in Maryland, see theQUARTERLY of December 1992, Whole No. 160, pp.4025-26.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
-5449-

On page [folio] 382 of "Liber A.B.& H" appears the following entry dated26th January 1653: "William Sample" Demandeth Fifty acres of land fortransporting himself into this province about February last." (This wouldhave been February 1653 under the Julian Calendar, but it would beFebruary 1654 under the Gregorian Calendar.)

The name "Sample" was by no means a common surname in the 1600s nor isit even today. No one else named Sample appears in the Skordas volumecited earlier or in Carson Gibb's A Supplement to The Early Settlers ofMaryland.

The exact same entry that appears for William Sample on page 382 of"Liber A.B. & H". was made also, on the same page, for each of two othermen who had transported themselves, i.e., paid their own way, fromEngland to Maryland. They were Samuel Graves and Richard Harris. WhetherGraves and Harris might have come to Maryland with William Sample is notknown.

Sometime prior to July 3, 1654, William Sample had transferred his"right" to fifty acres to a man named George Bushy (also spelled Bussy).George Bushy had also arrived in Maryland about the same time as hadWilliam Sample, Samuel Graves and Richard Harris as revealed in an entryon page 380 of "Liber A.B. & H." Just above the George Bushy entry isthat of Henry Keyne who figures later with William Sample, Samuel Gravesand Richard Harris in the sale of their "rights".

"Liber A.B.& H." Folio 381.
26th June [1654] Henry Keyne Demandeth one Hundred and fifty
Acres for Transporting himself and Richard and Edward Kene, his
two Brothers into this province about February last.

[Same Liber, same folio, & same date.]

George Bushy Demandeth two hundred and Fifty acres of land for
Transporting himself, his Wife and George and Henry Bussy [sic]
their Sons into this province about February last with John Jenkins
his Servant.

No written record has been found by which Henry Keyne, William Sample,Samuel Graves, and Richard Harris transferring their "rights" to GeorgeBushy (oe Bussy) has been found, but that they had done so is indicatedby the following entries on folio 384 of "Liber A.B.& H."
3d July [1654] George Bussy [sic] Demandeth as pr Titles two
Hundred and Fifty Acres in his own Right and one hundred and
Fifty in the right of Henry Keene and his Brothers and fifty acres
a piece in Rights of Samuel Graves, William Sample and Richard
Harris, in all Five hundred and fifty acres.
Immediately following this entry, at the top of folio 385 appears thefollowing:
3d July [1654] Warrt [i.e., Warrant] to lay out for George Bussy [sic]two Hundred and Fifty acres and for Henry Keene and his Brothers Onehundred and Fifty acres and for Samuel Graves Fifty acres, for WilliamSample Fifty acres and for Richard Harris fifty acres being in all Fivehundred and Fifty acres of land in any part of the province not formerlytaken up. retd 1st January.

One other Maryland record has been found pertaining to William Sample. OnApril 1, 1660, he and one Francis Carpenter witnessed the will of RichardHix in Calvert County. Hix was identified in the will as living on"Patuxent River". Here William Sample signed his name as "Wm. Sampell."Perhaps it was from Calvert County Maryland that he went to Delawarewhile it was still under Dutch rule.

-5450-

Because he had had the resources to transport himself to America, WilliamSample must have been a young man of some means. By the time he appearsin the English Delaware records, he seems to have been a man of bothFinancial resources and status in his community, as will be seen below.

Records Pertaining to William Sample in Delaware

We have had no access to any records that may have been kept during theDutch rule of Delaware, but English Court records survive and those from1676 to 1699 were published by the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania intwo volumes, 1676-1681
in 1904 and 1681-1699 in 1934. Both volumes have been reprinted by theClearfield Company of Baltimore, Maryland, in 2000.

It was on April 4, 1677, that William Sample first appeared in theEnglish Court records of New Castle. This was a case in which he andWilliam Hamilton were plaintiffs against James Besevick, claiming thatBesevick owed them "by his bill bearing date 8th of Novembr Last [1676]the sume of seven hundred fourthy and seven gilders & three styvers." TheCourt, comprised of three justices of the peace who served asmagistrates, ruled in favor of Sample and Hamilton. There were subsequentcases in which William Sample and William Hamilton were co-plaintiffsregarding money due them, suggesting that they may have been partners insome manner. For example, at a session of the Court on February 18,167718, William Sample and William Hamilton were plaintiffs against theestate of John Askin, deceased, "for the sume of three hundred and sixgilders and seven styvers."

In a Court record dated July 24, 1677, a jury was empaneled to consider acase involving a stolen coat; William Sample was one of the jurors, aduty that he would perform thereafter on several occasions.

In the autumn of 1677, a census was taken of the "Tydable [tithable]prsons living in the [New Castle] Court's Jurisdiction." A total of 307male heads of households were listed in such a way to suggest that theirarrangement was geographical. That in which William Sample's nameappeared was headed "from the next side" and comprised 42 names. WilliamHamilton's name followed that of William Sample in the list, suggestingthat their houses were probably side-by-side. Close neighbors includedMath: d' Ring, John Bisk, Jan Boyer, Joh: d' haes, and James Walliam, allbeing persons mentioned as Sample's associates in later records.

That William Sample was a prominent citizen of New Castle County isproven in the Court's minutes of July 17, 1678. A petition was then drawnup addressed to the Governor, Sir Edmund Andross, requesting that threeadditional justices of the peace be appointed to serve as magistrates onthe Court. Included in the petition were the names of four citizenspresented "as the fittest prsons" from whom the Governor might choosethree: "Mr Johannes Dehaes, Mr William Semple, Mr Abram Man, and MrHendrick Williams." William Sample was one of the three who wereappointed by the Governor, and as one of the now seven magistrates, heattended his first Court session on November 5, 1678.

Governor Andross, whose principal duty was to govern the colony of NewYork, then also governed the three Delaware counties, which meant thathis Delaware subjects rarely had personal contact with him. In July 1679,four of the New Castle magistrates, including William Sample, agreed tobe available on occasion to travel to New York to represent New CastleCounty before the Governor. It is interesting to note that when the NewCastle Court met on July 6, 1681, it adjourned without acting becauseJustice Otto was ill and "Justice Will: Sempill is absent at New York."Sample served as a member of the New Castle Court for the remainder ofhis life.

(The next part of this long article onWilliam Sample Sparks and the origin of his middle name appears under thenotes for Rachael's sister Nancy.)

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June, 1997, Whole No. 178, for an articleentitled RACHEL (SPARKS) BICKNELL (1757-CA.1851/55) AND HER BROTHER,GEORGE SPARKS (died 1795/06) PROBABLE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM SAMPLE SPARKS.This article appears on pages 4809 to 4826. The first portion relatingthe history of the family and its move from Maryland to North Carolina isreproduced under George Sparks's notes. The following portion relatingto Rachel and her husband begins on page 4814:

"There can be little doubt that Rachel Sparks and Thomas Bicknell becameacquainted after both moved to Surry County, he from Virginia and shefrom the Forks of the Yadkin. Because Rachel recalled many years laterthat their marriage banns had been announced "in Church," she doubtlessmeant the Mulberry Fields Meeting House that had been organized by agroup of Baptists and was located in what later became the town ofWilkesboro. General William Lenoir, who became one of Wilkes County'smost distinguished leaders, recalled this church in an 1824 letter quotedon page 3782 of the June 1991 Quarterly.

"It was in November 1777 that the North Carolina General Assemblyproclaimed, with its passage of the "Confiscation Act," the state'sownership of all Granville land. Grants previously made by Granville'sagents were to be honored, however. It was now possible for settlers whohad formerly been "squatters" in Surry County to gain a legal title to"their" land, if someone else did not produce a better claim. It wasalso in 1777 that Wilkes County was created from part of Surry County.

"A detailed account of the manner in which "squatters" went aboutacquiring their legal titles from the state begins on page 3784 of theJune 1991 Quarterly. On April 22, 1778, Thomas Bicknell "entered" atract of 247 acres of land in Wilkes County, described as located on"both sides of Swan Creek, joining Thos Parks at the lower and JohnBowerland [Bourland] at the upper end, cornering on the main road."(Entry 63 in Land Entry Book, Wilkes County, North Carolina, 1778-1781,edited by Mrs. W. 0. Abshire, 1971.) On March 4, 1778, Samuel Bicknell'sentry #12 had been for 320 acres "on Yadkin River at Benjamin Herndon'slower corner [and] claim[s] of Thomas Becknel & Thomas Parks [and]Alexander Gordon." On January 4, 1779, Thomas Bicknell entered 50additional acres that adjoined his other tract and one belonging toBenjamin Herndon (Entry 749). On September 24, 1779, he receivedconfirmation of his first "entry" in the form of a grant (a deed) fromthe state, although it was found to contain 240 acres, not the 247 acresthat had been estimated in his entry. In the deed, this tract wasdescribed again as lying on both sides of Swan Creek, adjoining landbelonging to Benjamin Herndon and John Bourland. (Wilkes County Deed BookA-1, p.72.) We have found no record, however, confirming ThomasBicknell's 50-acre entry--perhaps he sold his claim to this before it wasconfirmed by a grant.

"Thomas Bicknell's land was not far from where Swan's Creek emptiesinto the Yadkin River. Today this tract, as well as that of his brother,Samuel Bicknell, would be found in New Castle Township of Wilkes County,one and one-quarter miles west of the line dividing Wilkes County fromYadldn County.

"During the second day of the initial meeting of the Wilkes CountyCourt, on March 3, 1778, "Thomas Bicknal" and three others were appointedconstables for the new county, and on September 11, 1778, Thomas wasappointed "Collector for Captain Herndon's District." A year after hisappointment as constable, on March 3, 1779, however, Thomas Bicknellresigned from the latter post, probably because of his involvement withmilitary affairs. These appointments indicate that he had soon becomerecognized as a youthful leader in his community.

"Historians have noted that most of the settlers in the Forks of theYadkin in the 1750s and 1760s became Loyalists during the AmericanRevolution, as was true of several members of the Sparks family. Theredeveloped a "generation gap" within many of these families, as theimmigrants' sons tended to join with the rebels, demanding the Colonies'freedom from English rule. As was noted in the article in the June 1991issue of the Quarterly, devoted to William Sparks (son of William SampleSparks) mentioned earlier, both William and his cousin, Solomon Sparks,would suffer later because of their loyalty to King George III. Althoughneither of them actually joined Tory military forces, their knownsympathies for British rule would result in their being denied titles tothe land in Surry County on which they had "squatted." Thomas Bicknell,however, was a rebel from the start of the Revolution. In fact, he wouldgive his life for the American cause.

"Our only record of Thomas Bicknell's service in the Revolution isfound in Rachells own account when, many years later, on December 3,1845, just nine days prior to her 88th birthday, she made application fora pension based on that service. Not only did she, as a war widow, haveto prove that she had been married to a soldier, but, also, to provideinformation regarding her husband's service. Documents provingRevolutionary War service were often lacking for a widow's pensionapplication, but Rachel was further handicapped because of her longseparation from friends and neighbors who had known her in NorthCarolina; she was living with a daughter in Pickens County, SouthCarolina, when she made her pension application. (Rachel Bicknell'spension file at the National Archives has the number R-12399; it is filedunder "Biecknell.11) The judge writing the declaration that Rachel signedby mark, spelled her name three different ways. The full text of herapplication follows; punctuation has been added for clarity.

Declaration

In order to obtain the benefit of the third section of the Act ofCongress of the 4th July 1836 entittled [sic] An Act granting half payand Pensions to Certain widows:

State of South Carolina Ss
District of Pickens

On this third day of December 1845 personally appeared before William D.Steele, Judge of the Court of Ordinary for the District & Stateaforesaid, Mrs. Rachel Biecknell of the District & State aforesaid, agedeighty eight years the 12th Instant (and who the said Ordinary certifiesis unable by body infirmity to attend in Open Court) who being first dulysworn according to law, doth on her oath make the following, Declarationin order to obtain... [a pension]

That she is the widow of Thomas Biecknell who was a private andLieutenant in the War of the Revolution, that she was married to the saidThomas Biecknell when in her seventeenth year; and she thinks [it was]when she had three children [that] her said husband entered the serviceunder Capt Richard Allen, who was afterwards, Colonel; that they thenresided in Wilkes County, North Carolina, and her said husband thereentered the service the first time, and was not much at home until theclose of the War; that he was at one time a Volunteer & at other timesdrafted, and was a considerable portion of the time a Lieutenant; thatshe is sure he was a Lieutenant under Capt Allen at the siege ofCharleston early in 1780, that he marched much through North & SouthCarolina, and served at various times under Col. Lanore, Col. Cleveland,& Col. Hearne, but it is impossible for her to state the particulars ofhis service, at her advanced age.

That her husband the said Thomas Biecknell was wounded with an ounce ballin his hip in the Battle at King's Mountain, with which wound he died; hewas carried to Burke County near Morgantown [Morganton], to the house ofMr. Bowman, whence declarant went and waited upon him with his woundEleven weeks, at the end of which time he died. She does not know of anydocumentary evidence, or any evidence of any kind, that she can certainlyget to prove his service, but thinks an indent may have been issued toher for his service, as she recollects, to have tryed to get something, &thinks, she did get a small sum, but does not know how [much].

That she was married to the said Thomas Bicknell in Wilkes County N.C. bySquire Riggs, as she believes on the 22d October, as she thinks the year1774, as she had but three children when her husband entered the service,and when his service closed entirely she had five children and fourmonths and fifteen days after his death her sixth child Mary was born;her said Daughter, Mary, married David Roper, and she now lives with her,and on their charity. She has no record of her marriage, nor of thebirths of her children, they [the banns] were published in Church as thecustom was in those days to be married. That her husband, the aforesaidThomas Becknell, died on the thirty first day of December 1780, and thatshe has remained a widow ever since that period, as will more fullyappear by reference to the proof herewith forwarded.

her
signed: Rachel X Biecknell
mark

"Rachel Bicknell's declaration was "sworn to and subscribed" beforeWilliam D. Steele, Judge of the Court of Ordinary for Pickins District.

"While Rachel Bicknell could not recall the date on which her husbandhad "entered the service," it is seen that she remembered that he haddone so "under Capt. Richard Allen, who was afterwards Colonel." Ithappens that many years earlier, in 1832, this same Richard Allen hadapplied for a pension (file S-6490 at the National Archives), and in hisapplication, he had given a detailed record of his own service, which herecalled had begun in either October or November 1775 in "Captain JesseWalton's company of minute men .... " By 1777, Allen had become anensign in Captain Benjamin Cleveland's company of Wilkes County Militia,and when Cleveland was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in1778, Richard Allen had succeeded him as captain of the company.

"It may not have been until 1779 that Thomas Bicknell joined CaptainAllen's company, but he was surely a member at the time of the eventsthat Allen recalled taking place in 1779, as follows:

" "In the latter part of the year 1779, a call was made for troopsto march
in the defense of Charleston. A draft was made from the militia inWilkes
[County] for one company, and a draft also made from the captains of
companies for a captain to command that company--the lot fell uponthe
deponent [i.e. on Allen, himself], and he accordingly repaired withhis
company to Hamblins old store where they rendeyvoused [sic] on the15th
of January 1780--as soon as they could organize and make thenecessary
preparations they marched direct to Charleston, S.C., where theyjoined
the third regiment of North Carolina Militia commanded by Col. Andrew
Hampton."

"Capt. Allen's company helped prevent the Tories from burning thecity of Charleston, after which they returned to their homes in WilkesCounty in April 1780, "having been gone between three and four months,"in the words of Allen.

"Rachel Bicknell stated in her pension application that she was wassure that her husband had been "a Lieutenant under Capt. Allen at thesiege of Charleston, that he marched much through North and SouthCarolina, and served at various times." Her memory of her husband'sactivities during this period is in keeping with Capt. Allen's account,as follows:

"From the month of April to September 1780 this deponent [i.e.,Allen], with
small detachments of the men under his command, served three short
terms ... one of which was against a body of Tories assembled nearthe
head of the Catawba River, another against Colo. Bryan, a ToryColo. who
had embodied a band of Tories in the Southern part of the State, andthe
other against some Tories on the North West side of the Blue Ridge.

"In the month of September 1780 information was received by Colo.
Cleveland that Major Ferguson of the British army was advancing from
South Carolina with a large body of British and Tories--upon whichColo.
Cleveland immediately issued orders for all the troops within theCounty of
Wilkes to reneyezvous [sic] at the Court House. This deponent, withwhat
men he could collect, repaired thither immediately, and after thetroops
were organized they all set out on their march to meet Majr Ferguson.
Upon the way they were joined by Col. Campbell with a body of troops
from Virginia, as also by Cols. Sevier, Shelby and McDowell withtroops
from North Carolina. After a junction of the troops was formed, asmost of
them had horses, it was proposed that all those who had horses orcould
procure them should advance immediately upon Ferguson.

"Captain Allen was placed in command of those troops who did not havehorses, and though they "continued their March with all possible speed inthe direction of Kings Mountain," the battle had been won by theAmericans before Allen and his footmen reached their destination. BecauseThomas Bicknell had been on horseback, he had become a member of ColonelSevier's command and was in the thick of the battle.

"A low mountain or ridge, King's Mountain is located near the borderline of North and South Carolina, just over the line in York County,South Carolina, from Cleveland County, North Carolina. When the battlewas fought, York County was still part of Camden District in SouthCarolina, and Cleveland County in North Carolina was part of RutherfordCounty, which had been cut off from Burke County in 1779. For theAmericans, the Battle of Kings Mountain resulted in one of their mostbrilliant victories of the Revolution and played an important role inbreaking British power in the South. Col. Sevier, under whom Bicknellwas serving at the time, became a hero of the Revolution as a result ofthis American Victory."

(Go to the scrapbook of Rachel to see a portion of a map entitled 'TheRevolutionary War in the South" drawn by Hugh T. Lefler for the Atlas ofAmerican History, published in 1943, page 74. Shows the location ofCharleston, where Thomas Bicknell participated in the Siege of that city,and of Kings Mountain, where he was mortally wounded. This map appearsin the QUARTERLY on page 4815.)

"As was indicated earlier, Thomas Bicknell was severely wounded duringthe Battle of Kings Mountain. In her pension application, Rachel(Sparks) Bicknell gave a brief account of his injury, and subsequentdeath, as quoted earlier.

"Although her declaration for a pension was made in 1845, six yearspassed before supporting affidavits could be obtained from people whocould remember her and her husband. By this time, Rachel was 94 yearsold. It was in September 1851 that four individuals were found who couldtestify on Rachells behalf.

"In Wilkes County, North Carolina, Benjamin Parks was found whoremembered both Thomas and Rachel Bicknell. Described in his affidavit,dated September 22, 1851, as "an old and respectable Citizen," he wasclosely related to the Thomas Parks, Jr. whose land had adjoined that ofThomas Bicknell on Swan's Creek. On the 1850 census of Wilkes County,Benjamin Parks was shown as 84 years old and a native of Virginia. Hewas then living in the household of James Parks, age 59. Benjamin Parksclaimed in his deposition that he could remember three of Bicknell'sneighbors who had been killed at Kings Mountain; he could also recallthat Thomas Bicknell had been brought from the battlefield in a "HorseLitter." Parks added in his sworn statement that Bicknell was a marriedman and had children, but he did not think any record of marriages waskept in those days, and that "even now they are very imperfectly kept."He added that "Mrs. Rachael Beicknell [sic] left this country long sinceand he never heard of her marrying again." He must have been told thatRachel had testified that her marriage had been performed by SquireRiggs, because Benjamin Parks stated that he had known "Esquire Riggs andthat he was in the habit of marrying People."

"Also providing an affidavit to assist Rachel was "an old andRespectable Lady" in Wilkes County named Sarah Gray. In her swornstatement, also dated September 22, 1851, she said that she had knownThomas Bicknell well and that during the Revolution he "was from home aconsiderable time, said to be in the service of his country. " She addedthat she had had a brother in the Battle of Kings Mountain who hadreported to her that Bicknell "was badly wounded in his hip and neverrecov- ered, and that her brother had assisted in bringing him from thebattle ground." She added that Bicknell's "wife's maiden name sherecollects very well, was Rachael Sparks," and that she "was a woman ofgood and unimpeachable character; that [she, Sarah Gray, herself] was"bound to believe her statement in any mattter."

"In McDowell County, which had been created in 1842 from Burke andRutherford Counties, a man named David Glass, Esqr., "an old man, and aman, in every way worthy of credit," swore on September 25, 1851, that hecould remember Rachel Bicknell "saying a long time ago that her husband... served in the war of the Revolution, and was shot at the Battle ofKing's Mountain and carried to Mrs. Bowman's near Morganton in BurkeCounty where he lay a considerable time and then died with the wound."

Also on September 25, 1851, Martha McKenzie, "an old and respectableLady" in McDowell County, swore that she had been "well acquainted withThomas Bicknell and Rachail [sic] his wife, who was a Sparks. That shehas often heard various persons say the said Thomas Bicknell servedseveral years in the War of the Revolution and was Badly wounded at theBattle of King's mountain and carried to Mrs Bowmans, near Morganton inBurke County and lay there several weeks and died ..." She added thatthe Bicknells "were both of unimpeachable character, that they livedtogether and had children and was always recognized as man and wife...This deponent says she is Eighty-six years old and came to this Countywhen a child from Virginia."

"Morganton, to which Thomas Bicknell had been carried, was, and is,the county seat of Burke County, North Carolina; it is located aboutfifty miles from Kings Mountain. The journey there from the battlefieldby "horse litter" must have been a painful ordeal for Bicknell.

