The following information was received from Brenda McClain by email(mcclain5@@earthlink.net) in April, 2002.

William H. Sparks probably served in the Confederate army for Georgiaduring the War Between the States. For the source of that informationsee THE ROSTER OF CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS, 1861-1865, VOL. XIV,SHACKLEFORD-SUDDUTH, ZADOC M, edited by Janet B. Hewett, 1996, pg 352 forlistings of William H. Sparks serving in either GA or AL units (1)William H. Sparks, AL, 25th Inf. Co. H, (2) William H. Sparks, AL, 2ndBn. Hilliard's Legion Vol. Co. A, Sgt., (30) William Sparks, GA, 3rd Cav.Co. K, (4) William Sparks, GA, 9th Inf., Co. B; (5) William Sparks, GA,23 Inf Co. A. (6) William Sparks, GA, 36th (Broyles( Inf. Co. H., A.

The source for the marriage information is found in the index to theCarroll Co. GA marriage records which lists a William H. Sparks marriedto Elizabeth Houseworth on 1/1/1857 as shown in book B, page 173; anotherentry directly following has William H. Sparks married to ElizabethHunecutt on 1/1/1857 as shown in bock C1, pg 380. After viewing namesnext to the Sparks family on the Carroll County, GA census, it appearsthat her surname would be "housworth" as the Housworth family wereneighbors. The name of William's wife also appears in an original of aletter written by W. H. Sparks to his brother during the Civil War askinghim to check on his wife, LIzey. She is mentioned several times in theletter. There is another letter written to "Dear Wife". Kim Austin ofRed Oak, TX, has the original letters in her possession.

See the 1860 Carroll County, GA, census, M653, roll 113, page 374, family180. William H. Sparks family is shown to live in Carrollton, CarrollCo., GA. William H. is listed as age 35, born in Georgia, a farmer, withreal estate valued at $2,000 and a personal estate valued at $460. Alsonamed were his wife, Elizabeth, age 22, daughters Martha E., age 2, andSarah C., age 10/12.

See the 1870 Carroll County, GA, census, M593, roll 139, page 257, family122. William Sparks, age 48, male, white, farmer, real estate valued at$800; personal estate valued at $250; wife, Elizbeth, age 33, children:Martha, age 13; Sarah, age 11; Robert, age 8; William, age 9/12 mos., andLula, age 2.

See the 1880 Carroll County, GA census, Vol 4, e.d.28, sheet 9, line 40,family 76; William H. Sparkes, age 54, born GA, farmer, wife, Elizabeth,age 44, born in GA, and children Robert, age 19; Lulu, age 13; John, age10; Malissey, age 8; Carrey (female), age 5; and Corey (female), age 4.This family lived next door to a Houseworth family (note: Elizabeth'smaiden name was Housworth.)

The exact day in October for the birth and death of W. H. Sparks wasobtained via the internet from Edna Yeager Brown, a descendant of W. H.Sparks (August 1998).

See the 1900 Carroll County, GA, census, Vol 9, e.d. 8, sheet 8, line 30for a listing of William H. Sparks, residing in Carroll County, GA, bornOctober 1826 in GA. No wife is listed. Children include Cora L. Sparks,daughter born Sep 1877 in GA, age 22; son, C.D., born June 1883 in GA,age 19; son Walter L., born May 1883 in GA, age 17, and granddaughtersDora Lasseter, born Sept 1886 in GA, age 13, and Bessie Lasseter, bornAug 1890 in GA, age 9.

SQ pg 3901: William and Mary had five children: Mascom, John,Cornelius, Arlie and Luella Sparks

According to Michael Burch (admin@@partitionsofgulfport.com) William H.Sparks and Emma C. Burch may have had 12 children including:
1. Ruth Sparks m Laudice R. Storm
2. Emma (Irma) Sparks b 3/20/1901 in Monroe County, Indiana d9/22/1969 m. Walter Dillman on 8/26/1925 in Monroe County, Indiana
3. Ada
4. Edgar
5. Maude
6. Bessie
7. Roxie
8. Alfred
9. Freda
10. Eunice

SQ p 393: William Henderson Sparks, born May 18, 1860, married MaryJane Sale
daughter of Hiram and Margaret (Mitchell) Sale. He died on January 24,
1904, at Lowry City, Missouri.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 1959, Whole No. 27, pp 406-15:

For a photograph of William H. Sparks and his brother Emerson B.Sparks, a copy of which appeared on the cover of the above issue of THESPARKS QUARTERLY, see scrapbook.

"TWO LETTERS WRITTEN IN MISSOURI IN 1867 BY WILLIAM H. SPARKS

"It is believed that the following letters will be of interest to allwho enjoy reading about the experiences of America's pioneers. They werefirst brought to the editor's attention by Mrs. Una Sparks Pierce, 2851Ewald Circle, Detroit, Michigan; Mrs. Pierce had made a copy a number ofyears ago. Later it was learned that the originals are now owned byCharles Sparks of Grand Junction, Colorado, and through his sister,Elizabethe S. Ericksen, we were able to borrow them. Mrs. Ericksen, wholives at 225 N. Prospect St., Colorado Springs, Colorado, also loaned usthe original of the photograph of William H. Sparks and Emerson B. Sparkswhich appears on the cover of this issue, as well as that of'William andMelinda Ann (Sparks) Earhart which appears on page 409.

"These letters were written in February and March, 1867, on the pagesof two small day-books which were later sewed together to form abooklet. In transcribing them, capitalization and punctuation have beenmodernized, but the original spelling and content have been carefullyretained.

"The writer of these letters was William Henderson Sparks who was bornin Wells County, Indiana, on May 18, 1839. The recipient was hisbrother, Emerson Barber Sparks, who was born on March 25, 1850, inHuntington County, Indiana. They were sons of George W. and Sarah(Mossburg) Sparks (see the June, 1959, issue of The Sparks Quarterly..page 393). In the letters it will be noted that William H. Sparksreferred to his brother, Henry Sparks, and his sister, Melinda Ann, wifeof William H. Earhart. These were the only other children of George W.and Sarah (Mossburg) Sparks, although following Sarah's death in 1864,George W. Sparks married again and had another son., Ellison GeorgeSparks, born December 19, 1866. George W. Sparks died in Wells County,Indiana on September 14, 1892.

"It is apparent from the tone of his letters that William H. Sparkswas a homesick young man in 1867. Four months earlier, with his23-year-old wife, Mary Ann, and their three small children, he had setout by covered wagon from his home in Huntington, Indiana, for St. ClairCounty, Missouri. His sister, Melinda Ann, and her husband, WilliamEarhart, traveled with them, as well as his wife's parents, Hiram andMargaret (Mitchell) Sale. From references in the letters it would appearthat there were other families as well. They started on October 18,1866, and reached the Indiana-Illinois state line on October 26. Theycrossed the Mississippi River on November 7 and arrived at their new homeon November 18, a journey of 32 days in which they covered 578 miles,according to William's reckoning.

"Although when he wrote these letters, William H. Sparks was uncertainthat he would remain in Missouri, he did make his permanent home there.He died on January 24, 1904, at Lowry City, Missouri, at the age of 64.His wife., whom he had married in Wells County, Indiana, on November 15,1860, was Mary Jane Sale, daughter of Hiram and Margaret (Mitchell)Sale. (The Sale family, often spelled "Sales," had lived near theSparks family in Wilkes County, North Carolina. In 1868, Hiram Sale wentto Southeast Missouri looking for a new location and died there.) MaryJane Sale, wife of William H. Sparks, was born in Wells County, Indiana,on March 24, 1843, and died near Osceola, Missouri, on February 24,1908. William H. and Mary Jane (Sale) Sparks were the parents of thefollowing children:

(1) Harrison Lane Sparks, born March 21, 1862; died 1892; married Delphia
Cracey.
(2) Alice Ann Sparks, born Jan. 12, 1864; died Sept., 1948; marriedWilliam K.
Walker.
(3) Roselda Isabelle Sparks, born March 12, 1.866; died May 30, 1948;married
Clayton H. Replogle.
(4) Ida Elizabeth Sparks, born Dec. 18, 1867; married March 14, 1895,Frederick
William Venter.
(5) Ella May Sparks, born Sept. 20, 1869; died May 28, 1927; married Jack
Walters.
(6) Mary Etta Sparks, born Oct. 4.9 1871; married Ed. Stillwell.
(7) Laura Melvina Sparks, born Sept. 23, 1873; married Louis Gonseth.
(8) John Henry Sparks (twin), born Oct. 14, 1875; died Jan. 30, 1958;married.
Bess Duval.
(9) Hiram Sparks (twin), born Oct. 14, 1875; died in infancy.
(10) Lillian Adoma Sparks, born July 26, 1877; died in 1903.
(11) Charles Wilson Sparks, born Sept. or Oct. 13, 1879; died July 23,1955;
married Victoria Forsythe.
(12) Lula Belle Sparks, born March 1, 1881; married William Duvall.
(13) James Monroe Sparks, born March 13, 1884; died July 9, 1952; marriedJune 8, 1912, Eva Isabel Thompson.
(14) Joseph J. Sparks, born Nov. 5., 1885; died Jan., 1921.

Following are the letters published commencing on page 410 of theQUARTERLY:

State of Mo., St. Clair Co.
Febuary 20th 1867
Dear Brother:

"I seat myself this evening for to comence a small letter to you.Well, this evening finds us all well as comon, and I hope this will findyou well and harty. Well Emerson, I do not know whither I can fill thesesix sheets or not, but I will keep writing along by spells till I getthem filled with something, if it is not anything but blue marks. If Iwas a good editor I could fill this little book, but as the girl said"his name is only comon Bill, and he wishes me to wed him, but I hardlythink I will," so my name is only comon Bill, and so you will not expecta flowery speech from me. I have told you before what I think of thiscountry, so it is useless for me to spend time and paper to write mutchon that subject. I will give you a short report of the weather. Well,we have some rain and mud now. it has thawed out and is pretty muddy. Theweather is warm but damp. Well, I was over to town today to see if Icould get some letters from that part of the country, but I did not getany. I have not had a letter for about two weeks; I am almost starvedfor a letter. Why dont you write me one for spite? Well, you think thatwould be a good deal like cutting your nose off to spite your face.Emerson, I tell you the Osage River is big enough to swim in; it is about20 feet deep now--it is up big. I cross it most every week. It looksdangers to cross it now on the fary boat. They have a rope streeohed across the river and they haft to pull it a cross by there hands. Sometimes they cant hold it and they go down the river. I tell you I wouldnot care bout being on the bote now and for it to get loas. It took 4men to hold the bote today. The water is very swift and the bote is bigso it is hard to hold it from going down the river. While I was overtown my old mare broke loos and I had to walk home. That did not suit mevery well, for I had to go so far around to keep from wading. So I waspretty tired when I got home, and the old mair lost the bridle and sheepskin, and when she came home I jumped on her and went clear back to theriver and there I found them. 'When she broke the halter some body tiedher by the bridle, and she pulled the bridle off and away she went. Meand the old mair had a big time, dident we? Well, I will quit fortonight. I -wrote one letter before this tonight. So it is nine o'clockbed time, butt if you were here I would not go to bed tonight. I wouldset up all night, and go home with the girls in the morning. So I bidyou good evening brother.

"Well Emerson, this is Thursday morning and, as it is a cold morning,I will write while it is tow cold to work. Last night when I quit writingit was warm, and before I got in bed it comenced turning cold and thismorning is a bout as cold as it gets. The sun dogs show plain. Itchanges very quick; it puts me in mind of a little story I heard. Therewas a man out by a pond a chopping, and he was warm and a swetting, andhe saw a clowd rising in the west, and before he could get on his coatthe cloud came up and froze the pond over so quick that the frogs couldnot get there heads under, so he went along and kicked there heads off.(I left then.) I think it was as apt to be here as any where els, for theweather can change here in the twinkling of an eye. I am afraid that allof the peaches is kiled for they begin to swell pretty smart, and sutch acold spell will be pretty apt to kill them. If it doe, my fun will bespilt from eating peaches. I was in hopes that we would have a good cropof every thing this year so I could tell how I would like this countryagainst next fall, and if I liked it pretty well then I would write foryou all to come out here. But if I dont like it, then I dont want you tocome, for if I dont like it then I dont think I will stay here if I canget away. But they say if we stay one year here that we will not leave.Well, I think there is a goodeal of truth in that, for we will be so poorthat we cant get away. Any how, I wrote for brother Henry to come outand see this country, and if he did not like it he could go back in thefall if he wanted to. If he comes out, if he dont want to work out hecan help me tend a crop of corn. I would be glad if he would come out,for I guess that I will haft to work by myself, for William Earhart isgoing over to work at the carpenter work. They want a.good many handsthis spring and summer. They give $1.50 cts. a day, and you haft to bordyourself. You haft to pay $4.00 dollar a week for board, so they canmake $5.00 dollars a week clear. That is as good as they can do here. WmEarhart lowed to go over today, but it is so cold that he did not go. Iam looking for Henry all the time. I wrote to him about three weeks ago;I told him that I would not write to him till I heard from him. I toldhim to write soon and let me know what he would do about coming. If hecomes I wish he would come write away so he could see how the spring wasfor himself. I told him to fetch as mutch good navey tobaco as he couldcary. I would be glad to have some of the tobaco now; I have not had anygood navey tobaco since I left there. If he has not started when you getthis, I wish you would tell him to go to Taylors in Tracy and tell him Iwant good tobaco. I wish Henry was here now; I will be lonesome when WmEarhart leaves. He will make the fourth one that has left. Malinda Annleft first, and Andrew Lamb next, and Miray Redding next. Ann and Miaryis both working in town, so our family is getting quite small to what itwas. Well now I am at the middle of my letter book. I guess I willwrite anacrostic; that is to write my name down for the beginning of thelines, then compose lines to suit it as well as I can. I cant compose avery nice one, but I do the best I can.

Anacrostick

When winter storms is ore and past
I think May'll form a pleasant Spring at last;
Lat peace and hope our wants sustain,
Let love and union still remain.
I hope to meet you all once more,
And if its on the golden shore,
My wishes are to meet you all
High up in Heaven where Jesus calls.
So when I bid this world adieu,
Prepaire to meet a savior true,
And when I bid farewell to all,
Remember tis my saviors call.
Kind friends, I must my poetry end,
So fare you well, my loveing friends.
Composed and written by
Wm H. Sparks,
Febuary 21st A.D. 1867.

Anacrostic

Early my God, without delay,
My thirsty spirits faints away.
Earth has engrossed my love too long,
Resolved I am to learn this song.
Sinners, this solemn thought regard,
Once more before on earth we part.
Nature with all her powers shall sing,
Begin my tounge some heavenly theme.
Spring is now coming nigh at hand,
Perhaps I'll see some beautiful land.
And when the toils of this earth is ore,
Remember I hope to me to part no more.
Kind friends, I must my poetry end,
So farewell my loveing friends.
Composed and written by
Wm H. Sparks,
Febuary 21st A.D. 1867.

"Emerson, I don the best I could in waiting these anacrosticks. Iwant you to write one or tow for me, and beet them if you can. My headis tow thick to compose any thing very well. Emerson, I shall writesomething of my imagination of the prairies, whitch are found in everydirection over the face of this vast territory. They are of two kinds,the swelling or rolling whitch consists of undulating fields or dryswells or ridges, with low marshy ground between them; and the level orflat whitch are plains or rich alluvia., overgrown with long rank grass,occasionally presenting a lake, and often studded here and there withgroves of wild crabapple and clusters of forest trees. There is a brightand animated beauty upon the flat prairies in the spring of the year,when they put forth their rich verdure, embossed with the early wildflowers of many hues, and spread a gorgeous carpeting which no turkishfabric can equal. Then at early dawn while the mists hang upon theirborders curling in folds like vapery curtains, through which the morningsheds a softened light, they appear now light, now shaded, and present abeautiful panorama, ever varying, brightening and darkening, until themists roll up, and the uncurtained sun reveals himself in the fullbrightness of his rising in the summer. The long grass stoops and swellswith every breath of wind, like the waves of a heaving ocean, and thebright blossoms seem to dance and laugh in the sunshine as they tosstheir gaudy heads to the rustling of the passing breeze. The grass uponthe prairies grows to the height of six or eight feet and makes abeautiful appearance as it sinks and rises before the wind. When thegrass is thoroughly ripe in autumn, most of the prairies are burned.Sometimes the fires originate by accident, but more frequently from thedesign of the hunters, to facilitate them in the destruction of game. Thedry grass burns with a fierce and terrible rapidity and extends theflames for miles in a few minutes, impressing the beholder with the ideaof a general conflagration. In no possible condition can the praries beseen without exciting feelings of a peculiar and most lively interest.They are gloriously beautiful or awfully terrible, according to the timesand seasons in which they are beheld. But the prairies are most beautifulwhen the first tints of autumn are upon them; when the lovely flowers, inten thousand varieties, are decked in their gorgeous foliage; when thegold and purple blossoms are contrasted with the emerald green surface;and silver linings of their rich leaves and the various hues of the irisin every modification, show themselves on all sides to dazzle, bewilder,and amaze.

"I guess I have wrote enough on that subject. Well, I have got thislittle book pretty near full, sutch as it is, but I have done the best Icould. You must keep this till I see you, if you can; not because it isanything extra, but keep it to remember your brother Bill. Well, Roseyis mad and I haft to quit for awhile and play with her. Harrison andAlice is a poping pop corn. I tell you that they jump around when thecorn begins to pop. They like it pretty well. Little Rosey can eat popcorn rite along. She loves it. Oh, I wish you could see some of theirshines, you would laugh. They are at everything you can think of. Itkeeps one buisey to keep them out of mischief. Well Emerson, it willsoon be night again and I want to write pop a letter all though I wroteto him since I got any letter from him. I have not got much more towrite to you this time. If you will write me as much next time as I haveto you this time, I will be glad. I like to get big letters. I now mustbring my letter to a close for this time. I expect you will be tiredbefore you get this read through. It is the first time that I ever sentsix sheets in one letter. Now you must write me one as long as yourarm. So fare well for this time. Write soon--excuse all mystakes.Direct as before. Tell pop to write to me. I have not got a letter fromhim for some time.

Wm. H. Sparks.
Emerson B. Sparks."

State of Mo., St. Clair Co.,
Mar. 5th 1867.
Dear brother:

"I seat myself this evening for to try and answer your kind andloveing letter that I received last Sunday. I received your letter withpleasure, and when I opened it and found your image inclosed in a paper,when I saw your likeness, I kissed the cold glass that covered yourlikeness, and the tears streamed down my cheeks. Oh, if it had of onlyben yourself instead of your likeness it would of ben a greatdeal morepleasure to me, but it give me a great pleasure to see your's and pop'slikeness. It brought my memory back to the childhood of our past lives.We once was all a family together around the old frindly fireside wherewe have past a many a happy hour away, but we did not realize thesweetness of each other's company then. If we had that privelage now wewould appresiate it more than we did then, but we must do the best we canwhile we are deprived of all those precious privelages. We must try andbe more interested in being kind to those that are around us now, formaby some day we will be separated from them as we are, then we will feelwell that we used them kind. We can part with thepi in friendship andlove, then if we are ever made to reflect back on our past times we cando it with pleasure. Well Emerson, I do thank you for sending us yourlikeness, for it proves to me that you are still mindful of your brotherand sister and little nephew and your little neaces, all so for you toenquire after them. Little Harrison knowed your likeness as soon as hesaw it. They are inquiring about you and grandpap almost every day. Ido feel so sorry for the little children some times that I dont know whatto do. They had the best supper for them this evening that they have hadsince we left old Indiana. The old man bought a cow today and they hadmush and milk. It was the first milk they had since we left there. Itell you that they went for it heavy. I felt all most like crying to seehow near starved they was for milk. But they eat ther supper and went tobed and they are now asleep. Well Emerson, are you asleep? If I wasthere I would rouse you up, I tell you. They are all in bed but myself,and I am lonesome. The children has sutch bad colds that they are notvery well. The wrest of us is well tonight. I hope you are all welltonight. Well Emerson, I wrote you a little book ful like this some timeago, and I did not put all in it that I had lowed to, and so I thought Iwould write another one. I intended to give you the names of all of thetowns that we came through a coming out here, but I forgot it till I hadsent it to you. So I will give you the names of the towns and the numberof miles from one to the other and the day of the month and so on. Inoted down all of the towns as we came out here. It may interest yousome; if it don't I hope there will be no harm done. I will commence onthe next page with it and if you get the other one that I sent and this,you must sow them together and keep them till I see you.

Started to the State of Mo. October 18th 1866.

miles days
Huntington 10 19
Antyock 6 19
Belden 4 19
Labrove 7 20
Wabash 6 20
Peru 15 21
Logansport 16 22
Delphi 20 23
Americus 10 23
Wildcat 6 24
Lafayette 5 24
Milford 14 25
Independence 6 25
Williamsport 9 25
Lebanan 6 26

"We crossed the state line of Ill. Ind. Oct. 26th 1866. Now I willgive you the names of the towns thru Ill.
Danville 16 27
Catline 4 27
Homar 6 28
Citney [Sidney] 6 28
Urbanah 11 29
Champaign 1 29
Monticello 12 30
Decatur 30 31

The month of November 1866
Mechanieburg 25 2
Springfield 15 2
Colberlin 10 3
Jacksonville 20 4
Oxville 15 5
Gregsville 10 5
Maysville 5 5
Salem 4 6
Bery 5 6
Kennerhook 10 6

Cross the Miss. River, the state line, Nov. 7, 166.
Hannabal 1 7
New London 10 8
Mexico 40 9
Halloville 20 11
Columba 15 12
Rockport 15 13
Boonsville 10 14
Sedalia 40 15
Belmont 24 16
Calhoon 10 17
Clinton 11 17
Arrived at home 22 18

"Emerson, this rout that we came a moveing out here from the state ofIndiana to the state of Missouri, this is the names of the towns that wecame through and the days of the month and the distance from one town tothe other. The hull distance is five hundred and seventy-eight miles,but it seamed like it was a thousand miles, but when the weather was niceand fair, I like to travel very well, but when it was rainy and bad I didnot like it very well, but if I ever lowed to take another sutch a tripby land, I would start earlier in the fall, so it wouldn't be so cold andthe roads would not be so bad, it would be more pleasure. We had a goodmany up and downs while on our journey. We had some big hills to go upand down, some that looked like we could not climb, but we went throughit all, by exersizing patience, for I tell you we had to have patience toget along. There was a goodeal of growling among us at times, but we gotalong with out fighting. I tell you that I felt like it some times, butit is all over now and I am glad of it. Well Emerson, this is the 6thand we are still well as comon. Today it is trying to snow some, but itcant make much at it. But it is colder than it was through February. Themoon changed this morning, and we will be apt to have some bad weatherfor a few days.

"Well Emerson, I just got a letter from brother Henry today. Hisletter was wrote Febuary 15th. It has been a good while a coming. Hewanted to know if he could got anything to do if he would come out here.I will write to him tonight. He said if I thought it would pay him tocome out here he would come. Well, he can get plenty of work now if hewants to come. I wrote to him three or four weeks ago if he wanted tocome that he could get work over in town, and if he did not want to workout that way that he could help me tend a crop of corn, if he wanted todo so. But I guess he has not got the letter. He did not say anythingabout it no how. I will tell him tonight what he can do. I would likefor him to come out and stay here awhile, and see if he wouldn't bebetter for his health. I believe he would have better health out herethan he has there. But I know if he comes it will leave you and popalone, but I would like it if you would all come out here, for if you allwas out here I think I would be satisfied to live here. They say thereis plenty of fruit of all kinds, and they ketch fish here in the OsageRiver that is four feet long, they way fifty pounds and upwards. Nowthat would be a pretty big mess for one family woulden it? They say thatthere is fish in the creack that runs through our place that ways fifteento twenty. There fish hook here looks like log chain hooks. I never sawsuch fish hooks in my life, but if the fish is as big as they say theyare, it will take big hooks to hold them. We are going to make us a fishtrap pretty soon. We will live on fish this summer if they are as plentyas they say they are. You must come over some Saturday and we will go afishing and haul out about a twenty pounder. That will make us a prettygood mess for supper. Roarcks boys said that they kitched some in ourcreek that wayed eighteen pounds. I would like to see one of them.Roarch is the man that owned this place when we came out here.

"Well Emerson, little Rosalda bothers me so that I can't more thanhalf write. She can begin to walk alone some and she is all of the timepulling at my knees, so it is hard for me to write so as you can readit. But if you cant read it, fetch it over, I will read it for you.Well, I set down Roselda Isabel Sparks age and birthday; she was bornMarch 12th 1866. She will be one year old the 12th of this month. WellEmerson, you wish that I would get Mary's and the childrens likeness andsend them to you. I do wish that I had the money. I would get them alland send to you and pop, but I will haft to wait till I get the money.Then I will try to get them and send them to you, but I can't tell youwhen that will be, but maby I can some time. Well I declare, I don'tbelieve I can fill all of this. I know that I can't with anything thatwill interest you.

"Well Emerson, you must come over some of these nice bright days andtake a ride with me out over the prairies, just to get on a hors somenice warm day and ride over the prairies. They do look beautiful.Everything looks smothe and nice. You can see the cattle and horses andgines and mules and sheep and hogs and all kinds of stalk; you can seethem for miles and miles. This is a great place for stock, there issutch a good range; it is a good place for hogs. Hogs can live allwinter out in the woods. Every little oak bush is loaded with acorns,but they have a poor stock of hogs and cattle and horses. They need abetter stock here. If some man would fetch some good stock of hogs andcattle out here I think he could make it pay pretty big, for it is a goodplace for stock and good stock would be valuable out here. Cows is worthfrom twenty to 35 dollars a head with young calves. So I guess I willclose that subject for the present.

"Emerson, I want you to write me six sheets full the next letter andsee if you don't get tired of writing. Well, I am about done this letterand you must excuse all mistakes, if you please. Well Emerson, I willclose this by sending you the names of my family and best love andrespect. This is from William Henderson Sparks, Mary Jane Sparks,William Harrison, Jane Sparks, Alice Ann Sparks, Roselda Isabel Sparks.This is the names of my family. You must write soon and tell me who yougo to see. So no more at present. Fare ye well for this time, EmersonB. Sparks. When this you see remember me. [In margin] Mary sends you herheart and hand, to meet you in that happy land. That is all she has gotto send. Emerson, I will haft to make a envelope for this. It is tookbig to go in an envelope. You must not laugh at it for I have not gotany paper fit to make one out of. So excuse this envelope.
Wm. H. Sparks."

**********

See SQ p. 5295:

George W. Sparks, son of Solomon and Isabella (Swaim) Sparks, was born inWilkes County, North Carolina, on February 16, 1818 (?) (Although adescendant believed the year of his birth was 1817, this was not possibleif his sister, Rachel, was born in 1817 as claimed by hergreat-granddaughter.) In the QUARTERLY of June 1959, Whole No. 26, p.393,appeared a biographical sketch of George W. Sparks
with information on his family. We believe that record is largely correctexcept that we then thought that he was a son of George and DelilaSparks. As has been noted earlier in the present article (page5289),George and Delila did have a son named George Sparks, although hedid not have a middle initial, and we learned later that he had been bornon January 31, 1820. This error in confusing the parentage of these twofirst cousins was corrected in the QUARTERLY of December 1990, Whole No.152, pp.3706-07, as well as here.

George W. Sparks, son of Solomon and Isabella (Swaim) Sparks, was marriedin Wells County, Indiana, on August 7, 1838, to Sarah ["Sally"] Mossburg.She had been born on May 14, 1817, in Ohio and died in Wells County,Indiana, on May 26, 1864. On July 18, 1865, George W. Sparks was married(2nd) to a widow named Phoebe Jane (Pouless) Light. She had been born onFebruary 11, 1832, in Highland County, Ohio. A photograph of George W.and Phoebe Jane appears on the cover of the June 1959 QUARTERLY.

According to family lore, George W. Sparks was sympathetic toward theSouthern Cause during the Civil War, although his sons were loyal to theUnion. He died in Wells County on September 14, 1892, and in his will,dated May 2, 1890, he left his entire estate to his second wife, PhoebeJane. She died in WellsCounty on January 18, 1921. George W. Sparks andhis first wife, Sarah Mosburg, were the parents of four children; by hissecond wife he had one child.

**********

SQ 3864:

"William Henderson Sparks was born on June 4, 1861, in Carter County.According to a descendant, when he was about 19 years old, he courted a16-year-old neighbor girl named Rebecca Gray, and they had a son namedSamuel Justin Sparks. Samuel lived with his mother (she was married toJohn Jackson Sparks in 1887) until about 1898, at which time his fatherbrought him (Samuel) into his home.

"William Sparks was married to Rachel Knipp on November 10, 1881, inElliott County. She had been born on November 25, 1860. When the 1900census was taken Willliam Sparks was with his family in Elliott County.His family consisted of his wife, Rachel Sparks, 37; as son, Samuel J.Sparks, 18; a daughter, Mary F. Sparks, 17; and a son Henry T. Sparks,15. William Sparks died on June 9, 1918, and Rachel died on May 2, 1920."

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December, 1977, Whole No. 100, on the cover fora photograph of William Henry Sparks, and on pp 1940-1943 for thefollowing record of the pension application of William Henry Sparkstogether with an article accompanying the application which contains acontribution by Percival Wilson ("Pete") Sparks, a grandson.

WILLIAM HENRY SPARKS, son of John Thornton and Elizabeth (Launtz)Sparks, was born on Feb. 17, 1839, in Lewis County, Kentucky. Hemarried four times, (1) Josephine Holliday, (2) Octavia Crosby, (3)Jemima Graves, and (4) Elizabeth Carr. He served in Company G, 10thRegiment Kentucky Cavalry. File designation: Inv. Cert. No. 221,322.

On July 16, 1877, William H. Sparks, age 37, a resident of Fearisville,Lewis County, Kentucky, made application for an invalid pension. Hestated that he had enlisted in the Union Army on August 9, 1862, atTollesboro, Kentucky, in Company G, 10th Regiment Kentucky Cavalry,commanded by Col. C. J.
Walker, and was discharged at Maysville, Kentucky, on September 17, 1863.While stationed near Covington, Kentucky, in October 1862, he contracteda chronic catarrh of the head because of the severe exposure incidentalto the life of a soldier. He was treated by the Regimental Surgeon at aprivate residence. He said that when he enlisted he was 6 feet tall, hadgray eyes, dark hair and a fair complexion, and that he had been afarmer. D. M. Fearis, John Fearis, Thomas A. Mitchel, and Joseph A.Sparks witnessed his signature and the application was sworn to before S.G. Hissis, Lewis County Court Clerk.

The War Department confirmed Sparks's military service on November 17,1877. He had been enrolled on August 9, 1862, in Company G, 10th RegimentKentucky Cavalry to serve for one year. He was present for duty until hewas mustered out with his company on September 17, 1863. There was noevidence of disability; however, the Regimental hospital records were noton file.

On November 28, 1882, the Bureau of Pensions issued Invalid CertificateNo. 221,322 and William H. Sparks was placed on the pension rolls at therate of $4.00 per month.

On March 2, 1909, Sparks applied for increased pension benefits under the1907 Act of Congress. He said in this application that he had been bornon February 17, 1839, in Mowers Precinct, Lewis County, Kentucky, and hadlived in that county all of his life. His post office was Cottageville.J. W. Bell and W. H.
Thompson witnessed his signature and the application was sworn to beforeJohn K. Dunbar, a notary public of Adams County, Ohio.

William H. Sparks responded to a questionnaire from the Bureau ofPensions in May 1916. He gave his post office as Sand Hill, Kentucky, andstated that his present wife was Elizabeth King (Adkins) Carr whom he hadmarried on May 6, 1916, at Georgetown, Ohio. Prior to this marriage, hestated that he had been married to Josephine M. Holiday on January 11,1866; she had died on March 10, 1887 at Fearis, Lewis Co., Kentucky. Tothis first marriage six children had been born:

1. John W. Sparks, born February 25, 1867.
2. Ella E. Sparks, born December 31, 1868.
3. Myrtle Sparks, born August 24, 1873.
4. Edwin M. Sparks, born April 5, 1875.
5. Bertha Sparks, born February 23, 1877.
6. Leslie Sparks, born August 8, 1886.

William H. Sparks died on July 11, 1919, and his daughter, Bertha(Sparks) Parry, made application for reimbursement for the expenses ofhis last illness and burial. She said that her father had been marriedfour times. The first marriage was to Josephine Holiday; the second wasto Octavia Crosby; the third
was to Jemima Graves; and the fourth was to Elizabeth Carr. He had beendivorced from his second wife, Octavia Crosby, but she had died in 1917.

Mrs. Parry went on to say that her father died at her home at Trinity,Kentucky. He was attended by Dr. Samuel of Maysville, Ky., and by Dr.Irvine of Tollesboro, Ky. Persons who had helped care for her fatherincluded her sister, Myrtle Houston; her niece, Jennie Houston; herbrother, J. W. Sparks; and her nephew, Leslie Sparks. She asked forreimbursement in the amount of $243.

On August 14, 1919, Elizabeth K. Sparks, age 76, a resident of Ripley,Ohio, made application for a widow's pension. She said she was a widow ofWilliam H. Sparks ,whom she had married on May 6, 1916. She had beenpreviously married to John Q. A. Carr in 1857. He was also a Civil Warveteran. She
appointed E. F. Young of Ripley, Ohio, as her attorney. Nothing was sentto indicate whether this was approved.

(Editor's Note: ,William Henry Sparks was the grandfather of Pete Sparks(P.O. Box 716, Starke, Florida, 32091) whose photograph andautobiographical sketch appeared in the QUARTERLY of December 1966 (Vol.XIV, No. 4, Whole No. 56). It was Pete Sparks who provided the photographof his grandfather that appears on this issue of the QUARTERLY. Hebelieves that the father of William Henry Sparks was named John AliceSparks, but official records in Lewis County, Kentucky, give his name asJohn Thornton Sparks.

John Thornton Sparks was born about 1809 and died sometime in 1849. Asketch of his life appeared in the QUARTERLY of June 1970 (Vol. XVIII,No. 2; Whole No. 70, pp. 1319-20). We believe that the parents of JohnThornton Sparks sere George and Rachel (McClenahan) Sparks of Bourbon,Fleming, and Lewis Counties, Ky. John Thornton Sparks married ElizabethLauntz and they had ten children (see
p. 1320 of the QUARTERLY). William Henry Sparks, born February 17, 1839,was their 7th child.

Pete Sparks remembers that the full name of the oldest son of WilliamHenry and Josephine M. (Holiday) Sparks was John William Sparks (bornFebruary 25, 1867), but he was always called Will or Willie. The daughterlisted as Ella E. Sparks in the pension file (born December 31, 1858),was Ellen Eugene; she
died unmarried while still a "school girl." The daughter Myrtle (bornAugust 21, 1873) married Walter Houston and they lived in Portsmouth,Ohio, for many years. The son Edwin (born April 5, 1875) had the middlename McMasters; he married Mildred Wilson, daughter of Samuel and AliceWilson, and they were the parents of Pete Sparks (originally namedPercival Wilson Sparks, born February 21, 1901), Alice Maria Sparks, andLeslie McKinley Sparks. The daughter of William Henry Sparks named Bertha(born February 23, 1877) was married twice but had no children, accordingto Pete Sparks.

Before the Civil War, according to Pete Sparks, William Henry Sparksworked with a crew of men who would ride a raft of tan bark down the Ohioto the Mississippi, and then on down to New Orleans. There the tan barkwas sold. Then they could walk back home through the woods. After onetrip, William
Henry Sparks remained in the deep South and got a job working for a manwho supplied wood for fuel for the steamships plying the MississippiRiver. He was there when the Civil War broke out. The last river boat tobe permitted to run back North offered to bring him back, but he saidthat he could not leave - - his
boss had left him in charge of the business and, furthermore, the manowed him his wages. Later, however, he started back to Kentucky throughthe woods and when he reached the outposts of the Southern Army, he gavehimself up and asked to be permitted to pass through the lines. Inexchange for free passage through the ranks, he offered to recruit hisfriends for the Southern Army when he got home. He was permitted to passthrough on his promise, but when he got back to Kentucky he enlisted inthe Union Army as his pension application indicates.

After the war was over, according to Pete Sparks, William Henry Sparks,whom friends and neighbors called "Bill Henry," raised trotting horsesalong with tobacco, corn, and other small crops. As noted in the pensionpapers, his first wife, Josephine M. Holiday, died on March 10, 1887. Hesubsequently married
three more times, but had no children by any wife except his first. Hedied at the home of his daughter, Bertha Sparks Parry, in Trinity,Kentucky, on July 11, 1919. Pete Sparks has noted that the severalcommunities mentioned above, Fearis, Sand Hill, and Trinity, are within aradius of five miles of each other. "The post office address is Trinity,and a rural mail carrier covers the other villages," according to PeteSparks, "and old Bill Henry's sister was Postmistress for several yearswhen I was a boy going to school. The school was at Sand Hill, and therewere other school houses in Cottageville, Fearis, etc., all withinwalking distance."

Pete Sparks relates that his father, Edwin McMasters Sparks, "taughtschool one year at Tollesboro and lived in Sand Hill; he walked ninemiles each way, each day. He was supposed to have gotten a house to rent,but the deal fell through." Regarding his grandfather, Pete recalls:"Bill Henry lived in a valley,
Bill Henry's brother, Thornton Sparks, lived on top of the hill (MoweryPrecinct), and each Sunday Thornton would drive past Bill Henry's houseon his way to church. Old Bill Henry would be sitting on his front porch.Thornton would say 'Good morning, Will' Bill Henry would nod his headand grunt. They might not see each other for another week, when the sameexchange would take place."

Pete Sparks's father, Edwin McMasters Sparks, was killed by a train whenPete was only two years old, and his mother then returned to the home ofher parents, Samuel and Alice Wilson. Pete relates that "the Wilsons atone time owned ten square miles in that area, given them by GeorgeWashington, and my mother's mother always felt the Wilsons were betterthan the Sparkses. Like the Hatfields and the McCoys, the Wilsons livedin the river bottom, the land was more tillable, and they were moreprosperous than the Sparkses who lived in the hills where grazing landwas about all they had. Old Bill Henry had a flat area on top of thehill back of his house, where he had a race track, to work out hisharness horses.

The center of the track was the vegetable garden and one of my earliestrecollections was riding; in my Uncle Willie's lap, riding, around thetrack, and waving to the twins (daughters of Myrtle Sparks Houston) whowould be pickin pole beans, or whatever, in the garden."

* * * * *

SQ p 4872:
"William Henry Sparks, son of Bill and Polly (Lyon) Sparks, was bornon September 6, 1944, in Lawrence County. He was usually called Henry.He served in Company G, 5th Regiment Kentucky Infantry, ConfederateStates Army, as a 2nd corporal. He was married to clarinda Harris onFebruary 12, 1866, in Carter County. she had been born on January 28,1851, in Kentucky. She and Henry lived near Fielden, Kentucky, untilabout 1900 when they moved to Wisconsin. It was there that Henry died onJanuary 17, 1917. Clarinda died three months later, on april 16, 1917.They were buried in the Nashville [Wisconsin] Cemetery. They had tenchildren."

William Henry Sparks is found in the 1870 US Census for Martinsburg(now Sandy Hook) Elliott County, KY as follows:
#121 William Sparks 25 KY
Clarinda 19 KY
Robert 3 KY
Eliza 8/12 b. Feb KY
They are living in close proximity to several brothers.

See SQ p. 232 for birth information.

See SQ p. 817 for the following marriage information:

Johnson County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds (1843-1881:
"William Henry Sparks & Susan Alley, 1877, in house of WilliamSparks. Nichelous Sparks & Martha J. Williams, May 12, 1877, in house ofRobert Sparks. He was 29 years old, his father was born in NorthCarolina. She was 25 years old, she was born in Russell County, Virginia."

[JS Note: The above age for William must be incorrect. He would havebeen born in 1848 when his mother was about 9 years of age and his fatherwas about 15. A more reasonable age is provided by a descendant whostates that he was born in November 1857. The above reference to page237 in the Quarterly must be in error since William's name does notappear there.

**********

SQ pp. 4570-71

"William "Will" Isaac Sparks, son of William and Sarah (Justiss)Sparks, was born on March 13, 1851, in Wilson County, Tennessee, and wasa baby when his parents went to Arkansas. He had reached adulthood whenthe family finally settled down in Brown County, Texas. Like hisbrother, S. N. Sparks, he joined Company 4 of the Texas Rangers when thatunit was organized in 1873. Many years later he recalled the time whenhe got off his spent horse in a sheltered spot on the plains and crawledinto some bushes and slept for a couple of hours. He awaked to find thathis horse had been killed by Indians who failed to find him.

"Most of what has been learned about the life of William Sparks hascome from his obituary which was published in the DALLAS MORNING NEWS onJuly 17, 1940. His photograph appearing on the previous page (page 4570)also came from that source. From that account of his life, we know thathe was married, but we have not learned the name of his spouse; shequite likely predeacesed him. He was a cattleman and lived near Midland,Texas, where he specialized in shorthorn cattle. When the area aroundMidland became choked with too many settlers to suit him, he went to NewMexico where he continued his stock-raising.

"Sparks retired in 1920 and went to Dallas, Texas. He died there onJune 16, 1940. No mention was made of his wife in the obituary, and, aswe have noted, it can be presumed that she had died. Three sons and onedaughter were named. According to a relative, he also had one other son."

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 1984, Whole No. 127, p. 2648:

MATTHEW J. SPARKS (1759 -1841) & HISDESCENDANTS

"...............................William Sparks, son of John and Sarah(Brooks) Sparks, was born on January 24, 1807, in Jackson County,Georgia. He appears to have been true to the tradition that the oldestson takes the leadership role in the lives of his family after the deathof the father. After the death of John Sparks in 1836, William was thefirst of the family to leave Alabama and to head westward to the new landwhich was being parcelled out to citizens of the newly-formed Republic ofTexas.

"William Sparks was probably married three times. It seems likelythat he was the William Sparks who married Rhoda Cooper on December 23,1830, in Baldwin County, Georgia. Shortly after their marriage, theyprobably joined William's parents in Tallapoosa County, Alabama and theretheir first child, Elizabeth, was born about 1834. Rhoda apparently diedshortly after Elizabeth's birth.

"On May 4, 1836, William (along with his father and brothers) enlistedin the Alabama Militia to serve in the Creek and Seminole Indian War. Heserved until August 6, 1836, when he was discharged, and he returned toTallapoosa County. There, on February 2, 1837, he was married to NancyMcAlister by Judge Henry Thompson. His Bounty Land Application (pg. 2672[See below.]) states: WILLIAM SPARKS, File Designations: Bounty LandWarrants Nos. 43,095 and 86,694. On May 17, 1852, William Sparks, aged45, a resident
of Titus County, Texas, appeared before Edward C. Simmons, a justice ofthe peace, and made application for bounty land to which he might beentitled under the 1850 Act of Congress. He said he had volunteered onMay 20, 1836, at Tallassee, Alabama, as an ensign in Capt. John H.Broadnax's Company of Alabama Volunteers to serve for three months. Heserved until he was discharged at Tallassee on August 20, 1836. Heappointed Edward C. Simons as his attorney. Thos. Resin, Clerk of TitusCounty, certified that E. C. Simmons was a justice of the peace.

"The War Department confirmed that Sparks had served in the AlabamaMilitia from May 4, 1836, until August 6, 1836, and he was issued awarrant for 40 acres of bounty land. "On June 4, 1855, William Sparksagain made application for bounty land under the 1855 Act of Congress. Hewas still a resident of Titus County, Texas. He was sworn before R. J.Holbrook, a notary public , and stated that he had previously received 40acres of bounty land for service in the Creek War of Alabama in 1836. Hesigned the application as "Wm. Sparks." Spencer Shearer and F. M. Sparkswitnessed his signature. A bounty land warrant was issued to Sparks andhe received an additional 120 acres of land. (Return to pg. 2648)

"Sometime after his marriage to Nancy McAlister, William Sparksdisposed of four lots in the village of Tallassee to settle hisindebtedness to Edward Hannack, and by 1840 he had moved his family toTitusCounty, Texas. There he qualified for a 640-acre grant (the numberof acres to which a married man was entitled) which was surveyed for himin two 320-acre tracts in the southwestern part of the county.Theallocations were awarded by the Board of Commissioners of HarrisonCounty, Texas, on January 2, 1840.

"Nancy (McAlister) Sparks apparently died about 1849, and when the1850 census was taken of Titus County, William Sparks was listed withouta spouse. With him were his four children: Elizabeth, 15; George, 12;William, 5; and Marion, 1. The responsibility of caring for four smallchildren must have weighed heavily upon him, for shortly thereafter(probably about 1853) he was married to Hannah A. Weeks. We believe thiswas his third marriage. Hannah was born on November 16, 1830, inIllinois and was a daughter of Andrew and Sophronia (Lankford) Weeks,natives of North Carolina and Kentucky, respectively.

"Early Titus County records were destroyed in a courthouse fire in the1890's, but by this time, William's land records were in Franklin Countywhich was formed from Titus County in 1875. These records show that hehad a fairly large number of land transactions. One interesting exampleshows that in 1857, he sold a tract of land to Spencer Shearer who, fiveyears later, deeded six acres to the Cypress Baptist Church. Today,numerous descendants of John and Sarah (Brooks) Sparks rest in
that church's cemetary. The land was originally owned by Charles McAlister, doubtless a relative of the second wife of William Sparks.

"William Sparks retained ownership of several large parcels of land inTitus County, even though he moved to Cooke County, Texas, about 1860.Records of the latter county show that he continued to invest heavily inland and cattle prior to his death, which occurred about 1865. Theserecords, as well as probate records, indicate that William Sparks hadnine children.

"After the death of her husband, William Sparks, about 1865, Hannah(Weeks) Sparks married (2d) Thomas Sparks on December 25, 1867, in CookeCounty, Texas. He was a son of Jesse Hancock and Susan (Cornel) Sparks,and a grandson of Nathan Sparks (337), brother of Matthew J. Sparks; thushe and William Sparks were second cousins. Hanna and Thomas had onechild, George W. Sparks, born on November 26, 1868. Hannah died on March6, 1875."

(Here article lists eleven children of William J. Sparks and his threewives and includes some grandchildren. See their individual sheets.)

END OF ARTICLE.

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

See SQ p. 2672:

Pension Application for the Creek and Seminole IndianWar of 1836

WILLIAM SPARKS,
son of John and Sarah (Brooks) Sparks, was born onJanuary 24, 1807, in
Georgia. He probably married (1st) Rhoda Cooper in1830; he married
(2nd) Nancy McAlister on February 2, 1837, inTallapoosa County, Alabama,
and (3rd) Hannah A. Weeks about 1853, probably inTitus County, Texas. He
served in the Alabama Militia during the Creek andSeminole Indian War of
1836. File Designations: Bounty Land Warrants Nos.43,095 and 86,694.

"On May 17, 1852, William Sparks, aged 45, a resident of Titus County,Texas, appeared before Edward C. Simmons, a justice of the peace, andmade application for bounty land to which he might be entitled under the1850 Act of Congress. He said he had volunteered on May 20, 1836, atTallassee, Alabama, as an ensign in Capt John H. Broadnax's Company ofAlabama Volunteers to serve for three months. He served until he wasdischarged at Tallassee on August 20, 1836. He appointed Edward C. Simonsas his attorney. Thos. Resin (?), Clerk of Titus County, certified thatE. C. Simmons was a justice of the peace.

"The War Department confirmed that Sparks had served in the AlabamaMilitia from May 4, 1836, until August 6, 1836, and he was issued awarrant for 40 acres of bounty land.On June 4, 1855, William Sparks againmade application for bounty land under the 1855 Act of Congress. He wasstill a resident of Titus County, Texas. He was sworn before R. J.Holbrook, a notary public, and stated that he had previously received 40acres of bounty land for service in the Creek War of Alabama in 1836. Hesigned the application as "Wm. Sparks." Spencer Shearer and F. M. Sparkswitnessed his signature. A bounty land warrant was issued to Sparks andhe received an additional 120 acres of land."

(Editor's Note: For further information regarding William Sparks, see thepresent issue of the QUARTERLY (Whole No. 127), beginning on page 2648.)

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1988, Whole No. 141, p. 3176,

DESCENDANTS OF REUBEN & CASSIE (BUTTERY) SPARKS

@@ p 3178:

"William J. ["Billie"] Sparks, son of John and Elizabeth (Rose)Sparks, was born on April 10, 1807, in Wilkes County, North Carolina, andit was there that he was married to Sarah ["Sallie"] Jennings in 1828.(The marriage bond was dated September 12, 1828, and the marriage wasprobably performed a short time later.) Sallie was born on September 25,1809 , in Wilkes County. It was also in Wilkes County that Billie wasconverted and baptized into the Baptist Church by the Rev. George Douglas.

"In 1831, Billie and Sallie decided to move westward to Indiana wherethey stopped in Owen County quite near the village of Bowling Green andjust over the county line from Clay County. Billy bought land in OwenCounty in 1836, 1837, and 1839. He was also the first blacksmith in OwenCounty. He was joined there by his brother, Solomon Sparks, probablyabout 1848.

"Billie Sparks continued to have an active interest in the church, andshortly after settling in Indiana, he was ordained a minister in theBaptist Church near Bowling Green. He was pastor there from June 1845 to1849.

"In 1851, the brothers, Billie and Solomon Sparks, decided to movetheir families further west to the new lands which were opening up in thestate of Iowa. They traveled slowly, stopping for a while in PikeCounty, Illinois. They crossed the Mississippi River at Keokuk, Iowa, andthere the two families apparently separated, or prepared to separate.Billie continued northwestward until he reached Boone County, Iowa, whileSolomon traveled almost directly west until he reached Mercer County,Missouri. There the two brothers lived for the rest of their lives,scarcely more than 100 miles apart, a distance which in those days madefrequent trips back and forth quite difficult.

"William Sparks (Billie) was a farmer all his life, but he is bestremembered for his missionary work in his church and for takingleadership in the establishment of new churches wherever he lived. Heorganized the North Union Baptist Church on June 1, 1852, and was itsfirst and only minister for twenty-seven years. He traveled by foot andby horseback, and during a revival, he would be absent from his home fora week or more at a time. He died on June 28, 1878, in Boone County.Sallie died there on February 2, 1896. They were buried in the SparksCemetery about ten miles southeast of Ogden, Iowa.

"William J. and Sarah (Jennings) Sparks were the parents of thirteenchildren:" (for information see child's listing)

See the SQ, March 1960, Whole No. 29, p. 467, for a census record of thisfamily in the 1850 Census of Owen County, Indiana, District 3, MarionTownship and SQ, June, 1965, Whole No. 54, p. 990, for a census record ofthis family in the 1860 Census of Boone County, Iowa, Marcy Township(Post Office Alton), enumerated July 20, 1860.

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1968, Whole No. 61, p. 1132 for the 1850census of Tippah County, Mississippi.

Vol. 7A, p. 570A (1142) Enumerated on December 6, 1850 [JS: Living nextdoor to his parents Ephriam and Sarah Sparks.]

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY of March 1988, Whole No. 141. pp. 3176-3206for an article entitled "Further Notes on the Descendants of Reuben andCassie (Buttery) Sparks of Early Wilkes County, North Carolina, "at p.3180:

"William J. Sparks was born on October 26, 1850, in Owen County,Indiana. He married (1st) Caroline Holbrook in Boone County , Iowa, onNovember 5, 1871, and they had five children: Albert, Andrew, Chester,Thomas, and Rosa. Caroline Sparks died in 1900, and William married (2nd) Anne Harvey in 1902. They had four children: Mabel, Manley,Clifford and Clara."

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1997, Whole No. 177, pps 4792-4793:

"William J. "Jay" Sparks, a son of King David and Martha Elizabeth(Bass) Sparks, was born on October 26, 1850, in Owen County, Indiana. Itis apparent that the was named after his paternal grandfather, the Rev.William J. "Billie" Sparks. [See (the above referenced article) which isdevoted to this branch of the Sparks family.]