"While the kind of wound that Thomas Bicknell received on KingsMountain could probably be easily treated today, his chances of avoidinginfection and other fatal disorders were poor in 1780. Ten daysfollowing his misfortune, recognizing the probability that he would die,Thomas made his will on October 20, 1780. The original, as well as therecorded copy, survive in the North Carolina Archives at Raleigh. Theoriginal document is transcribed below:

In the name of God Amen. I Thomas Bignall of Wilks County in
the State of NO Carolina, being much disordered in Body but of
Sound mind & memory & Reflecting on the uncertainty of Human
Affairs, do make this my last will &. Testament in manner & form
following Vizt

Imprimis I committ I [sic] body to the Earth there to be decently
intered at the direction of my Executors, & my Worldly Estate I
dispose of as follows

Item I will & bequeath unto my beloved Wife Rachel the Plantation
whereon I dwell, togather with my Horses & Cattle, Sheep & Hoggs
& all Other my Houshold furniture & Plantation Tools to the Intent
that she may be able to Rais my Children and I hereby will & Appoint
my Wife Rachell Sole Executrix of this my last will & Testament as
Witness my and & Seal this 20th day of Octobr 1780.

Signed Sealed & Acknow- [signed] Thomas Bicknell
ledged in Presence of us
[Thomas Bicknell's signature on his will]
[signed] Joseph Dobson
" Grace Bowman
" Samuel Bicknell [signed] Samuel Bicknell
" Wm Terrell Lewis Sr
" William Ragland [Signature of Samuel Bicknell,brother of
" Gabrl Loving Junr Thomas Bicknell, as a witness towill.]

"It was most unusual to have six witnesses to a will; we do not havean explanation. The first to sign, Joseph Dobson, was a physician who hadbrought his family from London, England, to Virginia in 1753, and hadcome to Burke County, North Carolina, in 1764. We can conjecture that itmay have been Dr. Dobson who, serving as Thomas Bicknell's physician,recommended that he make his will. The document appears to be inDobson's handwriting--he obviously did not know his patient's correctname when he wrote "Bignall." According to The Burke County Book, page157, quoting from Draper's Kings Mountain Men, Dr. Dobson had eighteenwounded Americans from the Battle of Kings Mountain under his care atMorganton.

"The second witness, Grace Bowman, widow of the late sheriff of BurkeCounty, was providing shelter for Thomas Bicknell and, probably also, forRachel during the eleven weeks that she nursed her husband. The thirdwitness, Samuel Bicknell, was Thomas' brother. Perhaps he had broughtRachel to Morganton from Wilkes County to care for his brother. Thethree remaining witnesses, William Terrell Lewis, Sr., William Ragland,and Gabriel Loving, Jr., were all close neighbors of both Thomas andSamuel Bicknell in Wilkes County. We may conjecture that they, too, mayhave been among Dr. Dobson's patients from the Battle of Kings Mountain.

"It was on the last day of December in 1780, according to RachelBicknell's pension application, that her husband died. Gabriel Loving,Jr., one of the witnesses to Thomas Bicknell's will, appeared before theWilkes County Court on March 7, 1781, to swear that he had been presentwhen Thomas Bicknell had made his will; and the will was then admittedfor probate. (See p.50 of Wilkes County Will Book 1.)

"As noted earlier, Rachel (Sparks) Bicknell stated in her pensionapplication that she believed that she had three children at the time herhusband entered service. She added that "when his service closedentirely, [with his death on December 31, 1780] she had five children,and four months and fifteen days after his death, her sixth child, Marywas born." This would place Mary Bicknell's birth date on May 15, 1781.

"Unfortunately, Thomas Bicknell did not name his children in hiswill. From later land transactions, we know that two of Rachells sixchildren were sons, named William and Micajah.

"We can only wonder what Rachel did with her five children when shewent from Wilkes County to nurse her husband in Burke County, althoughthere were both Bicknell and Sparks relatives living near her in WilkesCounty with whom she may have left them.

"On September 3, 1781, the Wilkes County Court ordered BenjaminHerndon, William Terrell Lewis, and William Carrell to "appraise theEstate of Thomas Becknel, decd. 11 This was done promptly, and when thecourt met later in the same month, it was noted that the inventory hadbeen returned by "Rachel Bicknall, Execrx. 11 A copy of this inventorywas made on page 60 of Vol. 1 of the Wilkes County Will Book 1 as follows:

"Land 321 acres horses 5 Cattle 10 Sheep 6 Swine 35 three Beds and
Furniture 7 plates 2 Dishes 5 Basons 8 knives and forks 8 spoons 1pair of
Sizzors 3 water Pales 2 washing Tubs One Churn 2 Bed Steads 4 Chairs
One Table one Chest One Loom 2 Stais [?] 2 wheels 2 pair of Cards 6
bottles one Jug 2 Barrells 2 Bundletts [?] 6 Books 3 Pots money £l5O
money on Book £25 Six Bels 2 Saddles 3 Bridles

"One of the earliest tax lists of Wilkes County, North Carolina, thatsurvives in the North Carolina Archives is that for 1782. In CaptainAlexander Gordon's District, Rachel Bicknell was taxed, as was also herbrother-in-law, Samuel Bicknell. Rachel was shown as owning 321 acres ofland, the same number of acres as shown in the inventory of her husband'sestate. For tax purposes, this tract was valued at forty pounds. Alsotaxed that year in Wilkes County were slaves, horses, and cattle, as wellas "stock in trade" [for merchants] and "carriage wheels." Rachel ownedno slaves, nor did she have a carriage, but she was taxed for four horsesand eleven cattle.

"Rachel Bicknell also appeared on the 1784 tax list of Wilkes County,again in Capt. Gordon's District. Only the land portion of the 1784 taxlist survives on which Rachel was credited with 347 acres; why there wasthis difference in acreage, we do not know.

"When Rachel Bicknell applied for a pension in 1845, she stated thatshe did not know where documentary proof could be found regarding herhusband's service in the Revolution, but she thought that "an indent mayhave been issued to her for his services, as she recollects to have triedto get something, and thinks she did get a small sum, but does not knowhow [much]." Here Rachel probably referred to action that had been takenby the Wilkes County Court on July 28, 1784, by which Justices BenjaminCleveland, Elijah Isaac, and James Fletcher ordered that "RachaelBicknel, widow of Thomas Bicknel who was killed in defence of his countryin the Battle at Kings Mountain, be Recommended to the General Assemblyas an Object of Pity and that Twelve pounds pr. year we think would be aslittle as she could Subsist on with a large family of children togetherwith her own Industry." Whether the North Carolina General Assemblycomplied with this recommendation, we do not know.

"When Thomas Bicknell obtained his grant of land on Swan Creek onApril 22, 1778, it was noted in its description that one of the menowning adjoining land was Thomas Parks. On May 22, 1778, Thomas Parks,Jr. had entered 422 acres "lying on both sides of Swan Creek & in theforks of sd Creek & joining Thomas Bicknell at the upper end & Majr WmLewis at the Lower end & cornering above the Main Road." (Entry 113)

"In 1779, Thomas Parks conveyed 140 acres of his tract to CharlesParks who, on November 2, 1785, sold forty acres to Rachel Bicknell. Hesold the remaining 100 acres to William Harvey on the same day. (SeeWilkes County Deed Book A-1, pp.520-22.) Rachel paid Parks 25 pounds forher forty acres, described as adjoining her own land and "Bourlands forkof Swan Creek." The witnesses to this deed were: Evan Davis, ReubenSparks, and John Hawkins. William Harvey paid Parks 65 pounds for his100 acres, noting that it adjoined land owned by Rachel Bicknell. (TheReuben Sparks who served as a witness to this deed was a son of Solomonand Sarah Sparks, Solomon being a son of the Joseph Sparks who had diedin Frederick County, Maryland, in 1749.)

"It appears that the two sons of Rachel and Thomas Bicknell namedWilliam and Micajah came of age about 1797, at which time they becameeligible to receive their share of their father's estate. Under herhusband's will, Rachel could use his land to rear their children, but shecould not sell it until it could be divided among them, she retainingonly her dower right of one-third. On October 19, 1797, Rachel and hertwo sons, William Bicknell and Micajah Bicknell, sold all of the Bicknellland, including the forty acres that Rachel, herself, had purchased (withmoney in the estate), to Isaac Martin and Thomas Green of Wilkes County.Isaac Martin and Thomas Green, who were related to each other bymarriage, were slave-owning neighbors of Rachel Bicknell. (See SomePioneers From Wilkes County, North Carolina by Mrs. W. 0. Absher,published by Southern Historical Press in 1989, for information on theMartin and Green families, along with many other individuals and familiesmentioned in this article.)

"The Bicknells received 200 pounds from Martin and Green for theoriginal grant of land to Thomas Bicknell, now described as containing247 acres, and 100 pounds for the tract that Rachel had purchased fromCharles Parks in 1785 for 25 pounds. This latter tract was described ascontaining 41 acres in this 1797 deed. The witnesses for both deeds wereThomas Benge, William Benge, and Thomas Sisk. (See Wilkes County DeedBook D, pp.240-41.) It was William Benge who appeared at the meeting ofthe Wilkes County Court in October 1797 to swear to the validity of bothdeeds.

"Although in both of these 1797 deeds, Rachel and her sons wereidentified as of Wilkes County, it seems probable that they were actuallyin Burke County by that time, probably living in a relatives household.Rachells name does not appear on either the 1785 or 1786 list of taxablesin Wilkes County preserved by William Lenoir, now in the North CarolinaArchives. Samuel Bicknell, her deceased husband's brother, is shown onboth tax lists as a poll in Captain Alex. Gordon's District.

(This paragraph and the remainder of the article on Rachel Sparks iscontinued in the notes for her husband, Thomas Bicknell.)

SQ pg 795-6: "Rachel Sparks, daughter of Jonas Sparks. She was calledRachel Griggs in her father's will, but there is no marriage bond for heron file in Rowan County; it must be remembered, however that many earlyNorth Carolina marriages were accomplished through the crying of bannsrather than through bonds, and that no record was made of the banns typemarriage. Several Sparks deeds in Rowan County were witnessed by MinusGriggs, and it seems probable that he was the husband of Rachel. Rachel'sbrother, David Sparks,
named a son Minus, perhaps for Minus Griggs."

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June, 1997, Whole No. 178, pp. 4829-4837 for anarticle entitled RACHEL (SPARKS) GRIGGS (Born ca.1756/58) DAUGHTER OFJONAS AND ELIZABETH SPARKS WITH NOTES ON HER FATHER AND SIBLINGS. Thefirst portion relates to her grandfather Joseph and her father Jonas, allof which can be found under their notes. That portion relating directlyto Rachel begins on page 4832 as follows:

"Jonas Sparks made no mention in his will of the sons named Joseph andGeorge who appeared with him as polls on the tax list of 1775, notedearlier. Both may have died without issue before 1805, or they may havemoved away from Rowan County after receiving, perhaps, their share oftheir father's estate. Jonas' three daughters were identified, as shown,under their married names. The fact that Rachel was named first probablyindicates that she was the oldest of the sisters.

"In the Quarterly of March 1964, cited earlier, we were able to give afair amount of information about each of the children of Jonas Sparks,except for his daughter named Rachel.

"A reason for including the following record of Rachel (Sparks) Griggsin this issue of the Quarterly is to correct our earlier assumption thatshe was the same Rachel Sparks who was married to Thomas Bicknell, whowas mortally wounded at the Battle of King's Mountain in 1780. Although,fortunately, this error in judgement was never published in theQuarterly, it was expressed in letters to several descendants of Rachel(Sparks) Griggs. Our erroneous assumption was that, following the deathof Thomas Bicknell, his widow was married, 2nd, to Minus Griggs. Asexplained in the article beginning on page 4809, Rachel (Sparks)Bicknell, believed to have been a daughter of William Sample Sparks,actually remained a widow for the rest of her life following ThomasBicknell's death, as proven by the papers in her pension application fileat the National Archives.

"Rachel Griggs, identified in Jonas Sparks's will as one of his threedaughters, was very nearly the same age as her second cousin, Rachel(Sparks) Bicknell. Our only clue regarding the year of birth of Rachel(Sparks) Griggs is the approximate year of birth, based on censusrecords, of her first son, Clement Griggs. He was born about 1775. IfRachel had been married at age 16, a typical age for a girl to be marriedin those days, she could have been born as early as 1758. It is possiblethat she was even married before her father joined Daniel Boone in 1773,bound for Kentucky. In her father's will, she was named immediatelyafter her deceased brother, Jonas Sparks, Jr. Although it has long been acommon practice in drawing up a will to name one's children in the orderof their birth (sometimes with the sons before the daughters), the factthat Jonas Sparks, Jr. had pre-deceased his father, could account forJonas naming him first. The fact that Jonas provided so liberally forthis grandson, Joseph, son of Jonas, Jr., suggests, however, that Jonas,Jr. had been, indeed, the oldest son. Under the custom of primogeniture,by which the eldest son was entitled to all of his father's land, ifJonas, Jr. was the eldest son, his son, Joseph, would have beenconsidered the principal heir of his grandfather.

"The husband of Rachel Sparks, daughter of Jonas Sparks, was MinusGriggs. His father's name was also Minus Griggs, but he had died longbefore his son of the same name came to Rowan County, and the youngerMinus Griggs was never called "Jr." there. For this reason, we have notadded "Jr." to his name in this account. In referring to his father,however, we will call him "Sr."

"The date of birth of Minus Griggs has not been discovered, but itappears that he was a number of years older than his wife, RachelSparks. His father, Minus Griggs, Sr., appears to have been in OrangeCounty, Virginia, as a young man, but by 1760 he was with his father inGranville County, North Carolina. Minus Griggs, Sr. died soon after1760; his will was proved in the Granville County Court on February 10,1761, on the oaths of two of the witnesses, Andrew Hampton and Andrew'sson, Ephraim Hampton. The original of this document survives in thecourthouse in Granville Countv. The following transcript has been madefrom a xerox copy appearing in The Hampton Family compiled by CarolineParker Maurice and published in 1993.

Will of Minus Griggs, Sr.

In the Name of God Amen. I Minus Griggs being Sick and weak But inperfect Sense [?] & memory do make this my last will & Testament

Imprimis, I Bequeath my Soul to god that First gave it me, and my Body tothe Earth from whence it was Taken in full expectation of the resurectionfrom thence at the last day as for my Burial I Desire it may [be] Decent.

Item I give Unto my son Minus Griggs the Upper Part of my Land threehundred and & Twenty Acres And the Other part of my land where myPlantation now is I Bequeath to my Son John Griggs to them & their heirsfor Ever. It is my will & Desire that my Lawful Debts & Funeral Chargesbe Discharged out of my Personal Estate by my Executors hereaftermentioned

Item I give unto my loving wife Jane Griggs an Equal Share of my personalEstate with my Daughters After my Lawful Debts be paid to them and theirheirs for Ever. I appoint my Loving wife Jane Griggs and Jonathan Whitemy whole & Sole Executors of this my Last will and testament, Disanulingand making Void all Other wills & Testaments by me made or Caused to bemade and this Only and Alone to be my last will. In Witness Whereof Ihave hereunto Set my hand and Seal this 7th Day of Oct: 1760.

Interlind before Signd signed Minus Griggs
Seal & Delivered
in presence of us

[signed] Andrew Hampton Jurat
" Ephraim Hampton
" William Berry

"Sometime in the 1770s, Minus and John Griggs, sons of Minus Griggs,Sr., who were named in the latter's will, above, moved west fromGranville County, North Carolina, to Rowan County, North Carolina.Members of the Hampton family made the move at about the same time. Theyall doubtless "squatted" on vacant land owned by Lord Granville. Asexplained on page 4813 of this issue of the Quarterly,
Lord Granville had died in 1764, and, because of the growing unrest inthe American colonies, the Granville land office was never reopened bythe lord's heirs in England. "Squatters" on Granville land expected, inmost instances, to purchase the tracts on which they had settled whenthat became possible. Following the Revolution, the state of NorthCarolina confiscated the remaining "vacant" Granville land, and beganselling it to settlers as Granville's land office had done in the past,although men who had been active Tories (or Loyalists) could not purchasesuch land, even though they had made "improvements."

"John Griggs, brother of Minus, died in Rowan County in the autumn of1778. He did not leave a will, under which circumstance it was customaryfor the widow to be appointed administrator of the deceased's estate.According to the minutes taken in the Rowan County Court of Pleas andQuarter Sessions (Vol. 4, p. 181), however, Sarah Griggs requested onNovember 5, 1778, that she be excused from this responsibility, accordingto an oath of John Hampton before the court on her behalf. John Griggs'sbrother, Minus Griggs, was then appointed by the court to act in Sarah'sbehalf. Hardy Jones and Roland Jones became Minus' securities in theamount of 400 pounds.

"A descendant of John Griggs, Mrs. Maxine Kopp of 422 W. DelawareAve., Nowata, Oklahoma 74048, has stated that Sarah, wife of John Griggs,had the maiden name Sarah Minah (or Minor), and that she and John had adaughter named Tilithia Griggs. Sarah was married, following JohnGriggs's death, to Andrew Hampton, son of Ezekiel Hampton. They moved toGrayson County, Virginia, in 1793, taking Tildthia with them.

"Like the Sparks immigrants to the Forks of the Yadkin, Minus Griggsappears not to have embraced the cause of American "rebels" who demandedindependence from England. On August 5, 1778, the Rowan County Court ofPleas and Quarter Sessions (Vol. 4, p. 159) issued a long list of menliving in the county who had "neglected or refused to appear to take theOath of Allegiance to the state." The court added that these men "arenow admitted to take the Oath and have certified they paid for socertifying." Among the names on this list are those of Jonas Sparks,Minus Griggs, and Ezekiel Hampton. (See Jo White Linn's Abstracts of theMinutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Rowan County NorthCarolina, Vol. III, 1775-1789, page 164.)

"Our earliest record of Minus Griggs actually acquiring title to landin Rowan County is a deed dated September 27, 1778 (Entry 1584). Heobtained from the state of North Carolina a tract of 100 acres on "thewaters of Muddy Creek adjoining Samuel Garland and Joseph Garland &running N[orth], including Mathias Wasnor's Improvements.11 (See RowanCounty, North Carolina, Vacant Land Entries, 1778-1789 by Richard A.Enochs, published in 1989-.) Knowing that Minus Griggs would marry RachelSparks, it is significant that her father, Jonas Sparks, also lived onMuddy Creek.

"There is a deed in Rowan County dated August 25, 1783, by which a100-acre tract was purchased by Ephraim Hampton from William Poole on theeast side of the Yadkin River. (Vol. 10, p.161) The witnesses to thisdeed included both Jonas Sparks and Minus Griggs, along with John Poole,Sary Hampton, and Morning Hampton. All signed by mark except MorningHampton (sometimes spelled "Mourning"). She would later become the wifeof Jonas Sparks's son, William Sparks.

"When, on February 28, 1786, Thomas Wood obtained a marriage bond inRowan County to marry Sarah Hampton, Minus Griggs served as bondsman for50 pounds. (See Rowan County, North Carolina, Marriages, 1753-1868,compiled by Brent H. Holcombe, published in 1981, page 434.)

When a man named Henry Miller and his wife, Mary, sold to Jacob Huffmanon May 26, 1787, a 76-acre tract "on a branch of Muddy Creek," it wasdescribed as "adjoining Minus Griggs' house where he now lives." (RowanCo. Deed Book 11, p.97) We wonder whether this branch was the one thatbecame known as, and is still called, "Sparks Branch."

"When the 1790 census was taken in Rowan County, the household headedby Minus Griggs was enumerated with one white male over the age of 16(Minus himself), and there were five males, all under the age of 16. Thefour females were surely Rachel (Sparks) Griggs and her three daughters.

"A descendant of Minus and Rachel (Sparks) Griggs's son named John,born about 1779, who has done extensive research on the Griggs family, isMarjorie N. Judd of 2201 West 15th St., Emporia, Kansas, 66801. Ms. Juddhas been generous in sharing her research with us. She reports that theoldest son of Minus Griggs, named Clement Griggs (called "Clem"), wastaxed for the first time in Clark County, Kentucky, in 1796. He wasjoined there by his next youngest brother, John Griggs, who appeared on aClark County tax list for 1802. Then, in 1803, Hughes Brookshire, thehusband of their oldest sister, Elizabeth Griggs, was taxed, also, inClark County, Kentucky. In 1804, Minus Griggs and his son named WilliamGriggs, were included on Clark County's tax list, indicating that theentire family of Minus Griggs had made the move there from North Carolina.

"Minus Griggs appeared on the 1810 census of Clark County, Kentucky.His age was shown as over 45 as was that of his wife, Rachel, indicatingonly that they had been born before 1765. With them were six other malesand one female. We assume that these were their children who were stillliving at home.

"There is a Clark County court record dated January 23, 1815,indicating that Minus Griggs had been authorized to "keep an Ordinary inhis own house in the County for one year." (See the Clark Co., KY, OrderBook, 1812-1816, unpaged.) Samuel Griggs (born 1787), son of Minus,cosigned the latter's bond for this privilege, in the amount of $100.

"It was either late in the year 1815, or early in 1816, that MinusGriggs died, from what cause we do not know. He left no will. At ameeting of the Clark County Court on February 26, 1816, John and SamuelGriggs, sons of Minus, were appointed to administer their father'sestate. Anderson Rigg and Caleb Bendurant served as sureties in theamount of $1,500.