"Sometime between October 1850 and November 1852, Jay Sparks's parentsmoved from Indiana to Marcey Township, Boone County, Iowa. A map ofBoone County shows King David's farm adjoining that of his father, theRev. William J. (Billie) Sparks. It was here that Jay grew to manhoodand was educated. Jay was married twice, and I will attempt to providethe information currently available on both his families in the hope thata reader of the QUARTERLY may be able to help in filling in details.

"Jay Sparks's first marriage was to Caroline Frances Holbrook onNovember 8, 1871. Frances, as she is remembered by many livingrelatives, was born about 1840 in Iowa. She died in Yankton, SouthDakota, in 1900. To this union were born five children (for details seefamily page.)

"Jay and Frances Sparks left Boone County, Iowa, and moved west,arriving in Yankton, South Dakota, on December 24, 1889. This is wherethe dates seem to get mixed up. Albert Clinton Sparks, their oldest son,and his wife Lucy (Vaughn) Sparks, celebrated their fifty-ninth weddinganniversary in November 1959, and the article published about them in theRapid City, South Dakota, newspaper stated that Albert Clinton Sparks hadarrived in South Dakota on December 24, 1889, when he was 16 years ofage. If the December date is correct, he would have been 18 years of age.

"Jay's second marriage was to Anne Sophie Harvey in either 1901 or1902. At the time of the marriage, Anne had a son, John Harvey, from aprevious marriage, who had been born on September 29, 1889. Jan and Annesparks had four children (for details see family page.)

"Jay Sparks died on January 16, 1924, in Yankton, South Dakota; he wasburied in Aten, Nebraska. According to the obituary of their daughter,Mable Elizabeth Sparks, Jay and Anne Sparks traveled to Sioux City, Iowa,by covered wagon in 1903. They left Sioux City and moved to Thurstoncounty, Nebraska. Then, according to the same obituary, they moved toOmaha, Nebraska. From there, they moved to Smithland, Iowa, thenreturned to the Yankton, South Dakota, area in 1918. I suspect that the"area" was Aten, Nebraska, which was a tiny town just across the river inNebraska. If anyone reading this article has information on eitherfamily of Jay Sparks please contact me, James W. Sparks, 938 Henderson#2, Ogden, Utah 84404 (Phone: 801 393 5614) as of March 1997."

SQ 5316:

William J. Sparks, son of Hampton and Jemima (Blue) Sparks, was bornabout 1856. He was 9 years old in 1865 when his father was declared to behis legal guardian. We have no further record of him.

SQ pg 3695: "William J. Sparks was born on May 26, 1878, at Hawkins,Texas, according to his biography in TEXAS AND TEXANS written by E ugeneBarker in 1914. His mother died shortly thereafter, and he was reared inthe household of a grandmother. He learned the trade of pharmacy and wasa druggist at Fort Worth, Texas, before opening a drugstore in Midland,Texas. He was elected clerk of Midland County in 1908, and served inthat office during the term of 1910 and 1912. He was a Mason, an OddFellow, and a Woodman of the World. He was a Presbyterian."

William and Arminta are found in the 1850 census for Surry County, NC.See SQ p. 605, Whole No. 36.

SQ pg 2653-4:

"William James Sparks, son of James Brook and Mary Ann (Cook) Sparkswas born about 1832 in Georgia. He became a lawyer and a newspaperman.He remained in the home of his parents until about 1855 when he went toWood County, Texas. There, according to a HISTORY OF HOPKINS COUNTY,TEXAS, published in 1904, he established a newspaper at Quitman. He alsoworked as a printer on a newspaper called FLAG OF THE UNION at Henderson,Texas, and when the editor died, he assumed those duties as well. It wasalso about this time that he "read law" and became an attorney. When the1860 census was taken of Wood County, he was listed as an editor/lawyerand was living in an inn kept by Martha Bates.

"About 1865, William James Sparks was married to Mary Ann Herod, andwhen the 1870 census was taken, they were living in Titus County nearother members of William's family. Mary Ann had been born about 1842 inTennessee . William soon acquired several tracts of land, but by 1880 hehad sold them and moved with his family to Cooke County, Texas. There hecontinued his interest in newspaper work. He died on January 31, 1895.Mary Ann survived him eight years, dying on August 10, 1903. They wereburied at Montague, Texas . They had seven children."

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See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY for September 1999, Whole No. 187, pp. 5236-37for the 1860 census of Wood County Texas:

Wood County,Texas --1860 Census
Post Office: Quitman
Page 359. Census taken by W. L. Pond on June 29, 1860.
215-210
Name Age Sex Occupation Born
Bates, Martha E. 37 (F) Hotel Keeping $3,000-$3000 AL
Pond, W. L. 30 (M) Hotel Keeping $3,000-$3000 AL
" Emma 20 (F) AL
Bates, Mack N. 17 (M) AL
" Kate 12 (F) TX
" Alice A. 10 (F) TX
" Edward M. N. 5 (M) TX
Pond, Rosabelle C. 4/12 (F) TX
Jarvis, J. J. - ( M) Lawyer -
Strother, J.A. 27 (M) School Teacher $1,250- $300 GA
Sparks, W. J. 29 (M) Lawyer-Editor $775 - $5,000 GA
Angel, J. W. - (M) Lawyer-Editor -
Shuford, A. P. - (M) - -
Dearborn, J. H. - (M) - -
Williams, John - (M) - -
Scanland, J. M. 17 (M) Printer IN
Davenport, Chs. 19 (M) Printer AL
Haight, -- 32 (M) Printer TN
Shuford, A. M. 27 (M) Printer NC
Forde, W. M. 27 (M) Lawyer -$1,500 KY

*****************
-5237-

Note: W. J. Sparks, the 29-year-old "Lawyer-Editor" living in a hotel inWood County, Texas, when the 1860 census was taken (page 5236), wasWilliam James Sparks, a son of James Brooks and Mary Ann (Cook) Sparks.His parents were living in Titus County, Texas, when the 1860 census wastaken (see page 5231). A biographical sketch of W. J. Sparks appears onpp. 2653-65 of the QUARTERLY of September 1984, Whole No. 127. Heestablished a newspaper at Quitman in Wood County; later he edited theFlag of the Union at Henderson, Texas. In 1865 he was married to Mary AnnHerod.

The hotel in which he was staying in 1860 appears to have been operatedby Martha E. Bates, apparently a widow with four children . W. L. Pondwas probably in partnership with her; he seems also to have been thecensus taker . He obviously did not interview each of the hotel guests,since his information about several of them was incomplete .

SQ 3187:

"William James Sparks, son of Solomon and Malinda (Caudill) Sparks,was born on October 21, 1837, in North Carolina, and was a young man whenhe arrived in Mercer County, Missouri, with his parents. There he wassoon caught up in the Civil War fever which tore Missouri apart, thepopulation being about evenly divided in their sympathies for the Southand the North. On October 26, 1863, he enlisted in Company E, 12thRegiment Missouri Cavalry. (See below for an abstract of his pensionfile.)

"After the war ended, William James Sparks married Sarah Jane Smith onJanuary 18, 1867. She had been born on January 10, 1845, in Missouri .She and William had ten children before her death on August 11, 1884.After her death, William was married twice. He married Melissa Boilesabout 1890;
they were divorced in March 1899. The then married (3rd) Belle (Milner)Walker, widow of John Walker, on July 9, 1902, and they lived togetheruntil his death on March 25, 1926. (See page 3188 for a photograph ofWilliam James Sparks)." [There follows a list of his children; see theirsheets]

SQ 3207:

"UNION SOLDIERS NAMED SPARKS WHO APPLIED OR WHOSE HEIRS APPLIED
FOR PENSIONS FOR SERVICE IN THE CIVIL WAR"

"WILLIAM J. SPARKS, son of Solomon and Malinda Ann (Caudill) Sparks,was
born on October 21, 1837, in Wilkes County, NorthCarolina.
He married (1st) Jane Smith; (2nd) Mrs . Melissa
Boiles; and (3rd) Mrs. Belle (Milner) Walker . Heserved
in Company E, 12th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry . File
Designations: Inv. Cert. No. 390,960; Wid. Cert .No.
XC-2, 996,257.

"On September 25, 1879, William J. Sparks, a resident of MercerCounty, Missouri, made application for an invalid pension. He statedthat on October 26, 1863, he had enlisted in Company E, 12th RegimentMissouri Cavalry and had served until April 9, 1866. On or about January15th, 1864, he took typhoid fever at St. Louis, Missouri, and washospitalized for three months . The fever settled in his left leg, andas a result he was now able to perform only a limited amount of manuallabor. He said that at the time of his enlistment he had been 5 feet, 11inches tall; he had blue eyes, light hair and a fair complexion; he wasnow 41 years of age; and he was a farmer. He appointed the firm of Giles& Parnell as his attorneys. E. J. Abraham and Solomon Sparks ( 1946)witnessed his signature and the application was sworn to before R. W.Steckman, Probate Judge of Mercer County. Nothing was included in the"selected papers" from his file that were sent to us by the NationalArchives to indicate what action was taken on this application.

"On December 6, 1886, the War Department confirmed Sparks's militaryservice. He had enlisted on October 26, 1863, as a private in Company E,12th Regiment Missouri Calvary at Princeton, Missouri, for three yearsand was mustered out with his company as sergeant on April 9, 1866, atFt. Leavenworth, Kansas. He had been absent-sick in June 1864, and hadbeen hospitalized at St. Louis, Missouri, on October 1864. Sparks wasissued Invalid Certificate No. 390,960, and he was placed on the pensionrolls.

"On June 21, 1921, Sparks made application for increased pensionbenefits under the 1920 Act of Congress. He said that he had been bornon October 22, 1837, in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Since leaving theservice, he had resided at R.F.D. No. 4, Princeton, Missouri. He saidthat he was suffering from cancer of the eyelids and general disabilitybecause of old age. Jas . Brown and J. M. Perry witnessed his signature.

"About a month later, William J. Sparks responded to a questionnairefrom the Bureau of Pensions. He stated that his wife was Belle WalkerSparks and that he had married her on July 9, 1902, in Mercer County,Missouri. She was the widow of John Walker who had died on January 2,1902. He said that he had been previously married to Jane Smith inJanuary 1867, and she had died on August 11, 1884. He listed theirchildren as follows:

Israel Sparks born December 9, 1868
David Sparks born January 23, 1869
Solomon Sparks born February 6, 1870
Amy Sparks, born July 30, 1872
John Sparks, born January 5, 1873
William Sparks, born January 6, 1876
Asa Virgil Sparks, born February 26, 1878
Aramina Sparks, born August 16, 1880
Alie Sparks, born September 4, 1882
Millie Sparks, born August 11, 1884.

"William J. Sparks died on March 25, 1926, and on April 16, 1926, hiswidow, Belle Sparks, applied for a widow's pension. She stated in herapplication that she had been born on January 10, 1860, in Mercer County,Missouri, and was married to Sparks on July 9, 1902. He left no childrenunder the age of
sixteen. W. L. Bearden and D. M. Wilcox witnessed her signature, and theapplication was sworn to before Charles I. Mullinax, a notary public.

"On June 10, 1926, two children of William J. Sparks, Asa V. Sparks,age 48, and Millie Lowery, age 38, made an affidavit to support theirstep-mother's application. They said they were the children of WilliamJ. Sparks by his first wife whose maiden name had been Jane Smith. Afterthe death of their
mother in 1884, their father had married Belle (Milner) Walker, widow ofJohn Walker, on July 9, 1902, and they had lived together until his deathon March 25, 1926. These three marriages were the only times theirfather had married. The affidavit was sworn to before Charles I.Mullinax, a notary public.

"Belle Sparks was issued a pension under Widow Certificate No. XC-2,996,257.
She died on September 17, 1957, at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Sylvia C.
Nish, in Waukee, Iowa."

.

!NOTES:
SQ 3189: "William James Sparks, Jr., son of William James and Sar ah
Jane (Smith) Sparks, was born on January 6, 1876, in Missouri. On November
8, 1909, he was married to Nell Elnora Harvey. She had been born on
November 25, 1887, at Minneapolis, Kansas, and was a daughter of Will iam
and Lucinda (Riley) Harvey. William Sparks died on April 9, 1950, a tDelphos,
Kansas; Nell died there on December 26, 1967. They had five children:
(a) Kenneth Wayne Sparks was born on February 6, 1910.
(b) Banieta Lee Sparks was born on December 11, 1913. She marrie d a
man named Davis.
(c) Loren Dale Sparks was born on May 10, 1917. He was married t oDora
Lee Orebaugh on September 3, 1940. She had been born on Novem ber20,
1919, and is a daughter of Claude R. and Ferma (Conn) Orebaugh.
(d) Samuel Athos Sparks was born on July 27, 1919.
(e) Bonnie Jean Sparks was born on June 23, 1924. She married Tho masL.
Workman."

See this family in the 1900 Census, Indian Territory, Oklahoma in the SQ,Whole No. 111, p. 2234. The note following the record appears to containsome errors concerning his parents. See the more recent note found underhis father's sheet.

SQ pp 2180-81:

William Jasper Sparks, son of Josiah and Anna (Gilkey) Sparks, was bornon January 17, 1838, in Adair County and was a small lad when his parentsmoved to southwest Missouri where he grew to manhood. It was there, in1857, that he married Eliza Jane Duncan in McDonald County. She was bornon January 14, 1842, and was a daughter of William and Eliza (Potts)Duncan.

The first two children of William and Eliza Jane were born in Missouri,but by 1862 the couple had moved to Nebraska Territory where, on November6, 1862, William enlisted in Company G, 2nd Regiment Nebraska Cavalry fora period of one year. (See this issue of the QUARTERLY, page 2189, for anabstract of his pension file.) After the war ended, he and his familyreturned to Missouri where, on September 5, 1885, Eliza Jane died at CaveSprings when their 12th child, William Sparks, was stillborn.

In 1889, William Jasper Sparks went to the newly formed state of Montanaand settled at Kalispell, Flathead County. Here, on December 27, 1895, hemarried as his second wife) Elizabeth A. (Smiley) Lampton, widow ofEmmons F. Lampton. William Jasper Sparks died on February 17, 1908, andwas buried in the Eureka Cemetery at Kalispell. Elizabeth died on June10, 1919.

William Jasper Sparks was an elected member of the Montana Legislature in1895. The Legislative Manual of Montana, published that year containedthe picture reproduced above along with the following biographical sketchof him: "W. J. Sparks, member from Flathead County, was born in AdairCounty, Kentucky, Jan. 18, 1838. He was educated in the public schools ofMissouri and began life as a farmer and school teacher, farming in thesummer and teaching in the winter. He has lived in the states ofKentucky, Missouri, Nebraska and Montana. He has been a resident of thisstate six years, having been engaged in the saw mill business and farmingsince coming here. He has also had experience as a cowboy and a miner.His present avocation is farming. He served in Co. G, 2nd NebraskaCavalry from 1861 to 1865. He is a Populist."

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SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1980, Whole No. 109, pp. 2189-90

UNION SOLDIERS NAMED SPARKS WHO APPLIED, OR WHOSE HEIRS APPLIED, FORPENSIONS FOR SERVICE IN THE CIVIL WAR

(Editor's Note: From time to time we have been publishing abstracts ofthe pension files of Union soldiers who served in the Civil War. Readersare referred to page 2110 of the June 1979 issue of the QUARTERLY, WholeNo. 106, for an explanation of these abstracts.)

WILLIAM JASPER SPARKS, son of Josiah A. Sparks, Jr. and Anna (Gilkey)Sparks, was born on Jan. 17, 1838, in Adair County, Ky. He married (1)Eliza Jane Duncan in Jan. 1857 and (2) Elizabeth A. (Smiley) Lampton inDec. 1895. He served in Co. G, 2nd Regt. Nebraska Cavalry. FileDesignations: Inv. Cert. No. 912,101; Wid. Cert. No. 828,208.

Willaim J. Sparks made an application for an invalid pension prior toOct. 13, 1893, for on that date the War Department confirmed his militaryservice to the Bureau of Pensions. He had enlisted in Company G, 2ndRegiment Nebraska Cavalry on Nov. 6, 1862, and was mustered out on Dec.14, 1863, at Falls City, Nebr. The record showed him to have been sickfrom May 11-13, 1863, but he was returned to duty. Apparently his initialpension application was not approved.

On Nov. 27, 1895, Sparks again applied for pension benefits. He was 57years of age and a resident of Kalispell, Flathead County, Mont. He saidthat he suffered from chronic diarrhea and piles which were caused by theconstant jolting in the saddle combined with the excessive weight of armsand ammunition belted to his waist. He also said he was almost totallyblind from an explosion of a cartridge which he was extracting from a gunin April 1893. He appointed John Wedderburn, Washington, D.C., as hisattorney. John Myers and Alvin R. Laws witnessed his signature.

Sparks's attorney apparently asked him for more information about hisblindness, for three undated affidavits concerning that incident wereamong the documents we have received from his pension file in theNational Archives. Chester D. Lloyd, age 25; Elmer E. Rollins, age 33;and Rhenault R. Rollins, age 52; all of Flathead County, testified thaton or about April 3, 1893, Sparks was extracting a shell from aWinchester rifle when the shell exploded and damaged his eyes. The righteye had to be removed and the left eye was left with such little visionthat he was unable to move about freely and carry on his business orperform manual labor.

William J. Sparks was placed on the pension rolls under InvalidCertificate No. 912,101. On Feb. 12, 1898, he replied to a questionnairefrom the Bureau of Pensions. He said he was married to Elizabeth A.Smiley on Dec. 26, 1895, at Kalispell, Montana, by the Rev. George M.Fisher. Her present age (in 1898) was 52 years. Prior to this marriage,he had been married to Eliza Jane Duncan who had died at Pineville,McDonald County, Mo., on Sept. 5, 1885. He said that he had eleven livingchildren, the oldest was born on Dec. 22, 1859, and the youngest was bornon Nov. 29, 1883.

When William J. Sparks died on Feb. 17, 1908, he was receiving a pensionof $12.00 per month. Two months later, the Flathead County Clerk, A. W.Swaney, sent a copy of Sparks's marriage record to the Bureau ofPensions. It stated that on Dec. 26, 1895, William J. Sparks, age 57,born at Columbia, Adair County, Ky., and a son of Josiah A. Sparks andAnna Gilkey, was married to Elizabeth A. Lampton, age 50, born atOtterville, Cooper County, Mo., a daughter of Gustavius A. Smiley andCatherine Slo--- (illegible) and the widow of Emmons F. Lampton who haddied on Jan. 14, 1890.

Elizabeth A. Sparks, widow of William J. Sparks, applied for and receiveda widow's pension under the 1908 Act of Congress. The pension was issuedunder Widow's Certificate No. 828,208. When she died on June 10, 1919,she was receiving a pension of $25.00 per month.

(Editor's note: William J. Sparks was a descendant of the Sparkses whowent from Prince Georges County, Maryland, to Pittsylvania County,Virginia, about 1777. About 1800, some members of this family moved toAdair County, Ky., and then on westward to Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri.An article on this branch of the family has been published in theDecember 1979 issue of the QUARTERLY and continued in the present issue.See page 2180 and the pages following for additional informationregarding William Jasper Sparks.)

SQ p. 762:

GREENUP COUNTY, KENTUCKY, MARRIAGE BONDS (1803-1850)

Copied by Paul B. Sparks

Dulcena Sparks & Thomas Walker, November 19, 1828.
Isaac Sparks & Lucinda Thomas, March 15, 1833. James Thomas, father ofLucinda, Bondsman.
William Sparks & Emmaline Hyde, January 1, 1828. Bondsman: Lewis Hyde.James L. Hyde, father, gives consent.
Catherine Sparks & James W. Howard, December 12, 1836.
William Sparks & Elizabeth Hager, December 27, 1848. Consent given byElizabeth Hager & Thomas Sparks.
Solomon Sparks & Angeline Roister, September 10, 1850. Bondsman: JohnHolbrook.

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SQ p. 3868:
"William "Bill" Jayne Sparks, son of Thomas and Catherine (Jayne)Sparks, was born about 1827 in Lawrence County. He was married toElizabeth Hager on December 27, 1848, in Greenup County, Kentucky. Shehad been born about 1823 and was a daughter of James and Susana (Porter)Hager, natives of Virginia. When the 1860 census was taken, Bill andElizabeth were in Floyd County, Kentucky, but they moved to JohnsonCounty shortly thereafter where they lived at Boons Camp. Elizabeth diedthere on March 19, 1885, and Bill died there on April 13, 1895. They hadeight children."

William Sparks, Jr. is the 6th Great-grandfather of James Joseph Sparks.

THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, MARCH 1971, Whole No. 73:

"SPARKS FAMILIES IN KENT, TALBOT AND QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTIES,MARYLAND."

In an article on William Sparks Jr.'s uncle John Sparks (517) at page1376, it mentions William Jr. In John's will he left "Buck Hill" to histwo sons John and George who were still in England and, if they didn'tcome to America, the property was to go to his nephew William Sparks,Jr. See notes of John Sparks.

The article on William Sparks Jr.'s father William (204) begins onpage 1384 where we find the following excerpt:

"The first official record of a son of William Sparks was recorded inOctober 1695 when he and his son, William Sparks, Jr. were witnesses tothe will of John Ellet in Talbot County. (Maryland Calendar of Wills,Vol. 2, p. 109). From this we may infer that William Sparks, Jr. was theoldest son of William Sparks and was probably born twenty-one or moreyears earlier, or at least by 1674. If this inference is correct, we mayspeculate that William and Mary had been married about 1670-73.

"...On December 2, 1696, both William Sparks and his son WilliamSparks Jr., signed an interesting document addressed to the King ofEngland, William III. In the previous February there had been anassassination plot to restore King James II to the throne. The plot wasbetrayed, most of the conspirators were arrested, and eight of them wereput to death. Stating that news had "here Arriv'd of the horribleintended Conspiracy against his Royal person," the justices of theprovince, along with the civil officers and military officers of eachcounty, signed an "address" of congratulations to their "DreadSoveraign." The signers professed their loyalty to King William andpromised to "Stand by & Assist Each other to the Utmost of our power inthe Support and Defense of yor Mats Governmt against the late King Jamesand all his Adherents..." William Sparks 's name appears among the 29"Civill Officers & Magistrates" of Kent County who signed this address,and the names of both William Sparks and his son William Sparks, Jr.,were included among the 62 "Military Officers of Kent County." (A numberof other individuals were listed among both the civil and militaryofficers including John Hunter and John Hamer, thus we can be quite surethat the William Sparks in both lists was t he same person.) Why WilliamSparks and his son were listed among the officials of Kent County ratherthan Talbot County, we cannot be sure. Talbot County had been cut offfrom Kent County in 1662, although Kent Island remained part of KentCounty until 1695."

At page 1389 we find:

"William Sparks, Jr., born about 1674. He married (first) MargaretHamilton, daughter of Josiah Hamilton; she died prior to 1729 and hemarried (second) Ann ---, who died January 15, 1730/31. We have found norecord of the death of William Sparks, Jr., nor have we been able toidentify any of his children, except a daughter Sarah ."

(For a full transcript of this article see notes under William I.)

In the SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1989, Whole No. 148, pages 3484-3500is an article on William Sample Sparks (201), a son of William Sparks,Jr. It contains the following references to William Jr.:

Pg. 3485: "Paul E. Sparks and this writer are now convinced that wehave identified the parentage of William Sample Sparks, as well as hissiblings and three of his children. We have to admit, however, that ourproof of these relationships is based on what in the law is called "apreponderance of evidence" rather than upon a primary source documentcontaining this information. In part, our conclusions have
been reached through a process of elimination based on years of study ofall members of the Queen Annes County Sparks family. Much of ourdifficulty in this research results from the repeated use of the forename "William" by members of this branch of the family. Not only was thegrandfather of William Sample Sparks named William (we have his 1709 willthat was probated in Queen Annes County that same year), but this firstWilliam Sparks named his oldest son William, and in turn not only didthat son (William Sparks Jr.) name a son William, but each of the otherthree sons of this first William Sparks (who died in 1709) also named ason William, apparently to honor their father. Fortunately, William, sonof William, Jr., was either given a middle name at his birth or, what ismore probable, addopted the middle name"Sample." This helps greatly todistinguish him in the records of the time from his father and from histhree first cousins named William Sparks. Unfortunately, there wereoccasions when "Sample" was omitted from his name when a clerk recordedit in an official record.

"Until about a decade ago, we thought that the William Sparks who diedin Surry County, North Carolina, in 1802 was William Sample Sparks . Wegradually came to realize, however, that this William Sparks who diedin1802 was actually a son" (the 4th g-grandfather of James J. Sparks) "of William Sample Sparks, who had died some 35 years earlier...."

Page 3486: "William Sparks (died 1709), the first American ancestor ofthis branch of the Sparks family, came to the colony of Maryland in orabout 1663. During the next 45 years, he accumulated a good deal ofproperty which he passed on to his wife, Mary, and to his children i nhis will. As noted earlier, one of his sons was named William, and whilethe elder William Sparks was living, this son was called "William Sparks, Jr." in official records. We believe that William Sparks, Jr., was theeldest
son of William Sparks and that he was born about 1674. He was marriedtwice, his first wife being Margaret Hamilton, daughter of JosiahHamilton, to whom he had been married no later than March 1696 and whowas the mother of William Sample Sparks. (Margaret Hamilton wasidentified as the wife of William Sparks and the daughter of JosiahHamilton in a New Castle County, Deleware, deed dated March 31, 1696, andrecorded in Deed Book B-1, pp. 101-02; Josiah Hamilton had died by thisdate and property in New Castle that had been inherited by Margaret wassold in this deed.)

"Sometime prior to 1729, Margaret (Hamilton) Sparks died, and WilliamSparks, Jr., then married Anne---, who died on December 16, 1730. AnneSparks's death was recorded in St. Luke's Parish Register in Queen AnnesCounty, Maryland. William Sparks, Jr. died about 1735, we believe, butno probate of his estate has been found among Queen Annes County records.