An inventory of the estate of Minus Griggs was taken on March 2, 1816, byDavid Hampton, Nicholas Aldridge, and Caleb Bendurant. It reads asfollows, including spelling errors:

An Inventory of the Estate of Ntinus Griggs Deed made out and Appdby us the under subscribers on this 2d Day of March 1816

$ cts.

to one bay bay [sic] mare @@ $25 25
to one Gray DO @@ $45 & one Colt @@ $5.00 50
to 17 head of hogs at $18 18
to one brindle Cow @@ $12.00 one DO at $10 22
to one Black stear @@ $8 one DO $8 16
2 yearlings at $5.00 one Calf at $1.50 6 50
to 20 Wt of Tobacco @@ $1.16 salt barrel @@ 5 Cts 1 36 [sic]
to 4 falling axes at $8.00 8
to one mattock & 3 weading hoes @@ 5
to one Drawing nife 37' Cts 37 1/2
to one loome @@ $4.00 a flax wheel at $5.00 9
to 2 plows gare &c @@ 10 25
to one Cotten wheel & Chck reel 9
to 3 Barrels @@ $1.50 Table Chain tub &c 4
to 2 Dutch,ovens & three pales $10.00 10
to one Cubbard & Cubbard furniture 35
to one bed bed frame & furniture 20
to one Do $25.00 Do D 0 $12 37
to womans saddle @@ $15.00 15
to 11 Chears @@ $5.00 & table @@ $1.50 6 50
to one Chest @@ $2.50 2 50
to pewter $4.00 to one Log chain & pichfork 7
to one Rifle Gun &c @@ $18 to books at 50 cts. 18 50
to smoothing Iron and double swingle trees &c. 1 50
to one tub at 50 cts 50
to 400 feet of loose plank @@ 5 00
to one pare Cotten Cards @@ 75
to one tin quart & funnels @@ 1 25

"The inventory was signed by the three appraisers who had beenappointed to make it, as well as by John and Samuel Griggs asadministrators of their father's estate. It was accepted by the ClarkCounty Court on April 22, 1816.

"In the absence of a will by Minus Griggs naming his children, we arefortunate to have a deed, dated March 1, 1816, that reveals the list.(Clark Co., KY, Deed Book 12, pp.504-05) It has been transcribed asfollows from the recorded copy:

Griggs heirs to Decd
Haggard

This indenture made this seventh day of March in the yearone thousand
Eight Hundred and sixteen Between Clem Griggs John GriggsWilliam
Griggs Hughs Brooksher & Elizabeth Brooksher his wifeCornelas Howard
and Sarah Howard his wife Samuel Griggs Wiley GriggsLevina Griggs, and
Joshuay Griggs Heirs & Legal Representatives of MinusGriggs Deca of
the one part and Pleasant Haggard all of the County ofClarke and State of
Kentucky Sheweth that the aforesaid heirs and LegalRepresentatives of
Minus Griggs Decd for and in Consideration of the sum [of]one Hundred
and Eighty seven Dollars and fifty Cents in hand paidbefore the sealing
and Delivering of these presents the Receipt whereof thesd Heirs and
Legal Representatives of Minus Griggs Decd doth herebyacknowledge
hath Bargained and sold and by these presents doth Bargainand sell to
the sd pleasant Haggard one tract or parcel of Land in theaforesd County
of Clarke and on the Dry Fork and Howards upper CreekContaining
twenty five acres by the same more or less Beginning on aWhite oak on
the South side of the Dry fork of Howards Creek thenceSouth 86 poles to
the Creek thence up the Creek with its several Meanders tothe mouth of
Dry Fork of Howards upper Creek thence with the severalMeanders of
said Dry Fork and Bending thereon to the Beginning... ThisIndenture
further witnesseth that Rachel Griggs Late wife of the sdMinus Griggs for
the Consideration above mentioned doth also make over andRelinquish
her right of Dower to the above sold Land and premisesunto the sd
Pleasant Haggard as Witness our hands and seals this dayand year above

Written Signed Sealed and Delivered his Clem Griggs
in presents of us Wiley X Griggs his
D. Hampton mark John X Griggs
Jas Wood
his
Joshuay X Griggs his
mark William X Griggs
mark
her his
Elizabeth X Brooksher Hughes X Brooksher
mark mark

her his
Sarah X Howard Cornelas X Howard
mark mark

Rachel Griggs Samuel Griggs
her
Levina 0 Griggs
mark

"It is interesting to note that Rachel Griggs, widow of Minus, signedher own name to this deed, as did her sons, Clem (Clement) and Samuel.Her other sons, John, Wiley, Joshua, and William, however, signed bymark, as did Rachells three daughters and their husbands. The reasonthat Elizabeth's husband, Hughes Brookshire, and Sarah's husband,Cornelius Howard, signed this deed with their wives is, of course,because at that time, a married woman's property, including herinheritance, was controlled by her husband.

"We have not learned the date of Rachel (Sparks) Griggs's death. Hername does not appear on Clark County tax lists after 1823. Widows oftenlived with a son or daughter in their old age; it is possible, of course,that Rachel was married a second time.

"In a future issue of the Quarterly, we hope to provide a furtherrecord for each of the children of Minus and Rachel (Sparks) Griggs.Readers of this article having additional knowledge of this family areurged to share your information with the author, who is also theQuarterly's editor."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On November 18, 2000, additional information on the descendants of Minusand Jane (- - - - ) Griggs was furnished by Mr. Tom Goldrup and Mr. JimGoldrup, third greatgrandsons of Minus Griggs, Jr. and Rachael (Sparks)Griggs. Their email address is skyla@@sasquatch.com.
His information is quoted in part and modified where appropriate.

"Minus Griggs, Jr. and John Griggs moved to Rowan County, NorthCarolina. John, as a resident of Rowan County, sold land in GranvilleCounty on March 6, 1776, to Richard Harris. John died in Rowan County in1778...."

"Minus Griggs, Jr., married about 1774, Rachel Sparks, daughter ofJonas and Mary Sparks. In 1788, both Minus Griggs and Jonas Sparks wereon a list of residents of Rowan County as having neglected or refused totake the Oath of Allegiance to the State of North Carolina. They laterdid sign, but from this it is not known what his sentiments had beenconcerning the Revolution. From 1786-89 Minus acquired property in RowanCounty, and then began selling it off by 1791 and he was last foundselling his land there in 1797. Soon thereafter, Minus and his familymoved to Clark County, Kentucky, to join his eldest son Clement Griggswho had moved there in 1795.
"Minus Griggs died in Clark County, Kentucky about 1815, and in Marchof 1816, settlement of his estate began. Sons Samuel and John wereadministrators of his estate. Rachel and ten of his children were listedas heirs (they had several younger children who were not named on thisrecord as they were not of age at this time, but [the] census lists[includes] younger children at home.) Rachel was listed on the taxrecords of the county until 1823, and presumably died shortly afterthis. [NOTE: Tom and Jim Goldrup include additional information on thedescendants of Minus and Rachel (Sparks) Griggs for which see theirfamily sheets.]

See SQ p. 4486: This family is included in the 1860 Census for HuntingtonCounty, Indiana. Rachel's brother Joseph is shown living with them. Hewas divorced from his wife Sabra Demmit Sparks who is shown in the 1860Census of Adams County, Indiana with two children. See SQ p. 4442.

SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 1959, No. 27, p. 418:

"Rachel Sparks, daughter of Solomon and Isabella (Swaim) Sparks, wasborn about 1823 in Wilkes County, North Carolina. She married AlbertDraper, date unknown. A son named William Draper was born July 7, 18 43,and died December 25, 1848, and was buried in the Sparks Cemetery inWells County, IN. There were doubtless other children."

*******************************

See SQ pp 5293-4:

Rachel Sparks, eldest daughter of Solomon and Isabella (Swaim) Sparks,was born on April 15, 1817. Nearly forty years ago a member of ourAssociation named Mrs. Cecil Crowell of Orient, Illinois, who was agreat-granddaughter of Rachel, provided us with information regardingher, including her date of birth shown here. She was married on June 9,1836, to Albert Draper in Huntington County, Indiana. He had been born onApril 8, 1808. According to census records, he had been born in New York.When Rachel's father, Solomon Sparks, made his will in 1854, hedesignated Albert Draper to be the executor of his estate.

[On page 5294 appear two photographs, beneath which is the followingcaption:]

Photographs of Rachel (Sparks) Draper and Albert Draper

(Photocopies provided by Kay Wolniak from Photograph Album of Mrs.Wolniak's Great-Grandfather, Jacob Esau Sparks)

(See photograph of Rachel Draper in Scrapbook) (See photograph ofAlbert Draper in scrapbook)

When the 1860 census of Rock Creek Township of Huntington County wastaken, Albert Draper was credited with real estate valued at $10,600 andpersonal estate at $1300. In addition to their four youngest childrenthen still at home, two of the children of Rachel's deceased sister,Charity (Sparks) Snyder, were living in her and Albert's household:Catherine Snyder and Rachel Snyder. Also living with them was JosephSparks, age 55; he was Rachel's uncle, from whom Albert had purchased 40acres of land in Wells County in 1838. Joseph Sparks seems to have been atroubled man; he had left his second wife in Adams County, Indiana, andhad apparently been "taken in" by his niece. (See p.5310+ of the presentissue of the QUARTERLY for a sketch of his life.) Rachel'sgreat-granddaughter, Mrs. Crowell, once provided us a list of Albert andRachel's children:
(1) John Riley Draper was born on September 24, 1837.
(2) Mary Draper, born March 14, 1842.
(3) VJilliam Draper, born July 7, 1843.
(4) Slomon Draper, born January 18, 1845.
(5) Benjamin Draper, born November 19, 1846.
(6) Rachel Draper, born September 3, 1849
(7) Albert Draper, Jr., born April 2, 1855.

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 886 for the following marriage informationfrom Lawrence County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds (1822-1865):
Rachel Sparks & Enoch Green, August 21, 1865. (Box 2) His father, GilesGreen. Her father, Daniel Sparks.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3905: She was married three times. Her first marriage wa s toJohn C. B. Barker and they had seven children: Ida, William, He nry,George, Stella, Eli, and Benjamine Barker.
Rachel and George A. Bayes had four children: John, Gusta, Frank ,and Carl Bayes.
Rachel and Henry Lemaster had no children.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3846: Rachel D. Sparks, daughter of Millington and Mabel (Ruth) Sparks, was born on January 12, 1741, according to the informati onrecorded in the Register of St. Lukes Church at Church Hill in Que enAnnes County. We have found no further information about her.

!NOTES:
SQ 3865: Rachel Malinda Sparks was born on August 15, 1861. She w asmarried
to Leander Mauk (son of Henry J. Mauk 953) about 1885. They had at least three
Martha, Nancy and Alice.

SQ p. 2179:

Rachel Margaret Sparks was born about 1851. On Feb. 8, 1872, she marriedAlbert W. England in Adair County. She gave her age at the time as 21; hesaid he was 19. His mother, Nancy England, gave her consent to themarriage. Jeremiah Sparks was bondsman and William R. Sparks was thewitness. Rachel and Albert had one child, Charles England, born beforeAlbert's death in 1875. Charles was born about 1873
.
After the death of Albert W. England, Rachel (Sparks) England married(2d) Henry Hamilton Roach about 1877. He was a son of Meredith and BurleyAnn (Sparks) Roach. (See the December 1976 issue of the QUARTERLY, WholeNo. 96, p. 1865, for further details of this family.)

SQ 2966-2967:

"Rachel Rebecca Sparks, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Naill)Sparks, was born on February 18, 1823, at Rays Hill, Pennsylvania. In1842, she was confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Blood Run,Pennsylvania. She married Isaac Lysinger on June 24, 1847. He was bornon February 25, 1819, and was a son of Henry and Elizabeth Lysinger.

"In the fall of 1852, Isaac and Rachel, with their two small children(Susan Elizabeth Lysinger had died just a few days earlier) started forIllinois. Notes left in a family Bible indicate that they went by boatacross Lake Erie and then by wagon to Chicago. From Chicago they went bycanal southward to the town of Peru where they disembarked and drove awagon to the village of Wyante. They settled on a farm about five milesnorth of the village.

"The family of Isaac and Rachel continued to grow. Their son, Josephenlisted during the Civil War when only sixteen years of age in the 146thRegiment Illinois Infantry, but returned home safely. Two children,Anson and Virginia, were born, but lived for only a short time.

"In December 1893, Isaac and Rachel joined their children at Aurora,Nebraska, where Isaac died on September 19, 1895. He was buried atWyanet, Illinois. Rachel survived him three years, dying on May 7,1898. She was buried beside Isaac at Wyanet. They were the parents ofeight children."

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3413: He never married. He served in the merchant marine a nddied in Florida in 1983.

SQ p. 5314:

Ransom Sparks was born about 1824 in Wilkes County, NorthCarolina. He was between 6 and 10 years old when he accompanied hisparents in their move to Indiana; he was still living with them when the1850 census was taken of Kirkland Township in Adams County, Indiana,
age 26. On September 10, 1851, he purchased a 40-acre lot therefrom his parents for $300. When the 1860 census was taken he was livingthere with his mother and sister, Mary Sparks; he was called "Farmer,"age 36. When the 1870 census was taken, he was still living in
Kirkland Township--he was now 46, a farmer, with land valued at$600 and personal property at $170. His mother was no longer living, buthis sister, Mary, was keeping house for him. Also living with him wasCatherine Schunk, age 18, a native of Ohio. We do not know who she may have been.

Our last record of Ransom Sparks is found in a deed datedDecember 1871 by which he sold to Eli Hummerickhouse for $500 the 40acres of land that he had purchased from his parents in 1851. He died inWells County, on December 18, 1876--insolvent and without heirs. (File#960)

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 2622: He married Helen Lindsey of Topeka, Kansas. They ha d nochildren.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1992, Whole No. 160, pg 4036-4040:
Rebecca Sparks, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Ricketts) Sparks, wasborn on May 16, 17--. L ' ike the birth year of her sister, Elizabeth,that for Rebecca is also now illegible in the parish register. Webelieve, however, that her year of birth was about 1733. We have learnednothing further about her.

Paul Sparks suspects on page 4 of an unpublished article made availableto James J. Sparks, states "Rebecca Sparks, named as a half-sister ofJames Sparks, Jr., left no records as far as we have been able todetermine, and she may have been a step-daughter, rather than a daughter,of James Sparks, Sr."

.

!NOTES:
SQ 2456: "Rebecca Sparks, daughter of William and Rhoda (Penningto n)Sparks,
was born on October 24, 1815. She died on December 1, 1891. She married Lania
(probably Lanier) Randolph about 1845 and, according to census record s,they
had at least six children: James Randolph, Joseph Randolph, C. R. Randolph
(male), Jesse Randolph, Nancy Randolph, and Phoebe Randolph."
See also THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1994, Whole No. 165, p. 4273.

!NOTES:
SQ 3O84: "Rebecca Sparks, daughter of Abel and Sarah (Cochran) Sparks, was
born on December 27, 1825. She married William Andrews. She was sti llliving
in 188O when the estate of her brother Solomon was settled. We hav e no
information regarding her family."

SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1994, Whole No. 165, p. 4276 states: RebeccaSparks, daughter of Jesse and Nancy Sparks, was born about 1831. She wasmarried to John Birchfield, and they had five children: Martha, John ,James, Mary and George.

SQ p. 3948: They lived at Logan, WV.

SQ pg 2748: "Rebecca E. C. Sparks, daughter of James Hawkins andRebecca (---) Sparks, was born about 1837 in Texas. She was married toRichard Michael Deckard (or Decherd) on May 12, 1857. He was born on May14 , 1837, at Decherd, Tennessee. He died on October 3, 1893, atFayetteville, Arkansas. According to the GENEALOGY OF THE DECKARD FAMILY,1932 by P. E. Decka rd, they had eight children."

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 886 for the following marriage informationfrom Lawrence County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds (1822- 1865):
Rebecca H. Sparks & John F. Green, October 27, 1859. (Book 3A, p. 31) Heborn in Cabell County, Virginia, 20 years. old. She born in LawrenceCounty, Kentucky, 17 years old. Married by Enoch Green, Baptist minister.

SQ p. 4645:

"Rebecca H. Sparks, daughter of Garrett and Betsy (Boggs) Sparks, wasborn about 1842 in Lawrence County, Kentucky. It was there that she wasmarried to John F. Green on October 27, 1859. He had been born about1839 in Cabell County, Virginia (now West Virginia). John and Rebeccaare said to have moved to Minnesota where they had at least one child.Nothing further has been heard of this couple."

SQ p. 1341:

"Rebecca Jane Sparks, daughter of Robert Thomas and Mary Ann(Wallingford) Sparks, was born about 1850 in Illinois; she died about1930. She married ----- Walker and lived all of her life in Dallas City,Illinois. A letter which she wrote to a daughter of her brother Ephraimin 1928 has been preserved by Eula Mae Prince and reads as follows:

" 'Dallas City,
Sept. 27, 1928.

'Dear Niece Edna:

"I received your letter and was glad to hear from you. The last weheard from my Brother (Ephraim) I think he had two children and I thinkone was named Laura. I have one sister living & have two dead ones.Mother died when your father and myself was small and none of ourMother's folks was near here. My folks was all born in Kentucky, all butmyself, I was born in Ills. and as our mother died when we was small, sowe did not hear about her folks & never did see any of them. OurMother's name was Walingford. Our father's folks came from Kentucky. Ourfather's brothers came and settled in Missouri and had farms there. Iwent to see them years ago & they were all prosperous farmers. My fatherhad 4 brothers & one sister there, but most of them have passed on. Ican't tell you how old your father was when he went to Texas, he was 18when he went in the Arny & was gone one year and I think maybe he washere two years before he went to Texas. I always thought we would get tosee him, but glad to know he had lots of friends. He was always thoughtof as a good, honest boy. I was glad to see his picture. He looks likeour father. Sometime I will send you some of his pictures taken while hewas here. Did he tell you he was in the army? Did he get a pension?You say your Mother is an invalid., which I am sorry to hear. My sisterSarah has been in a hospital four years. She is not sick but can't walkand her nerves are so bad she shakes so she can hardly write. I have nosingle granddaughter. I have two but not near here. I thank you forwriting to me and sending those pictures. Hope to hear from you soon. Iwill ask you how many brothers you have & if they are married. Theweather is very cool here today. This is all for this time. Good by.With Love to All.
Aunt Jane Walker."

!NOTES:
SQ pg 2923 provides this: "Rebecca Jane Sparks was born on Decembe r1, 1876.
She married Jeremiah Franklin Weicht on July 4, 1893. He was born o nJuly 4,
1871, and was a son of Jeremiah W. and Rose Anne (Bussard) Weicht. Jeremiah F.
Weicht died on August 30, 1935, and Rebecca Jane died on August 13, 1946. They
were the parents of fourteen children: Robert P., Rosa Ellen, Mary Ethel, Roy
E., Zelma Mae, Anna Belle, Grace E., Lloyd E., Richard E., Alice P. ,Benjamin
F., Bertha I., Gladys R., and Alberta L."

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3902: He was married to Elizabeth "Lizzie" Elkins.

SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1989, Whole No. 146, pps 3421-22:
"Reese D. Sparks, son of George and Lucinda (Sargent) Sparks, was bornon March 10, 1889, in Elliott County where he grew to manhood . He wentto upper Wisconsin, probably to join some other Elliott Countians who hadmigrated there in the early 1900s to work in the lumber industry. It wasat Antigo, Wisconsin, that he enlisted in July 1917 in the 107th TrenchMortar Battery, 32nd Division, United States Army. His unit trained atWaco, Texas, and by March 1918, it was i n France. Sparks's company wassent to the front immediately (in the Vosges Mountains), and on June 30,1918, he was killed.

"As told by his sister, Sarah (Sparks) Gee, his death occurred asfollows: `Reese was wounded the first time he went to the battlefield .He had refused to take his mess-kit with him on that day saying that hewould be the unlucky one. He was struck in the chest by shrapnel andlived only three hours. He said goodbye to the boys who were carrying himto the hospital.' "

"Reese Sparks was interred in a temporary grave in Alsace-Lorraine ,but three years later, his body was returned to the United States, and hewas buried with military rites in the Ashland (Kentucky) Cemetery on June5, 1921."

A photograph of him in uniform appears on page 3422 of the QUARTERLYand can be viewed in his scrapbook..

SQ p. 4639:

"Regina E. Sparks was born on August 30, 1865. She was married toDennis Lyon in 1888 in Lawrence County. He had been born on July 4,1869, and was a son of Lewis and Mary ["Polly"] (Sparks) Lyon; thus heand his sister, Emily Lyon, were married to a brother and a sister. (SeeItem A, 3, a, above.) Regina died in 1920 at West Jefferson, Ohio. Sheand Dennis had five children: Myrtie Lyon, Virgie Lyon, Ovie Lyon,William Lyon, and Elisha Lyon.

See SQ p. 333 for birth information. This entry lists her parents asWesly Sparks and Nancy Kasee.

See SQ p. 4856:

"Rena Sparks, daughter of Wes and Nancy (Kozee) Sparks, was born onAugust 5, 1860. She was married to George W. Sparks on March 19, 1880,in Elliott County. He had been born about 1856 in North Carolina,probably in Cherokee County, and was a son of Joel and Mary Jane (Grew)Sparks. After the killing of George's brother, Solomon Sparks, onSeptember 8, 1877, in Elliott County, Joel and Mary Jane returned toCherokee County, North Carolina, and it is highly probable that Georgeand Rena followed them. We have no further information about thiscouple. (See page 2271 of the March 1981 issue of the QUARTERLY, WholeNo. 113, for further details regarding the above incident.)

See SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 1967, Whole No. 59, pp 1082-1089:

"DESCENDANTS OF SOLOMON AND SARAH SPARKS, OF MARYLAND ANDNORTH CAROLINA
THROUGH THEIR SON, REUBEN SPARKS (ca.1755-1840)":

[The article begins by including a brief history of the parents ofReuben Sparks for which see the notes under Solomon Sparks, (356)].

REUBEN SPARKS (ca. 1755-1840), SON OF SOLOMON AND SARAHSPARKS

"Reuben Sparks, believed to have been the second son of Solomon andSarah Sparks, was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, about 1755 . Hewas married about 1783, probably in Wilkes County, North Carolina, toCassa (or Cassie) Buttery, who was born about 1765 and died in 1842. Shewas probably the daughter of, or closely related to Timothy Buttery,whose estate was settled in 1802 in Wilkes County. (According to theMinutes of the Wilkes County Court dated February 1, 1802, Reuben Sparksand Richard Allen were securities for the bonds of Mary Buttery and JesseAllen who were named as administrators of Timothy Buttery's estate. In asubsequent court record, Mary Buttery is identified as the widow ofTimothy. In 1806 she married as her second husband Joseph Thomson(Wilkes County Marriage Bonddated Mary 4, 1806.)