"William Sparks, Jr. had three brothers who, along with himself, werenamed in their father's will of June 1709. They were: George Sparks,born about 1679; John Sparks, born about 1684; and Joseph Sparks, bornabout 1689. The elder William Sparks also mentioned a deceased daughterin his will who had married a man named Hynson..."

"Prior to the creation of St. Luke's Parish in Queen Anne's County,the parish which included the area where the Sparks family lived was St.Paul's Parish, the records for which, unfortunately, have not beenpreserved. In 1728, a petition addressed to the Upper and Lower Housesof the Assembly of the Province of Maryland was circulated forsignatures. It requested that a new parish be created because "many soulshave to travel as much as twenty to thirty miles to keep the Lord's Day."Among the signers of this petition was "William Sparks, Senr." This wassurely the William Sparks born about 1674 who had been called "WilliamSparks, Jr." until his father died in 1709. In 1728, with his fatherhaving been dead for nearly 20 years and his own son, also named William,having come of age, it was logical that he now be called "Senior."...Thepetitioners were successful, and St. Paul's Parish was divided to formSt. Luke's Parish.

The Sparks family was included in the new parish. (See THE SPARKSQUARTERLY, June, 1998, Whole No. 182, for an article entitled THEESTABLISHING OF ST. LUKE'S CHURCH AT CHURCH HILL, MARYLAND, IN QUEENANNES COUNTY. There is a photograph of the church which stands today andis on the National Register of Historic Places, so declared by the U.S.Department of the Interior.)
"A map showing where the Sparks family of St. Luke's Parish in QueenAnne's County Maryland, lived, appeared on the cover of the QUARTERLY forMarch, 1971, Whole No. 73."

**********

SQ p. 5459:

The last land record found for William Sparks, Jr. is dated March 3,1729/30. Called "William Sparks of Queen Annes County Planter" in thedeed, he sold to Thomas Honey for 6,000 pounds of tobacco the tract ofland called "Sparks Outlet" comprising 114 acres that he had inheritedfrom his father. His brother, George Sparks and wife Mary, witnessed thefact that William had received payment from Honey. Particularlysignificant is the fact that the wife of William who signed the deed withhim in 1729/30 was Ann Sparks. Both signed by mark. Margaret (Sample)Sparks must have died prior to 1729 and Ann must have been a second wifeof William Sparks, Jr.

The Sparks family headed by the senior William Sparks were members of theChurch of England, and they worshipped at St. Paul's Church atCenterville, now the seat of justice of Queen Annes County.Unfortunately, no records of birth, marriage, and death survive for thisearly period. There is a record, however, from 1728, that reveals thatWilliam Sparks, Jr., along with his brothers, John and George Sparks,were among the members of St. Paul's who petitioned the Maryland GeneralAssembly to create a new parish nearer to their homes. Their petition wasapproved, and St. Luke's Parish, located at Church Hill in Queen AnnesCounty 48 miles east of Annapolis, was created that same year.

Baptisms, marriages, and deaths were recorded at St. Luke's and mostsurvive today. None has been found pertaining to William Sparks, Jr.,however. Another William Sparks, Jr. was recorded as dying on January 15,1731, (under the Gregorian Calendar, 1731), but he was the son of JohnSparks, brother of William. He was called "Junr." in this record so hewould not be confused with his uncle. There is also a record of the deathof an Anne Sparks that reads: "Anne the wife of William Sparks, deced.,December 16, 1730." This was probably the second wife of the William whomwe have designated as "Jr." throughout this sketch.

Maryland landowners were required to pay an annual tax to the colony'sLord Proprietor. It was called a "rent" tax. The 1734 "Rent Roll" forQueen Annes County happens to survive, and it shows "William Sparks" asstill owning a tract called "Royston," that he had purchased in 1722, aswell as "Adventure" that had once be longed to his father, William Sparks(died 1709). No further reference to William Sparks, Jr. has beenfound, nor has research by Dr. Gibb, our Maryland researcher, revealedany record of his selling either of these two tracts. We believe that heeither died about 1734 or that, possibly, he moved with his son, WilliamSample Sparks, to Frederick County, Maryland and, perhaps, died there.

William Sample Sparks, son of William, Jr. and Margaret (Sample) Sparks(he was probably their eldest son) was born about 1700.

The marriage record in the register of St. Luke's Parish dated August 4,1732, for a William Sparks and Mary Courmon (or Corman) may have beenthat of William Sample Sparks, but we cannot be sure. If so, it wouldsurely have been a second marriage for him. Our only actual record inQueen Annes County in which his full name appeared is on page 236 of theRegister of St. Luke's Parish under the financial accounts for the year1736. William Sample Sparks was recorded there as having moved awaywithout paying his annual Church of England tax required of every adultmale regardless of actual Church membership. William Sample Sparks hadleft for Frederick County still owing six pence.

In moving west to Frederick County, William Sample Sparks had eitheraccompanied or followed his uncle, Joseph Sparks, to the part ofFrederick County that is now (since 1837) the western portion of CarrollCounty, Maryland. It is possible that, as noted above, his widowedfather, William Sparks, Jr., accompanied him and died there.

As noted earlier, an article devoted to William Sample Sparks appeared inthe QUARTERLY of December
1989, Whole No. 148, although at that time we believed that his mother'smaiden name had been Margaret Hamilton based on the erroneously copieddocument discussed near the beginning of the present article. As noted inthe December 1989 article as well as that of June 1997, records existproving that William Sample Sparks moved with members of his family fromFrederick County, Maryland, to the Forks of the Yadkin in Rowan County,North Carolina, in about 1754. There he operated an ordinary, or inn.Since we have found no record of his owning land while living inFrederick County, Maryland, it is quite possible that he had operated anordinary there, also. Readers are referred to the two articles citedabove for further details of the life of William Sample Sparks. Webelieve that he died in North Carolina about 1765.

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

Here continues notes which were started in the notes for William Sparks,Sr., continued for space reasons under the notes of Martha (Moore)Sparks, William's spouse, and, for the same reason, ended here. Theycame from an article appearing in THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, March, 1999,Whole No. 185, pps. 5116-5129. Here is the balance of the last of thearticle on page 5129:

"J. Sarah Sparks, born ca.1775, died 1851. She was married to RobertMorrow. See the present issue of the QUARTERLY, pp. 5116-17 forinformation on Sarah and her family.

1. John Morrow.
2. Riley Morrow.
3. Jeptha Morrow.
4. Delilah Morrow.
5. Robert Morrow.
6. Isabella Morrow.
7. D. Morrow (daughter).
8. Hiram Morrow.
9. Irene Morrow.
10. Samuel Morrow.

K. Joseph Sparks, born ca.1776, died 1838. He was married to AnneWilson in 1797. For information on this family see the QUARTERLY of June1970, Whole No. 70, p. 1315; December 1970, Whole No. 72, p. 1366; andDecember 1984, Whole No. 128, p. 2679. Joseph and Anne's children werethe following.

1. James Albert Sparks.
2. Harriett Sparks.
3. Catherine Sparks.
4. William Sparks.
5. Sidney Sparks (daughter).
6. John Sparks.
7. Joseph Sparks.

L. Jonas Sparks, born ca. 1780, died ca. 1810. No marriage record hasbeen found, but his wife's name was Elizabeth. He is known to have had adaughter:

1. Cynthia Sparks.

M. RICHARD SPARKS may have been a son of William Sparks, but we have noinformation other than a family memory of his name.

"[Editor's Note: As can be seen from our many conjectures in the abovearticle, major mysteries remain in our attempt to organize this familyunit. We would be most pleased to hear from anyone having furtherinformation. In using the above records, we beg readers to retain ourfrequent use of such words as "probably," "perhaps," "possibly," etc.,along with our question marks, and please retain our frequent use of"ca." meaning "about." Too often we are finding material from theQUARTERLY being copied (often without giving the source) into computerprograms in which our careful distinction between documented facts andpossible relationships is ignored.]" END OF ARTICLE SQ p. 5129.

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This article about William's parents William and Martha is found at SQ p.3249 and included here for space reasons:

PROOF OF MARRIAGE OF WILLIAM SPARKS & MARTHAMOORE

In the QUARTERLY of June 1963, Whole No. 42 (pp. 728-734), we publishedan article entitled "George Sparks and William Sparks of WashingtonCounty, Pennsylvania." In that article, we indicated that there werefamily records stating that William Sparks had married Martha Moore, butwe had found nothing to give us either the date or the place of thismarriage. We are now able to report that a record has been foundproviding this information. The marriage of William Sparks and MarthaMoore is recorded in St. James's Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, ashaving taken place on March 12, 1761.

Further information regarding this family appeared in the QUARTERLY ofMarch 1984, Whole No. 125, in an article which traced the life anddescendants of a son of William and Martha (Moore) Sparks named JamesSparks, born about 1765.

William Sparks was born on April 27, 1738, in Queen Annes County,Maryland. He was a son of Joseph and Mary Sparks. His birth and baptism(on June 4, 1738) were recorded in St. Luke's Parish Church located atChurch Hill in Queen Annes County. (See page 1389-1391 of the March 1971issue of the QUARTERLY, Whole No. 73, for a list of the Sparks recordsfound among the records of this church; also page 3231 of the presentissue of the QUARTERLY where William Sparks is identified as a grandsonof the William Sparks who died in 1709 in Queen Annes County, Maryland,item No. 35. )

William Sparks's parents moved west to Frederick County, Maryland, whereWilliam's father, Joseph Sparks, died in 1749. William was only nineyears old when he lost his father, and we do not know at what age he leftFrederick County to move northeast to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, butit was sometime before 1761, the year in which he married Martha Moore.The Moore family appears to have lived in Lancaster County for many years.

Martha Moore was a daughter of Alexander Moore who died sometime prior toMay 31, 1766, when a deed was prepared settling a portion of his estate.(See Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book L, page 224b.) In thisdeed, three daughters of Alexander Moore were identified: Hannah, who hadmarried Moses Irwin; Agnes, who had married John Dickson and lived inYork County, Pennsylvania; and Martha, wife of William Sparks. The widowof Alexander Moore was identified as Margaret Moore.

William and Martha (Moore) Sparks were identified as living in DrumoreTownship in Lancaster County at the time this deed was written (July 12,1766). Drumore Township is very near the Maryland border of Pennsylvania.Family records indicate that James Sparks, believed to have been theiroldest son, was born about 1765 in Frederick County, Maryland. PerhapsWilliam Sparks moved his family back to Frederick County before James'sbirth, or the family record may be mistaken. We do know, however, that in1773 William Sparks moved his family west by pack-horse, across theAllegheny Mountains, and settled in that area of Pennsylvania that becameWashington County in 1781. He acquired 323 acres of land in what is nowIndependence Township, quite near present-day Ohio County in WestVirginia. We believe that William Sparks died there prior to 1786.

Descendants of James Sparks, son of William and Martha (Moore) Sparks,believe that William and Martha had children with the following names:James, William, Jr., Richard, Pernina, Marjory, Martha, and Margaret.

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SQ p. 5128:

"William Sparks, Jr., born ca. 1762, died ca. 1799. The name of hiswife has not been found. Information regarding him and his family can befound in the QUARTERLY for September 1970, Whole No. 71, p. 1336;September 1971, Whole No. 75, p. 1416; March 1977, Whole No. 97. p. 1878;and September 1980, Whole No. 111, p. 2240. His children were 1. CalebSparks; 2. Joseph Sparks; and 3. Mary Sparks."

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1966, Whole No. 173, p. 4591:

On the cover ispicture of William Sparks Jr. and Rachel (Lee) Sparks. Thearticle states:

"On the cover of one of the earliest issues of The Sparks Quarterly(that for December 1956, Whole No. 16), we published a photograph of a"Tree-of-Life Quilt" made many years earlier. It was comprised of thirty"sewing blocks," on each of which were stitched scraps of figured clothin "crazy-quilt" fashion, along with names, with an occasional date.Research proved that the Sparks names belonged to the family of Williamand Rhoda (Pennington) Sparks of North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.We have also learned that the numberous persons named Lee were of thefamily of Augustine and Rachael (Nichols) Lee. (On the quilt "Augustine"is spelled "Augusta ," while some sources call him Augustus.) Thephotograph used in 1956 had been provided by Mrs. Meryln Houck ofStillwater, Oklahoma. She told us that a daughter of Augustine andRachel Lee had been Rachel Lee, named for her mother, and she had beenmarried to William Sparks, Jr., a son of William and Rhoda Sparks, onMarch 30, 1851, in White County, Tennessee. At that time the quilt wasowned by Mrs. Clure Coffelt.

"Today, this family heirloom is owned by Ruth Sparks Hale, Rt. 2 ,Box 178, Sparta, Tennessee, 38583. Through Mrs. Hale, we now know who itwas that actually made the quilt -- she was Rachel Elina (Lee) Sparks,daughter of Augustine and Rachel (Nichols) Lee, whose husband was WilliamSparks , Jr.
Rachel had been born on February 6, 1832, in White County, Tennessee ,the part that is now Putnam County; she died on June 6, 1906, also inPutnam County. William Sparks, Jr., son of William and Rhoda(Pennington) Sparks, was born on April 3, 1828, in Tennessee, and died onMarch 20, 1919.

"In the issue of the Quarterly for September 1982, Whole No. 119 ,pp. 2453-57, we published an account written by Donald Pugh describinghis efforts to find the graves of some of the people named on the quilt,a total of fifty-one individuals, of whom nineteen had the name Sparks.For this 1982 article,
we again published a photograph of this quilt (see page 2454). Mr.Pugh's article was followed by an account prepared by Dr. Paul E. Sparks,the Association's president, identifying the Sparkses whose names appearon the quilt. All were descendants, or the spouses of descendants, ofWilliam
Sparks (born ca.1783) and his wife, Rhoda (Pennington) Sparks. The datesof death for both William and Rhoda are included in the block of thequilt containing their names: William died on March 2, 1869, and Rhodadied on October 26, 1871. They were the father-in-law and mother-in-lawof Rachel (Lee) Sparks, the maker of the quilt.

"William Sparks (rin 192) (ca.1783-1869) was a son of James Sparks(189) (ca.1762-ca.1826) and a grandson of William Sparks (rin 199) (ca.1725- 1801/2). A lengthy article devoted to this branch of the Sparksfamily appeared in the Quarterly of June 1991, Whole No. 154, pp.3751-3798 . An article about James Sparks (ca.1762-ca.1826) and hisfamily was published in the March 1994 issue, Whole No. 165, pp.4265-4276.

"Mrs. Hale reports that it had been about three years after Williamand Rhoda (Pennington) Sparks purchased their farm in Putnam County,Tennessee, that their tenth child, William Sparks, Jr., was born on April3, 1828. (Although Putnam County had been created from portions of White,Jackson, Overton, and Dekalb Counties, it was not until 1854 that the newcounty was organized with a civil government.) As noted earlier, theSparks family was in that part of Putnam County that had been taken fromWhite County. It was at the home of his son, Joe Sparks, located on theold Sparks farm on which he had been reared, that William Sparks, Jr.died on March 20, 1919.

"Mrs. Hale had provided us with the following list of the childrenof William Sparks, Jr. and his wife Rachel Elina (Lee) Sparks. The firstthree died during an epidemic in 1857. (here follows list on page 4593;info is included in family group sheet.)

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, , March 1959, Whole No. 25, p. 374:

"Wi1liam Sparks, Jr., son of William and Emiline (Moore) Sparks, wasMrs. Chandler’s grandfather. He was born in McNairy County, Tennessee, onJuly 9, 1846. He grew up in Prairie County, Arkansas, where in 1861 heenlisted in the Confederate Army, Smith’s Artillery, Polk’s Division,later joining Whitfield’s Legion, Army of the Tennessee. He fought atShiloh as well as in other famous engagements. In 1863 he came west ofthe Mississippi River and served in Arkansas and Missouri until the endof the conflict. He was married in Prairie County, Arkansas, on February15, 1864, to Miss Frances Elizabeth Gatewood, born January 21, 1842, inCarroll County, Mississippi. She was a daughter of Peter Gatewood, bornin Virginia in 1813, and Nancy Hoover (Smith) Gatewood, born in Tennesseein 1818. In 1874, William Sparks, Jr., moved with his family to Texas,where he followed farming until 1879, when he was appointed deputysheriff of Denton County, Texas. In 1886 and again in 1888, he waselected sheriff of Denton County. William Sparks, Jr., died in DentonCounty on December 4, 1893; Frances Elizabeth
died in Dallas, Texas, on April 11, 1936. They were the parents of thefollowing children: (1) William Sparks, born 1866, died 1883; (2) ThomasJ. Sparks, born 1867, died 1931, married his cousin, Molly Sparks,daughter of John and Mitty Sparks of Arkansas; they had one son; (3)James N. Sparks, born 1869, died 1921, married Louvisa Elizabeth Smith;they had three children; (4) Virginia Ann Sparks, born 1872, died 1933,married J. W. Durbin; they had six children; (5) Della Jane Sparks, born1877, died 1953, married Claud May; they had three children; (6) MarthaElizabeth Sparks, born 1879, married
J. H. Davis who was the son of Mrs. Lucinda Davis, second wife of WilliamSparks, Jr.; they had no children; and (7) Samuel Sparks, born 1882, died1955, married Mary Williams; they had no children.

See SQ p. 232 for birth information which shows his birth date as 21June, 1855.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1984, Whole No. 126, pp. 2618-19:

"William M. Sparks, son of Joseph and Sarah (DeFord) Sparks, was bornon December 20, 1838, in Clinton County, Indiana . He was a farmer, buthe also studied medicine at the Rush Medical School in Chicago and becamea practicing physician. On November 17, 1859, he was married to HarrietEmily Hossleton in Fulton County , Illinois. She was born on October 10,1839, in Illinois. When the Civil War broke out, William joined the 72ndRegiment Illinois Infantry and served until the war ended. (See belowfor an abstract of his pension file).

"After he returned from the military service, William Sparks lived inseveral places, including Clark County, Missouri; Butler County , Kansas;Benton County, Arkansas; and San Miguel County, New Mexico . In thelatter state, he worked as a physician for the Atchison, Topeka, & SantaFe Railroad. It was here that Herried died on March 13 , 1910. Williamdied on July 25, 1922. They were buried in the Masonic Cemetery in LasVegas, New Mexico. They had six children.

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SQ p. 2638:

ABSTRACT OF SERVICE RECORD OF WILLIAM M. SPARKS, who served in CompanyI, 72nd Regiment Illinois Infantry. File Designation: Inv. Cert . No.358,056.

"On April 7, 1884, William Sparks, aged 45 years, a resident ofWatrous, Territory of New Mexico, made a declaration for an InvalidPension. He stated that he had enrolled on August 14, 1862, at Chicago,Illinois, in Company I, 72nd Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers,commanded by Capt. F. A. Staring, and had served until he was dischargedat Vicksburg, Mississippi, on August 7, 1865. On November 28 , 1864, hewas wounded in his right knee during a skirmish at Duck River, Tennessee,and was treated in the field hospital. Because of this injury, he wasnow partially disabled from obtaining his subsistence as a practicingphysician. He was 5 ft. 7 in. tall; he had a light complexion, brownhair and blue eyes; and he had been a farmer before going into theservice. Henry H. Green, Probate Clerk of Mora County, New Mexico,attested to the declaration.

"On May 28, 1884, John F. Negley and Joseph F. McClenden appearedbefore T. J. Sparks, a notary public of McDonough County, Illinois, andswore that they had been members of Company I, 72nd Regiment IllinoisInfantry and on the 28th day of November 1864, while in front ofConfederate lines at Duck River, Tennessee, they saw Sgt. William Sparkswounded in the knee. A day later, Allen L. Sparks also appeared beforeT. J. Sparks and made an affidavit that he was the oldest brother ofWilliam Sparks and knew that he (William) was perfectly sound in body andlimbs before he went into the service.

"The War Department confirmed the military service of William Sparkson July 18, 1884. He had enrolled on August 5, 1862, for three years inCompany I, 72nd Regiment Illinois Infantry and had served until he wasmustered out with the rank of sergeant with his company on August 7,1865. This regiment was engaged in a skirmish at Duck River , Tennessee,on November 29, 1864; however, available records furnished no evidence ofa wound as alleged.

"William Sparks made the following statement on April 16, 1885: " I,William Sparks, late of Co. I, 72nd Regt. Illinois volunteers, wastreated by Dr. Beard of our own regiment who is now dead. The officersthat knew of my being wounded were 1st Lt. Jacob Sehanks, commanding thecompany at that time and who died near Galveston, Texas, of yellow feverin the summer of 1867; 2nd Lt. Packard was killed at Franklin, Tennessee,on Nov. 30, 1864; Sgt. Ely Goran (orderly) died in Fulton County,Illinois, in the winter of 1867. I am the only non-commissioned officerof the above company now living. Lieut. James Smith was assigned to thecommand of Co. H, 72nd Regiment Illinois Volunteers at New Orleans,Louisiana, in February 1865. He died in Chicago, Illinois, in 1868. Thelast post-office address of John F. Negley was Bushnell, Illinois, andthat of Joseph F. McClenden was Seaville, Illinois." (There is no"Seaville" in Illinois; perhaps Seatonville was intended .)"

"Invalid Certificate No. 358,056 was issued to William Sparks and hewas placed upon the pension roll. On January 15, 1898, he responded to aquestionnaire from the Bureau of Pensions. He said he had been marriedto Harriet E. Hosselton in Fulton County, Illinois, by Wm. Bushner. Theyhad five living children: Clarence A. Sparks, born March 7, 1861;Florence A. Sparks, born August 6, 1866; Carrie D . Sparks, born July 10,1869; Ada Sparks, born april 2, 1874; Mabel Sparks, born September 15,1875.

"On August 15, 1902, Edward Hesch, aged 32, a resident of Glorieta ,Territory of New Mexico, made an affidavit that he was the owner of asawmill where William Sparks lost his hand and part of his arm in anaccident. Sparks was taking lumber from a planer when he got caught andhis hand and part of his arm were cut off.

"The last declaration by William Sparks for increased pension benefitswas made on May 20, 1912. He was 73 years of age and a resident of EastLas Vegas, New Mexico. He said he had been born on December 20, 1838, ona farm in Clinton County, Indiana. Since leaving the service he hadlived in Fulton County, Illinois, from 1865 to 1870 ; Clark County,Missouri, from 1870 to 1872; Butler County, Kansas, from 1872 to 1878;Benton County, Arkansas, from 1878 to 1879; Rocieda , New Mexico from1879 to 1906, and East Las Vegas, New Mexico from 1906 to the present.Albert Rogers, Jr. and Ada Sparks witnessed the declaration.

"When William Sparks died on July 24, 1922, he was receiving a pensionof $72 per month. He lived at East Las Vegas, New Mexico. His daughter,Ada Sparks, gave the information for his death certificate. (She erredon the birth date of her father, stating that he had been born in 1836rather than 1838; she erred also regarding the name of her mother,stating that she was Josephine DeFord rather than Sarah Deford.) WilliamSparks was buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Las Vegas, New Mexico,beside his wife who had died on March 13, 1910. "

"For a story entitled "A Union Soldier Recalls the Siege of Vicksburg"see SQ pps 4104-4108. This includes a letter written by William M.Sparks to his brother Thomas J. Sparks who was planning a trip to NewOrleans and to Vicksburg, Mississippi. William included a map anddiscussed the siege to assist his brother visit the battleground." [Thatstory follows:]

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A UNION SOLDIER RECALLS THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG

A number of years ago, Minnie Mae (Pierce) Huffer, who died in 1984, (seethe QUARTERLY of September 1984, Whole No. 127, p. 2673, for herobituary) shared with us a letter that had been written by hergrand-uncle, William M. Sparks (1838-1922) on January 14, 1914. It isapparent from the contents of this letter, that William M. Sparks hadlearned that his brother, Thomas J. Sparks (1843-1936), a lawyer and aresident of Champaign, Illinois, was planning a trip to New Orleans,Louisiana, and also to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Wflliam wrote a hurriedletter to his brother, urging him to visit sites in both cities that heremembered from his service fifty years earlier in the Union Army duringthe Civil War. He also drew a map to guide his brother in finding thearea where his regiment had camped and fought at Vicksburg. Although,after half a century, William Sparks's memory of the landscape wasprobably a bit inaccurate, we believe that the reproduction of hisdrawing makes an interesting cover design for this issue of the QUARTERLY.

It was as a member of Company I of the Illinois 72nd Volunteer Infantrythat William M. Sparks had participated in the Union Army's historicSiege of Vicksburg in 1863. In 1865, he had also been stationed in NewOrleans, where his company had camped near the site of the battlegroundin the War of 1812 on which Andrew Jackson had won his famous victoryover the British in 1815. Sparks even remembered seeing the tree underwhich the British commander, Sir Edward Pakenham, had died from woundsreceived in the battle. In his Pictorial Field-Book of theWar of 1812,published in New York in 1869, Benson J. Lossing told of Pakenham being"placed under a venerable live-oak tree" where he had died from hiswounds on January 8, 1815.

The chronology of events described in the Sparks letter is a bitconfusing because, knowing that his brother would go first to NewOrleans, he began by telling of the sites there that he remembered, buthis memories of New Orleans actually followed those of Vicksburg, towhich he devoted the remainder of his letter.

William M. Sparks had been born on December 20, 1838, in Clinton County,Indiana, being the fourth child of Joseph and Sarah (DeFord) Sparks. As aboy, he had accompanied his parents when, in 1844, they moved to FultonCounty, Illinois. There, near the village of Ellisville, he became afarmer, but he also practiced medicine, having studied at the RushMedical School in Chicago. On November 17, 1859, he was married toHarriet Emily Hossleton, and they had a son, Clarence Newton Sparks,before William joined the Union Army. In fact, Harriet was pregnant witha second child when William left for Chicago where, on August 14, 1862,he enlisted in the Seventy-Second Regiment Illinois Volunteers. He becamea corporal in Company I. He was with the same unit when he received hisdischarge on August 7, 1865, by which time he had been promoted tosergeant. (A record of the branch of the family to which William M.Sparks belonged can be found in the QUARTERLY of June 1984, Whole No.126; an abstract of his pension file at the National Archives alsoappears in that issue, pp. 2638-40.)

As will be seen in his letter, Sparks mentioned, what his brotherobviously knew, that at Milliken's Bend he had become ill and been left"alone to die in a cotenfield." This incident must have taken place inApril 1863. The division of which Sparks's regiment had become a unitlanded at Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, on April 23, 1863, and it was fromthere that they marched with General Grant's army to Vicksburg, arrivingat Champion Hill on May 16, 1863.

The letter of William M. Sparks follows. Apparently he was an early ownerof a typewriter, for his letter was typed, though doubtless with the"hunt-and-peck" system, since he had lost his left hand in a sawmillaccident in New Mexico, where he lived after 1879. Because of hisnumerous typing errors, we have taken the liberty to make corrections,along with adding punctuation, for ease of reading. We have not changedwhat are obvious spelling errors. Following the text of this letter, weshall quote from a history of the Illinois 72nd Infantry Regiment to makesome of his references more clear.
LasVegas [NM] January 19, 1914

Brother

Your letter of the 15 was recieved this morning, and I hasten to reply soyou will be sure to get it before you start to New Orleans. At NewOrleans we wer camped about 100 yards northwest of the big tree thatPeckingham [Sir Edward Pakenham] died under. I may be mistaken in thecourse, [but] it apears to me that the river runnes north or west ofnorth; aney way, it was down the river from the Oald Battle Ground ofJacksons and was in a direct line from Jacksons Monument to the tree.Their was nothing their then but the tree, but they tell me now it is allfensed in and is a fine looking place. As you look down the river, theirwas at that time a big swamp on your left which protected Jacksons leftflank in this fight. As you come up the river and pass Natcheese[Natcher], we were camped on the bluff next to the river, right on thebluff on the left side, as you go up to the city. 50 years ago, it wasthe nicest place on the Mississippi.

We were camped on the north east corner of Vicksburge, just south of thelittle creeke called Graiveyard Canion, close up to the creeke. Our cookshanties was on the north side of the streete. My company was the 3[third] co. from the streete, on the east of the camp. Co. A was campedright on the side of the streete, and Co. B was camped on the east sideof the streete, on the west of camp. On the 4 of July, our Regt. was, orstood on, the streete north of the corthouse. I saw Dr. Moris their, thelast time I ever saw him. He hunted me up for 6 months. I mounted gard atJail No. I, just across the streete, south east of the corthouse. I wason duty every other day for over 6 months. During the Seage, we werestationed at the head of the Graveyard Canion in the second draw thatcomes in from the north. To get there from the city, you take the JacksonWagon Road from Vicksburge to Jackson about 300 yards out from the OaldFort that the Joneys (Confederate soldiers] had. We maid a road to whereour Bregade lay. As you turne north on the road we maid, the 124 Ill.Regt. lay just on the left of the road. That was the Regt. that SteaveBrink and Tom Roach of Walnutt Grove was in- - -I saw them quite oftenduring the Seage. In going north, as you go out of the canion, there is,or was, quite a steap hill to clime, and our Regiment lay at the foot ofthis hill. Then came the 11 Ill., then the 95th Ill., then the 14 Wis.,and then the 17 Wis. Then came the 124 Ill. of Logans Division, and onthe right of the road going to Jackson, was the 17 Ill., Cosen [cousin]Jake Whealers regiment. It was raised in Fulton Co.

I will draw you a ruff map of whear we were camped while aroundVicksburge. On the 5 of July 1863, we were mooved on the high ridge northof Vicksburge, about 1 1/2 miles from the citty. If you go into,Vicksburg on the R.R. from Jackson, when you get to Clinton look well toyour left. As you go in, you will see the battleground of Champion Hill,or as some call it, Bakers Creeke. The next place will be EdwardsStation, and the next will be Big Black River Bridge. Our Regt. was upclose to the R.R. on the right as you go in. We left the R.R. after wecrossed the river [on May 17th] and went across the country to theJackson Road and folowed it into the Joheneys Works [the Confederatestronghold]. If you go down the River, look at Milagans Bend [Milliken'sBend, Louisiana]. Their is wheare they went off and left me alone to diein a coten field, but I did not stay long in that place, but it took meall day to get about one mile, but I found a good well of water and gotaway from the river. I began to get better, and the 3 [third] day Icaught up with the Regiment at Smiths Plantation, and I had the pleasureof telling our Dr. what I thought of him. He said one of my pluckdeserved better treatment, and he would see in the future that I got it,and he never forgot me after that.

On our road home to be mustered out in 1865, we walked from Jackson tothe Big Black River Bridge and then took the cars into Vicksburge. Thenwe camped in the south side of the city, just in the edge of the town atthe foot of Cherry St. You can hardley look at a place in Vicksburge butwhat I was in it 51 years ago. A long time, ain't it?

Newtie [eldest son of William M. Sparks] was down last night, but wenthome this morning. I am geting over the grip, but slow. Wright when youcan. I wanted you to know just where we wer in Vicksburge so you couldsee it for your selfe, but to take it all in, it will take 3 or 4 days.We lay during the seage about 4 mile north of wheare Grant and Pembertonhad interview on July 3 [1863].

As ever

BROTHER WILL

In a handwritten postscript, William M. Sparks added the followingsentence to the letter to his brother: "When you come back, tell me allabout Vicksburge and the National Cemetery; George Leeper, Will Hoit,Chris Lovewill, Joe Herr of Canton, [and] Ed Briminstall of Marietta areburied there."

From the listing of members of the Seventy-Second Infantry Regiment inthe Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois, Vol. IV, pp.525-52, published in 1901, we know that the George Leeper, to whom Sparksreferred, was George W. Leeper of Fairview, Fulton County, Illinois, aprivate in Sparks's company. Although Sparks noted on his map (see thecover of this issue of the QUARTERLY) that Leeper had been killed on May19, 1863, the above report indicates that he died at Vicksburg on May27th. His death may well have been from wounds that he had received onMay 19th, of course. The Will Hoit mentioned by Sparks seems to have beenAbraham Hoyt of Avon, Fulton County, who was killed at Vicksburg on May22, 1863; he was also a member of Company I of the 72nd Regiment, as was,likewise, Chris Lovewill. Lovewill was killed at Vicksburg on May 22,1863; his hometown had been the village of St. Augustine in Knox County,just over the line from Fulton County, Illinois. Joe Herr was Joseph D.Herr, also a private in Company I; he died at Vicksburg on September 27,1864. As will be seen in the history that follows, the 72nd Regimentreturned to Vicksburg "on provost guard duty" in October 1863 andremained there for over a year. Joseph D. Herr's home town was given inthe report noted above as Marietta, Fulton County, whereas Sparks statedthat he had been from the town of Canton, also located in Fulton County.

Ed Briminstall, whom Sparks also stated had been buried at the NationalCemetery at Vicksburg, may have been the Duane Briminstall of LeeTownship in Fulton County, Illinois, who was also a member of Company I,but in the Adjutant General's report, he was listed as having died at St.Louis on April 22, 1863. Perhaps the Ed Briminstall of Marietta to whomSparks referred was a different man belonging to another regiment.

Sparks also mentioned "Steave Brink and Tom Roach," identifying them asmembers of the 126th Illinois Infantry Regiment. Actually, both men heldthe rank of captain. Stephen Brink was captain of Company A, while ThomasK. Roach was captain of Company I. It was their 124th Regiment that"mined" beneath the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg called Fort Hill(shown on Sparks's map), and then packed the tunnel with gunpowder. Theexplosion was set off on June 25, 1863, and the crater which resultedcame to be called the "Slaughter Pen" as soldiers from the 124th Regimententered it, two companies each for half an hour, in an attempt to capturethe fort. They finally succeeded in doing so on July 1st. Both Roach andBrink later resigned their commissions, Roach on July 11 and Brink onAugust 11, 1863.

Sparks also referred to his cousin, "Jake Whealar," of the 17th IllinoisInfantry Regiment. This was Jacob Wheeler, whose home at his enlistmentin 1861 was given as Havanna, Illinois, in Vol. II of the Reportof theAdjutant General of theState of Illinois, noted above. Wheeler had been afirst sergeant of Company K when he was twice wounded at Frederickstown,Maryland, in October 1861; he was later promoted to the rank of firstlieutenant and, before the 17th Regiment was sent to Vicksburg, he hadbecome a captain. We have been unable to identify the "Dr. Moris" whomSparks said he had last seen at Vicksburg.

SQ pg 2022: They were the parents of seven children: Ina Marion ,Thomas Benton, John Newell, Oscar Marion, Addie Pearl, Troy William , andJames Grady Sparks.

Information on this family was obtained by email from Michael Burch(admin@@partitionsofgulfport.com) on August 4, 1904.

A photograph of William Matthew Sparks appears in THE SPARKS QUARTERLY onpage 4669 of the June 1996 issue, Whole No. 174. On the same pageappears a photograph (apparently taken sometime around 1940) of Ella(Sparks) Gordon, Lonnie T. Sparks, William Edmund Curtis Sparks, andSamuel T. Sparks, some of his children.

THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1978, Whole No. 101, pg 1985:

A REVIEW OF FIFTY FAMILIES: AHISTORY

Late in 1977, Nancy Chambers Underwood published a genealogical volumecomprising nearly 570 pages under the title Fifty Families: A History.Each of the families featured in this work, representing a decade ofresearch, is connected in some way with the family of Mrs. Underwood. Oneof these is a branch of the Sparks family to which eight pages of textare devoted along with several pages of photographs. This chapter wascontributed by Baxter Abbott Sparks, Jr., long a member of the SparksFamily Association.

The ancestor of this particular Sparks family was William MillingtonSparks, a Maryland planter, who was married on May 25, 1797, to RebeccaBrooks. A son was Samuel Wyatt Sparks, born July 7, 1803; he marriedSarah Deal in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1829. Samuel Wyatt Sparks lived inMississippi and Arkansas before finally settling with his family inLampasas County, Texas, in 1857.

Among the children of Samuel W. and Sarah (Deal) Sparks was John Sparks,born August 30, 1843, who was twice elected governor of Nevada, in 1903and in 1907. Another son was Martin Van Buren Sparks, born April 3, 1837,whose portrait has been reproduced in this volume. He married SusanLouise Bull. Information is given on the descendants of Martin Van BurenSparks, including Andrea Jean Sparks, his great-great-granddaughter (born1951) who married George Milton Underwood III, son of the compiler ofthis work. Copies of Fifty Families: A_ History may be ordered directlyfrom Nancy Chambers Underwood, 12700 Park Central Plaza, Suite 1606,Dallas, Texas (75251) for $25.00 plus $1.00 for shipping and handling.

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THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1995, Whole No. 170, pg 4455:

"Millington Sparks, III (also called William Millington Sparks) wasborn about 1775 in Maryland, probably in Queen Annes County. On the 1800census of Queen Annes County, he was enumerated as 16 to 26 years ofage. We have not found him on any 1810 or 1820 census, but on the 1830census of Lauderdale County, Alabama, his age was enumerated as between50 and 60, thus he was apparently born between 1775 and 1780.
"We have been unable to make a definite identification of the parentsof Millington Sparks, III; however, there can be little doubt that he wasa descendant of John and Cornelia Sparks of Queen Annes County. Thiscouple had a son named Millington, and because of the unusualness of thename, and the fact that later census records indicatet hat MillingtonSparks, III, had been born in Maryland, we can almost be certain that heinherited his name from Millington Sparks, I.
"Millington Sparks, I, had been born between 1710 and 1720, and he wasthus about 55 to 65 years older than Millington Sparks, III. For thisreason, we are reluctant to suggest that he could have been the father ofMillington, III. More information is needed, however, to clear up whatappears on the surface to be a fairly simple family relationship.
"The first official document that we have found pertaining toMillington Sparks, III, is his marriage record. He was married toRebecca Brooks on May 25, 1797, in Kent County, Maryland. The marriagelicense had been issued on May 23rd. Rebecca had been born on February6, 1777, and she was a daughter of Esau and Mary (Wyatt) Brooks.
"A second source of data about Millington Sparks, III, is found in aBible which was in the possession of a descendant, Miss Eunice Mc Leod ofHaynesville, Louisiana, in 1960. The Bible had belonged originally toSamuel Wyatt Brooks, son of Esau Brooks. Esau had been a soldier inMaryland during the Revolutionary War. He died in Maryland in 1797. Someof his descendants had gone to Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, before theCivil War. Here are some pertinent entries found in this Bible.
"Mary Brooks, Wife of Esau Brooks, died March 31, 1782.
Rebecca Brooks, daughter of Esau Brooks and his wife Mary, was marriedon May 25, 1797, to William Millington Sparks.
Millington Sparks, son of Millington and Rebecca, his wife, was bornApril 9, 1799.
William and Mary Sparks, son and daughter of Millington Sparks and hiswife Rebecca, was [were] born January 5, 1801.
Samuel and Eliza Sparks, son and daughter of Millington Sparks andRebecca, his wife, was [were] born July 7, 1803.
Rebecca Brooks, wife of Millington Sparks, departed this life January5, 1807.
Millington Sparks and Ann Swanway were joined in Holy Matrimony on May12, 1808.
John Wesley Sparks, son of Millington Sparks and Ann, his wife, wasborn December 21, 1809.
Rebecca Sparks, daughter of Millington Sparks and Ann, his wife, wasborn September 1, 1811.
Lloyd Sparks, son of Millington Sparks and Ann, his wife, was bornAugust 15, 1813.
"It seems obvious from these entries in the Bible of Samuel WyattBrooks that the full name of Millington Sparks, who was married toRebecca Brooks, was William Millington Sparks. His full name was seldomused, however, and he was usually referred to as Millington Sparks, as ineach of the entries in the Bible record following that of his marriage toRebecca Brooks.
"On Septermber 10, 1799, Millington Sparks, III, bought property fromhis brother-in law, Samuel Brooks, in Queen Annes County, Maryland. Theconsideration was 147 pounds and 4 shillings. The property includedlivestock, farming implements, household goods, and two slaves.Apparently this sale was in preparation for Samuel Brooks to move toGeorgia.
"Millington Sparks was shown as head of his household when the 1800census was taken of Queen Annes County. He was enumerated as 16-20 yearsof age. Living in his household was a female, aged 10-16, probably hiswife, but if so, the enumeration was incorrect; there were also twomales, under 10 years of age. Millington Sparks also had two slaves,probably the two whom he had purchased from his brother -in-law, SamuelBrooks, the previous year.
"Sparks apparently followed his in-laws to Georgia about 1803. (Thebirthplace of his son, Samuel Wyatt Sparks, was listed as Maryland on the1860 and 1870 censuses of Lampasaas County, Texas.) In al l likelihood,Rebecca (Brooks) Sparks was in Georgia when she died in 1807, and it wasprobably there that Millington was married to Ann Swanway the followingyear. She had been born about 1782 in Georgia. She was the mother ofthree of Millington's children: John Wesle y Sparks, Rebecca Sparks, andLloyd Sparks.
"During the War of 1812, Millington Sparks, III, served as a3rd-sergeant in Capt. Jones Kendrick's Company of Infantry, 4th RegimentGeorgia Detached Militia. On the company payroll, his record was asfollows: "He traveled 90 miles (a trip that took six days) to reach therendezvous on November 21, 1814. He served as a 3rd-ser- gant until May6, 1815, for a total term of service of 5 months 27 days. He was paid$11.00 per month and received a subsistence of $1.08. The total amountof his pay was $65.98."
"Prior to the taking of the 1830 census, Millington Sparks, III, hadmoved westward to Lauderdale County, Alabama. He was shown on thatcensus as aged between 50 and 60 years; his wife was enumerated asbetween 60 and 70, which was probaby an error. Also in their house holdwere: 1 male, 10-15; 2 males, 5-10; 1 male under 5; 1 female, 15 -20; andone female under 5. It appears quite likely that the male aged 10-15 wasthe youngest son, Millington, and that of the female, a ged 15-20, washis youngest daughter. The four children shown as under 10 years of agewere probably his grandchildren.
"We have found no further record of Millington Sparks, III. He doesnot appear on any 1840 census that we have searched; he probably had diedby the time that census was taken. When the 1850 census wa s taken ofLauderdale County, Alabama, his wife, listed as Nancy Sparks, was shownas 68 years of age; she was then living in the househol d of a daughter,Rebecca (Sparks) Berry.
"Millington Sparks, III, had eight children: three sons and twodaughters by his first marriage and two sons and one daughter by hissecond marriage.

See SQ p. 4838 for the name William Millington Sparks.

CORRECTION

Darrell J. Pest of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has called our attention tosome errors appearing in the obituary of William Milton Sparks which wepublished in the QUARTERLY of September 1971 (Vol. XIX, No. 3, Whole No.75, p. 1419). We indicated that the father of William Milton Sparksmarried Nancy Hayes. According to Mr. Pest, her name was actually NancyAnn Hay. We indicated that Virgil Sparks, a son of Solomon and Nancy Ann(Hay) Sparks, married Lizzie Kelly - - her name was actually ElizabethKel!y. Another son, George Sparks, was actually named George WashingtonSparks (1909-1966); he married Regina Ann Kelley (we gave the name “Jimi”which may have been a nickname). Mr. Pest believes that Solomon and NancyAnn (Hay) Sparks also had a daughter named Rebecca whom we did notmention.

According to Mr. Peet's records, this Solomon Sparks was born in 1866 anddied in 1909; his wife, Nancy Ann Hay, was born in 1869 and died in 1947.He believes that Solomon was born in Carter County, Kentucky, probably inan area that is now Elliot County. His father was also named SolomonSparks. The elder Solomon was born in1820 and died in 1873; his secondwife (Solomon Jr,'s mother) was Helen Birchfield. Mr. Pest states that"Solomon Sparks, Sr., a Civil War soldier, was born in Virginia, probablyLee County. Solomon's father, Jesse Sparks, was probably the Jesse shownon the Lee County, Va., census of 1820 and the Jesse Sparks who appearedon the 1830, 1840, 1850, and 1860 censuses of Lawrence and CarterCounties, Ky. His age in 1850 was given as 53, born in North Carolina; in1860 his age was given as 62, born in Virginia. His wife's name wasNancy; on the 1850 census her age was given as 49, born in NorthCarolina; on the 1860 census her age appears as 57 and her place of birthas Virginia. Jesse Sparks was granted land in Lawrence and CarterCounties, Kentucky, in 1830, 1832, 1834, 1836, and 1840."

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 2001, Whole No. 196, pp. 5626:

"William N. Sparks, son of Isaac and Wilmoth (Noland) Sparks, was born inTennessee about 1807. He appears to have left his parents' home inCarroll County, Tennessee, as a young man. He was married in the early1830's to a woman named Lucy, who, according to the 1850 census, had beenborn in South Carolina about 1818. The first two children were born inMississippi, according to the 1850 census of Galveston County, Texas,while the other three shown on this census were born in Texas. WilliamN. Sparks's occupation was given as Sheriff in 1850. (See the informationpertaining to his brother, Isaac H. Sparks, below, that William N. Sparksheld this post as early as 1849, and that he lived with his family in thecity of Galveston.) We have found him on no census after 1850, nor in anyother record. His and Lucy's children given on the 1850 census were: (Seeindividual sheets)

Sparks Quarterly pg 1552:

CARTER COUNTY, KENTUCKY, MARRIAGE BONDS (1838-1910)

Copied by Paul E. Sparks

(Note: these are in addition to those recorded on pages 721-722 of theQUARTERLY for March 1963, Whole. No. 141.)

W. N. Sparks and Martha S. Binion, February 27, 1902. (Book 9, page 422)His age 24, born Elliott County, Ky. Her age 21, born Elliott County, Ky.They were married by Frank Sparks.

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SQ pps 3412-13:
"William "Bill" Nelson Sparks, son of Fred and Catherine (Kegley )Sparks was born on December 16, 1877, and was a young man when hisparents moved to Greenup County. He returned to Elliott County andpersuaded his sweetheart, Martha Susan Binion, to marry him. They weremarried on February 27, 1901, in Carter County. He was 24 years old andshe was 21. Both had been born in Elliott County. They were married atthe home of Bill's cousin, Frank Sparks, in Carter County.

"When Bill Sparks was a young man, he made tin-type photographs . Healso played a violin and banjo and sang tenor in a quartet. It was saidthat if he liked you, he would be most accomodating, but if he dislikedyou, he didn't want to be around you. He and Susan (as she was called)lived in West Virginia where he was a miner and also farmed. Susan diedon February 19, 1960, in Baltimore, Maryland . Bill died the followingyear, on June 14, 1961. They were buried in the Sparks Cemetery at HappyRidge. They had ten children."

See SQ p. 333 for birth information. His birthdate is shown as 13 Aug.1860.

SQ p. 4658:

"...Nesbit (as he was called) and Elizabeth left Elliott County about1900 and moved to Pollard in Boyd County, Kentucky. Elizabeth died onOctober 9, 1917, at Portsmouth, Ohio, and Nesbit died there a short timelater, on April 29, 1918. They had seven children."

SQ p 2876:

"Wiliam N. Sparks, son of James H. and Massy (Wadlington) Sparks, wasborn about 1838 in Texas. A descendant says that the intital "N" was forNobel or Noble. He grew to manhood in Nacogdoches County and was marriedthere on December 18, 1856, to Martha Elizabeth Caddel. She was bornabout 1839 in Texas and was a daughter of Andrew and Rhoda (Doughty)Caddel. When the 1860 census was taken of Nacogdoches County, Williamand Martha had a two-year old son, Newton Sparks. Living next to themwas William's mother, Massy C. Millard. By 1880, however, William andMartha had moved westward to Erath County. They were the parents of sixchildren.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June, 1973, Whole No. 82, pps 1573-4:
William P. Sparks, born about 1841 in Indiana. Our informationregarding his life has been taken from the papers filed in the NationalArchives pertaining to his widow's application for a Civil War Pension.(Application 349,378, Certificate 259,193)
He came with his parents to Iowa prior to 1860; his age was given as 18on the 1850 census. On October 3, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, 11thRegiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry. On July 6, 1863, he was promoted tocoporal. One of the supporting documents for his widow's pension, datedSeptember 22, 1888, was written by Justin E. Coe. It reads as follows:
"I was a member of Co. H, 11th Regt. Iowa Vols. and William P. Sparkswas a member of said Co. and Regt. We were both captured by therebels at Atlanta, Ga. 22d of July, 1864 and confined in AndersonvillePrison, Ga. While we were there Sparks was badly afflicted withdiarrhea. Afterwards we were taken to Florence, S. C. prison andremained there until the 8th of December, 1864. While at Florence,Sparks was appointed to issue rations to 100 men and was then compelledto mingle with men who had scurvy and he with all of us was deseasedand badly afflicted, the same being the result of the exposure,hardships, and insufficient and improper food we had in these twoprisons."
Other records in the pension file reveal that William P. Sparks wasparoled at Charleston, South Carolina, on December 10, 1864, and wa sentto Camp Parole in Maryland where he was given a 30 day furlough. He wasmustered out of service at Davenport, Iowa, on February 21, 1865. Hehealth had been ruined by his prison experiences; there are a number ofsworn statements in his widow's pension file written by friends ofWilliam P. sparks regarding his constant illness following the war. Hemoved to Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana, after the war where, on January7, 1869, he was married to Emma S. Brown by the Rev. M. E. Wade. He diedthree years later, on June 9, 1872. There were no children. When hiswidow applied for a pension on January 20, 1887, she gave her age as 37.She was granted a pension of $8.00 per month, increased to $12.00 later.She continued to receive this pension until her death on July 4, 1902.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1973, Whole No. 82, pps 1564-6:
" William P. Sparks was born on April 1, 1843, at Moores Hill, DearbornCounty, Indiana, and died on April 15, 1915, at Ida Grove, Iowa. OnSeptember 8, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company I, 83rd Regimentof Indiana Infantry commanded by H. J. Bradford. He was discharged atthe close of the Civil War on June 1, 1865. In later years, he receiveda pension for his service ($8.00 per month beginning in 1888 andincreased to $30.00 in 1911) and there is a voluminous file of paperswith his application in the National Archives (Application 672,300,Certificate 697,777). There are numerous sworn statements by armycomrades and doctors regarding his broken health following the war. In1863, he contracted a serious eye disease which left his sightpermanently impaired. His army bunk mate, Daniel Smith, wrote fromLincoln County, Oklahoma, in 1897 that William P. Sparks "after leavingVicksburg always shot from his left shoulder on account of his right eyebeing affected while previous to our arrival at Vicksburg he always shotfrom his right shoulder. I distinctly remember we used to call him crossfire after he began to shoot from his left shoulder."

In December 1864, he contracted a serious case of scurvy andrheumatism while his unit was in South Carolina and he was sent to ahospital on David's Island in New York, followed by a furlough. In 1889,he recalled his suffering: "The leg at the time I lay at David's Island,New York harbor, became so deeply affected that Gangreen set in and thethick of the thigh and calf of the leg mostly all rotted away, which isthe same leg Sciatic Rheumatism has settled in, and Comrade, I would failwere I to attempt a description of the pain when suffering, for one toknow for himself, would be for him to experience the pain. ... As towhose treatment I was under at David's Island I never knew as I was toosick while there to have known a brother had one been with me and whensent from there to my home in Indiana I had to the vessel and from thevessel to the cars, my right leg wrapped in a piece of sheet."

One of Sparks's commanding officers during the war was a Colonel HarrySpooner and William said that if he ever had a son he would name himafter the Colonel, which he did.

William Palmer Sparks was married to Anna Minerva Harding on October13, 1866. She was born on August 13, 1848, at New Marion, Indiana, adaughter of Ransom and Nancy Caroline (Mitchell) Harding. She died May14, 1910. Both of her parents were natives of New York. William andMinerva moved to Grant City, Missouri, in 1876 where he was a cabinetmaker. He also took an active part in the local G.A.R. and was quitepopular as a speaker. He was also a justice of the peace. WilliamPalmer and Anna Minerva (Harding) Sparks were the parents of ninechildren: (the dates of birth are taken from a document submitted byWilliam P. Sparks to the Department of the Interior in connection withhis pension on May 4, 1898.)"