"Reuben Sparks is mentioned frequently in the land and court recordsof Wilkes County. He frequently served on juries, helped to lay outroads, and he was an active member of the South Fork of Roaring RiverBaptist Church. In 1829, 1830, 1832 and 1834, he served as a delegate tothe Baptist Association. Like his father, he owned land in both WilkesCounty and in Surry County. In 1792, he purchased 340 acres in SurryCounty on Hunting Creek from Richard Goode for 50 pounds (Book E, pp.229-30). In 1797, he sold 170 acres in Surry County "on the North Forkof Hunting Creek on the Brushy Mountain" to James Denney for 100 pounds(Book G, pp. 365-66). In 1799, he purchased a tract of 300 acres inWilkes County on the Big Elkin from Andrew Crow (Book E, p. 306). In1800 he sold a tract of 179 acres in Surry County on Hunting Creek on theBrushy Mountain to William Jeffrey (Book H, p. 318). On March 5, 1835,Reuben Sparks sold a tract of 100 acres on Roaring River in Wilkes Countyto William R. Sparks, his son, for $300 (Book 1841-51, p.44). This landwas described as where "the sd. Reuben Sparks now lives." On the sameday he sold an adjoining tract of 70 acres to his son Jonas Sparks for$300 (Book 1841-51, p.42).

"According to the records of Old Roaring River Baptist Church inWilkes County, Reuben Sparks died at 2:00 A.M. on July 13, 1840. Hiswife Cassie Sparks, died about 1842. It is believed that Reuben andCassie (Buttery) Sparks were the parents of the following children: [Hereare listed eight children. Later information published in March, 1988{see below} repeats and corrects the information commencing on page 1084which will not be included here.]

* * * * * * * * * *

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1975, Whole No. 89, p. 1713 for thefollowing:

SOME DESCENDANTS OF REUBEN AND CASSA (BUTTERY)SPARKS

"In the QUARTERLY of September 1967 (Vol. XV, No. 3, Whole No. 59) wedevoted several pages [JS: See Above] to a record of the family of ReubenSparks (ca.1755-1840) and his wife, Cassa (or Cassie) (Buttery) Sparks(ca.1765 -1842). Reuben Sparks was a son of Solomon and Sarah Sparks whomoved from Frederick County, Maryland, to Rowan County, North Carolina,in 1753. Reuben was born after the family moved to North Carolina; helived and died in the area of Wilkes and Surry Counties. Reuben and Cassa(Buttery) Sparks had eight children, one of whom was Lydia, born about1804. She married Henry Bauguess. One of their descendants, Tim Petermanof 11315 Applewood Dr., Kansas City, Mo. (64134), has supplied us withnew information regarding some of Lydia (Sparks) Bauguess' descendants.

"Lydia Sparks and Henry Bauguess were married in the early 1820's. A son,Bryant Bauguess, was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina, on March 29,1823. A daughter, Fanny Bauguess, was born in 1830. There were probablyother children as well. When the 1850 census was taken, Bryant Bauguesswas living in Jefferson Township, Owen County, Indiana. His mother, Lydia(Sparks) Bauguess, was living with him along with his sister, Fanny, andEli P. Bauguess; the latter was probably a brother. Soon after 1850,Fanny Bauguess moved to Crawford County, Illinois, where, on January 6,1853, she was married to Alexander Maleom Eagleton, a son of JamesEagleton. A month later, on February 17, 1853, James M. Eagleton, brotherof Alexander, married Nancy A. Bauguess. She was doubtless a closerelative, perhaps sister, of Fanny. Between 1853 and 1868, Alexander andFanny (Bauguess) Eagleton moved to Arcadia, Crawford County, Kansas. In1869, they moved to Rich Hill, Bates County, Missouri, where theyoperated the Eagleton Hotel. He died about 1900; Fanny died in 1925s atthe age of 95. They had four children:

1. Lydia Margaret Eagleton, born Jan. 22, 1868, died 1949; shemarried Josef Peterman (died 1953) a Swiss immigrant, son ofJakob Peterman. They had eleven children.

2. John Eagleton married Jane ----- and moved to Colorado. They hadfive children.

3. Mable Eagleton married Bert De Bord and had three children.

4. Fannie Eagleton married (lst) - - - - - Mickey; she married (2d)- - - - - Gee. She had four children.

* * * * * * * * * *

In the March 1988 issue of THE SPARKS FAMILY QUARTERLY, Whole No. 141,pages 3175-3206, continued in the Sept 1988 issue, Whole No. 143 pages3262-3285 are articles devoted to the descendants of Reuben and Cassie(Buttery) Sparks for which see their individual sheets.

See also the article included in his brother John's notes entitled"THE GENEALOGY OF JOHN SPARKS" (359 ), " REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSIONER OFWILKES COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA" in which Reuben is mentioned on p. 98 asJohn's brother.

See notes for his father George Sparks and from page 4809-10 of theQUARTERLY:

"George Sparks was shown in Newberry County, South Carolina, stillconsidered part of the "Ninety-Six District," in 1790, as over age 16. Inhis household was a male under 16, who was doubtless his small son,Reuben Sparks, and one female who was surely his wife, of whom we have noknowledge. Two other men named Sparks were also shown as headinghouseholds in Newberry County in 1790, John Sparkes and Stephen Sparks,but we are certain that they were unrelated to George Sparks."

Thus this Reuben Sparks was born between 1774 and 1790.

While there may be no connection, see the pension application for aReuben H. Sparks born in Maryland about 1777 in the Quarterly for June,1962, Whole No. 38, pp. 651-653 and mentioned again in the December 1985issue, Whole No. 132, pp 2799-2801. This latter article providesinformation as to his wife and 10 children.

SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1955, Whole No. 12, p 103:

"Reuben Sparks, son of John and Sarah (Shores) Sparks, was born 26September, 1799, in Wilkes Co., N.C.; he died 9 March 1878, in Wilkes Co. N.C.; he married 10 October, 1828, in Wilkes County, Phoebe Blackburn,born 14 October 1807, in Wilkes Co., died 26 November, 1892, in WilkesCo. Reuben and Phoebe Sparks lived at Trap Hill in Wilkes County andwere honest , hardworking, God-fearing people. We are very much indebtedto Mrs. Annie (Sparks) Wilson of Trap Hill, and her brother, BlaineSparks, for furnishing us with the pictures of Reuben and Phoebe (theirgrandparents), and for being of invaluable assistance to us in thecompiling of this record of the descendants of John Sparks, RevolutionaryWar soldier.
Children of Reuben and Phoebe (Blackburn) Sparks:
(a) George Washington Sparks, born 11 October, 1829; married 1855 ,Elizabeth E. Johnson.
(b) Lewis William Sparks, born 23 May 1831; married Martha Spicer.
(c) Sarah Sparks, born 29 November, 1837; died 1862; unmarried.
(d) John Sparks, born 6 August, 1841; unmarried.
(e) William C. Sparks, born 25 May, 1843; married Phoebe McCann."

"George Washington Sparks and his brother, John Sparks (sons of Reubenand Phoebe Sparks), were killed in service in 1863 in the Army of theConfederate States of America. Their brother, William C. Sparks, foughtwith the Union Army, serving with Company H, 10th Regiment of Cavalry,Tennessee Volunteers. His honorable discharge, dated 1 August. 1865,gives his description as follows: "Said William Sparks was born in WilksCounty in the State of North Carolina, is twenty years of age, Six feet-- inches high, fair complexion, blue eyes, black hair, by occupation,when enrolled , a Farmer."

"Reuben Sparks, son of John and Sarah (Shores) Sparks, was born 26Sept. 1799., in Wilkes Co., N.C.; he died 9 March 1878,in Wilkes Co..,N.C.; he married 10 Oct. 1828, in Wilkes Co., Phoebe Blackburn, born 14Oct. 1807, in Wilkes Co., died 26 Nov. 1892, in Wilkes Co. Reuben andPhoebe Sparks lived at Trap Hill in Wilkes Co. and were honest,hard-working, God-fearing people. We are very much indebted to Mrs.Annie (Sparks) Wilson of Trap Hill, and her brother, Blaine Sparks, forfurnishing us with pictures of Reuben and Phoebe (their grandparents),and for being of invaluable assistance to us in the compiling of thisrecord of the descendants of John Sparks, Revolutionary War soldier.

Children of Reuben and Phoebe (Blackburn) Sparks:
(a) George Washington Sparks, born 11 Oct. 1829; married 1855, Elizabeth
E. Johnson
(b) Lewis Williams Sparks., born 23 May 1831; married Martha Spicer.
(c) Sarah Sparks, born 29 Nov. 1837; died 1862; unmarried.
(d) John Sparks, born 6 Aug. 1841; unmarried.
(e) William C. Sparks, born 25 May 1843; married Phoebe McCann.

"The following is taken from a newspaper clipping, dated 1863, fromThe National Tribune, printed in Washington, D.C. Some of the account issaid to have been left out, but here is what remains and, althoughincomplete, it gives an interesting account of how William C. Sparksescaped and avoided capture during the War:

"William Sparks also belonged to the company of stampeders, but beingsick, he was in the house when the excitement occurred in the yard, andhe asked Mrs. Bell to conceal him. She immediately raised a plank fromthe kitchen floor, and he crept under the kitchen, where he remaineduntil the rebels had finished their bloody work and returned to burn thehouse, which they first commenced by piling up clothes in the center ofthe floor, and setting them on fire, just over the cellar where the sickman had been concealed. The clothes not burning fast enough, theyprocured a straw-bed, and., placing it on the floor, they put a chunk offire into it; the smoke began to ascend in clouds, when they werecompelled to go out into the front yard to obtain fresh air. There weretwo doors to the kitchen, and the wind passing through closed the doornext to the rebels, which gave Sparks an opportunity to make his escapefrom the house. He crept out of the cellar through the smoke., and wentthrough the back yard about ten steps from the house and concealedhimself under some dry weeds and vines in the garden where he remaineduntil the buildings were consumed, suffering intensely from the terribleheat of the fire.

"The rebels now went up the valley among their murdered victims forthe purpose of stripping them of their clothing. Miss ElizabethMorrison, who lived in the neigh- borhood, and was at Bell's houseduring the whole time of the dreadful excitement, procured a lady'sdress, took it to the garden where Sparks was concealed, and told him toput it on, and thereby most admirably disguised his sex. She then toldhim to walk along slowly across the fields and go to her father's house,telling him when he got to the house her father would conduct him to aplace of safety. She said all of her family would at once know herbonnet, and that would furnish them sufficient evidence that he was not atraitor.

"Sparks went on as the kind lady directed him, and was concealed andsaved; but he had been so terribly frightened that he did not recover hisproper facilities of mind for several days. The horrid scenes hewitnessed on that dreadful day surely can never be erased from his memoryuntil death shall have closed his earhly existence."

"A photo of Reuben and of Phoebe is on the cover of THE SPARKSQUARTERLY, December 1955, Whole #12, page 93 preceeding the article abouthis father John the "Revolutionary War Pensioner."

See SQ Whole No. 36, p. 606 for the 1850 census of Wilkes County, NorthCarolina which shows Reubin and Phebe with George, Lewis, Sally, John,and William.

***********************************

SQ p. 2272: 10. Reuben Sparks, born September 26, 1799, died March 9,1878; married Phoebe Blackburn on October 10, 1828; appeared on the 1830,1840, 1850, 1860,and 1870 censuses of Wilkes County, North Carolina.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 1997, Whole No. 197, p 4876:
"Reuben Sparks, son of Robert and Margaret (Pigg) Sparks, was bornabout 1815 in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Apparently, he went toLawrence County, Kentucky, with his siblings about 1825/30. He was abondsman for his brother, Wesley Sparks, on June 19, 1835, when Wesleyand Nancy Kozee obtained a marriage bond in Lawrence County. ReubenSparks returned to North Carolina and was married there about 1842 toMargaret Pruitt. She had been born about 1821 in North Carolina.
"The first child of Reuben and Margaret (Pruitt) Sparks was born inNorth Carolina about 1845, but shortly thereafter, they moved to LawrenceCounty where their second child was born about 1847. When the 1850census was taken of Lawrence County, Reuben and Margaret lived a fewhouses from his brothers, Wesley Sparks and William Sparks. They werenext-door neighbors to Reuben's uncle, George Sparks. As enumerated onthat census, Reuben Sparks was 33, born in North Carolina; MargaretSparks was 28, also born in North Carolina; Mary Ann Sparks was 5, bornin North Carolina; Hiram Sparks, 3, and Calvin Sparks, 8 months, bothborn in Kentucky.

"Shortly after the 1850 census was taken, Reuben and Margaret moved toArkansas where they settled in White River Township in WashingtonCounty. Their post office was Jupiter, apparently no longer in existencetoday. It was there that the family was enumerated on the 1860 census.As recorded by the census taker, Reuben Sparks was a farmer with realestate valued at $500. He was 46 and Margaret was 40; both were nativesof North Carolina; their daughter, Ann Sparks, 15, had been born, also,in North Carolina; their sons, Hiram, 12, and Calvin, 10, had been bornin Kentucky; while Martha, age 7, and Nathan, age 3, had been born inArkansas.

"On March 7, 1955, this compiler received a letter from William ReubenSparks of Columbus, Kansas. According to Mr. Sparks, he had been born in1876 in Crawford County, Kansas, and was a son of Calvin Sparks. Hisgrandfather was Reuben Sparks, who had been married in Wilkes County,North Carolina (wife not named), but who had moved to Kentucky where hehad raised his family. Other members of the family, according to Mr.Sparks, were Hiram Sparks, born in 1847; Polly Ann Sparks, born in 1851[doubtless an error, census records indicate the year was about 1845);and William Sparks, born in 1854.

"With this information, a search has been made of the 1870 census ofCrawford County, Kansas. Reuben Sparks and his family were foundtherein, in the township of Sheridan, but with their post office in thevillage of Girard in Crawford Township, located in the center of CrawfordCounty. A farmer, Reuben was shown as owning no land in 1870, and hispersonal property was valued at only $500. His age was given as 57; thatof Margaret as 49. (Crawford County, Kansas, borders Barton County,Missouri, on the east.)

"Reuben and Margaret's oldest child was called "Polly A. Sparks" onthe 1870 census, "Polly" being a common nickname for Mary. She had beencalled Mary Ann Sparks on the 1850 census and Ann Sparks on the 1860census. Still living with their parents in 1870 were three sons, Hiram(22), Calvin (20), and William (12). The daughter named Martha, bornabout 1853 according to the 1860 census, was not shown on the 1870census--perhaps she had been married by then or had died in youth. Theson called Nathan in 1860, born about 1857, appears to have been calledWilliam in 1870.

"Reuben Sparks and wife Margaret were still living in SheridanTownship, Crawford County, Kansas, when the 1880 census was taken, onwhich Reuben was shown as 65 years of age and suffering from cancer.Margaret's age was given as 50; the census taker probably misunderstoodwhoever it was in the household that supplied information for her. Aquestion asked on the 1880 census was the place of birth of eachindividuals parents--these spaces were left blank for the Reuben Sparkshousehold. Their daughter, Polly A. Sparks, was still living at homewhen the 1880 census was taken, (shown as "helps keep house"), as wastheir son, William M. Sparks, age 22 ("works on farm"). Also living inthe Reuben Sparks household in 1880 was 18-year-old William T. Mitchell,a native of Arkansas, who, like William Sparks, "works on farm."

"The relationship of each individual in a household to the head ofthat household was supposed to be provided on the 1880 census, but foryoung Mitchell, this space was left blank."

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 2002, Whole No. 198, p. 5694:

Reuben Sparks, son of Allen Sparks, born 1838, died 1905. He was marriedto Mary [ "Polly" ] E. Woody who had been born in 1836 and died in 1905;both were buried in the Bear Creek Cemetery at Penland, Mitchell County,North Carolina. Based on census records, it appears that they were theparents of six children:
(1) Milly A. Sparks, born ca.1858 ;
(2) James Stephen Sparks (called Stephen on 1880 census), born in March1860;
(3) Basha Matilda Sparks, born ca.1864;
(4) Mary M. Sparks, born ca.1866;
(5) Nancy Sparks, born April 15, 1873, died November 10, 1949; and (6)Hannah Sparks, born ca. 1870.

SQ 3193: Reuben Sparks was born about 1842. He married Martha -- -,probably about 1862, and, when the 1870 census was taken of Wilkes County, they were living on a farm adjoining that of his father. With themwas a seven year old girl. We believe that Reuben and Martha also had two
other children who were listed in the household of Reuben's parents whenthe census was taken, and there may have been other children born to thiscouple. Their known children were:

(1) Mary J. Sparks was born about 1863.
(2) Cassie Sparks was born about 1864.
(3) Sarah J. Sparks was born about 1866. She was probably the Sar ahJ. Sparks who married William F. Vannoy about 1890. He was bor n in 1862 and was a son of Daniel and Betty (Edwards) Vannoy. Sarah died onOctober 11, 1911, leaving her husband with several small child ren.
According to LOG CABIN FAMILIES OF STONE MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA,she and Bill had nine children: George W., Maudie, Daniel, Sarah ,Pearl, Will, Tishy, John, and Robert.

See SQ p. 333 for birth information.

.
!NOTES:
SQ 3271: "Reuben Sparks, son of John Henry and Rebecca (Mitchell)
Sparks, was born on November 13, 1857. He married Margaret Caroline
Linkhous probably about 1880. She was born about 1860 and was a daug hter
of William P. and Mary B. (Cecil) Linkhous. According to the ANNAL S OF
TAZEWELL COUNTY, VIRGINIA written in 1925 by John N. Harman, Sr., Reu ben
and Margaret had two children, Ernest and Lavisa."

See SQ pg 4858:
"Reuben Sparks, son of Wes and Nancy (Kozee) Sparks, was born in1867. He lived on Wallowhole Creek in Elliott County. He was married toDova J. Whitt about 1895. She had been born in May 1873 and was adaughter of Bauguess Whitt. According to census records and toinformation furnished by relatives, Reuben and Dova had seven children."

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 1997, Whole No. 179, pp 4864-5:

"Reuben R. Sparks, son of Bill and Polly (Lyon) Sparks, was born onApril 5, 1837, in Lawrence County, and was very likely named for hisuncle, Reuben Sparks. He was married to mary Jane Wellman on april 25,1858, in Lawrence County. She had been born in June 1838 and was adaughter of John and Mariah Wellman. she and Reuben lived near Fielden,Kentucky, on a 155-acre farm. When Elliott county was formed in 1869,Reuben was one of the first justices of the peace.

"Reuben Sparks served in Company A, 68th Regiment Kentucky Militia ofthe Union Army during the Civil War. (See below for an abstract of hispension file also found on page 4883 of the QUARTERLY). He died onAugust 16, 1904, at Portsmouth, Ohio, and was buried in the Reuben SparksCemetery, about three miles from the intersection of State Route 409 andthe Little Sandy River, but there are no stones nor dates. "

Pension file:

REUBEN R. SPARKS, son of William and Mary (Lyon) Sparks, was born onApril 5, 1837, in Lawrence County, Kentucky. He was married to Mary J.Wellman about 1858. He served in Company A, 68th Regiment KentuckyEnrolled Militia. File Designation: Inv. Appl. No. 1,073,102.

"On November 18, 1891, Reuben R. Sparks, aged 62, a resident ofLawrence County,
Kentucky, completed a Declaration for an Invalid Pension. He stated thathe had been enrolled on May 21, 1864, in Company A, 68th RegimentKentucky Enrolled Militia, and had served until he had been released atLouisa, Kentucky, on June 22, 1864. He was now unable to earn hissupport because of a disease of the right lung and because of ruptures onboth sides. He appointed B. H. Harris, Flat Gap, Kentucky, as hisattorney. H. H. Gambill and George Salyer witnessed his signature.

"The War Department confirmed the military service of Reuben R. Sparkson January 11, 1892. He had been enrolled on May 21, 1864, in Company A,68th Regiment Kentucky Enrolled Militia and had been mustered out withhis company on June 22, 1864, at Louisa, Kentucky.

"On January 27, 1892, the Bureau of Pensions rejected the claim ofSparks because he had served less than 90 days; thus, he had noentitlement to a claim under the Pension Act of 1890.

"On December 17, 1892, Reuben Sparks again submitted a Declaration ofan Invalid Pension to the Bureau of Pensions. This time, he named C. D.Pennebaker, Washington, D.C., as his attorney. John H. Curnotte andDavid T. Curnotte witnessed his signature.

"On the same day, Levi J. Sparks, a practicing physician in LawrenceCounty, Kentucky, testified that he had known Reuben R. Sparks all of hislife and knew that Sparks was troubled with a chronic lung disease andwith hernias on both sides of his inguinal region. These conditions hadleft Sparks unable to do any manual labor.

"Also on December 17, 1892, Isaac Lester, aged 56, and James Liming,aged 59, both residents of Lawrence County, Kentucky, made a jointaffidavit that Reuben R. Sparks had been a healthy man prior to hismilitary service, but that he was now
so disabled that he was unable to do any manual work. The affidavit wassworn to before G. W. Griffith, a natary public.

"On February 9, 1893, Green B. Raum, Commissioner of the Bureau ofPensions, notified Dr. E. P. Gould of Catlettsburg, Kentucky, to examineReuben R. Sparks for possible lung disease and ruptures. Accordingly, onApril 5, 1893, Sparks appeared before an examining board of physiciansconsisting of J. D. Kincaid, E. P. Gould, and W. F. Bruns. The boardfound Sparks to be suffering from a 20-year-old rupture on one side and a5-year-old rupture on the other side. He wore a truss which onlypartially retained the ruptures. In addition, Sparks had pains in hisright breast from which he coughed frequently and from which heexpectorated yellow phlegm streaked with blood. The board concluded thathe was entitled to a 14/18 rating for these disabilities.