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The following article appears in the QUARTERLY for December 1985, WholeNo. 132, p 2811:

WILLIAM PALMER & ANNA MINERVA (HARDING) SPARKS

The photographs appearing on the cover of this issue of the QUARTERLY areof William Palmer Sparks and his wife, Anna Minerva (Harding) Sparks. Anabstract of his Civil War pension application file in the NationalArchives begins on page 2812.

We are indebted to Kathryn M. Jennings for the use of these photographs,which have been reproduced from the original tintypes dating from about1866, the year in which William Palmer Sparks and Anna Minerva Hardingwere married at Moore's Hill, Dearborn County, Indiana. Mrs. Jenningsreports that the original tintypes, measuring one and one-eighth inchesin diameter, are in metal frames. "They are fragile; the one of AnnMinerva has (been)chipping and cracking
which shows in the print, although her features are recognizable."
[Scanner's note: An attempt was made to remove some of the defects fromthe print of Anna.]

William Palmer Sparks was born on April 1, 1843, at Greenburg, Indiana;he was a son of Hamlet and Elizabeth (Cheesman [or Chisman]) Sparks, anda grandson of Elijah and Elizabeth
(Weaver) Sparks. He died on April 15, 1915, at Ida Grove, Iowa, at thehome of his daughter, Dorothy. His wife, Anna Minerva Harding, was bornon August 13, 1848, at New Marion, Indiana. She was a daughter of Ransomand Nancy Caroline (Mitchell) Harding; she died on May 10,
1910, at Grant City, Missouri. A record of this branch of the Sparksfamily appeared in the June 1973 QUARTERLY, Whole No. 82, pp. 1555-75. Arecord of the children of William Palmer and Anna Minerva (Harding)Sparks appeared on pages 1565-6.

The cameo that Anna Minerva (Harding) Sparks was wearing when thisphotograph was taken is now owned by a great-great-granddaughter, DianeJennings. It was given to her by Ernestine Seiter, a granddaughter ofAnna Minerva. Mrs. Seiter has provided an interesting account of how thisbrooch was nearly destroyed.

As an evidence of the vagaries of family members with respect tocherishing family mementoes, I offer this story of the brooch which mygrandmother is wearing at her throat in this picture: The youngest childin the family of Wm. Palmer and Minerva Harding Sparks had in herpossession some of the keepsakes of her parents. One day she found it onthe floor of the garage the twisted and broken gold setting for thisbeautiful shell cameo, with its delicately engraved figures. She
found that one of her daughters had pried the cameo out of its frame andhad attempted to put in its place the picture of her boy friend. Thecameo was also left on the garage floor.

Years later my aunt gave me the cameo and its broken frame. I had aduplicate setting made for the cameo and gave the restored piece to thedaughter of Kathryn Jennings, who treasures it.

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And on pp 2812-13 we find his Civil War Pension Application file asfollows:

WILLIAM PALMER SPARKS, son of Hamlet and Elizabeth (Cheesman) Sparks,was born on April 1, 1843, at Moore's Hill, Indiana. He was married toAnna Minerva Harding on October 18, 1866, in Dearborn County, Indiana. Heserved in Co. I, 83rd Regt. Indiana Infantry. File
Designation: Inv. Cert. No. 697,777.

On September 4, 1888, William Palmer Sparks, aged 45, a resident of GrantCity, Missouri, appeared before W. F. Osman, Circuit Court Clerk of WorthCounty, Missouri, and made an application for an invalid pension. Heswore that he had been enrolled on September 8, 1862, in
Company I, commanded by Capt. William N. Craw, of the 83rd Regiment ofIndiana Infantry Volunteers to serve for three years or during the war,and that he had been discharged on June 1, 1865, at Washington, D. C. Onor about December 24, 1864, while stationed at Beaufort,
South Carolina, he had incurred scurvy and rheumatism which had left himin such a helpless condition that he was sent to Davids Island, New YorkHarbor, on January 11, 1865, for treatment. Afterwards, he had beenfurloughed to his home, but by that time his eyes had become so badlydiseased, and he had become so disabled by rheumatism, that he was unfitfor manual labor. He appointed Norval G. Sparks, Moores Hill, Indiana, ashis agent. J. W.

Waltour and H. Lovelace witnessed his signature.

The military service of William Sparks was confirmed by the WarDepartment on December 22, 1888: that he had been enrolled on July 30,1862, at Wimington in Company I, 83rd Regiment Indiana Volunteers, andthat he had been present for duty, except for periods of illness atLaGrange, Tennessee, in October 1863 and at Beaufort, South Carolina, inJanuary 1865. He had been mustered out with his company near Washington,D. C. , on June 1, 1865.

A comrade of Sparks, Richard Folsom, a resident of Osage, Iowa, testifiedon June 7, 1889, that he had been with Sparks at Beaufort, SouthCarolina, after the fight at Fort McCalaster [actually spelled McAllisterand located in Georgia, this battle was part of Sherman's siege ofSavannah] in December 1864, when Sparks had been taken ill and had to besent to Davids Island in New York for treatment.

On March 24, 1891, Benjamin J. Harding, aged 43, a resident of GrantCity, Missouri, said he had come from Indiana to Missouri with Sparks in1877, and lived about three miles from him. Sparks was now so crippledwith the rheumatism in his right leg that he was unable to do any manuallabor.

W. W. Chisman, aged 50, a resident of Augusta, Kansas, made an affidaviton October 6, 1894, to support Sparks's claim. He said that he rememberedwhen Dr. Isgrigg of Dearborn County, Indiana, had operated on Sparks'sright eye just after Sparks had been discharged from the militaryservice. F. H. Shannon and J. C. Walker witnessed Chisman's signature.

Invalid Certificate No. 697,777 was issued to William P. Sparks, and hewas placed upon the pension roll. On February 16, 1897, he applied foradditional pension benefits, claiming that he was now unable to earn hissupport by manual labor. He appointed Tabor and Whitman,
Washington, D. C. , as his attorneys. His application was witnessed byWill E. Hotaling and Jehu Early [?].

Sparks responded to a questionnaire from the Bureau of Pensions on May 4,1898. He said that he had been married to Minerva Ann Harding [her namewas actually Anna Minerva Harding] on October 18, 1866, at Moores Hill,Indiana, by the Rev. George P. Jenkins. They had seven
children who were still living in 1898: (1) Lillie, born July 19, 1867;(2) Harry, born January 17,1869; (3) I da [ I da May] born May 30, 1875;(4) Willie [William Eugene], born March 4, 1877; (5) Mont [AlbertMontgomery], born January 12, 1881; (6) Alice [Mary Alice], born May 4,1884; and (7) Dorothy [Dorothy Helen], born July 12, 1894.

William Palmer Sparks applied again on May 7, 1900, for an increase inhis pension benefits. He repeated his military record, but added that hiscompany commander had been H. J. Bradford, who was on the staff ofGeneral W. B. Hazen. His personal description had been that
he was 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and that he had a dark complexion, blackhair, and black eyes. J. L. Dawson and W. H. McKinley witnessed thisapplication.

William Palmer Sparks died on April 25, 1915, and on May 21, 1915, hisson, William Eugene Sparks, aged 38, and a resident of Grant City,Missouri, applied for reimbursement for the final expenses of hisfather's illness and funeral. He stated that his father was a widower,and that his wife, Anna Minerva (Harding) Sparks, had died on March 14,1910. He stated that his father had died in the Ida Grove, Iowa, Hospitalwhere his expenses (now paid) amounted to $284.50. His
father's funeral expenses amounted to $85.50, so that the total amount ofthe last illness and burial was $390.00. Nothing was sent to us by theNational Archives from this file to indicate what action was taken uponthis request for reimbursement.

(Editor's Note: Photographs taken of William Palmer and Anna Minerva(Harding) Sparks at the time of the marriage in 1866 appear on the coverof this issue of the QUARTERLY. Biographical data appear on page 2811.)

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, Sept 1985, Whole No. 131, p. 2779:

DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM SPARKS, (1761-1848)

"William Renuldo Sparks, son of Andrew and Mary Ann (Allen) Sparks ,was born on December 11, 1852, in Robertson County, Texas. He became afarmer but as a young man he also began a business career which lastedfor many years. He obtained from a man named Young Lloyd three secretformulae for removing skin cancers. These consisted of a killing salve,a healing salve, and a blood tonic. The tonic became quite popular andwas so much in demand that a drug store had it bottled and sold it overthe counter for several years. In his community, William Sparks wasknown as "Dr. Sparks. " The secret formula remained in his family untithe F.D.A. made the ingredients unavailable.

"William Renuldo Sparks was married twice. His first marriage was toMary Artimitia King on November 3, 1872. She had been born on August 25,1848, and was a daughter of Thomas W. and Nancy A. (Allison) King,natives of Tennessee. She and William had eight children. She died onJune 17, 1903. After her death, William married (2nd) Lavinia WatkinsGardner . She was born on January 20, 1866. She and William had twochildren. She died on November 26, 1927, and William died on April 18,1931. He was buried in the Cold Springs Cemetery."

See SQ p. 5229. He is included in the 1860 Census for Rusk County Texasliving with the family of W. M. Anderson.

The following obituary notice was published on October 17 and again onOctober 24, 1963, in the "Girard Free Press," Girard, Kansas, and wasmade available by his great Nephew, William R. Sparks, of Edmond,Oklahoma:

William R. Sparks, 87, Died Monday Night

William R. Sparks, 87, a lifetime resident of Crawford and CherokeeCounties, died Monday night at the Girard hospital. Mr. Sparks, aretired Contractor and builder, was admitted to the hospital Mondaymorning.
Mr. Sparks was born November 9, 1875, in Crawford County. He was aformer employee of the Messenger Construction and Lumber Company and alsothe Green Construction Company.
He was married to Gertie Badgy, March 12, 1900 in Crawford County.
Mr. Sparks retired about 12 years ago. The family moved to Girardfrom Pittsburg in 1962.
Survivors include the widow of the home, four sons, lee Sparks ofClearwater, Florida, Thomas Sparks of the home in Girard, Clayton Sparksof Pittsburg and Floyd Sparks of Stockton, Mo.; one daughter, Mrs.Juanita McCall of Bethany, Okla., four grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; one sister, Miss Mary Sparks of Girard. He was an uncleof Mrs. Helen Van Ness, formerly of Girard.
Funeral services were held at 1 o'clock Wednesday afternoon in theDorsey Chapel. Rev. Jack Vaugh of Pittsburg, officiated. Buriel was inthe city cemetery in Columbus.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1975, Whole No. 90, p. 1732:

COVER PORTRAIT OF THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM RILEY AND BARBARA ELIZABETH(CARTER) SPARKS

"A detailed record, to the present day, of the descendants of WilliamRiley and Barbara Elizabeth (Carter) Sparks has been given to theAssociation by Mrs. E. P. Wallin, Box 345, Grant, Nebraska (69140). Mrs.Wallin has also provided a copy of the famiy portrait which appears onthe cover of this issue of the QUARTERLY. This photograph was takenabout 1906. A record of the children of William Riley and BarbaraElizabeth (Carter) Sparks was published in the QUARTERLY of March 1969,Whole No. 65), on the cover of which we published a photograph of theparents of William Riley Sparks, Calvin and Mahala (Carmichael) Sparks.

"William Riley Sparks was born on December 27, 1847, in Greene County,Indiana, and died on August 12, 1926. His wife, Barbara Elizabeth, was adaughter of John and Elizabeth (Martendale) Carter. She was born onFebruary 3, 1851, in Greene County, Indiana, and died on September 2,1930. they were the parents of nine children, al of whom appear in thisfamiy portrait. Only the youngest child is living today, Murrell Sparks,who sat between his parents for the portrait; he is now (1975) 82 yearsold and lives at Cheyenne Wells, Colorado.

"The nine children of William Riley and Barbara Elizabeth (Carter)Sparks were:
1. William Granvil, born Dec. 26, 1868;
2. Luala, born Nov. 11, 1870;
3. John Calvin, born Sep 2, 1872;
4. Joseph Wesley, born July 10, 1876;
5. Steven Douglas, born Sept. 22, 1880;
6. Charles, born Sept 21, 1883;
7. Purmela, born Nov. 3, 1886;
8. Alvin, born Dec. 17, 1890; and
9. Murrell, born Sept. 27, 1892.

SQ pg 3278-9:

"William Russell Sparks, son of Reuben and Cassie (Buttery) Sparks,was born on January 3, 1797, in Wilkes County, North Carolina . He wasmarried twice. His first marriage was to Sarah Wilcoxson in March,1821. (The marriage bond was issued on March 13, 1821, so we can assumethe marriage took place shortly thereafter.) They had at least twochildren before Sarah's death which probably occurred prior to 1830.William then married (2nd) Permela ["Millie"] Gentry in April 1839. (Themarriage bond was issued on April 12, 1839.) This marriage also tookplace in Wilkes County, North Carolina. She was born about 1806.According to the 1850 census record of Wilkes County, William and Millyhad four children. William Sparks moved to Floyd County, Virginia,sometime prior to 1869, for in August of that year, he wrote a letterfrom Floyd County to his daughter, Fanny, in Wilkes County. This letterhas been preserved and is now in the possession of agreat-granddaughter. Here is the letter just as it was written:

'Floyd County, Virginia. August the 8th 1869

Very Dear Daughter and Family.

Having just received your friendly letter, I take this opportunityto drop you a few lines in answer to it. We are all injoying commonhelth at present for which we ought to be very thankful to the giver ofall blessings which we injoy. My prayer is that these few lines may fineyou in all good health and prosperity.

You stated in your letter that little Billy was not injoying goodhealth. Perhaps you have traveled him too much to school. It may be thatit would be better to keep him at home a while and let his helth improveand when he gets older his schooling will do him more good.

You complain of heavy taxes and hard times. I am sory to hear it,but I am not able to help you at this time being purty hard run aboutmoney myself. You wrote to me about the confused state of the churchesin that country. I am sorry to hear it. I am sorry to hear that the OldRoaring River Church which has been a mother church about one hundredyears and now has no parson.

Fanny, I should be so glad if you can come one time and see us, butif you cannot come, you may write again.

Farewell for the time. Give my best respects to your friends.
To Fanny Vannoy [signed] William R. Sparks'

"William Russell Sparks died on February 27, 1880. He was the fatherof six children.

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY for September, 1988, Whole No. 143, p. 3265:

"William Russell Sparks, son of Benjamin and Sarah (Jeffreys) Sparks,was born about 1813 in Surry County, North Carolina. He was generallyreferred to as "Russell" and was probably named for his uncle, WilliamRussell Sparks. He married Nancy Martin, probably about 1839. She wasborn about 1816 and was a daughter of Alfred Martin. Russell was listedon the 1840 census of Surry county (his wife was enumerated with him inhis household), and both were named on the 1850 census of Surry County.When the 1860 census was taken of Yadkin County, Nancy was listed as headof the household. Russell Sparks apparently died sometime after 1872 forhe was named in his father's will that year. According to censusrecords, he and Nancy appear to have had eight children.

a. Louisa A. Sparks was born in the spring of 1840. She was marriedto Jesse Turlburt on May 1,1860, in Yadkin County by her grandfather,Benjamin Sparks, a justice of the peace.

b. Sarah ["Sallie"] C. Sparks b. ca. 1844.

c. John A. Sparks b. ca. 1846.

d. Martha D. Sparks b. ca. 1847.

e. Mary M. Sparks b. ca. 1848.

f. Solomon M. Sparks was born in the spring of 1850. He was marriedto Mary Ann Seagraves on December 28, 1870 in Yadkin County.

g. Lydia E. Sparks b. ca. 1853.

h. William Russell Sparks, Jr. b. ca. 1854."

NOTES:
SQ p 3183: "William R. Sparks, son of Billie and Sallie (Jennings)Sparks, was born on May 20, 1839, in Indiana and was a young man when heaccompanied his parents to Boone County, Iowa. It was there that he wasmarried to Deborah A. Williams on September 4, 1862. (The license wasdated September 1st.) She was born on September 22, 1843, in MontgomeryCounty, Indiana. She and William had at least six children according tocensus records and information furnished by relatives and, in allprobability, there were others born to her and her husband. The sixabout whom we have knowledge were:" [here is list of names for which seetheir files].

SQ pp 3936 WILLIAM R. SPARKS (1839-1907) A DESCENDANT OF REUBEN ANDCASSY (BUTTERY) SPARKS:
"William Russell sparks, son of William J. "Billie" and Sarah "Sallie"(Jennings) Sparks, was born in Owen County, Indiana, on May 20 , 1839.He was a teenage lad when he accompanied his parents in their move toBoone County, Iowa. There, he grew to maturity, and it was there that hewas married to Deborah Ann Williams on September 4, 1862. (The marriagelicense was issued on September 1st.) She had bee n born on September22, 1843, in Montgomery County, Indiana.

"William R. Sparks was a farmer in southwestern Boone County, Iowa .It was there that he and Deborah had eleven children, nine of whom livedto maturity. (All nine are shown with their parents in the photographtaken about 1900 which has been reproduced for the cover of this issue[pg 3935]. William R. Sparks died on December 4, 1907 , at New Market,Iowa; Deborah died there on February 7, 1919."

William Ryan Sparks was born on Friday, January 17, 1992 at the ElCamino Hospital at 6:20 p.m. He weighed ten pounds four and one-halfounces and was twenty-two inches long. He was named by his father aftertwo professional baseball stars, Will Clark and Nolan Ryan.

William Sample Sparks is the 5th Great-grandfather of James JosephSparks.

See notes of his granddaughter Rachael, daughter of William IV, forthe first portion of an article entitled A MYSTERY SOLVED relating to thesource of William's middle name Sample. The long article continues innotes of other daughters of William IV.

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

SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1989, No. 148, pps. 3483-3501; WILLIAMSAMPLE SPARKS (BORN ca.1700, DIED ca.1765) at p. 3485:

"(Dr.) Paul E. Sparks and this writer (Dr. Russell E. Bidlack) are nowconvinced that we have identified the parentage of William Sample Sparks,as well as his siblings and three of his children. We have to admit,however, that our proof for these relationships is based on what in thelaw is called "a preponderance of evidence" rather than upon a primarysource document containing this information. In part, our conclusionshave been reached through a process of elimination based on years ofstudy of all members of the Queen Anne's County Sparks family. Much ofour difficulty in this research results from the repeated use of theforename "William" by members of this branch of the family. Not only wasthe grandfather of William Sample Sparks named William (we have his 1709will probated in Queen Anne's County that same year), but this firstWilliam Sparks named his oldest son William, and in turn, not only didthat son (William Sparks, Jr.) name a son William, but each of the otherthree sons of this first William Sparks (who died in 1709) also named ason William, apparently to honor their father. Fortunately, William, sonof William Jr., was either given a middle name at his birth or, what ismore probable, adopted the middle name "Sample." This helps greatly todistinguish him in the records of the time from his father and from histhree first cousins named William Sparks. Unfortunately, there wereoccasions when "Sample" was omitted from his name when a clerk recordedit in an official record.

"Until about a decade ago, we thought that the William Sparks who diedin Surry County, North Carolina, in 1802 was William Sample Sparks. Wegradually came to realize, however, that this William Sparks who died in1802 was actually a son of William Sample Sparks, who had died some 35years earlier. Unfortunately, this erroneous identification was given inseveral early issues of THE SPARKS QUARTERLY . A citation for each ofthese errors will appear at the end of this article.

"In the QUARTERLY of March, 1971, Whole No. 73, pp. 1371-1389,appeared a study of the early Sparks families of Kent, Talbot, and QueenAnne's Counties, Maryland. On pages 3881-3889, we presented abiographical record of the first William Sparks to live in that area andwho wrote his will in June 1709 in Queen Anne's County. This will wasprobated in the County Court when the justices met the following October,which means that he had died in the summer or early autumn of 1709. Therewe presented documentary proof that this first William Sparks had come toMaryland from the county of Hampshire in England. These same recordsprove that he had a brother named John Sparks who lived near WilliamSparks in Maryland, dying in 1700. In his will, John Sparks referred totwo sons named John Sparks and George Sparks still in England. Anotherdocument proves that in 1716 John and George were living in ChristchurchParish in Hampshire County. From information recently provided us bySusan Sparks LeDuc of Ft. Wayne , Indiana, who also descends from thisbranch of the family, we believe that the above William and John Sparksmay have been sons of Thomas and Joane (Davis) Sparks who were married inFareham Parish in Hampshire County, England on October 19, 1635. Amongtheir children baptised in that in that parish were William Sparks,baptized on August 6 , 1646, and John Sparks, baptized on December 3,1649. While the ages of these two children appear to fit those ofWilliam and John Spark s who later appeared in Maryland, we must beg ourreaders to treat these relationships as speculative until more extensiveproof can be obtained. (Thomas Sparks of Fareham Parish had two othersons: Francis Sparks who was baptized on July 20, 1641, and RichardSparks who was baptized on December 10, 1658.) Baptisms in England in the1600s were usually performed soon after a child's birth.

"William Sparks (died 1709), the first American ancestor of thisbranch of the Sparks family, came to the colony of Maryland in or about1663. During the next 45 years, he accumulated a good deal of propertywhich he passed on to his wife, Mary, and to his children under hiswill. As noted earlier, one of his sons was named William, and while theelder William Sparks was living, this son was called William Sparks, Jr.,in official records. We believe that William Sparks , Jr., was theeldest son of William Sparks and that he was born about 1674. He wasmarried twice, his first wife being Margaret Hamilton , daughter ofJosiah Hamilton, to whom he had been married no later than March 1696 andwho was the mother of William Sample Sparks. (Margaret Hamilton wasidentified as the wife of William Sparks and the daughter of JosiahHamilton in a New Castle County, Delaware, deed dated March 31, 1696, andrecorded in Deed Book B-1, pp. 101-02; Josiah Hamilton had died by thisdate and property in New Castle that had been inherited by Margaret wassold in this deed.)" (JS Note: It was later determined that there wasno such person as Josiah Hamilton. That deed referred to Josyn Hamilton,formerly Josyn (Boyer) Sample, Widow of William Sample, who were WilliamSample Sparks's grandparents. See the December 2000 issue of theQUARTERLY, Whole No. 192, pp 5443-5461.)

"Sometime prior to 1729, Margaret (Hamilton) Sparks died, andWilliamSparks, Jr., then married Anne ---, who died on December 16, 1730. (The Julian Calendar was still used by England and her colonies in1730, and Anne's date of death under the Gregorian Calendar adopted byEngland in 1752 would have been on December 27, 1730, according totoday's reconing.) Anne Sparks's death was recorded in St. Luke's ParishRegister in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. William Sparks , Jr. diedabout 1735, we believe, but no probate of his estate has been found amongQueen Anne's County records.

"William Sparks , Jr. had three brothers who, along with himself,were named in their father's will of June 1709. They were GeorgeSparks, born about 1679; John Sparks, born about 1684; and Joseph Sparks,born about 1689 . The elder William Sparks also mentioned a deceaseddaughter in his will, who had married a man named Hynson.

"William Sparks, Jr. and each of his brothers had several children ,resulting in at least 35 Sparks grandchildren for the elder WilliamSparks (died 1709). As mentioned earlier, four of these grandchildrenwere named William in his honor. Dr. Paul E. Sparks, as has been noted,has spent many years studying the records pertaining to this branch ofthe Sparks family, and in the QUARTERLY of June 1988, Whole No. 142, pp.3229-31, he presented a list of these 35 probable grandchildren, withnotes identifying each as best he could. The William Sparks shown asnumber 32 on this list was, we are convinced, the William Sample Sparkswho is the subject of this article. "Middle names were very rarely usedbefore the 19th century, and we suspect that "Sample" was added by oursubject to help distinguish himself in official records from his fatherand his three cousins who were also named William Sparks. When it wasthat he may have added "Sample" to his name, we do not know, nor do weknow why the name "Sample" was chosen. This was a Maryland surname, andit is possible that there was some connection between the Sparks andSample families . Each time that a record was made that had beeninitiated by William Sample Sparks, whether in Maryland or later in NorthCarolina, his full name appeared, but when a clerk recorded his name in acourt or church record, his middle name was usually ommitted. This wasprobably because middle names were so rare in the 17th and 18thcenturies. (See note above re Whole No. 192 revealing the source of thename Sample.)

"In the several instances where William Sample Sparks signed adocument which has been preserved, he signed by mark, as did his fatherand grandfather. Not everyone in those days who signed by mark, however,was illiterate, and even if they could no write, they could often read.

"Prior to the creation of St. Luke's Parish in Queen Anne's County ,the parish which included the area were the Sparks family lived was St.Paul's Parish, the records for which, unfortunately, have not beenpreserved. In 1728, a petition addressed to the Upper and Lower Housesof the Assembly of the Province of Maryland was circulated forsignatures. It requested that a new parish be created because "manysouls have to travel as much as twenty to thirty miles to keep the Lord'sDay." Among the signers of this petition was "William Sparks, Senr."This was surely the William Sparks born about 1674 who had been called"William Sparks, Jr." until his father died in 1709. In 1728, with hisfather having been dead for nearly 20 years and his own son, also namedWilliam, having come of age, it was logical that he now be called"Senior."

"Also among the signers of this 1728 petition were two other menwhose names appeared simply as "William Sparks." We are confident thatone of these was our William Sample Sparks--someone probably obtained hispermission to add his name and omitted the middle name "Sample," or it ispossible that he had not yet begun using it. The second William Sparkson this petition was probably the son of John Sparks and a first cousinfo William Sample Sparks. (William Sparks, son of John, was born about1706.) John Sparks also signed this petition, as did two men named GeorgeSparks. One of these was doubtless the George Sparks, born about 1679,who was a son of the elder Wi lliam Sparks who had died in 1709; theother was either George's son or a nephew.

"The petition was successful, and St. Paul's Parish was divided t oform St. Luke's Parish. The Sparks family was included in the ne wparish. The marriage dated August 24, 1732, which was recorded in St.Luke's Parish register (pg. 41) of a William Sparks and a Mary Courmon(or Corman) may have been that of our William Sample Sparks, but, if so,it must not have been his first marriage. Our reason for believing thatthere had been an earlier marriage date for William Sample Sparks is thefact that his son, William Sparks (died 1801 in Surry County, NorthCarolina) obtained his first grant of land in Frederick County, Maryland,on July 11, 1749. He must have been at least 21 years old in order toqualify for a land grant, which would place his birth at least as earlyas 1728.

"A map showing where the Sparks family of St. Luke's Parish in QueenAnne's County, Maryland, lived, appeared on the cover of the QUARTERLYfor March 1971, Whole No. 73. "We have found no record of WilliamSample Sparks ever owning any land. He must have been a tradesman,perhaps an inn keeper. (As will be noted later, there are records of hishaving had a license to operate an "ordinary," a term used for an inn ortavern, after he moved to Rowan County, North Carolina.)

"From our brief records pertaining to William Sample Sparks found inQueen Anne's County and Frederick County, Maryland, it appears that hehad both financial and health problems at different times in his life.For example, on page 236 of the register of St. Luke's Paris h (this wascopied about 1899 from earlier records now in the Library of the MarylandHistorical Society in Baltimore), there is a record dated 1736 indicatingthat he had moved out of the parish without paying his church tax. Infact, he was called a "Runaway Insolvent" in the parish record. At thattime, every adult white male, regardless of his personal religiousconvictions, was required to pay a yearly tax to the Church of England.William Sample Sparks's tax for 1736 was 6 pence, but he left the parishwithout paying it. (In this parish record, his middle name was used.)

"It was in or about 1736 that William Sample Sparks left Queen Anne'sCounty with his family and moved to the western part of the Province ofMaryland. To do so, he would have crossed the Chesapeake Bay andprobably travelled near, or possibly through, the small town ofBaltimore, which had been laid out in 1730, to reach the western edge ofwhat is now Carroll County, although at the time it was part of PrinceGeorge's County. He settled in the area of Big Pipe and Little PipeCreeks, perhaps close to where they join to become Double Pipe Creek,which, after about a mile, flows into the Monocacy River just abovetoday's Millers Bridge, about 5 miles north of the town of Woodsboro.(Little Pipe Creek, which flows north and west, now forms the boundarybetween Carroll and Frederick Counties for several miles.)

"The area in which Sparks settled, which is drained by the MonocacyRiver and its tributaries, was then commonly called "Monocacy," as theIndians had called it before the appearance of the white man . This areacomprised most of what is now Frederick County along with part of today'sCarroll County. This area called Monocacy was a true frontier in the1730s, and William Sample Sparks and his family were true pioneers. Hedoubtless built his own cabin after his arrival. Record keeping was verylimited, except for recording the granting and selling of land. BecauseSparks was not a land owner, nor did he become involved in any majorlawsuit, his name was rarely recorded during the nearly two decades thathe lived there. No church existed there in the 1730's except a smallQuaker meeting-house. He did not join this group, nor did he join theLutheran Church established later by German settlers.

"A map showing the Big and Little Pipe Creeks, along with the otherstreams flowing into the Monocacy River, is given below. (p. 3488). SeeScrapbook.
"When Frederick County was cut off from Prince George's County in 1748,it contained all of the western portion of the province, includingWashington County (which was cut off from Frederick in 1776), as well asAllegany County (which was cut off from Washington in 1789) , and GarretCounty (which was cut off from Allegany in 1872). To the east, FrederickCounty also included, until 1776, Montgomery County , and from 1748 until1837, a portion of Carroll County was included in Frederick.
"This large area that became Frederick County in 1748 had been part ofPrince George's County from the time that Prince George's County had beencut off from Charles and Calvert Counties in 1695. Betwee n 1695 and1748, Prince George's County adjoined Baltimore County and comprised theentire western half of the province.

"Our earliest reference to William Sample Sparks among court recordsof Prince George's County is in the probate file of a man named AllenFarquhar who died in December 1738. Allen Farquhar (he signed his willon November 30, 1738, as "Allen Farquer"), was a miller. He had movedfrom Chester County, Pennsylvania, sometime after 1726 and settled oneither the Big or Little Pipe Creek. He was a man of some means, and hismill served the early settlers for several miles around. Most businesswas conducted on credit in those days, but all bills came due when acreditor died. As part of the inventory of Alle n Farquhar's estate, alist was made of all of those who, according to his account book, were inhis debt for milling services. Over 60 n ames were listed, includingseveral Indians. The fourth name on the list was that of William Sparksin the amount of one pound and 14 s hillings. It is not surprising thathis middle name was omitted in Farquhar's account book since he was theonly Sparks in the neighborhood. (The inventory of Farquhar's estate ispreserved in the Hall of Records in Baltimore, Prince George's CountyInventories, Vol. 24 , pages 8-10; we are grateful to George J. Horvathof Eldersburg, Maryland for discovering this record for us.)

"At some point following his settling in the Monocacy area, WilliamSample Sparks was joined there by his uncle, Joseph Sparks, with hisfamily. We know that Joseph Sparks was still in Queen Anne's County,Maryland in the spring of 1738 when, on April 27, 1738, his son wasbaptized in St . Luke's Parish church. Joseph and his wife, Mary, namedthis son William. It was some time during the decade that followed thatJoseph Sparks and his family joined William Sample Sparks in the Monocacy area, and it was there that he died in 1749.

"Joseph Sparks, uncle of William Sample Sparks, died the yearfollowing the creation of Frederick County. He was a relatively youngman when he died, somehwere in his 50s, and he left his wife, Mary, witha large family. He did not leave a will, which may suggest that he diedsuddenly. The records pertaining to the settlement of his estate are inthe Maryland Hall of Records. As was customary, a detailed inventory ofJoseph Sparks's possessions was taken. It was a Maryland law that tworelatives of the deceased should certify the accuracy of such aninventory by signing their names to it; the two chief creditors of theestate were also supposed to sign. The children and spouse of thedeceased rarely signed such a document, since they would be heirs, soother close relatives where expected to perform this service. So, afterthe inventory of Joseph Sparks's belongings was completed by two of hisneighbors in June 1749, William Sample Sparks signed it (by mark). Hisfull name was given. The other signer was "Rachell Sparks," who likewisesigned by mark. In-laws were permitted to sign Maryland inventories and,while we cannot be certain, it would appear that Rachel may have been thewife of William Sample Sparks.

"If, indeed, the Rachel Sparks who signed with William Sample Sparksas kin of Joseph Sparks in 1749 was the wife of William Sample Sparks, wemust conclude that she was either a third wife or that the marriagerecord cited earlier for a William Sparks and a Mary Courman was not thatof William Sample Sparks. It may well be that his one and only wife wasnamed Rachel. There was not a great deal of dif- ference in the ages ofWilliam Sample Sparks and his uncle, Joseph Sparks. The latter was bornabout 1689 while William Sample Sparks was born about 1700. WhileJoseph's children were first cousins of William Sample, they were nearlya generation younger than he.

"The widow of Joseph Sparks was named Mary - - we have found no clueto reveal her maiden name. She became administratrix of her husband'sestate. The two disinterested parties who prepared the inventory wereJoseph Wood and William Carmack. From a recent book entitled PIONEERS OFOLD MONOCACY, THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF FREDERICK COUNTY , MARYLAND,1721-1743, by Grace L. Tracey and John P. Dern, we know t hat Joseph Woodlived on Lingamore Creek about a half-mile south of present dayUnionville. William Carmack (1716- 1776) had moved to the LingamoreCreek area after 1733 from Cecil County, Maryland. The t wo creditorswho signed the inventory of the estate of Joseph Sparks in 1749 wereDavid Young, who claimed that Sparks had owed him "one pound andforpence," and Osborn Sprigg. The about owed to Sprigg was notspecified, although in the final settlement he was identified as"Sheriff" and was paid in tobacco valued at 3 pounds, 14 shillings, and 4pence.

"Recalling that the mother of William Sample Sparks was Margaret (Hamilton) Sparks, it is interesting that a John Hamilton was one of the1749 creditors of Joseph Sparks in Frederick County. (We have notsucceeded as yet in tracing the ancestry of Margaret Hamilton other thanknowing her father's name was Josiah Hamilton.)

"The children of Joseph and Mary Sparks were identified in a FrederickCounty court record dated August 1750 in which Mary was ordered to giveto each of her children his/her proper share of Joseph's estate. Thechildren were named as" Solomon, Joseph, Charles, Jonas , Jonathan,William, George, Merum, Mary, Ann, Rebecka, and Sarah.

"Our next record pertaining to William Sample Sparks is dated 1750 .This was a petition submitted by him to the Frederick County Court at itsJune 1750 sitting. As recorded in Liber 1748-50 of the Frederick County"Circuit Court Judgments," Folio 557, this petition reads:

To the worshipful the Justices of Frederick County Court, nowsetting, the petition of William Sample Sparks, Pipe Creek One Hundred,humbly sheweth that your petitioner has been afflicted many years with asore leg that renders him very incapable to maintain his family; that ifye worships would please make an order to set your Petitioner Levy free,your Petitioner as bound shall pray, etc. Upon reading which petitionand consideration thereof had, it is ordered by the Court here that thePetitioner be levy free for the future. " From this petition, itappears that William Sample Sparks still had children to support who werestill living at home in 1750.

"A key source for genealogical research in Maryland are the landrecords, which are, in some ways, different from those of any otherAmerican colony. The period in Maryland's history with which we areconcerned here, fell into what is known as the "Second Period ofProprietary Rule, 1716-1776." Prior to 1683, land had been granted toindividuals who paid the transportation costs to bring settlers,including them- selves, to the province, but after 1683 individuals couldobtain land grants without bringing in settlers. Because the colony wasgoverned by a "Proprietor," however, annual rent had to be paid to himeven though an individual held title to his land. This all ended, ofcourse, with the American Revolution. Another peculiar feature of landownership in Maryland was the custom of naming each piece of land when itwas initially granted. The first owner chose the name for it by which itwould usually be known thereafter, even when sold to another party. Thismakes tracing of land ownership much easier in Maryland than in otherstates. Sometimes the names chosen for the land had genealogicalsignificance. When land was plentiful, as i t was when William SampleSparks moved to what became Frederick Count y in 1748, individualsoften"squatted" on vacant land until they or another party obtained anofficial grant. This is probably what was done by William SampleSparks. Joseph Sparks probably did the same, but had he not died in1749, it is likely that he would have tried to obtain a land grantfollowing the creation of Frederick County in 1748.

"William Sparks, son of William Sample Sparks, (we feel certain thathe was the oldest son), began acquiring land in Frederick County in 1749.He left Frederick County in 1764 to join his father and brothers in RowanCounty, North Carolina.

"Another son of William Sample Sparks was named Matthew and was bornabout 1730. We believe he was his father's second son. According to adescendant, he married Sarah Thompson, but whether this marriage tookplace in Maryland or after he moved to Rowan County, North Carolina, inor about 1754, we do not know. An article devoted to Matthew Sparks andhis family appeared in the QUARTERLY of June 1961, Whol e No. 34, pp.556-566. At that time, however, we had not identified him as a son ofWilliam Sample Sparks and stated simply that the two men were somehowrelated. We know now that he was the same Matthew Sparks who was shownas a creditor in the inventory of the estate of one Matthew Hopkins whohad died in Frederick County a year or two following the death of JosephSparks. Although undated, this inventory was taken sometime in 1751; itshowed that had owed Matthew 475 pounds of tobacco when he died. (SeeFrederick County Inventories , Book A, No. 2, p. 187.) Tobacco was acommon medium of exchange, and this probably meant that young MatthewSparks had performed some kind of labor for Hopkins for which he had notyet been paid when he died. The other Frederick County record pertainingto Matthew Sparks is a court record dated November 1752 describing aproposed road in the area of Beaver Dam Branch, Great Pipe Creek, andLittle Pipe Cr eek which "has been lately marked by Matthew Sparks." Theperson advocating that this road be built, Dr. Charles Carroll, indicatedthat Matthew Sparks had performed this task at his "instance and charge." It would appear that Matthew Sparks had acquired some surveying skillsin order to perform this service for Dr. Carroll. The court rejected theproposal, however; Dr. Carroll died in 1755. (See Frederick County CourtJudgments, November 1742.)

"Solomon Sparks, son of Joseph Sparks and a first cousin of WilliamSample Sparks, obtained a grant of 93 acres of land on the east side ofBeaver Dam Creek on March 20, 1750. Because, under the old Juli anCalendar, the new year did not begin until March 25, it was on March 31,1751, that Solomon made his purchase according to todays calendar.(England and her colonies adopted our present Gregorian Calenda r in 1752which changed the New Year to January 1 and moved the reconing of daysahead by eleven.) Solomon Sparks was required to pay a yearly "Rent ofThree Shillings and nine pence Sterling in Silver or Golde." (SeeFrederick County Liber GS #1, Folio 116-118.) He chose the name "ColdFriday" for his tract of land. On June 30, 1753, Solomon Sparks, withthe approval of his wife, Sarah, sold this tract for 35 pounds to MatthewHoward. (See Frederick County Deeds, Liber E , Folio 194-95.)

"We believe that the reason Solomon Sparks sold "Cold Friday" inNovember 1753 was that he, along with several other members of the Sparksfamily, including William Sample Sparks, were preparing to move fromFrederick County, Maryland, to the newly formed county of Rowan in NorthCarolina. They probably made the journey in the spring of 1754. "Thedestination of these Sparks emigrants was the land called " LordGranville's Domain between the Yadkin and the Catawba Rivers" i n NorthCarolina. North Carolina had been established originally as aproprietary colony belonging to eight English lords. In 1729, however,seven of these lords sold their rights to the colony to the King, butone, Earl of Granville, refused to part with his share which , in 1744,was set apart with specified boundaries. Part of his "domain" consistedof a vast area which had been organized in 1749 as Anson County, but fromwhich Rowan County had been cut off as a separate county in 1753. Shortlyafter Rowan County had been created, the county seat was established andnamed initially Rowan Court House, but this was changed later toSalisbury.

"By 1754, the year in which we believe that William Sample Sparks ,with two of his sons and three of his cousins (sons of his deceaseduncle, Joseph Sparks), set out for North Carolina, a great many othersettlers had already made the journey. Agents for Lord Granville hadadvertised the virtues of this new land, particularly in Irelan d andGermany. Thus, many of the early pioneers were Irish and Germa nimmigrants. How it was that William Sample Sparks and his sons andcousins learned of "Lord Granville's Domain" we shall probably neverknow, and we can only guess why they were attracted to it. A possiblereason was a growing fear that there would be warfare between England andFrance and that this would result in Indian uprisings in westernMaryland. Indeed, what would be called the French and Indian War inAmerica was about to commence. There was also the fact that desirablevacant land was much less plentiful than had been the case a few yearsearlier, and owners of good land in Frederick County were demanding highprices. There was the pleasing prospect of being able not only to obtainnew land in North Carolina at a much lower cost, but also there werereports that the soil there was unusually rich and that the climate wasmore mild than in western Maryland.

"Whether other Frederick County families joined the Sparkses in theirpioneering venture, we do not know, but it seems likely. The men namedSparks in the group besides William Sample Sparks were his sons Matthew(about 34 years old) and James (who was still in his teens ); there werealso three sons of Joseph Sparks; Solomon Sparks (about 27), Jonas Sparks(about 20); and Jonathan Sparks (about 18). One or more daughters ofWilliam Sample Sparks may also have been included as perhaps, also, oneor more of the daughters of Joseph Sparks ( died 1749).

"We can only speculate on the route followed by these pioneers. Thefollowing paragraphs from James S. Brawley's THE ROWAN STORY, 1753 -1953(Salisbury, N.C., 1953, pp. 12-13), helps us to imagine what their pathmay have been.

"At the time Granville's survey was run (1746) people were beginningto fill the valley between the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers. The firstsettlers seem to have followed the river courses from South Carolina,principally the Pee Dee and Santee, and picked up lands in the southernpart of what is now Rowan. Others poured in from Pennsylvania andtraveled down the "Gread Wagon Road" that led them through the ShenandoahValley into the North Carolina Piedmont. A record of one German, JohnRamsour, showed that he traveled 502 miles from Lancaster, Pennsylvania,to Salisbury. (Continued under his wife Rachel's notes.)

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June, 1977, Whole No. 98, p.1917 for theabstract of his pension file:

WILLIAM S. SPARKS was born on March 19, 1843, in Kent County, Delaware.He served in Co. G, 4th Regt. Delaware Infantry. File Designation: Inv.Cert. No. 169,605.

On May 13, 1873, William S. Sparks, age 30, a resident of Baltimore,Maryland, made application for
an Invalid Pension. He stated that he had enlisted on Aug. 15, 1862, atWilmington, Delaware, in Co. G,
4th Regt. Delaware Volunteers and had served until June 7, 1865. He saidhe was 5 ft. 6½ in. tall; he
had a light complexion, dark hair and eyes; and he was a farmer byoccupation. He said that on or
about 4 p.m. on June 18, 1864, he received a gunshot wound in his rightarm while charging the
Confederate breatworks in front of Petersburg, Va. He was confined in thehospital at Willitts Point,
Long Island, for five months while receiving treatment. After leaving themilitary service, he had resided
in Kent Co., Maryland. He said he was unable to perform manual labor.

The War Department confirmed Sparks's military service on June 21, 1873.He had enlisted as a
private on Aug. 16, 1862, at Smyrna, Delaware, in Co. G, 4th Regt.Delaware Volunteers and was
present for duty until June 18, 1864, when he was reported as "absent - -wounded." He was carried as
absent - - wounded until he rejoined his unit in November 1864. He wasmustered out with his company
on June 3, 1865.

Apparently no action was taken on Sparks's first application and on Oct.17, 1879, he again applied for
an invalid pension. He was now age 36 and a resident of Galena, KentCounty, Md. He again recited
his military service and added that he had served under Capt. William H.McClary. After he left the
service, he worked as a tin smith in Middletown and Galena, Md. Heappointed George E. Lemon,
Washington, D.C., as his attorney. J. W. Chapman and E. G. Banjaminwitnessed his signature and the
application was sworn to before D. C.Blackiston, Clerk of the Kent County(Md.) Circuit Court. He was
issued an invalid pension under Invalid Certificate No. 169,605.

On Oct. 27, 1883, Sparks applied for an increase in his pension becauseof the increased disability
from the gunshot wound. He said he was receiving a pension of $4.00 permonth. James McDowell and
Henry C. Spruance witnessed his signature. We received no document amongthose selected from his
file at the National Archives which shows the action taken on thisrequest.

On Feb. 25, 1907, and again on July 6, 1912, Sparks applied for increasedpension benefits under the
1907 and 1912 Acts of Congress, respectively. He now lived in JerseyCity, N.J. He stated that he was
born at Smyrna, Kent County, Delaware, on March 19, 1843. He lived inGalena, Md., from 1865 to
1882; in Philadelphia, Penna., from 1882 to 1889; and in Jersey City from1889 until the present (1912).

The last document (in chronological order) that we received from thepension file of William S. Sparks is
his reply to a questionnaire on April 1, 1915. He now lived at Camden,N.J. He drew lines through most
of the spaces provided for answers and simply wrote across the page, "Iam a widower with no children."

See The Sparks Quarterly, March 1996, Whole No. 172, pg 4610 for aphotograph of William Stephen and Mary Carolyn (Knowles) Sparks. Seepage 4609 for this:
"William Stephen Sparks, born april 28, 1849, in Lumpkin County,Georgia. He was married to Mary Carolyn Knowles in 1874. He died onapril 22, 1932, in Terrell County, Georgia. His son George MarionSparks, born April 9, 1882, was the father of Mrs. (Margaret Sparks)Singletary, who was born on June 12, 1912. Another son of WilliamStephen Sparks was John albert Sparks, born april 12, 1885, in chattoogaCounty, Georgia; he died on July 29, 1955, in Norfolk, Virginia. A sonof John Albert Sparks is John A. Sparks, Jr., of Chesapeake, Virginia,born November 29, 1926. He has provided the photograph that appears onthe following page."

.

!NOTES:
The SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1994, Whole No. 165, at page 4270 stat es:
William T. Sparks, son of Ephriam and Charlotte Sparks, was born abou t1813 in
Virginia. He was married to Minerva Jane Johnson, and they had nin echildren:
Benjamin, Abby Jane, Margaret, Charlotte, Mary, Ephriam, William, Sylvester and
John.

SQ 3189-90: "William Thomas Sparks was born on January 15, 1865 . Hemarried July Melvina Susan Morris and they had five children:
(a) Nancy Jane Sparks was born on June 15, 1895.
(b) John Thomas Sparks was born in July 1899.
(c) Earl Sparks was born about 1902.
(d) Clarence Hewey Sparks was born about 1905.
(e) Effie Truzilla Margaret Filla Sparks was born about 1908 and diedwhile she was quite young."

!NOTES:
SQ 3867: William Thomas Sparks was married to Tennessee Travis i n1895 in
Lawrence County, and when the 1900 census was taken they had two children,
James and Nora.

!NOTES:
SQ 3873: William Thomas Sparks was married to Edna Francis McGowa n.They
had no children.

SQ p. 4133:

DEATH TAKES WILLIAM THOMAS ("SPARKY") SPARKS

"We have learned only recently of the deaths of two of the most loyaland enthusiastic supporters of our Association, W. T. ("Sparky") Sparksand his wife, the former Blanche Irene Schooley. "Sparky" died on March18, 1993, and Blanche died on June 10, 1993. Funeral services wereconducted in the First Presbyterian Church of Odessa, Missouri, whereboth were members. They were buried in the Odessa Cemetery.

"William Thomas Sparks was born on August 7, 1912, at Odessa,Missouri, and was a son of William Walker and Lou Etta (Proctor) Sparks.His paternal grandparents were John Christian Sparks (1815-1896) andSarah M. (Cobb) Sparks (1831-1882). John Christian Sparks was agreat-grandson of the William Sparks (born ca.1725, died 1901/02) who wasfeatured in the QUARTERLY of June 1991, Whole No. 154, pp. 3751-98.)"[JJS: William was also my 4th great-grandfather.]

" "Sparky" was a longtime funeral director of the Husman-SparksFuneral home in Odessa.

"Blanche Irene (Schooley) Sparks was born on March 24, 1911, nearRobbins, Missouri, and was a daughter of Dr. R. C. and Lena (Morehead)Schooley. She taught school in Odessa for nearly forty years.

"Both "Sparky" and Blanche held memberships in civic and socialorganizations too numerous to mention, and both were vital members oftheir community. They celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary onJanuary 17, 1992. They are survived by a daughter, Brenda (Sparks)Craven, and two grandsons, Lucas and Micah Craven.

"We extend our sympathy to Mrs. Craven and to other family members."

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 4557: He and Josie had two children: Patsy and Elizabeth Sparks.

SQ pg 3468: They had one child, Jackie Sparks.

SQ p. 5365:

"William W. Sparks, son of Joel Sparks and his first wife, was bornca. 1810 in Surry County, North Carolina. He was married there toLucretia Cornelia Pryor about 1840 and it was there that his only son,Samuel P. Sparks, was born on January 1, 1844. Later in 1844, theymoved to Johnson County, Missouri, where Lucretia died early in life.William W. Sparks lived until February 18, 1876."

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY for September 1999, Whole No. 187, p 5227 forthe 1860 Census of Palo Pinto County Texas:

Palo Pinto County, Texas--1850 Census

Post Office: Palo Pinto
Page 331. Census taken by John Hittson on July 6, 1860
109-109

Name Age Sex Occupation Born
Sparks, William 18 (M) Stock Raiser -$8,000 TX

Note: William Sparks was living by himself in 1860, and at age 18 he wasshown as owning 7 slaves, with one slave house . See following page fortheir enumeration .

Enumeration of William Sparks slaves:

Age Sex Color
1. 30 F B
2. 20 M B
3. 15 M M
4. 10 M B
5. 10 F M
6. 8 M B
7 5 F M

Note: We cannot identify positively the parents of William Sparks shownhere (page 5226) as 18 years of age, a stock raiser who owned 7 slaves in1860. He must have inherited his property, valued at $8,000, doubtlesscomprising these slaves . Since Texas was given as his place of birth,which would have been about 1842 if his age was given correctly on the1860 census, he should be shown on the 1850 census of Texas as a lad ofabout 8 years old. The only William Sparks fitting that description foundon the 1850 census of Texas, was William W. Sparks, age 9, and a nativeof Texas. He was then, 1850, living with his parents, William and LucySparks, in the city of Galveston, county of Galveston. (See this censusrecord on page 123 of the March 1956 issue of the QUARTERLY.) The fatherof this William W. Sparks was William Sparks, son of Isaac and Wilmoth(Noland) Sparks of Carroll County, Tennessee. (The name "Noland"has alsobeen spelled "Knowland" in some Tennessee records.) William Sparks,sheriff of Galveston in 1850, a native bf Tennessee, was about 43 yearsold at that time . From other records, we know that his middle initialwas "N." A biographical sketch of his brother, Isaac H . Sparks, appearsin a volume entitled TheLoneStarState published by the Lewis Pub . Co. inChicago in 1893. On page 731 it is stated that Isaac H. Sparks "came toTexas in 1849, landing in Galveston, where he had a brother, William N.Sparks, who at that time was Sheriff of his county." See note on page5212 regarding Isaac H. Sparks whom we had expected to find on the 1860census of Burleson County, Texas.

SQ 3796: "Son, born ca.1790. This may have been William Z. Sparks (orWilliam S. Sparks) who was married (1st) to Elizabeth Gentry in 1813, and(2nd) to Mary Benge." [William Z. Sparks is the first cousin 4 timesremoved of James Joseph Sparks]

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

Sparks Quarterly, September, 2000, Whole No. 191, pp. 5396-5403:

WILLIAM Z. SPARKS (ca. 1791-1858)

By Russell E. Bidlack

"William Sparks, who died in Queen Annes County, Maryland, in 1709, wasthe progenitor of the branch of the Sparks family that was and is closelyassociated with Rowan County, North Carolina, and the several countiesformed from it (e.g. Surry in 1770, Wilkes in 1777, Burke in 1777,Iredell in 1788, Davidson in 1822, Davie in 1836, and Yadkin in 1850).