"On November 26, 1894, Attorney C. D. Pennebaker was informed by theBureau of Pensions that the claim he had filed for Reuben R. Sparks onDecember 17, 1892, "had been found to be a duplicate & consolidated witha rejected claim. That no further action can be taken in this case." Thecase was marked in large letters, "ABANDONED. "

This family is found in the US Census for 1870 in Elliott County, KY atLittle Fork:
51 Reuben Sparks 33 KY
Mary J. 32 KY
Elizabeth 11 KY
Malissa 9 KY
Nancy 5 KY
Mary J. 3 KY
They are living near Reuben's brother Isaac in North Fork, and Joelclose by in Little Fork.

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 886 for the following marriage informationfrom Lawrence County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds (1822- 1865):
Reuben Sparks & Mary Curnutte, December 18, 1857. (Book II, p. 114) He 28years old; she 21 years old. Married by Enoch Green, Baptist minister.Witnesses: David & Mary Wellrnan.

SQ pp. 4634-35:
"Reuben David Sparks, son of Garrett and Betsy (Boggs) Sparks, wasborn February 8, 1829, along with his twin, Eleanor Sparks. On December18, 1857, he was married to Mary Curnutte in Lawrence County by the Rev.Enoch Green, a Baptist minister. The witnesses were David and MaryWellman. Mary Curnutte had been born in October 1836 and was a daughterof Reuben ["Bobby"] and Zilpha (Holbrook) Curnutte.

"Reuben Sparks lived quite near his parents on Blaine Creek where hewas a farmer. He and Mary had nine children, eight of whom grew tomaturity. One of the children recalled how his parents instilled thevalue of getting an education in all of their children. Three of theirsons became physicians, and the other son became a well-known andsuccessful teacher.

"When the 1900 census was taken of Lawrence County, Reuben and Marywere living in the household of their son, James Cecil Sparks, who hadbeen married to Nora Holbrook the previous year. Reuben died on December28, 1900. Mary died ten years later, on October 3, 1910."

SQ p. 4636:

"Reuben David Sparks, Jr. was born on June 3, 1871, at the forks ofBlaine Creek. He was graduated from the Louisville [Kentucky] School ofMedicine in 1894 and began practicing medicine on Elk Fork at the mouthof Williams Creek in Morgan County, Kentucky. He later moved to WestLiberty, Kentucky. He practiced medicine continuously for more thansixty years. His records show that he delivered over 5,000 babies duringthat time. It was at West Liberty that he was married to FlorenceHutchinson on February 16, 1898. She died on January 15, 1948. Reubendied on August 28, 1960. They were buried in the Salyer Cemetery at WestLiberty. They had two children, Winfred C. Sparks and Walter D. Sparks."

****************************************

The following article appeared in the March, 1962 issue of the SPARKSQUARTERLY, Whole No. 37 at p. 638:

DEATH TAKES DR. REUBEN DAVIDSPARKS

Mr. W. C. Sparks, a charter member of The Sparks Family Association, haswritten of the death of his father, Dr. Reuben David Sparks, who passedaway on August 28, 1960, at the age of eighty-nine.

Reuben David Sparks was born at the Forks of Blame in Lawrence Cou.nty,Kentucky, on June 3, 1871, a son of Reuben R. and Mary (Canute) Sparks.This branch of the Sparks family has produced many physicians, includingtwo of Reuben's brothers, Dr. J. Cecil Sparks of Ashland, Ky., and Dr.Walter Sparks of West Virginia. After graduating from the LouisvilleSchool of Medicine, Reuben D. Sparks came to Morgan County at the age of23 and began practicing on Elkfort at the mouth of Williams Creek. Laterhe moved to West Liberty, also in Morgan County. In all, Dr. Sparkspracticed medicine in Morgan County for sixty-four years. In 1958, he waspresented a scroll of honor at a ceremony in the public square of WestLiberty for his “long, kind, efficient and unselfish service to thepeople of Morgan and surrounding counties.” At that time, Dr. Sparksstated that he had kept records of the babies he had delivered and thatthe number was 5,010. Among these were 280 sets of twins and 60 sets oftriplets.

Dr. Sparks was a true "horse and buggy doctor." He often traveled byhorseback into all parts of Morgan County and adjoining counties and,during epidemics, would sometimes stay in the saddle two or three days ata time. His fee in those days was two dollars for a trip up to ten miles,and fifty cents each for patients seen along the way. He remembered heonce had eight typhoid patients in one family at the same time.

Dr. Sparks was married on Feb. 16, 1898, to Florence (Hutchinson) Sparks;she died on Jan. 15, 1948. Dr. Sparks is survived by two sons, Winfred C.Sparks of South Bend, Indiana, a district executive for the J. C. PennyCompany, and Walter D. Sparks of Mountain Lake, New Jersey, a departmenthead for the Bell Telephone division of the American Telephone andTelegraph Company. Dr. Sparks was buried in Salyers Cemetery at WestLiberty, Kentucky.

*********************

SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1988, Whole No. 141; DESCENDANTS OF REUBE N &CASSIE (BUTTERY) SPARKS, pp 3176-3206 at 3196:
"Reuben J. Sparks, son of John and Elizabeth (Rose) Sparks, was bornJanuary 1, 1819, in Wilkes County, North Carolina. He married Nancy McGrady, probably about 1840. She was born on May 8, 1816, and was adaughter of Isaiah McGrady. Reuben and Nancy settled down tohousekeeping in rugged northern Wilkes County, but quite near Brush Creekin adjacent Ashe County. It was on Brush Creek that Reuben bought a200-acre farm from his father on March 20, 1841, for $1,000. A son,Calton Sparks, was born to him and Nancy on August 5, 1843. [For anearlier article on this family see SQ 1086 .]

"Reuben and Nancy were listed on the 1850 census as residents ofWilkes County, but sometime during the 1850s, they moved to Ashe County,probably to be near his aging parents. In 1859, the part of Ashe Countyin which John and Elizabeth Sparks lived was cut off to form AlleghanyCounty . When the 1860 census of Alleghany County was taken, Reuben andNancy Sparks were shown as living very near Reuben's parents (probably onadjoining farms). Living with Reuben and Nancy was their son, Calton, anda second son, Isiah (named for his maternal grandfather) who had beenborn in 1851.

"The Civil War had a tragic impact upon the little family of Reuben andNancy Sparks. Their eldest son, Calton, now 19 years of age, enlisted onMay 3, 1862, as a 3rd sergeant in Company I of the 61st Regiment, NorthCarolina Infantry, Confederate States Army, on May 3, 1862. He waspromoted to 2nd Lieutenant on June 9, 1863. Then, at the siege ofPetersburg , Virginia, he was killed on July 30, 1864.

"(continuing on page 3199) After serving as the executor of hisfather's will in the fall of 1868, Reuben Sparks went to Russell County,Virgi nia, where he appeared on the 1870 census. His wife, Nancy(McGrady) Sparks, continued to live in Alleghany County, North Carolina,and was listed there on the 1870 census. These two census records are asfollows, with the name, age, sex, occupation, value of real estate owned,and place of birth:
1870 Census of Alleghany County, North Carolina
Page 603. Cherry Lane Township Family # 19
Sparks, Nancy 54 F Keeping house $1,000 North Carolina
" Isaiah 29 M At home " "

1870 Census of Russell County, Virginia
New Garden District (August 18, 1870) Family # 205
Sparks, Reuben 49 M Farmer $300 North Carolina
" Matilda 27 F " "
" Jackson 5 M " "

"Reuben Sparks continued to live in Russell County, Virginia, and hewas listed on the 1880 census there. His age was given as 60 and hisoccupation as farmer. Living in the same household was Matilda C.Sparks, age 37; also Jackson M. Sparks, age 14, and Lucinda Sparks, age9. We have not learned whether Jackson and Lucinda were children ofReuben and Matilda; however, the marriage record of Jackson M. Sparksindicates that he was their son . When he married Albure Dye on NOvember29, 1886, his parents were recorded as being Reuben Sparks and MatildaSparks. It was also in Russell County, Vir ginia, that Reuben Sparks,aged 65, a widower, married Matilda Crowed, a wid ow, aged 50, on August31, 1891. He was identified in this marriage record as being a son ofJohn and Elizabeth Sparks; she was identified as a daughter of John andCharlotte Crowed. Perhaps a reader can help us unravel theserelationships.

"Nancy (McGrady) Sparks died in Alleghany County, North Carolina, onMay 26, 1890. According to a document on page 111 of the Alleghany County Will Book A, she was the wife of Reuben Sparks, a non-resident. Wehave not learned the date of the death of Reuben. He and Nancy had twochildren.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1991, Whole No. 156, p. 3862:

"Reuben M. Sparks, son of Allen and Elizabeth (Kozee) Sparks, was bornabout 1825 in Kentucky. He was married to Elizabeth Dials (or Diles) onJuly 6, 1849, in Lawrence County. She had been born about 1831 inVirginia and was a daughter of Richard and Lucy (---) Dials. She andReuben had one child, Lucy, born in 1850. Elizabeth died on January 15,1861 in Johnson County.

"Reuben Sparks was married (2nd) to Jane House on August 21, 1861, inJohnson
County by the Rev. John Hawes, a Methodist minister. She had been bornabout
1831. Shortly after his second marriage, Reuben enlisted on November 18,1862, in Company A, 39th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry to servefor three years. He died of typhoid fever in the Regimental Hospital atLouisa, Kentucky, on May 4, 1863. He and Jane had no children.

SQ 3879:

CIVIL WAR PENSION APPLICATION
"Reuben M. Sparks, son of Allen and Elizabeth (Kozee) Sparks, wasborn about 1825 in Lawrence County, Kentucky. He was married (1st) toElizabeth Dials (or Diles) on July 6, 1849, and (2nd) to Jane House onAugust 21, 1861 . He served in Company A, 39th Regiment KentuckyVolunteer Infantry. File Designation: Wid. Cert. No. 95,991.

"On September 21, 1863, Jane Sparks, age 32, a resident of BlaineCreek in Johnson County, Kentucky, appeared before R. L. Vinson, Clerk ofLawrence County, Kentucky, and made application for a widow's pension.She stated that she was the widow of Reuben Sparks who had served inCompany A, commanded by Capt. John B. Auxier, of the 39th RegimentKentucky Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Col. John Dils. On May 2,1863, her husband had died from typhoid fever while in the militaryservice. She and Sparks had been married on August 21, 1861, by theRev. John Hawes. Her name before her marriage had been Jane House. Shehad not remarried. She appointed Laban T. Moore as her attorney. Hersignature was witnessed by Samuel Sparks and Thomas Segraves, bothresidents of Lawrence County, and the application was sworn to beforeClerk Vinson.

"Prior to making the application, Mrs. Sparks had obtained a statementon June 10, 1863, from the Rev. John Hawes who had performed hermarriage ceremony. The Rev. Hawes stated that he had performed themarriage of Reuben Sparks and Jane House on August 21, 1861, at the homeof E. K. House in Johnson County, Kentucky. He signed the statement as aminister of the M. E. Church. and it was sworn to before Clabourne Hawes,a notary public.

"The Adjutant Generalls Office confirmed the military service ofReuben Sparks. He had entered the service on November 18, 1862, at PeachOrchard, Kentucky, as a private in Company A, 39th Regiment KentuckyVolunteers for three years, or during the war. The regimental return forMay 1863 contained the following remark about him: "Private Reuben M.Sparks died May 4th at Louisa, Ky." No cause of death was stated.

"On July 29, 1865, the Pension Office asked 2nd Lieut. R. L.Burchett, commanding officer of Company A, 39th Regiment KentuckyVolunteers stationed at Catlettsburg, Kentucky, to complete a deathcertificate of Sparks. Burchett stated that, according to the records ofthe company, and to his own personal knowledge, Sparks had died on May 4,1863, in the Regimental Hospital at Louisa, Kentucky, of typhoid fevercontracted while in the service and in the line of duty. Burchett alsostated that the man who had been captain of the company had resigned andthat the lst lieutenant was away from the command.

"On June 11, 1867, the widow of Reuben Sparks appeared before DanielPelphrey, Clerk of Johnson County [Kentucky] Court, to make a furtherdeclaration. She said that on May 18, 1867, she had been remarried andthat her name was now Jane Lyon. She and Reuben Sparks had had nochildren, but he had had one child by a previous marriage, named LucySparks, born on June 22, 1850. Mrs. Lyon said that she made thestatement for the purpose of recovering the pension benefits due to herfrom the date of her husband's death until the date of her remarriage.

"On the same day, two other records were made. The first was anaffidavit from John B. Auxier who said that he had been in command ofCompany A, 39th Regiment Kentucky Volunteers, on May 2, 1863, when one ofhis stout, healthy soldiers, Reuben Sparks, had died at Louisa,Kentucky. The other record came from the Surgeon Generalls Office whichsaid that the records of the Regimental Hospital of the 39th RegimentKentucky Volunteers had been found and showed that Sparks had beenadmitted on March 30, 1863, with pneumonia and had died on May 4, 1863.

"The last record (in chronological order) among the "selected papers"sent to us by the National Archives from this pension file is a statementfrom the clerk of the Johnson County [Kentucky] Court, Daniel Pelphrey,that on May 18, 1867, a marriage license had been issued to Ransom Lyonand Jane Sparks.

"Widow's Certificate No. 95,991 was issued to Jane Sparks retroactiveto November 17, 1863, but there is nothing among the "selected papers"sent by the National Archives from her file to indicate the amount northe duration of Jane Sparks's pension."

SQ 1087: Reuben R. Sparks, believed to have been a son of Jonas and Mary(Brown) Sparks, was born about 1820. He remained (or perhaps returned to)Wilkes County, North Carolina, and became a Baptist minister. His wife’sname was Ann; no record of any children.

SQ 3271:
"Reuben R. Sparks, son of Jonas and Mary (Brown) Sparks , was bornabout 1820 in Wilkes County, North Carolina. He married Ann C. - - - - -. Apparently they had no children."

SQ p 3551: Her first marriage was to Sam Blackwell. She was married(2nd) to Walter Waldridge and they had five children.

.
!NOTES:
See Sparks Quarterly, March 1996, Whole No. 173, p. 4594:
"Rhoda Catherine Sparks was born on January 28, 1866; she died o n July
12, 1937. She was married to Thomas M. ["Bud"] Gentry, and they had
children named Beecher, Lola Mae, Billy Lewis, Bessie, and J. T."

See SQ p. 232 for birth information which lists her as Rhoda M.

SQ p. 817 lists the marriage in Johnson County, KY, on November 4,1881, of a Margaret Sparks to William Mullins, "in the house of ElishaSparks." It states that Margaret was 20 years old. This Rhoda, adaughter of Elisha, was born in 1861 and was also 20. Are they the sameperson?

SQ p. 5129: "Richard Sparks may have been a son of William Sparks, butwe have no information other than a family memory of his name."

In the 1850 Census of Honey Creek Township, Vigo County, Indiana, thereis a Richard Sparks, age 70, born in Virginia. He is shown with anElizabeth, 27, born in Kentucky. Note that Richard's older brother Jameswas shown in the same census in Carter County, Indiana, about 80 milesdistant. Richard's identity is pure speculation.

See THE SPARKS FAMILY QUARTERLY, June 1985, Whole No. 130, pp 2742-45:

"Richard Sparks, son of William and Mary (Fielder) Sparks, was bornabout 1793 in Franklin County, Georgia, and was about eighteen years ofage when he accompanied his parents to the Territory of Mississippi wherethey settled in Marion County. It may have been there that he met andcourted Elizabeth Cooper. They were married on July 7, 1812. She hadbeen born about 1796 in North Carolina and was a daughter of WilliamCooper. Richard was well educated for his day and he was a capablesurveyor. He also had a quality of leadership, and civicresponsibilities seem to have come to him naturally.

"Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks were probably unaware on theday of their wedding that just three weeks earlier the Congress of theUnited States had declared war on Great Britain. It was not long,however, before the effects of the declaration began to be felt in theTerritory of Mississippi as the war dragged on and foreign trade trickledto a stop. On January 19, 1815, Richard Sparks joined his father (andothers) as a petitioner from Marion and Lawrence Counties who askedCongress to declare a moratorium on the payments for government landsbecause of the war.

"Just a few days earlier, on January 8, 1815, Sparks had been musteredinto military service as an ensign in Capt. Harmon M. Runnel's Company ofthe 13th Regiment (Nixon's) of the Mississippi Territory Militia to servefor three months. He was mustered out with his company on February 7,1815. A story handed down by his descendants relates that his regimentwas within sound of the guns at the Battle of New Orleans, but that hedid not participate in that battle. Since the Battle of New Orleans wasfought on January 8, 1815, which was the same day that Sparks wasmustered into the service, it appears likely that the personnel of hiscompany rendezvoused near New Orleans.

"On May 14, 1819, Richard Sparks, son of William Sparks, resigned as aconstable of Lawrence County, Mississippi, an office to which he had beenappointed about 1814. He and Elizabeth were enumerated on the 1820census of that county. With them were three young males and two youngfemales, probably their children. On April 19, 1823, he was named as atrustee of the newly-constituted Bethany Baptist Church at Whitesand. Ashort time later, he moved his family to Copiah County where he paid atax on himself and three slaves. The total tax was $3.00. He did notstay in Copiah County very long, however, for when Simpson County wasformed in 1824 , he was commissioned its first sheriff on May 4, 1824.It was that same year that there was a death in his family, probably thatof an infant son or daughter.

"This death in his family may have been the reason that Richard Sparksmade another move, this time to Yazoo County. There he was appointed ajustice of the peace in 1825. Two years later, he was elected as arepresentative to the Mississippi State Legislature. He was reelected in1828, 1829, and 1831. During this period of time, he bought and soldseveral pieces of land in and around the thriving village of Franklin,located a few miles southeast of Lexington, although it is scarcely morethan a memory today. He also went security on two notes for his friend,Jesse Wadlington, who used slaves as his security.

"By the spring of 1832, Richard Sparks had disposed of most of hisland and, in the winter of 1833-1834, he moved his family to Texas wherehe stopped at San Augustine in January 1834. That fall he moved a fewmiles further west to Nacogdoches.

"Richard Sparks arrived in Texas at a time of great unrest among allwho had settled there earlier. American settlers were no longer welcome;in fact, Mexico had tried to halt American immigration in 1830. Clashesbetween American farmers and the Mexican troops were frequent, and aproposal to organize a new and independant government was gainingsupport. By the fall of 1835, a pitched battle was fought at Gonzales,and the following year, Texas declared her independence.

"Richard Sparks was involved immediately in the conflict. On August15, 1835, he was appointed, along with James Bradshaw, Sam Houston, andThomas J. Rusk, "to treat with the Indian tribes in Texas according tothe promises made to them by the Mexican Government." One of the recordsof the Texas Indian Papers, 1825-1843, which gives some insight intoSparks's activities in carrying out his assignment, is as follows:

A Bill of Goods furnished by Richard Sparks and Smith for theCherokees on their trip to the Prairies. Feb. 24, 1837.

12 blankets $8.00 per blanket $96. 00
21 tin cups 25 cts each 5. 25
1 coffee Biler for Bowles 1. 50
20 flaps of strand, per flap, $1.50 30. 00
14 large Butcher Knives, per knife, $1.00 14.00
1 pair Brass Spirs for Bowles, 75 cts 25. 00
20 lbs. of Bar lid, 25 cts per pound 5. 00
2 Brass Kitels of a reasonable large size $5.00 10.00
21 papers of Paint Vermillios, 50 cts each paper 10.50
$212. 50

I, Bowles, the Command Chief of the party so ask and with agent topercure the above mentioned articles for me if possible for my journey tothe prairies to preceed on the above request mentioned with my twenty-onemen with me.

I, the said Col. Richard Sparks, and Smith, seeing the necessity andbeing present and seeing the above number of Cherokee Indians this far ontheir march at the Saline, I have furnished the same to be forewarded tothe president where unto we have set our hand and seals this day and date.

Feb. __th, 1837. Col. Bowl Capt. Egg William Goyens Acting Agent.
(Endorsed) Goyens-Sparks Bill. $198.25 cts, there being an error of$14.25 cents in Charg for Spirs. Recd 24th Feb. 1837. Referred same dayto War Department, Houston.

"In September 1835, Richard Sparks, George Pollitt, and Andrew Hendriewere elected Commissioners from the Municipality of Nacogdoches toorganize the militia. In January 1836, Sparks was elected Second Regidorof Nacogdoches. Subsequently, the Alcalde (Mayor) of Nacogdoches movedaway, and the First Regidor resigned, thus Sparks became the Alcalde ofNacogdoches on October 24, 1836.

"To all intents and purposes, the war between Texas and Mexico endedon April 21, 1836, with the surrender of General Santa Ana at the Battleof San Jacinto. With the war ended, Richard Sparks became involved inthe practice of surveying. Land was cheap (25 cts per acre) andplentiful, and surveyors usually received a portion of the land theysurveyed. It was on one of his surveying expeditions that Richard Sparkslost his life.

"The manner of the death of Richard Sparks has been told in twodifferent versions. The version which has generally been accepted,however, is that he was killed by hostile Indians while surveying land inwhat later became Navarro County. Records indicate that in the spring of1838, he was asked to survey land on Richland Creek southwest ofCorsicana and near the village of Dawson. There, his surveying party wassurprised by a band of roving Indians and Sparks was killed.

"Elizabeth Sparks, widow of Richard, and James L. Bryant, a Baptistpreacher were named as the executors of the estate of Richard Sparks. Hehad left a huge estate consisting of approximately 50,000 acres of landin various parts of the Republic of Texas. The job of administering theestate undoubtedly weighed heavily upon Elizabeth. In addition, she wasfaced with the task of rearing her youngest children. Her healthapparently broke and on December 20, 1847, she made her will. She diedon New Year's Day of 1848, before she could make a final settlement ofher husband's estate.

"An abstract of the will of Elizabeth Sparks, as found on page 17 ofthe Nacogdoches County Will Book A, is as follows:

To sons: A. J. Sparks, Thomas B. Sparks, John M. Sparks, all mypersonal property, my Negroes, stock, household furniture, wagon and team"together with my interest in the Headright of Richard Sparks situated onthe Trinity River near Cincinnati."
To the children of James M. Sharp: J. H., J. E., E. E., and Mary"all my remaining interest in the landed estate of the said RichardSparks."

Executors: Joseph D. Sharp, James M. Sharp, James H. Sparks, andStephen F. Sparks.

Witnesses: Samuel Kirk and J. N. Bradshaw
Filed January 22, 1848.

"The estates of Richard and Elizabeth Sparks were finally settled onJanuary 30, 1851. Named as heirs and appearing in court on the lastMonday in August 1850 (the 26th) were the following:

Stephen F. Sparks; James Sharp, as guardian of the children of MaryA. Sharp: Elizabeth; J., Emeline E., Joseph H., and Mary E. L . JamesHawkins Sparks; Eliza C. Rogers, alias Eliza C. Sparks, represented byher husband and attorney, Samuel Rogers; William F. Sparks , representedby his attorney, Stephen F. Sparks; Thomas B. Sparks; Andrew JacksonSparks; John M. Sparks, represented by his guardian appointed by thecourt, Stephen F. Sparks.

"Richard and Elizabeth May (Cooper) Sparks were probably buried in theOld North Church Cemetery north of Nacogdoches; however, their graveswere not marked. They were the parents of nine children, all of whomwere born in Mississippi. They were:

1. William Fielder Sparks 6. Mary Ann Sparks
2. James Hawkins Sparks 7. Andrew Jackson Sparks
3. Eliza C. Sparks 8. Thomas Benton Sparks
4. Stephen Franklin Sparks 9. John Marion Sparks"
5. Sarah Jane Sparks.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 2000, Whole No. 190, p. 5375:

"Richard Sparks, son of Matthew and Sarah (Elmore) Sparks, was born inSurry County, North Carolina, on February 16, 1821, according to a recordfound in documents pertaining to his wife's family. He seems to have beenthe first member of his family to go to Oregon Territory; he was shown onthe 1850 census there, in Yamhill County. He was shown as living in thehouse hold of William Dotson, a native of Kentucky; he was probably aboarder. A land claim record for him in Oregon gives his year of birth as1823, while another gives 1816, both apparently in error. This latterdocument also states that he had moved from North Carolina to Tennesseebefore moving to Oregon in 1850. He settled in Lane County, Oregon, afterobtaining his land claim there. He was married late in life to a widownamed Almira Sherwood on November 13, 1870, in Yamhill County, Oregon.She was a daughter of Mark and Susannah Sawyer; her first husband hadbeen Truman R. Sherwood. It is a Sawyer family record that givesRichard's date of birth as February 16, 1821, and his date of death asMarch 3, 1884. In the settlement of his father's Estate in 1854/56,Richard Sparks was appointed by the Probate Court of Polk County to serveas "agent" in the locating and distribution of the shares of Matthew'sestate belonging to eight of his siblings: William, Atha, Sarah, Matthew,Jr., George, Isaac, Elizabeth, and Hugh."

SQ 3857: "Richard Sparks, son of Joseph and Martha (Edwards) Sparks,was born in April 1825, in North Carolina. He was probably the RichardSparks who enlisted as a private in Company G, 5th Regiment KentuckyInfantry, Confederate States Army on November 10, 1861, in Pike County ,Kentucky. He was married twice. His first Marriage was to Mary JuneJohnson on January 24, 1849, in Pike County. She had been born about1829 in Virginia. She and Richard had four children before her death,which apparently occurred about 1862. Richard Sparks was married (2nd)to Rebecca Davis on March 15, 1865, in Pike County. She had been bornabout 1841 in Virginia. She and Richard were living on Lower Johns Creekin Pike County when the 1880 census was taken. Rebecca died sometimebetween 1880 and 1900. Richard died sometime after 1900. They had eightchildren." There follows information on the twelve children.

!NOTES: SQ 3857: Richard Sparks, Jr., was born in February 1871 o nJohns
Creek in Pike County. He was married to Mary Stanley about 1900. Sh ehad been
born on July 7, 1871, on Road Fork of Pond Creek in Pike County, KY. ,and was a
daughter of John Stanley. Richard and Mary moved to Arkansas about 1 906
because of the poor health of Richard. He died at Crosses in Madiso nCounty,
Arkansas, in 1913 and was buried there. Mary returned to Pike Count ywhere she
died on February 4, 1939. She was buried in the Stanley Cemetary o n DixFork.
She and Richard had six children: Irtley, Cansas, Pricey, Ida, Della , and
Kelley.

!NOTES:
SQ 3869: Richard Sparks was married twice, but we have not learne dthe name
of his first wife. His second marriage was to Rosie Wallen. He die d on
October 27, 1921.

SPARKS QUARTERLY, Whole Number 148. On the cover at page 3483 is aphotograph of Richard M. Sparks, born May 4, 1829 in Surry County, NorthCarolina, died April 17, 1893, at Medicine Lodge, Kansas. He was a sonof William D. Sparks and a grandson of Matthew Sparks. (The photo isreproduced in his scrapbook).

**********

See SQ p. 5386:

"Richard M. Sparks, son of William D. Sparks, according to his obituaryin a Medicine Lodge, Kansas, newspaper in 1893, was born on May 4, 1829;he died at Medicine Lodge on April 17, 1893. He had been born in SurryCounty, North Carolina. He was married in Cooper County, Missouri, toMary C Duncan on January 8, 1850. She had been born about 1832 and diedon January 22, 1891. She was a daughter of Hiram and Matilda (Allen)Duncan.

[Here apppears aphotograph of MARY C. (DUNCAN) SPARKS (1832-1911) and see scrapbook]

"Richard M. Sparks accompanied his brothers, Edmond and Martin, toCalifornia in 1852 during the Gold Rush period, but he later returned toMissouri. He and his family were in Lafayette County, Missouri, when the1870 and 1880 censuses were taken. They moved to Medicine Lodge in BarberCounty, Kansas, about 1886, where he died in 1893. A photograph ofRichard M. Sparks appeared on the cover of the December 1989 issue of theQUARTERLY, Whole No. 148.

"Richard M. Sparks died without leaving a will. His eldest son, WilliamH. Sparks, became the administrator of his estate, and in that role heprepared a list in 1893 of the eleven living children of Richard M. andMary C. (Duncan) Sparks, giving their dates of birth and their locationsat that time, as follows:" [For information on the children of RichardM. and Mary C. (Duncan) Sparks, see their individual sheets.]

SQ 2775:

"Richard Newell Sparks was born on August 15, 1879. He was marriedto Kate Fairey on January 20, 1904, and they had one child, Laura Emma.He died on December 20, 1956."

Obituary notice of Richard Newell Sparks, courtesy of Mary (Krig) Stim:

"Taken from the San Antonio Express, December 21, 1956:

"Richard N. Sparks, 77, of 509 Wicks, died at a local hospitalDecember 20. Mr. Sparks had been a resident of San Antonio for 40 yearsand was a member of the Alamo Methodist Church. He had been with theRailroad Express company for 48 years before his retirement. Survivors:wife Kate Fairey Sparks, daughter, brother E. B. Sparks, Corpus Christi,Felix Sparks, Miami and AZ, C. L. Sparks in Glendale, AZ., a sister Mrs.Alex Z. Harrison, Poteet, Texas. Funeral Saturday December 22."

SQ 101:

"Richmond Sparks, born about 1815; married about 1835 SarahPrivett." (Should be Pruitt)

See also SQ pg. 3273 listing Richmond (and his wife Sarah) as parentsof John Tyler Sparks who married Elizabeth Sparks, his third cousin, agreat-granddaughter of Reuben and Cassie (Buttery) Sparks.

SQ 607:
Wilkes County, North Carolina -- 1850 Census shows the followingfamily:

(census p. 303)
790-790 Sparkes, Richmond 36 (M) Wilkes County, N.C. Farmer $250
" Sarah 33 (F) " "
Hugh 14 (M) " "
Asey Ann 12 (F) " "
John 8 (M) " "
Joel 6 (M) " "
Susan 4 (F) " "
Abner 1 (M) " "

***********************************

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 2002, Whole No. 200, p 5758:

Richmond Sparks was born about 1815. He was married about 1835 in WilkesCounty to Sarah Privett. It was to Richmond Sparks that his brother,
Robert Sparks, wrote his letter of April 28, 1864 (see page 5749).Shortly after the Civil War ended, Richmond Sparks moved his family to
Tazewell County, Virginia. Both Richmond and Sarah were still living inTazewell County when the 1880 census was taken. He was then 67 and
Sarah was 62.

Richmond Sparks was probably influenced in deciding to move to TazewellCounty by members of the family of Jonas Sparks who had gone there fromNorth Carolina in 1848. Jonas was a son of Reuben and Cassa Sparks,Reuben (1755-1840) being a brother of John Sparks (1753-1840/41), the
Revolutionary War pensioner. Jonas and Joel Sparks were thus firstcousins. (See the QUARTERLY of September 1967, Whole No. 59, pp.1082-89,for a record of the family of Reuben, Including his son, Jonas.)

A 2-volume work entitled Annals of Tazewell County, Virginia by John N.Harman, published between 1922 and 1925, includes a record of thechildren of Richmond and Sarah Sparks. With this and Information fromcensus records, we are able to identify them as follows:
(See their individual family sheets.)

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, SEPTEMBER 1997, Whole No. 179, p. 4852:

"Richmond Sparks, son of Wes and Nancy (Kozee) Sparks, was born about1840 in Lawrence County. His given name was often copied as Richard. Hewas married to Polly Ann Oma Stephens on August 7, 1861, in MorganCounty, Kentucky. She had been born about 1845 in Floyd County,Kentucky, and was usually called Oma.

"On December 29, 1861, Richmond Sparks was enrolled in Company G, 5thRegiment Kentucky Infantry, Confederate States Army. He probably serveduntil his unit was defeated during the spring of 1862, and he thenreturned home. He was enrolled on May 21, 1864, in Company A, 68thRegiment Kentucky Militia in Union forces, commanded by David Sturgell.Several years later, his widow applied for a pension based on hisservice. (See page 4879 of this issue of the QUARTERLY for an abstract ofhis pension file [below].)

"When Richmond Sparks died on January 31, 1878, at Fielden, Kentucky,he was only 37 years of age. His youngest child was born posthumously.He and Oma had seven children."

"Following is an abstract of the pension file of Richmond Sparks andhis Civil War service found in SQ on pg 4879-80:

RICHMOND/RICHARD SPARKS, son of John Wesley and Nancy (Kozee) Sparks wasborn in Lawrence County, Kentucky. He was married to Polly Ann OmaStephens on November 12, 1861, in Morgan County, Kentucky. He served inCompany A, 68th Regiment Kentucky Militia. File Designation: Wid.Appl. No. 555,913.

"On July 9, 1892, Oma Sparks, (as she was called) age 50, a residentof Blaine, Kentucky, applied for a widow's pension. She stated that shewas the widow of Richmond Sparks, who had enlisted in Company A,commanded by David Sturgell, of the 68th Regiment Enlisted KentuckyMilitia. She and Sparks had been married on November 12, 1861, in MorganCounty, Kentucky, by John W. Carter. Her husband had died on January 31,1878, at Fielden, Kentucky, of a disease contracted in the militaryservice of the United States. She and Richmond had had seven children,all under the age of sixteen years when her husband died.

"These seven children of Richmond and Polly Ann Oma (Stephens) Sparkswere:

Martin Sparks, born March 30, 1864
Daniel Sparks, born October 9, 1865
Sarillda Sparks, born January 17, 1868
George W. Sparks, born July 25, 1870
Caney Sparks, born May 19, 1874
William Sparks, born May 16, 1876
John W. Sparks, born October 25, 1878

"Mrs. Sparks appointed C. C. Pennebaker, Washington, D.C., as herattorney. George W. Griffiths and John O'Bryan witnessed her make hermark, and the declaration was sworn to before H. C. Osborn, a notarypublic.

"The War Department confirmed the military service of Richmond Sparkson August 30, 1892. He had been enrolled in Company A, 68th RegimentKentucky Infantry (En. Mil.) on May 21, 1864, and he had served until hewas mustered out on June 22, 1864.

"On March 18, 1893, Jason Barker, aged 47, and James H. Barker, aged40, both residents of Fielden, Kentucky, testified that they were wellacquainted with Richmond Sparks since childhood and that he was a sound,able-bodied man prior to his military service, but after he had beendischarged, he had been in a weakly condition, complained of breasttrouble, and was so disabled that he could not perform manual labor as afarmer.

"On the same day, Frances Barker, aged 67, a resident of Fielden,Kentucky, testified that she was a midwife and had attended Mrs. OmaSparks when all of her seven children had been born. She then gave thenames and birth dates of the Sparks children just as they were given byMrs. Sparks on her application for a pension. The affidavit was sworn tobefore W. J. Crouch, a justice of the peace of Elliott County, Kentucky.

"Affidavits concerning the marriage of Richmond Sparks and OmaStephens were made on March 19, 1894, by Susan Barker, Jason Barker, andJames H. Barker. They swore that (1) the marriage was the first and onlymarriage for both of them; (2) they were never divorced; and (3) OmaSparks had not remarried since the death of her late husband. Theaffidavits were witnessed by Henry Griffith and Levi J. Webb atWebbville, Kentucky.

"The last affidavit (in chronological order) sent from this pensionfile by the National Archives was made by John D. Boggs on June 15, 1895,at Blaine, Kentucky. He swore that he had served with Richmond Sparks inCompany A, 68th Regiment Kentucky Infantry and had been with him when hetook sick. Boggs stated: "I took him to the doctor of the Ilth MichiganRegiment Cavalry and he pronounced him unable for duty and sent him homeand he was never able to come back as a soldier. I don't remember theexact days of the month but it was in the spring or summer of 1865. "

"No pension was authorized for Oma Sparks, probably because of theshort length of service by her husband.

"The family of Richmond Sparks is found in the 1870 US Census ofElliott County, at Little Fork, as follows:
#55. Richmond Sparks, 30, b. KY; Anna, 28; Martin, 6; Daniel, 4;Sarilda, 2; George, 1.

See SQ p4854:
"Richmond ["Rich"] Sparks was born on October 5, 1866. He was marriedto Mary Ellen Hicks about 1888. She had been born in August 1869 and wasa daughter of Henry Hicks. Rich and Mary Ellen lived near Isonville,Kentucky, where they raised nine children. They were: Mertie M. Sparks,Bertie Fay Sparks, William A. Sparks, Lucy L. Sparks, Viola Sparks,Phoebe Sparks, John Sparks, Henry Sparks, and Lonnie Sparks."

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1959, Whole No. 28, p. 434:

Robert Leslie James, who copied the above tombstone inscriptions, was theauthor of a book entitled Distinguished Men, Women and Families ofFranklin County, Alabama, published in 1927. In this work there appears asketch of the life of Riley Sparks (page 15) and of Jimmie Roe Sparks(page 85), which read as follows:

"Riley Sparks was a citizen of Franklin County, Alabama, for a greatmany years. Born October 22, 1811, in Spartanburg District, SouthCarolina, and died at his home near Frankfort, Alabama, December 29,1892. Mr. Sparks was a son of William Sparks, who came to Franklin Countyfrom Spartanburg District, S.C., in the year 1820, arriving atRussellville on December 20th. He and his family located west ofRussellville toward Frankfort.

"William Sparks father of Riley Sparks, was a planter and a workman.Our father and mother now have a cook table which is said to have beenmade by him. He is said to have possessed a passionate temper, but so faras we know, he was a good, law-abiding citizen. His brother, EnochSparks, who was also a pioneer settler of Franklin County, was a soldierin the War of 1812 and according to Jimmie Roe Sparks, his grandson wasin the great battle of New Orleans.

"Riley Sparks, subject of this sketch, owned a large tract of land inthe Tollison Creek section and was a progressive farmer for his day. Hewas noted for his ecconornical manner of living. The late Senator W. I.Bullock, who wrote Mr. Sparks’s obituary, said that some thought himparsimonious, but stated that he was not. He was a life-long Democrat,voting first for Jackson in 1832 and last (Presidential) for GroverCleveland in 1892. In religion he was affiliated with the Presbyterians.

"Mr. Sparks was twice married. His first wife was Miss Nancy Benson,daughter of John Benson, a pioneer settler on Tollison’s Creek. Severalchildren were born to the first marriage. His second wife was Miss NancyMalone, daughter of James and Polly (Cook) Malone, who also resided onTollison’s Creek. No children were born to the second marriage.

"Among the children of the first marriage were: (1) William, a farmerof Franklin County; (2) Christopher C. ("Kit"), who was tax assessor ofFranklin County three terms; (3) Mrs. Carroll McRight; (4) Mrs. ThomasMalone; (5) Jennie; (6) Frank; and (7) Lemuel; also one or two sons whodied in the Civil War.

"Lemuel Sparks resides (1927) at Red Bay, Ala., and is the onlysurviving member. He formerly lived on Lost Creek, Franklin County, andwas a successful farmer. He is one of Franklin’s highly respectedcitizens.

"Riley Sparks and his two wives are buried in the Sparks Cemeterybetween Duncan and Tollison’s Creeks. A host of descendants live inFranklin County, many who are quite prominent.

SQ 965: "Riley Sparks, son of William and Eunice (Woodruff) Sparks, wasborn in Spartanburg County, SC, on October 22, 1811, and died nearFrankfort, Alabama, on December 29, 1892. He was married (first) toNancy Benson on December 20, 1832. She was born in White County,Tennessee, on January 15 1815, and was a daughter of John and Rhoda(Tollerson) Benson. (John Benson was born in Bledsoe County, Tenn., andwas a son of Thomas Benson.) Nancy (Benson) Sparks died on January 12,1857, and Riley Sparks married (2nd) Nancy Malone, who was born in 1862
and died in 1944. [These dates are incorrect. See note below.] Therewere no children by the second marriage.
"By his first wife, Nancy (Benson) Sparks, Riley Sparks had thefollowing
children:
(a) William Benson Sparks
(b) Mary Jane Sparks
(c) Daniel Ramy Sparks
(d) John Adams Sparks
(e) James Madison Sparks
(f) Martha Ann Sparks
(g) Christopher Columbus Sparks
(h) Riley Franklin Sparks
(i) Benjamin T. Sparks
(j) Lemuel Nelson Sparks
(k) Nancy Virginia Sparks

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See SQ p. 1761 correcting birth date of Nancy Malone.

CORRECTION--NANCY (MALONE) SPARKS, SECOND WIFE OF RILEY SPARKS(1811-1892) OF FRANKLIN COUNTY, ALABAMA

Mrs. Dorothy Turner of Marietta, Georgia, has called our attention to anerror regarding the birth and death dates of Nancy (Malone) Sparks,second wife of Riley Sparks of Franklin County, Alabama. On page 965 ofthe QUARTERLY (March, 1966, Vol. XIV, No. 1, Whole No. 53) it is statedthat Riley Sparks's second wife, Nancy (Malone) Sparks was born in 1862and died in 1944. These dates are incorrect and were confused with thebirth and death dates of Nancy Elizabeth (Vinson) Sparks, wife of LemuelNelson Sparks. The latter was a son of Riley Sparks and Riley's firstwife, who was also named Nancy (Benson) Sparks. (This same errorregarding Nancy (Malone) Sparks's dates was made on page 910 of the June1965 QUARTERLY (Vol. XIII, No. 2, Whole No. 50).

Riley Sparks's first wife, Nancy (Benson) Sparks, was born on January 15,1815, and died on January 12, 1857. Riley Sparks married as his secondwife, Miss Nancy Malone. We have not found the date of this secondmarriage, but it occurred before the 1860 census of Franklin County,Alabama, was taken - - the family of Riley Sparks was visited by thecensus taker on June 14, 1860. His second wife, Nancy (Malone) Sparks,was listed as 29 years old, thus born about 1831. When the 1870 censuswas taken, her age was given as 36, which, if correct, would indicate shewas born about 1834. From these two census records, we may assume thatshe was born in the early 1830s. [Scanner's Note: The above error hasbeen corrected in both places.]

A descendant of this branch of the family, R. L. James, stated many yearsago that Nancy Malone was a daughter of James and Polly (Cook) Malone.Prior to her marriage to Riley Sparks (as his second wife), she had had ason (the father was a Malone also, and was a first cousin to Nancy). Thischild, who became known as Benjamin T. Sparks, is buried in the SparksCemetery several miles west of Russellville, Ala.; according to histombstone, he was born August 20, 1849, and died May 10, 1909. He did notmarry. Riley Sparks had no children by his second wife. In hisDistingushed Men, Women & Families of Franklin County, Alabama, R. L.James stated in 1927 that both wives are buried in the Sparks Cemeterybetween Duncan and Tollison's Creeks.

SQ pg 3901: Children by her first marriage were: James, Mahala ,Elizabeth, Henry, Laura, John, Larkin, Allen, Polly, and Robert Jackson.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June, 1998, Whole No. 182, pps 5005-5010:
OBITUARY OF THE REV. ROBERT SPARKS (ca. 1756-1831)

A member of the Association, Peter G. Thyrre, of 3 Chester Street,Ardsley, New York, 10502, has found, and has shared with us, a publishedobituary of his wife's ancestor, the Rev. Robert Sparks, an earlyMethodist clergyman of Maryland. Mr. Thyree reports that a xerox copy ofthis obituary was provided to him by the Methodist Historical Society inthe Lovely Lane Museum of Baltimore, Maryland. This obituary had beenpublished in the METHODIST PROTESTANT of September 9, 1831. Its authorwas Circuit Court Judge Philemon B. Hopper who, according to FrederickEmory in his QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY, ITS EARLY HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT(Baltimore Maryland Historical Society, 1950, p. 238) "was always adevout and zealous member of the denomination, and (had been) largelyinstrumental in building up the (Methodist Protestant) church inCentreville." The text of Robert Sparks's obituary follows, with notesregarding him and his ancestry:

For the Methodist Protestant
Rev. Robert Sparks
Dear Sir, --Upon my return from Bedford, and before I had landedfrom the boat at Centreville, I received the melancholy tidings that ourvenerable and highly esteemed brother, the Rev. Robert Sparks, had diedvery suddenly a few days since.
For more than half a century, this aged disciple of our Saviour hasmaintained an irreproachble character as a gentleman and christian; forupwards of forty years of this time, he has been a laborious and faithfulminister of the gospel. He was never considered an eloquent or a popularpreacher; but his gentlemanly deportment insured him the respect of theirreligious, and his zeal and industry, always commended the affectionsof his brethren.
He travelled extensively as an itinerant minister; and it is possible,that no Methodist preacher was more successful in exciting and carryingon revivals; and I have no doubt, but hundreds in the day of eternitywill claim him as their spiritual father.
For several years preceding his decese, he was quite feeble, andappeared to be gradually sinking into the grave from old age, and wasscarcely ever able to preach. A few weeks before his death, he exhorteda little while, and told the congregation, that he was satisfied that hehad but a few days to live, and that he was looking for death every day,but he felt happy in God, and resigned to his will. He has beenfrequently heard to say the same thing in class meeting; and whilst thusexpressing himself, he has rejoiced exceedingly, and exhorted hisbrethren to be holy in life that they might be triumphant in death. Atthe secession in Centreville, he was the first to give his name as amember of the new church, and told all present, that for thirty yearspast, he had been a reformer.
On the day of his death he walked into his corn field and gatheredsome green corn for dinner. He ate a hearty dinner. Soon after which,he complained of a palpitation of heart, laid down on his bed and expiredin a few minutes without a sigh or groan. Thus ended the earthlypilgrimage of the Rev. Robert Sparks, (I think) in the seventy-fifty yearof his age. And although he never spoke after he became ill, his friendsrest assured f rom his devoted life and frequent expressions of hisreadiness to meet death, that he now rests in peace.
There was one remarkable trait in the character of this pious man. Hehas often remarked that he did not feel himself at liberty to speak ofthe faults of others; and if any man ever adhered to this good rule, Ithink he was that man. I have always been greatly attached to him, as myfirst recollection of Methodism is identified with him. When I was quitea child, he preached often at my father's house, and as well as Irecollect, my first awakenings were under his ministry.
When ill last winter, he expressed a wish, that when he died, I souldpreach his funeral sermon which, if health permit, I expect to do on nextSabbath in our new church in Centreville. It has pleased providence toremove from this world of suffering three more members of our church. Twoof whom died most triumphantly, and the other was taken ill and died in afew hours, and from the first attack becmae comatose and never spokeintelligibly, but from his uniform deportment, and his repeatedassurances in class meetings, I can have no doubt of his safety.
Very respectfully,

your obedient servant

Clinton Hall, August 29, 1831. P. B. HOPPER

...As was noted on page 1699 of the QUARTERLY of December, 1974,there can be no doubt that the parents of Elijah and Robert Sparks wereAbsalom and Elizabeth (Brown) Sparks of Queen Annes County, Maryland.(The town of Centreville mentioned in the above obituary, is located inQueen Annes County.) Absalom Sparks (whose name was sometimes spelledAbsalem or Absolem) had been born, we believe, between 1720 and 1725. Hewas a son of John and Cornelia (Curtis) Sparks and was a grandson ofWilliam Sparks, an immigrant to Maryland from Hampshire County, england,in or about 1663.

Absalom Sparks had been married to Elizabeth Brown on November 17,1748, as recorded in the church register of St. Luke's Parish in QueenAnnes County. Elizabeth Brown was a daughter of Edward Brown who died in1763. In his will, Edward Brown mentioned his daughter Elizabeth, wifeof Absalom Sparks.

In 1748, the same year that he was married, Absalom Sparks purchsedfrom his brothers, Caleb and Millington Sparks, their shares of twotracts of land that they had inherited from their father, John Sparks.Absalom sold this same land, however, the following year. He wasinvolved in other land transactions later, as described on page 1702 ofthe December 1974 QUARTERLY. Sometime in the late 1760s, Elizabeth(Brown) Sparks died. By April 1769, Absalom had been married (second) toRuth Sparks, widow of Arthur Sparks.

Arthur Sparks, who had been born on February 17, 1743, was a son ofJoseph and Elizabeth (Kelly) Sparks; he was a grandson of George and MarySparks and a great-grandson of the immigrant, William Sparks, who haddied in 1709. thus, Absalom Sparks and Arthur Sparks were first cousins,once removed. (See the article by Paul E. Sparks entitled "George Sparks(Born ca. 1678), son of William Sparks who died in 1709, Queen AnnesCounty, Maryland," in the QUARTERLY of December, 1992, Whole No. 160, pp.4035-4044.) As noted on pp. 4042-43, Arthur Sparks died early in 1764and his widow, ruth Sparks, whose maiden name we have not discovered,became the administratrix of his small estate in Queen Annes County. Whenshe made her final accounting of the estate on April 6, 1769, she was thewife of Absalom Sparks, who had become her co-administrator. Ruth andArthur Sparks had one child, a daughter named Hester who had died in 1766.

In the latter part of 1771, Absalom Sparks died without leaving awill. His second wife, Ruth Sparks, now a widow for the second time, wasappointed administratrix of Absalom's estate, and it is through theseestate papers in Queen Anne County that we are able to identify Absalom'schildren by his first wife, Elizabeth Brown. He and Ruth appear to havehad no children.

Before Absalom's estate was settled, his widow Ruth, had been marrieda third time, to William Tippins, and, as was then the law, he becameco-administrator with her of Absalom Sparks's estate. In the finalsettlement, dated August 11, 1774, Absalom's seven children wereidentified. All were shown as under age except the eldest daughter,Eliza Sparks, who had been married to Henry Thompson.

As was the custom, Absalom's second wife, now Ruth Tippins, wasentitled to one-third of Absalom's property; the remaining two-thirds wasdivided equally among the seven children. Assuming that they were namedin the order of their births in this document of August 11, 1774, andknowing that Absalom and Elizabeth (Brown) Sparks had been married onNovember 17, 1748, we can speculate regarding their dates of birth.(Also, P. B. Hooper, according to his obituary of the Rev. Robert Sparks,believed that Robert had been "in the seventy-fifth year of his age" whenhe died in August of 1831.) (Here the article names the children.)

...In 1776, however, Robert Sparks received land from his stepmotherand William Tippins, which may have been a cause of Elijah's illfeelings. In the same year (1776), Robert disposed of the same land toallen Hollingsworth. (See Queen Annes Deed Book RT-L, pp. 29 and 309.)In 1778, Robert signed an "Oath of Fidelity" required by the Colony ofMaryland, and in the records of a special tax collected that same year,he wa shown as living in the Corsica District of Queen Annes County. In1788, he was involved in a business deal and received a bill of sale fromValentine Honey.

Robert Sparks was ordained as an Elder in the Methodist Church in 1790by Bishop Francis Asbury (1745-1816), who was one of the most famousleaders in his denomination i the United States following the AmericanRevolution. Five years before his ordination, however, Robert Sparks hadbeen received in the Baltimore Conference in 1785 "on trial" to serve asan itinerant preacher. Men in this role were often called "CircuitRiders," as they carried the Methodist message to scattered hamletsacross the country. A list of the appointments of Robert Sparks from1785 through 1799 has been provided by the Methodist Historical Societyas follows, each being the name of a circuit:
1/1785 W. Jersey 1793 Trenton
5/1786 Trenton 1794 Baltimore
7/1787 Northampton 1795 Prince George
9/1788 Dorset 1796 Calvert
5/1789 Caroline 1797 Lancaster
9/1790 Kent 1798 Located (ie placed on leave)
5/1791 Talbot 1798 Kent
1792 Cecil 1799 Freehold

From a statement appearing in a volume entitled PORTRAIT ANDBIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF THE EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND, it appears thatRobert Sparks was married sometime in the 1790s. According to thisreference, a Sarah Sparks, who had been born near Centreville, in QueenAnnes County, was married about 1814 to a militia captain named RichardThomas. Sarah was then identified as a daughter of "Rev. Robert Sparks[who] owned an estate near Centreville" who had been an "early Methodistminister in the area." Assuming that Sarah Sparks was at the typical ageof marriage for young women at the that time, (sixteen to eighteen), wecan speculate that it was his marriage, and becoming a father, that ledto his being "located" by the Methodist Church in 1796. This meant whatwe might call today as taking a leave of absence from active ministry. Asshown in his list of his ministerial charges, Robert Sparks returned tohead a circuit in 1798 and in 1799.

Our next record of Robert Sparks is found in Frederick Emory's HISTORYOF QUEEN ANNES COUNTY --- ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT (Baltimore;Maryland Historical Society, 1950. Centreville Circuit was created in1802, and in 1805, Robert Sparks was assigned there, along with a juniorpreacher named William Fox. Robert continued in that post in 1806, withJohn Ruth as his assistant.

Between 1808 and 1812, Robert Sparks was a member of the Philadelphia,Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Church. He was probably theRobert Sparks listed on the census of 1810 as heading a household in theNorth Liberties District in Philadelphia County. His age was shown asover 45 years, while the adult female living with him, who was doubtlesshis first wife, was between 26 and 45. We assume, also, that the threechildren enumerated in his household belong to Robert and his first wife:a boy and a girl under 10, and another boy between 10 and 16.

It appears that in 1812, Robert Sparks again "located," that is, hegave up active preaching and his membership in the PhiladelphiaConference. He returned to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, settling,apparently, in the home that he owned in Centerville. He was probablythe minister named Sparks (or Sparkes) who performed a number ofmarriages in Queen annes County between 1818 and 1828.

It seems quite likely that the wife of Robert Sparks (whose name wehave not learned), died at about the time he returned to Queen AnnesCounty; perhaps it was her death that prompted his return.

In 1812, there was a land transaction in Queen Annes County (Deed BookJB-1, p. 59) in which Ann Wright, widow of James Wright, was identifiedas "now Ann Sparks." Then in 1815, another land record was createdproving that it had been to the Rev. Robert Sparks that Ann Wright hadbeen married. (See Deed Book JB-2, p.523)

Peter G. Thyrre, mentioned at the beginning of this article, haslearned that the widow, Ann Wright, to whom Robert Sparks was married inor before 1812, had been Ann Wrench Hackett before her marriage to JamesWright. She was a daughter of William Hackett of Queen Annes County,Maryland, and his wife Alice Clayton Wrench. William Hackett was a sonof John and Mary (Bateman) Hackett. Alice Clayton Wrench was a daughterof Henry Wrench and his wife, Mary Ann Wright, the daughter of NathanielWright who had immigrated to Maryland in 1763.

The Sparks and the Hackett families had had a long neighborlyassociation in Queen Annes County. Robert Sparks's great-grandfather,the immigrant from Hampshire County, England, named William Sparks, hadpurchased land from Michael and Mary Hackett in 1681. When WilliamSparks died in 1709, a John Hackett, with John Hawkins, Jr., wereappointed by the probate court to prepare the inventory of William'spersonal property.

Based on family records, Mr. Thyrre reports that Ann Wright, wife ofRobert Sparks, had two children by her first husband, James Wright; theywere James Wright, Jr., and Nathan Wright.

From the wording of the obituary for the Rev. Robert Sparks, we knowtht he was one of the 'reformers" within the Methodist Episcopal Churchwho came to believe that the denomination's form of vogernance, with itsexecutive power vested in a group of bishops, was inappropriate for achurch within a democratically governed nation. The system smacked, theyclaimed, of the "divine right hierarchy," with kings and nobility, overwhich the American Revolution had been fought. At a Conference held inBaltimore in November 1830, 114 delegates voted to separate from the restof the denomination and to form the Methodist Protestant Church, in whichlaymen could vote with the clergy on any question at any meeting, and, inwhich, there would be no bishops.

The Rev. Robert Sparks, as stated by Judge Hopper in his obituary, was"the first to give his name as a member of the new church" in Centreville.

A further division within Methodism in the U.S. came in 1844 over theslavery question, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South came intoexistence as a result. It was not until 1939 that these three branchesof U.S. Methodism reunited as The Methodist Church.

The Rev. Robert and Ann Sparks are known to have a daughter namedAlice Ann B. Sparks, born about 1820. Whether there were other childrenis not known. Alice Ann was married to James Fisher of Queen AnnesCounty, a planter, and they became the parents of at least two daughters,Sarah Fisher and Ann Fisher. Sarah and Ann were married to brothersnamed Johnson: Sarah to Thomas Jefferson Johnson and Ann to HarrisonClay Johnson. They were sons of Andrew and Ann (Walls) Johnson. AndrewJohnson was sheriff of Queen Anns County in the early 1840s.

We have not found Robert Sparks as head of a household on the 1820census, and while we might expect to find him on the 1830 census of QueenAnnes County, that particular census has been lost. We can conjecturethat one of the two women named Ann Sparks appearing as heads of familiesin Centreville in Queen Annes County on the 1840 census could have beenthe widow of Robert Sparks, the enumeration by age category of themembers of their households fails, however, to point to either one asRobert's widow. (See page 2834 of the QUARTERLY for March, 1986, WholeNo. 133, for a transcription of Sparks households on this census.)

THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, p 101: "Robert Sparks, probably son of John andSarah (Shores ) Sparks, was born about 1786 in Surry County, NorthCarolina; married Margaret Pigg. This couple did not remain in WilkesCounty, North Carolina, but it is not known where they settled. Thechildren lived in Kentucky. Children: (not all of these have been provento be children of Robert & Margaret) (a) Wesley Sparks, born about 18O5;married 1835, Nancy Kozee; (b) Nancy Sparks, born about 181O; married1829, Martin Ison; (c) William Sparks, born about 1812; married about1834, Mary Lyon; (d) ?Joel Sparks, born ---; married Mary Grow; (e) IsaacSparks; (f) Reuben Sparks; (g) Solomon Sparks."

****************************************

SQ p. 2272: 2. Robert Sparks, probably born about 1782, died probablyabout 1815; married Margaret Pigg about 1804.

**************************************

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 1997, Whole No. 179, pp 4850-4878:

ROBERT SPARKS (ca.1780-ca.1815) SON OF JOHN AND SARAH (SHORES) SPARKS ANDHIS DESCENDANTS OF LAWRENCE COUNTY, KENTUCKY by Paul E. Sparks.
[Editor's note: Between 1820 and 1830, five men named SPARKS andtheir families settled in Lawrence County, Kentucky. Two of these men,James Sparks (189) {the third great-grandfather of James J. Sparks} andThomas Sparks, were brothers, being sons of William (199) and Ann Sparks{and third cousins of Robert Sparks}. Two other men, Levi Sparks andGeorge Sparks, were also brothers, being sons of John and Sarah (Shores)Sparks. The fifth man named Sparks to settle in Lawrence County was JohnWesley Sparks (usually called Wes); he was a nephew of Levi and GeorgeSparks, he being a son of their brother, Robert Sparks. Articles aboutfour of these men have been published in the QUARTERLY as follows: ThomasSparks, December 1991, Whole No. 156 and March 1992, Whole No. 157; JamesSparks, March 1994, Whole No. 165; Levi Sparks, June 1996, Whole No. 174;and George Sparks, December 1996, Whole No. 176.

[The article that follows deals with the children of Robert Sparks,brother of Levi Sparks and George Sparks. Although Robert Sparksapparently did not come to Lawrence County, four of his children wereamong its early settlers. We are inclined to believe that these fourwere all of Robert's children. Our information has come to us from therecords of the late Ira Paulus Ison, and we again express ourindebtedness to Mr. Ison for his help. He died in 1986.

[The Sparkses who came to Lawrence County settled there shortly after itsformation in 1821. At that time, the county embraced a large territory,and, as its population grew, other counties were formed from portions ofit. Carter County was formed in 1838; Johnson County was formed in 1843;and Boyd County was formed in 1860. After the Civil War, Elliott Countywas formed in 1869, and Martin County was formed in 1870. In the articlethat follows, references to these six counties will not usually befollowed by "Kentucky," it being understood that we will refer only tothe counties with these names that are located in Kentucky.]

"Robert Sparks, son of John and Sarah (Shores) Sparks, was born inWilkes County, North Carolina, about 1780. Only one official recordbearing his name has been found. This is in a survey made of a landgrant to John Sparks, Senior in 1804 in Wilkes County, North Carolina,located on the East Fork of Roaring River. In this, Robert Sparks wasnamed as a chain-bearer in this survey. The rest of the scantyinformation that we have about him has come to us from relatives inWilkes County, North Carolina, or in Lawrence County.

"Robert Sparks was married to Margaret Pigg about 1804, and they werethe parents of four children. She may have been a daughter of WilliamPigg who paid taxes in 1814 on property near that of John Sparks, Sr. Inneighboring Surry County, North Carolina, a Nathan Pigg served asbondsman for the marrriage of Waitman Summers and Winney Durham on March8, 1811.

"We have found no record of the death of Robert Sparks nor that of hisspouse, Margaret (Pigg) Sparks. He was not enumerated on the 1810 or1820 censuses of North Carolina; he may have died prior to 1820. Hiswidow was apparently living with her son, Wesley Sparks, when the 1830census was taken of Lawrence County, Kentucky; she was probably thefemale, aged 50-60 years, then living in his household.

"We believe that the children of Robert and Margaret (Pigg) Sparkswere: John Wesley Sparks, Nancy Sparks, William Sparks, and ReubenSparks."

*****************************

See SQ p. 2572:

"Robert Sparks, son of Nathan Sparks, Jr., was probably born about1795. According to relatives, he married and had two children, AmosSparks and Louisa Sparks. He was a farmer in Queen Annes County and waskilled by being thrown from a horse. After his death, his widow marriedShadrach Potts. Louisa Sparks, daughter of Robert, is said to havemarried a man named Brian (or Bryan)."

For marriage information see SQ p. 4186.

See the 1850 Census for Queen Annes County, Maryland, SQ p. 2844 WholeNo. 133.

207-207 Sparks, Robert 28 (W) (M) Laborer . Maryland
. " Emeline 28 (W) (F) . . "
. " Georganna 4 (W) (F) . . "
. " Daniel 2 (W) (M) . . "

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY for December, 1995, Whole No. 172, p. 4582:
We now believe that the Robert Sparks who was married to Emiline Bevanswas a son of Robert and Ann Wrench (Hackett) Wright Sparks , who weremarried ca.1815. She was a widow of James Wright and a daughter ofWilliam and Alice Clayton (Wrench) Hackett.

See SQ p. 4582:

"Robert Sparks was born about 1820-1825. He was incorrectlyidentified on page 2568 as the Robert Sparks who was married to EmilineBevans in Queen Annes County, Maryland, on August 16, 1844. We nowbelieve that the Robert Sparks who was married to Emiline was a son ofRobert and Ann Wrench (Hackett) Wright Sparks, who were married about1815. She was a widow of James Wright and a daughter of William AndAlice Clayton (Wrench) Hackett. (See page 2586 of the December 1983issue of the QUARTERLY, Whole No. 124.)

SQ 101: "Robert Sparks, born about 1824; married Susan A. ---"

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, September, 1970, Whole No. 71, pgs 1346-49 forthe following article:

A TRAGIC LETTER WRITTEN BY ROBERTSPARKS (ca.1824-1864)

THREE DAYS BEFOREHIS DEATH

For a number of years we have had on file in the Association a copy of aSparks letter which has great historical interest, but which we havehesitated to publish thinking that some of our members might consider ittoo personal and too tragic to include in the QUARTERLY. The letter waswritten by Robert Sparks of Wilkes County, North Carolina, on April 25,1864, three days before he was shot for having deserted the ConfederateArmy. A copy was furnished us by Mrs. Annie Sparks Wilson of Traphill,North Carolina, in 1951. We understand that this letter was publishedmany years ago in a North Carolina
newspaper. We do not know who owns the original letter, but we believethat we have a true copy. Your editor has decided to publish this letterin the belief that our readers will recognize its historical value. Hebelieves also that they will understand the desperate circumstances whichled to Robert Sparks’s decision to desert the Army in order to providefor his suffering family back home.

Robert Sparks was born in 1824 or 1825 in Wilkes County, North Carolina,the son of Joel and Nancy (Blackburn) Sparks and a grandson of theRevolutionary War soldier, John Sparks (1753-1840), a record of whoselife and descendants appeared in the QUARTERLY for December 1955 (Vol.III, No. 4, Whole No. 12, pp. 94-104). Joel and Nancy (Blackburn) Sparkswere married in Wilkes County in 1814 and had the following children: (1)Richmond Sparks, born about 1815; (2) a daughter, name not known, bornabout 1816; (3) Melinda Sparks, born about 1818; (4) Nancy Sparks, bornabout 1820; (5) Robert Sparks, born in 1824 or 1825; (6) Joel Sparks,Jr., born about 1826; (7) Mittie Sparks, born about 1828; and (8) HughSparks, born about 1833.

Robert Sparks was married to Susannah A. in Wilkes County, NorthCarolina, in 1815. Unfortunately, the writing on the marriage bond isimpossible to read today and neither Susannah ‘s maiden name nor themonth and day of the marriage can be determined. It will be noted thatthe letter informing her of Robert’s death was addressed to Susan A.Sparks. Her name on the 1860 census also appeared as Susan, but the 1870census gives it as Susannah. She was born about 1830.

Robert Sparks lived in Trap Hill Township, Wilkes County, North Carolina.When the 1860 census was taken he was listed as a farmer. His land wasvalued at $300 and his personal property was valued at $150. Like nearlyall of his fellow farmers in Wilkes County, he owned no slaves.

From census records, it appears that Robert and Susannah A. Sparks werethe parents of the following children:
(1) Martha Sparks, born about 1848.
(2) Sarah Sparks, born about 1851.
(3) Huldah Sparks, born about 1854.
(4) Bynum Sparks, born about 1856.
(5) Thomas Sparks, born about 1861.

In his letter, it will be noted, Robert Sparks referred to "my littlebabies” who had died."

According to the Confederate service record for Robert Sparks filed inthe National Archives, he was enlisted as a private at Camp Holmes onApril 28, 1863, by Col. Mallett. He was listed as a conscript, not avolunteer. His age was given as 38. He was assigned to Company H, 14thNorth Carolina Infantry.

It is not possible, of course, over a century after the event, to guessthe full story behind Robert Sparks’s tragedy. We know that he was aplain farmer whose worldly possessions were few. He had five smallchildren when he was drafted at an age which, in most wars, would haveexcused him from military service. We also know that the desertion ratewas high in both the Confederate and the Union Army in 1864. Note thathis letter mentions living on half-rations. Furthermore, thesedesertions were often not thought of as serious crimes, for more oftenthan not the soldier merely wished to return to his family for a
few weeks to look after the crops and care for his children, with thefull expectation of returning to his regiment after these tasks had beenaccomplished. Note that in his letter, Robert Sparks stated that he hadbeen sentenced to death not because of the crime, but as an example tofrighten other soldiers from running away.

Robert Sparks left his regiment on March 18, 1864, near Fredericksburg.As a farmer, he knew that if his crops were not planted that spring, hiswife and children would suffer great hardship. A week later, however, hewas captured and returned to his unit and placed in the Divisional GuardHouse to await sentence. He was executed, apparently along with anothersoldier, on April 28, 1864.

Susannah, or Susan, Sparks, widow of Robert, was still living when the1870 census of Wilkes County was taken. Her age was given as 40 andliving with her were her two sons, Bynum Sparks aged 12, and ThomasSparks, aged 9. This is our last record of any member of this family.

Following is Robert Sparks’s letter:

Letter of Robert Sparks Written on April 25, 1864:
(See republished document below)

- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 2002, Whole No. 200, pp 5747-53:

THE SAD LETTERS OF ROBERT SPARKS (ca.1824-1864) WRITTEN SHORTLYBEFORE HIS DEATH

By Russell E. Bidlack

In the QUARTERLY of September 1970, Whole No. 70, we published the textof a letter written by a Confederate soldier to his wife on April 25,1864. The soldier was Robert Sparks, born about 1824 in Wilkes County,North Carolina. He had been married there in 1845 to Susannah A. Durham,whose nickname was Susan. Although the original bond for their marriagehas been so damaged that Susannah' s name, as well as its exact date, areillegible, the will of her father, John Durham, probated in 1863 inWilkes County, identifies her as his daughter: "Susan wife of RobertSparks."

Robert Sparks' letter is the most tragic document this editor has yetfound among Sparks family papers that he has researched -- Robert'smessage to his wife was that he had been court-martialed for attemptingto "come home," and that he would be shot for desertion three days later,on April 28, 1864. We have not been able to locate the original ofRobert’s letter, but we published in 1970 a copy that had been made by afamily member many years earlier. Recently, another copy of this sameletter has come to our attention through a descendent of Robert and SusanSparks, and we have also obtained a copy of a letter that Robert hadwritten to his brother the day prior to his execution, dated April 27,1864.

Here we present the second copy (with slight variations from the copy wepublished in 1970) of Robert's letter to his wife, along with the newlydiscovered letter that he wrote to his brother. Both were copied by LauraF. (Wheeler) Smith on March 17, 1947, Mrs. Smith being agreat-granddaughter of Robert and Susan Sparks. Mrs. Smith is no longerliving; her daughter, Edna Hartong, has reproduced her mother's copiesfor us. Mrs. Smith had written the following introductory note: “Theseletters were published in the Tazewell (Virginia) Republican dated Nov.7, 1893. the incident of horrows [sic] of our late Civil War. RobertSparks [was] and uncle of Hugh Sparks of Baptist Valley, a cousin of T.J. Sparks of Cedar Bluff.” It appears that Mrs. Smith copied theseletters from the weekly newspaper that she cited. Richmond Sparks,brother of Robert, had moved from Wilkes County, North Carolina, toTazewell County, Virginia, after the Civil War ended, which probablyaccounts for their publication in the Tazewell Republican. Not includedin Mrs. Smith’s copy was the postscript that fellow-soldier, GideonSpicer, added to Robert’s letter to his wife that was part of the versionof the letter we published in 1970. We have added it here.

Since we published Robert Sparks’s letter to his wife in the QUARTERLY ofSeptember 1970, we have learned considerably more about his family andhis military experience. This information begins on page 5754. We havemade no corrections in spelling in the transcription of the followingletters, but we have added a few marks of punctuation for clarity.

Letter of Robert Sparks Written on April 25, 1864.

Dear and beloved wife, this will inform you that I am well of healththough I am in great distress of mind ever praying that God’s blessingmay be with you as long as you live. I will relate to you the tale of mywoe.

I left my regiment on the 18th of March and started home and travelednearly a week and was taken up and court martlaled and brought back andsentenced to be shot to death with musketry. The sentence will beexecuted on Thursday the 28th of this month between the hours of 12 and 2oclock. With out some reprive and I don’t have much hope of that for theyhave just now set in shooting men for running away. So I havent muchhope, but my
dear wife I don’t want you to grive about me for I hope I shall be betteroff if they do shoot me for my life is but little satisfaction to me anyhow and I hope I shall go up younder where there is no more parting orshooting men, where I shall praise my God for redemption for ever andever.

Oh my dear darling, the last letter that came to my regiment I did notget. The officers said they burnt it, and have not wrote you since I wastaken up. I thought I would wait until I heard my sentince, and an awfelsentince it is too. I am to be shot for an example to scare others andnot for crime.

Thanks to God that I have not done any crime worthy of death. My dear,don’t grieve for me for that is all they can do, and I shall die quickand easy and not be punished to death as many solders that are shot onthe battlefield. So my dear, don’t grieve for me for sometimes I think itwill only be a blessing to me to take me out of this troublesome world,but oh dear the ties of nature are so binding that it makes my heart allmost sink within
me to think that I shall have to die and never see you anymore but when Ithink how good God is and how happy I hope to be and what a troubisomeworld I am going to leave, I do not dread it as much as you might think.

Oh my dear, I am here in prison amoung strangers and no one to tell mytroubles to and none to help me in the lonsome valley of the shadow ofdeath. When Jesus is my friends he can help me and I hope he will be withme through the lonesome valley of death and take me home to live with himfor ever. And my dear, I do hope that God will bless you and my poorlittle orphan children. May he give you grace to live for him who diedfor sinners,
that you all may meet me up yonder where my little babies is gone topraise God for redemption, for no more shooting men for examples, notwhere we will not have to live on half rations.

Oh my dear how sweet will Heaven be to me if I can only get there aftersuffering so much here. But one moment in Heaven will make up for all. SoI don't want you to grieve about me, but pray for your self and littlechildren that we all may meet in Heaven at last. But Oh my dearest myheart, it allmost sinks within me to think of leaving you all to themercies of a merciless world, but God is able to bless you, he is able toprovide for you and keep you from all harm.

So I will leave you in God’s care, may he bless and keep you as long asyou live.

I want you to send and get my body. I want it put at the corner of thesweet potato patch about where the old stable stood. Tell brotherRichmond to come and get it if he please. Tell him that I want him toattend to my accounts for you. I would write to him but havent thechance. My dear wife, this is the last letter I expect to ever write toyou, so farewell. My little children, farewell. My aged mother farewell,neighbors and friends farewell. To this world and all its pleasures, Tellmy aged mother I have not forgot her and that I hope to meet her inHeaven. If you come after my body come to General Rhodes Provost Guard,they will show you where it is.

Oh my darling, may God bless you, may he give you strength to bear upunder your trials, may he keep you from all harm. Farewell, Farewell.

[signed] Robert Sparks

April 28th 1864

A few lines to Susan A. Sparks [from Gideon Spicer]

I can inform you that I witnesseth the death of your dear husbandthis day, and I never hated anything so bad as I did that, though it wasnothing to me. I will inform you that he told me this morning to write toyou. I went in at breakfast, and he requested I shave them, and help themput on their clothes. I asked them if they thought they had made theirpeace with God, and he said he thought he has. He said he felt bettersatisfied than he had since he was in the dungeon. He said he would notmind dying if he could see his poor wife and sweet children one moretime. He told me to write to you and for you to stay on the place andthat you live on as long as you can, and to do the best you can, andprepare to meet him in Heaven, for he thought this day he would would bein Paradise, and requested Richmond to come take his body home.

This from Gideon Spicer

to Susan Sparks.

Letter of Robert Sparks to His Brother RichmondSparks

To Mr. Richmond Sparks, April 27, 1864

Dear Brother

This note will inform you that I am well in health though I am in greatdistress of mind, for I was persuaded to leave [the] regiment and comehome. I traveled about two weeks and (was] sent back and court martialedand sentenced to be shot, the sentence is to be executed tomorrow betweenthe hours of 12 and 2 oclock. Oh my dear brother, ties of nature isbinding when I think of the golden hours we have spent togather. The manypleasures in this life is over, but I hope to meet you up yonder whereparting is no more, where our pleasures will last for ever and ever.

J. F. Owens, Rev. John Owens' son, and Wm. W. Wyatt is to be executedwith me. Dear brother, I want you to attend to my things and wind up allmy accounts. I want Susan to stay where she is as long as she can keepthe children toghather. Tell the children I said for them to mind theremother. I want you to come after my body if you please. I want you to putit at the corner of my sweet pototo patch about where the stable stood.There is some money coming to me at my regiment. I want you to see to itand get it to Susan. I have sold some of my things and got 15 dollarsthat I will send to her in this letter. I will leave some little thingsin the hands of Gideon Spicer, he says he will try to sell them for meand send her the money. When they come after the bodies of the other tomen, you can come togather. Come to General Rhodes Provost Guard. Istarted a letter to Susan yesturday. So my dear, Farewell. I hope we meetagain.

[signed] Robert Sparks

--------------------

Robert’s letter to his wife first came to the attention of the late PaulE. Sparks in 1951. (Paul was one of the founders of our Association andserved as its president until his death In 1999.) Earlier in his researchon his own Sparks line, Paul had corresponded with a distant cousin,Annie Sparks Wilson of Traphill, Wilkes County, North Carolina. OnNovember 17, 1951, Mrs. Wilson sent Paul a typewritten copy of RobertSparks' letter to his wife, Susan, with the following note to Paul fromMrs. Wilson: "Another headache for you and I. I found this copy ofletter in Father's belongings today--the saddest letter I ever read, andI do not know anything of the parties." Actually, Mrs. Wilson was a firstcousin, once removed, of Robert Sparks. We can imagine that Robert'srelatives did not talk about his desertion and execution to youngerfamily members.

As we noted on page 4757, the existence of a second copy of Robert'sletter came to the attention, of this writer In 1998, when an Associationmember sent us a clipping from a weekly column by Sam Venable appearingin the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Through Mr. Venable, we were able toidentify Laura Smith who had copied not only Robert Sparks's letter toSusan, but, also, his letter to his brother, Richmond Sparks, from theNovember 7, 1893, issue of the Tazewell [Virginia] Republican. Acomparison of the copy of Robert's letter to his wife that we publishedin the QUARTERLY in 1970 with that of Mrs. Smith reveals a few minordifferences in spelling.

The fact that Robert Sparks's letters were published in the TazewellRepublican in 1893 can probably be explained b y the fact that RichmondSparks had moved from Wilkes County, North Carolina, to Tazewell County,Virginia, shortly after the Civil War ended. In fact, both letters mayhave been written on the same sheet of paper. Gideon Spicer's postscripton Robert's letter to Susan means that it was not mailed until afterRobert's death. In transcribing these letters here, we have retained thespelling, but added punctuation for clarity.

Our discovery of Robert Sparks's letter to his brother, Richmond Sparks,has helped to clarify some of Robert's statements to Susan. There he hadmade no mention of any other men having accompanied him when he had"left" the regiment on the 18th of March. He also told her that he wasnow, on April 25th, "in prison amoung [sic] strangers." Gideon Spicer,however, in his addendum to the letter to Susan after the execution,referred to his having shaved "them" that morning and had helped them puton their clothes."

In Robert's letter to his brother, written on April 27, 1864, he statedthat he had been "pursuaded to leave the regiment and come home," and healso named two comrades who were to be "executed with me." They were J.F. Owens and Wm. W. Wyatt. Whether Owens and Wyatt had been captured atthe same time as Robert, we cannot be sure; they may have traveledseparately, although they were all from Wilkes County, North Carolina.

Robert Sparks had been conscripted into the Confederate Army and had beenenrolled on April 28, 1863, in Company E of the Fourth North CarolinaInfantry. More correctly known as the Fourth Regiment, State Troops,North Carolina Infantry, it was one of ten regiments that had beenauthorized by the North Carolina Legislature at the end of April 1861.

In an article entitled "Wilkes County and the American Civil War," bylocal historian Chris J. Hartley in Vol. II of the Heritage of WilkesCounty, it is noted that Governor Zebulon Baird Vance made a speech inthe village of Wilkesboro in February 1864, urging citizens to continueto support the Confederate cause. Hartley added that Wilkes County wasknown for its Unionist sentiment. "The people of Wilkes were bitterlydivided; brothers, families, and neighbors were pitted against oneanother."

A reason that Wilkes County was so divided in the Civil War was that veryfew of the families there owned slaves. According to the 1860 census ofthe county, there were 23 Sparks households with a total of 138individuals (men, women, and children named Sparks, along with six othersliving in other households). All of the adult males were farmers livingon small farms, few of which produced money-making crops, and there waslittle manufacturing in all of Wilkes County.

In April 1862, the Confederate government had passed its ConscriptionAct, constituting the first draft in American military history. Nine mennamed Sparks in Wilkes County are known to have served in the ConfederateArmy, according to Appendix F of Judge Hayes's Land of Wilkes taken fromMoore's Roster of Confederate Troops in the War Beween the States. Ofthese nine, five served in Company E of the Fourth Infantry, all havingbeen enrolled in 1863: Abner Paschal in February; J. F. Owens on April26; and J. H. Owens, Robert Sparks, and William W. Wyatt on April 28th.
[The preceding is printed as written. The information may beincomplete.]

The fourth Regiment was a part of Stephen Ramseur's Brigade in D. H.Hill's Division, Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, at the time ofRobert's Sparks's enrollment. The Chancellorsville Campaign was then inprogress. Robert probably participated in the Confederate victory atChancellorsville on May 4, 1863, and in its defeat at Gettysburg twomonths later.

The other two men from Wilkes County executed with Robert Sparks on April28, 1864, J. F. Owens, whose full name was Jesse Franklin Owens, and W.W. Wyatt whose first name was William, were both privates in Company E ofthe Fourth Regiment, as was Robert Sparks. As identified by Robert inhis letter to his brother, Owens was a son of the Rev. John Owens, asketch of whose life appeared in Vol. II of The Heritage of WilkesCounty, North Carolina (pp. 383-84) published in 1990. The Rev. JohnOwens (1794-1859) was a Baptist Minister in the Roaring River Associationin Wilkes County. He had been married in Wilkes County to Mary Vannoy in1815. She was a daughter of Andrew and Susannah Shephard Vannoy. Theirhousehold was enumerated on the 1850 census of Wilkes County, where theirson Jesse was shown at 15 years old. Jesse was married about 1857 toElizabeth Long.

Rev. John Owens died In 1859. On the 1860 census, Mary Owens, age 64,widow of John, was shown as living with her sons: James, 20, and Daniel,18. Jesse Franklin Owens, called by his middle name on this census, wasliving very near his mother. Both he and his wife were 25 years of age;they had a son named James, age 2, and a daughter, Martha, age 7 months.All were living Reddies River Township.

Also living in Reddies River Township in 1860, within a short distance ofthe Owens family, was W. W. Wyatt, age 33, with wife Lucinda, age 37.Their five children in 1860 were: Mary Ann, 13; Finley, 10; Nancy, 7;John 4; and Susan, 2. There can be little doubt that he was the WilliamW. Wyatt who had been enrolled in Company E of the Fourth Regiment onApril 28, 1863, on the same day as was Robert Sparks.

It was in Robert’s letter to his brother, written on the day before hisexecution, that we learn of Gideon Spicer having promised to try to sellsome of his "little things" and send the money to Susan Sparks. It wasalso Gideon Spicer who penned a paragraph to Robert’s letter to Susaninforming her that her husband’s execution had taken place.

Gideon Spicer was Identified in Moore’s Roster of Confederate Troops inthe War Between the States as being from Wilkes County; he had enlistedthere on October 1, 1862, at the age of 26, placing his birth in about1836. When the 1850 census of Wilkes County had been taken, Gideon wasenumerated in the house of his parents, William and Jane Spicer; his agewas 18. From census records, it appears that Gideon was married to MaryByrd, daughter of Braxton and Jane Byrd, prior to the taking of the 1860census. There he was shown with his wife living in the household ofMary’s parents.

Gideon Spicer was obviously stationed near Robert Sparks and his twocomrades in the days leading up to their execution. When he had beenenrolled in the Confederate Army in October 1862, however, it had been asa private in Company I of the Thirty-second North Carolina Regiment.Whether Gideon was later transferred to the Fourth Regiment, or the twounits had happened to be stationed each other in April 1864, is not knownto this writer, but Gideon was with Stephen Ramseur’s Brigade in theSpotsylvania Campaign of May 1864, during which he was taken prisoner atSpotsylvania Court House by the Army of the Potomac under the command ofGeneral Grant. We have not discovered the nature of Gideon’s ultimatefate.

When the 1860 census was taken in the United States, no county in anystate was found to contain more Sparks households than did Wilkes Countyin North Carolina, there being twenty-three, with six single Sparksesenumerated in other families. In all, there was a total of 138 men,women, and children named Sparks living in Wilkes County on the eve ofthe Civil War. All were descendants of the six Sparks brothers andcousins who had migrated from Frederick County, Maryland, to the Forks ofthe Yadkin, then Rowan County, North Carolina, in 1754 and 1764. Everyadult male named Sparks In Wilkes County in 1860 was a farmer, although59-year-old Colby Sparks was also a Baptist preacher. None of them was aslave owner.

Included among the Sparks heads of families enumerated in Wilkes Countyon the 1860
census was Robert Sparks, age 34. His wife, Susan, was 33; their fourliving children were then: Martha, 12; Sarah, 9; Huldah, 6; and Byrum, 4.

[Here appears a handwritten document beneath which is the followingcaption.]

Record of the Sale of the Land of Robert Sparks by HisWidow, Susan Sparks, April 2, 1867.

(View document in Robert's scrapbook)

Although Robert Sparks, in his letter to his wife written before hisdeath, urged her to remain living with their children on their farm, sheappears not to have done so. Although the above document is all thatremains In the Wilkes County Court records pertaining to Robert’s estate,it is apparent from this that Susan Sparks had been appointedadministrator, and that on April 2, 1867, she had sold (at least herwidow’s share) of the farm to Jacob S. Lyon for $90 .00. Jacob S. Lyonwas the husband of Robert Sparks’s
sister, Malinda Sparks, who had been married in June 1846 (marriage bonddated June 6, 1846, with James Durham as Jacob’s bondsman).

When the 1860 census was taken, Jacob S. Lyon, age 47, and Malinda, age36, were shown as living in Traphill Township of Wilkes County. Theirhousehold appeared immediately before that of Nancy Sparks, Robert’s70-year-old mother, who was living with her youngest son, Hugh Sparks.

Ten years later, when the 1870 census of Wilkes County was taken, SusanSparks (called here by her full name, “Susannah”) was still living inTraphill Township, “keeping house,” without either real or personalproperty. Her age was given as 40, and living with her in 1870 were herson Byrum (spelled “Bynum”), age 12, and her youngest son, Thomas Sparks,age 9. Thomas had been born, apparently, in 1861.

From census records noted above, it appears that Robert and Susannah(Durham)
Sparks were the parents of five children: (1) Martha Sparks, bornca.1848; (2) Sarah Sparks, born ca.1851; (3) Huldah Sparks, bornca.1854; (4) Byrum Sparks, born ca.1856; and (5) Thomas Sparks, bornca.1861.

***************

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 2002, Whole No. 200, p. 5760:

Robert Sparks, born in 1824 or 1825, was the writer of the letter to hiswife, Susan, and that to his brother, Richmond, transcribed on pages
5748-50, before his execution on April 28, 1864.

When the 1860 census of Wilkes County, North Carolina, was taken, RobertSparks and his family were enumerated In household #749 in Traphill
Township. Robert was shown as 34 years old and Susan as 33. See page 5753of this issue of the QUARTERLY for a list of their children. Thehousehold following that of Robert Sparks on the 1860 census was that ofGeorge Sparks, age 29, with wife Elizabeth, age 31. and three children.George Sparks was a first cousin of Robert, being a son of Reuben andPhoebe (Blackburn) Sparks. Joel Sparks, Robert’s father, and ReubenSparks were brothers. The household immediately before that of Robert in1860 was headed by a widow named Susanna Evans, while that preceding herwas headed by James P. Sparks.

See SQ p4853:
"Robert Sparks, son of Wes and Nancy (Kozee) Sparks, was born about1843. He was a 13-year-old boy when he was shot and killed by hiscousin, 10-yearold George Sparks, a son of William and Mary (Lyon)Sparks. (See Item C, 6, below. )

SQ p. 817: Marriage record of Robert Sparks and Frances MelviniaCarter, August 14, 1865, Johnson County, KY.

SQ p. 964:

"Robert Sparks, son of John and Sarah (Bowlen) Sparks, sered with theConfederate Army and was killed at Shiloh.

!NOTES:
SQ 3857: Robert Sparks was born in December 1865. He was marrie d toNancy J. (---) Scott about 1894. She had been born in Februar y 1858 andwas a widow with five children by a first marriage. Rober t and Nancyhad three children of their own when the 1900 census wa s taken of PikeCounty, KY. They were Robert, Sarah B., and Ivory.