"Two grandsons of William Sparks (died 1709) moved with members of theirfamilies from Frederick County, Maryland, to the Forks of the Yadkin inRowan County (now Davie County) in or about 1754. They were WilliamSample Sparks (ca.1700- ca.1765) who was a son of William Sparks, Jr.,eldest son of William Sparks who had died in 1709; and Solomon Sparks(ca.1720-ca.1790) who was a son of Joseph Sparks (died 1749). Joseph hadbeen the youngest son of William (died 1709). (See the QUARTERLY ofDecember 1989, Whole No. 148, for an article on William Sample Sparks,and the issue for December 1955, Whole No. 12, for information on SolomonSparks.)

"A major problem in tracing the descendants of William Sparks (died 1709)is that the name William was repeated among most of his sons andgrandsons in choosing names for their children, often for their eldestson. Although William Sample Sparks had a middle name, this was unusualin the Eighteenth Century. Middle names did not become common in Americauntil the latter part of the Nineteenth Century, although, in order todistinguish between their many cousins named William Sparks, middleinitials were sometimes assumed by individuals bearing the name.

"A son of William Sample Sparks (he was probably the eldest son), wasalways known simply as "William Sparks"; he had been born about 1725 andwas married to a woman named Ann before his father and siblings leftFrederick County, Maryland, for North Carolina in or about 1854. Heremained in Frederick County for another decade, but in 1764 he broughthis young family to the Forks of the Yadkin, also. (For a detailed recordof the life of this William Sparks, who died in 1801/02, see theQUARTERLY of June 1991, Whole No. 154.)

"In either 1770 or 1771, Solomon Sparks moved to a new settlement, thistime from the Forks of the Yadkin to a part of Rowan County that had justbeen cut off to form Surry County. He settled on the North Branch ofHunting Creek. William Sparks, who had joined Solomon and his otherrelatives in the Forks of the Yadkin in 1764, followed Solomon to SurryCounty in or shortly before 1772. (Solomon and William were firstcousins, once removed.)

"When Wilkes County was created from Surry County in 1777, the dividingline ran directly through Solomon Sparks's land. Although his houseremained in Surry County, a readjustment of the line a little later meantthat he then became a resident of Wilkes County, where he died about1790. William Sparks's land remained in Surry County, and it was therethat he died between December 1801 and May 1802.

"It is our goal here to attempt to identify how a Wlliiam Sparks, who wasborn about 1791 and who died in 1858, fits into the Sparks family. Helived near the village of Jonesville, just south of the Yadkin River inwhat became Yadkin County in 1850. In later years, this William Sparksadded the letter "Z"to his name as a middle initial, although it wassometimes written "S," and in many records he was called simply WilliamSparks.

"A study of extant tax and census records for Surry County during theearly 1800s reveals that there were two clusters of the Sparks familyliving in what is now Yadkin County. They were about eight miles apart.The group to which William Z. Sparks belonged lived near the village ofJonesville, with farms located near the waters of Deep Creek, Fall Creek,and Beaverdam Creek.

The other cluster of Sparkses in what became Yadkin County was headed byMatthew Sparks (ca.1752 -1819), who was a son of Wlliiam and Ann Sparks.He and his several sons lived on Hunting Creek and its branches in thesouthwest corner of Yadkin County, about four miles north of the IredellCounty line. Until 1850, this was, of course, in Surry County. Part ofMatthew's land adjoined the dividing line between Surry and WilkesCounties. (See the QUARTERLY of June 2000, Whole No. 190, for a detailedrecord of Matthew Sparks and his family.)

"Just over the line in Wilkes County, but still on the North Fork ofHunting Creek, lived Solomon Sparks, Jr., a son of the Solomon Sparks whohad come to the Forks of the Yadkin in or about 1754. Solomon Sparks, Jr.had purchased land there from William T. Lewis in 1791 and from GeorgeDenney in 1805. (See the QUARTERLY of March 2000, Whole No.189 for anarticle on Solomon Sparks, Jr. and some of his descendants.) Then, in1808, Solomon Sparks, Jr. purchased 150 acres over the line in SurryCounty, and from 1813 until 1818, his son, William Sparks, lived on andwas taxed for this tract of 150 acres. Solomon Sparks, Jr. died in WilkesCounty on December 18, 1817, after which this tract in Surry County wassold. His son, William Sparks, then disappeared from Surry County taxrecords; he was not shown on the 1820 census of either Surry or WilkesCounty. We can only conjecture that he died in or about 1818 or, moreprobably, he moved out of the area after his father died. This WilliamSparks, son of Solomon Sparks, Jr., must not be confused with William Z.Sparks, the subject of the present sketch. Likewise, William Z. Sparksmust not be confused with William D. Sparks (ca.1790-1858), son ofMatthew and Eunice Sparks. (See the QUARTERLY of June 2000, Whole No.190, pp.5379-87 for a sketch of the life of William D. Sparks.)

"From circumstantial evidence, there is good reason to believe thatWilliam Z. Sparks was a son of George Sparks who had been born about1758/60 in Frederick County, Maryland. George had accompanied hisparents, William and Ann Sparks, in their migration from Maryland to theForks of the Yadkin in 1764. Although we have found no clue by which toidentify the wife of George Sparks, we know from census records between1790 and 1830 that he had a family consisting, apparently, of three sonsand four daughters. When the 1830 census was taken, he was enumerated inthe 60 to 70 age category, but there was no female in his household of asimilar age. The further fact that he made no mention of his wife when hemade his will on November 18, 1833, suggests that she had died, probablybefore 1830.

"Although George Sparks referred to "all my children" in his will, henamed only his one unmarried daughter, Franky, and his son, GeorgeSparks, Jr. To George, Jr., he left all his land (300 acres), includinghis "still and stand" and his farming tools. His personal property was tobe sold to pay his debts, with the remainder to be divided among "all mychildren" except George,Jr. Two grandchildren, James and Wilson Edwards,were to receive their deceased mother's share. The name of this deceaseddaughter of George Sparks is not known, but the provision in his willthat the portion received by these grandchildren "be paid into the Handof Samuel Edwards" suggests that Samuel Edwards was probably theirfather. (See the QUARTERLY of June 1983, Whole No. 122, pp. 2520-24, forfurther information regarding George Sparks, including the full text ofhis will.)

"George Sparks, in leaving all of his land to his son, George, Jr.,probably did so with the understanding that George, Jr. would care forhim during his remaining years. Perhaps he had already provided in somemanner for his other two sons, including, we believe, WIlliam Z. Sparks.

"From census records, we know that William Z. Sparks was born about 1791.He lived his entire life in the Jonesville area, and he died there inDecember 1858. His name flrst appeared on the 1812 tax list of SurryCounty; he owned no land then, but he was taxed for one poll (himself).(North Carolina law required at that time that all free males between theages of 21 and 50 pay an annual poll tax.) It was in Capt. Martin'sDistrict that William Sparks paid his poll tax in 1812. (The tax districtat that time was the same as the militia district, and it was known bythe name of the captain of militia in that area.) Two other men namedSparks appeared on Capt. Martin's list: George Sparks with 700 acres ofland and two polls, and Thomas Sparks with 203 acres and one poll.

"This Thomas Sparks, who was taxed on 203 acres of land in 1812, was,like George Sparks, a son of William and Ann Sparks. Thomas had been bornabout 1766. He was married about 1787 to Rebecca ; there is a possibilitythat her maiden name had been Bell. After her death about 1795, Thomaswas married (2nd) to Diana Wilcox about 1800. Thomas Sparks moved about1817 to the area where Lee and Scott Counties, Virginia, adjoin; stilllater he moved, with his brother, James Sparks, to Lawrence County,Kentucky. (For a detailed record of the life and. family of ThomasSparks, see the QUARTERLY of December 1991, Whole No. 156; March 1992,Whole No. 157; and June 1992, Whole No. 158.)

"When the 1815 tax list for Capt. Martin's District was prepared, William[Z.] Sparks, the subject of this sketch, was listed as owning 91 acres onFall Creek, valued at $150. This tract was described as adjoining landowned by "N. Morrison." We have found a deed in Surry County whichaccounts for this 91-acre tract. Although dated March 1, 1818, this deedrefers to the land as having been "delivered" to Sparks in 1815. By thisdeed (see Surry County Deed Book 0, pp. 257-8), Nathaniel Morrison soldfor "50 pounds current money" to "William Sparks," both of Surry County,a tract of 100 acres, being the south portion of a larger tract of whichMorrison had sold a portion to William Jenkins in 1815. The witnesses tothis 1818 deed were Allen Sisk and Joseph Sparks.

"While described in the deed as comprising 100 acres, it appears that,for tax purposes, this tract was judged to be 91 acres in 1815 and 97acres after 1816.

"On January 16, 1817, "William S. [Z.] Sparks" obtained a grant of landfrom the state of North Carolina for 50 shillings per hundred acres. OnDecember 26, 1818, the grant was made official in the Treasury Office.The tract was described as being on Beverdam Creek and comprised 250acres. It adjoined land owned by Wiley Craft, Jonathan Sparks, BenjaminSparks, and Sebastian. (See Surry County Deed Book P, pp. 378-79.) Thatyear (1817), William Z. Sparks was taxed on 347 acres with a total valueof $350. Before the 1818 tax list for Surry County was prepared, however,William had disposed of his 250-acre grant which he had obtained the yearbefore from the state. In 1818, he was shown as owning only 97 acresvalued at $150 and adjoining the land of Allen Sisk. We have found norecord to reveal how he had disposed of his 250 acres.

"When the Surry County tax records were prepared in 1819, what hadearlier been called Capt. Martin's District (identified as "CaptainJoshua K. Speer's District" in 1818), was now called the "District ofJonesville." Again, William Sparks was shown as owning 97 acres of land;its value, however, was increased to $250. Allen Sisk was again shown asowning land adjoining that of William Z. Sparks, although Sisk's land(103 acres) was described as adjoining the land of George Sparks. GeorgeSparks, himself, was shown on this 1819 tax list as owning 320 acresvalued at $600. It was described simply as lying on Deep Creek.

"Four other men named Sparks were taxed in 1819 on land they owned in theJonesville District. They were: Jonathan Sparks, 220 acres valued at $300adjoining Wm. Rose; Benjamin Sparks, 186 acres ($400) adjoining JonathanSparks; Joseph Sparks, 244 acres ($300) adjoining Allen Sisk; and Benja.Sparks, 93 acres ($300) adjoining Jesse Sisk. (Owners of land describedas adjoining land owned by persons named Sparks were: Robert Burcheladjoining Benja. Sparks; John Edwards adjoining George Sparks; Allen Siskadjoining George Sparks; and John Parks adjoining Jonathan Sparks.)

"Wiley Craft, mentioned in the 1817 grant of land to William Z. Sparks asowning adjoining land, had been married in Surry County to Agatha Sparks(spelled "Auga thee") in 1812. The bond for this marriage was datedJanuary 28, 1812, and we can assume that the marriage occurred soonthereafter. Allen Sisk served as bondsman. Wiley Craft then served asbondsman (on January 4, 1813) for the marriage bond for William Sparksand Elizabeth Gentry. Although no middle initial was shown on this bondfor William Sparks, circumstantial evidence leads us to believe that thiswas the first marriage of William Z. Sparks. We wonder whether the AgathaSparks who had been married to Wiley Craft in 1812 may have been a sisterof William Z. Sparks. Another marriage bond of interest is that forJoseph Sparks and Martha Edwards, dated January 28, 1815, with RichardGentry serving as bondsman. Joseph Sparks, who was born about 1790 inSurry County, was, we believe a son of Thomas and Rebecca Sparks. ThomasSparks (ca.1766-ca.1837), like George Sparks, was a son of William andAnn Sparks. (See the QUARTERLY of December 1991, Whole No. 156,pp.3855-58.) It would seem likely that this Martha Edwards was related tothe grandchildren named in the will of George Sparks in 1833 as James andWilson Edwards.

"William Z. Sparks was not listed as heading a household in Surry Countywhen the 1820 census was taken. He was probably just missed by the censustaker, although it is possible that he and his family were living insomeone else's house hold. (Only the heads of household were actuallynamed on census records prior to 1850.)

"When the 1824 tax list for the Jonesville District in Surry County wasprepared, William Sparks's tract of 97 acres was described as adjoiningland owned by William Jenkins. The 1825 tax list seems not to have beenpreserved, but that for 1826 shows William Sparks with 194 acresadjoining James Morrison. This increase in his land ownership isexplained by a Surry County deed (Book T, p.63) dated November 29, 1825.On that date, "William Z. Sparks" purchased from William Jenkins a tractof 91 acres "on the waters of Fall Creek" adjoining his own land. (Thewitnesses to this deed were Richard H. Parks and Richard Guinn, both ofwhom were near neighbors of William Z. Sparks.) In fact, this same tracthad been noted in the deed by which William had purchased his originaltract from Nathaniel Morrison; Morrison had stated in that deed that hehad sold the north portion of his farm in 1815 to William Jenkins and thesouth portion to William Sparks. Sparks now (1825) paid Jenkins $150 forthese 91 acres adjoining his own land, giving him a farm that wasdescribed in subsequent tax records as comprising total acreage varyingas follows: 193, 194, 195, and 197. In 1838, 1840, and 1841, it wassimply called 200 acres.

"While the deed of 1825 clearly identified Sparks as "William Z. Sparks,"in the body of the document he was called simply "William Sparks."

"When the 1830 census of Surry County was taken, William Z. Sparks waslisted as heading a household very near that of George Sparks. In theenumeration of his family, he, himself, was shown as between 40 and 50years of age (thus born be tween 1780 and 1790). A female, doubtless hiswife, was enumerated as between 30 and 40 (thus born between 1790 and1800). There were seven children in their household enumerated asfollows: (Note that their ages would be in agreement with the marnagerecord noted earlier for William Sparks and Elizabeth Gentry in 1813.)

2 males between 10 and 15 [thus born 1815 -1820]
1 male between 5 and 10 [thus born 1820 -1825]
1 male under 5 thus born between [1825 -1830]
1 female between 15 and 20 [born 1810 -1815]
1 female between 10 and 15 [born 1815 -1820]
1 female between 5 and 10 [born 1820-1825]

"Because census takers proceeded from one house to the next in gatheringtheir information, their records reveal who were near neighbors to oneanother. The names on each side of William Z. Sparks on the 1830 censusmay prove useful in further research. They were as follows:

Thomas Pettyjohn, William Cheek, Hannah Brewer, Charles Johnson,Charles Johnson, Jr., James
Jeffrey, Obediah Collins, David Woodruff, Henry Cook, George Sparks,Charles Ray, Charles
Russel, William Casey, William Z. Sparks, James Morrison, RobertsHowel, Benjamin Rose, Robert Perdew, Elizabeth Parks, John Rose, ReubenJohnson, Micajah Becknal, Robert Burchett, Reuben Underwood, RichardGuynn, Thomas D. Kelly, James Harris, Richard Parks.

"When the 1840 census of Surry County was taken, William Z. Sparks'shousehold was enumerated as follows:

1 male (himself) age 40 to 50 (thus born 1790-1800)
1 male age 15-20 (thus born 1820-1825)
1 male age 10-15 (thus born 1825-1830)
1 male age 5-10 (thus born 1830-1835)
1 female (doubtless his wife) age 40 to 50 (thus born 1790-1800)
1 female age 15-20 (thus born 1820-1825)

"With the enumerations from these two census records for the family ofWilliam Z. Sparks, plus that of 1850 that will be mentioned later, we canspeculate that he was the father of seven children:
(Here lists children for which see their individual sheets.)

(The article continues:)

"William Z. Sparks apparently suffered some financial reverses in thelate 1830s. On March 12, 1838 (according to Surry County Deed Book X,p.62), he was forced to mortgage his farm (described as containing 195acres) on which he lived--also included in the mortgage was his livestock("one roan mare, three head of cattle, nine head of hogs, eight head ofsheep") as well as his furniture, a still, and tubs. The mortgage was tobe held by William C. De Journett and was to cover a note for $110.32 toH. S. Hampton dated October 24, 1837. In this mortgage, which William Z.Sparks signed by mark, his farm was described as adjoining land owned byJames Morrison and Benedict Castevens. Witnesses were Wm. C. De Journettand H. S. Morrison.

"Apparently William Z. Sparks was able to pay off this mortgage, but onFebruary 12, 1841, he again had to mortgage his farm (Surry County DeedBook Y, pp. 374-5) for a variety of debts (a total of $142.78 3/4) owedto Benedict Castephus, T. W. Cowles, Josiah Cowles, and to a partnershipknown as Cowles & Wilcox. Thomas Sparks, who was probably a son ofWilliam Z. Sparks, was identified as a joint-debtor with him for one ofthe notes. William Z. Sparks's debt to Alfred Deniette was shared withAxim Holloman.

"The financial situation of William Z. Sparks apparently worsened, and onSeptember 25, 1841, according to Surry County Deed Book 1, p.363) he wasforced to mortgage his still plus all the brandy that he would be able tomake from his fruit trees during the following fall and winter. In thisinstance, his creditors were identified as Isaac Austil, T. W. Carter,and Josiah Cowles. In connection with one of these debts, Thomas Sparks(doubtless his son) was again named as joint-debtor.

"The 1850 census was the first federal census to list by name all membersof each household, along with their ages, occupations (if males over 16),and places of birth. The household of William Z. Sparks appeared asfollows in Surry County in 1850:

Name Age Occupation Real Estate Birth
William Z. Sparks 58 Farmer$150 NC
Mary Sparks 37 NC
James Sparks 21 FarmerNC
Uriah Benge 10 NC

"From this listing, it appears that the first wife of William Z. Sparkshad died be tween 1840 and 1850, and that he had remarried, his secondwife's name being Mary. The 21-year-old James Sparks living with WilliamZ. Sparks was doubtless his youngest son, born about 1829.

"The presence of the 10-year-old Uriah Benge in this family provides animportant clue. There is a marriage bond in Surry County dated September5, 1844, for William Sparks and Mary Benge, with George Sparks asbondsman and James E. Hough as witness. We may be quite sure that MaryBenge was a widow with a small son named Uriah at the time she wasmarried to William Z. Sparks. We know that a Benge family lived near theSparkses in the Jonesville area.

"William Z. Sparks died in December 1858. He did not leave a will. InApril 1859 his widow, Mary, requested the County Court to appoint ajustice of the peace and three freeholders (i. e., landowners) "to viewthe personal estate of her said deceased husband and out of the crop,stock & provisions on hand to allow & set apart to your petitioner asufficient support for herself & family for one year..." The documentspertaining to William Z. Sparks's estate are very limited in number. Inthese documents, summarized below, only the name "William Sparks"appears, without any middle initial.

"The Court complied with the widow's request, and a justice of the peacenamed Moses Gross, along with S. S. Arnold, Stephen Evans, and HenryMarshel, were appointed to prepare an inventory of the estate left byWilliam Z. Sparks, with in structions to determine what should be "setapart" for his widow.

"William Z. Sparks obviously had few worldly goods when he died. In fact,when these four men completed their inventory, they noted: "The widow isvery poor in deed; we charge no pay." (Men appointed to perform this taskby the Court were entitled to payment for their time from the estate.) Inthe end, they "set apart" the following items for Mary Sparks:

two beds and furniture
one Small Cupboard and two Chests and one Table
one Lot of Gear and farming tools one Sythe and Cradle
also the present Crop of growing wheat
also one spotted Sow and five Shoats
also Sevinty [sic] Dollars in Cash if to be found.

"When the 1860 census was taken of Yadkin County, which had been "cutoff" from Surry County a decade
earlier, Mary Sparks, 44 years old, was listed as heading a household.Living with her was Uriah Benge, now age 21. A man named Robert Freeman(age 21), called a "Farm Laborer," was also living with Mary Sparks in1860, with his wife, Bethilda (age 17), and their six-month-old son,George W. Freeman.

"We believe that James Sparks, the youngest son of William Z. Sparks byhis first wife, was the same James Sparks who was married to MeliciaHarris in Yadkin County in 1855. Their marriage bond was dated February1, 1855, with B. B. Benham as bondsman. This marriage bond also containsthe record that James Sparks and Melicia Harris were married on February8, 1855, by S. D. Swaim, Minister of the Gospel.

'Melicia Harris' full name seems to have been Mary Melicia Harris, forher name on the 1860 census of Yadkin County appears as "Mary M. Sparks."James Sparks and his household were shown on the 1860 census with theirpost office as Jonesville. This record is as follows:

Name AgeOccupation Birth
James Sparks 30 FarmTenant NC
Mary M. Sparks 29 NC
Elizabeth E. Sparks 5 NC
Thos. Sparks 3 NC
William Sparks 1 NC

'Mary Sparks, widow of William Z. Sparks, did not appear on the 1870census of Yadkin County, North Carolina, nor did James Sparks and hishousehold.

"[Editor's Note: We hope that a descendant of William Z. Sparks may readthis attempt to sketch his life here and share with us furtherinformation about him and his descendants.

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

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

THE SPARKS QUARTERLY for September 1978, Whole No. 103, p. 2029, 1850Census of Scott County, AR:

Page 156. Census taken November 19, 1850, by E. H. Featherston.

407-407 Sparks, Willis 35 (M) Illinois Farmer
" Nancy 30 (F) "
" Mary 15 (F) Arkansas
" Letta 14 (F) "
" Eliza 7 (F) "
" John 6 (M) "
" Sarah 4 (F) "
" Wm. J. 3/12 (M) "

THE SPARKS QUARTERLY for September 1999, Whole No. 187, p. 5212:

Clay County,Texas --1880 Census Post Office: Montague Page 80. Censustaken by J. W. Johnson on August 24, 1860. 769-795
Name Age Sex Occupation Born
Sparks, Willis 45 (M) Farmer $50 IL
" Thankful 35 (F) NH
" Mary 24 (F) AR
" Letha 22 (F) AR
" Eliza 18 (F) AR
McGhee, Thomas 12 (M) TX
Sparks, John A. 15 M) AR
" Elizabeth 13 (F) AR
" Jasper 10 (M) AR
" Warren 6 (M) TX
" Paralie 4 (F) TX

Note. Willis Sparks, born about 1815, was a son of Elsberry Sparks (bornabout 1791). Information regarding Elsberry Sparks, son of Absalom andLydia (Elsberry) Sparks, appeared in the QUARTERLY of September 1982,Whole No. 119, p.2444. (Lydia Elsberry may also have had the name Mary.)At the time this article was published we did not have the names of anyof Elsberry Sparks's children, but correspondence with descendants hassince proven that one of his children was Willis Sparks. Absalom Sparks,a son of Matthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks, and his son Elsberry livedbriefly in Illinois Territory where Willis Sparks was born. It appearsthat Willis was married twice. When the 1850 census was taken of ScottCounty, Arkansas, he was shown with wife Mary and six chlldren. (Seep.2029 of the September 1978 QUARTERLY, Whole No.103.) As shown above,his wife in 1860 was named Thankful. The 3-month-old baby shown in 1850as "Wm. J. Sparks" appears to have been the 10-year-old Jasper Sparksshown in 1860. We may wonder whether the 12-year-old Thomas McGhee in1860 could have been a son of Thankful by a previous marriage.
*****************

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3697: They had three children: Jeanette, Joe and Dale. H ewas a carpenter and also a minister for the Pentecostal Church. H e diedin 1986.

SQ pg 3421: Willis Lanford Sparks was born on March 13, 1885, inElliott County. He died on September 18, 1975. According to hisobituary, he was a school teacher when he opened and operated a theaterof silent movies in Olive Hill. He was also a construction contractor,an oil well driller, and a farmer. He was a member of the Grundy MasonicLodge in Elliott County.

Willis Sparks was married twice. His first wife was Ella Boggs towhom he was married about 1910. They had four children. Ella died in1927, and Willis married (2nd) Grayce Brinegar, probably about 1938. Shewas born on June 3, 1903, and was a daughter of Lillie (Way ) Brinegar.Grayce died on August 28, 1981. She and Willis had two children.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3421: They have four children: Rhonda, Timothy, Theresa, a ndChristopher Sparks.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September, 1982, Whole No. 119 pg 2446:

"Willoughby Sparks, son of Absalom and Lydia (Ellsberry) Sparks, wasborn about 1802 in Georgia. He married Mary ("Polly") Harrell, probablyabout 1825 in Arkansas. She was born about 1809 in Illinois. In 1821,Willoughby joined his father and brothers in presenting a petition to thePresident and Congress asking for their help in keeping possession oftheir land in the Arkansas Territory. When the 1830 census was taken, hewas in Pope County, Arkansas, with his wife and three children.

"On November 5, 1832, Willoughby Sparks and his wife, Polly Sparks ,late Polly Harrell, of Hot Springs County, Arkansas, sold 320 acres ofland which formerly belonged to Polly Harrell. The buyer was EliasRector of Pulaski County, Arkansas. Willoughby Sparks paid taxes in HotSprings County in 1834, and in Sevier County, Arkansas, in 1837 and 1838;however, when the 1840 census was taken, he and Polly were back in HotSprings County with their seven children.

"Willoughby Sparks apparently moved to Tennessee about 1841 where twoof his children were born, but by January 1847, he was in Texas where hesettled in Limestone County. It was there, on September 15, 1849, thathe sold his share of the estate of his sister, Edy Sparks, for one dollarand other considerations. He was listed there on the 1850 census.

"Falls County, Texas, was formed in 1850 from a part of LimestoneCounty and Milam County, and Willoughby Sparks became a resident of thenewly formed county. There, according to the school census of 1855, hewas the guardian of three school children, John Nelson, WilloughbyNelson, and Manerva Jane Nelson, all probably his grandchildren. Heprobably died about 1860 . He and Polly apparently had ten children.

1. Levi Sparks was born about 1825 in Arkansas.
2. An unnamed daughter was born between 1825 and 1830.
3. An unnamed daughter was born between 1825 and 1830. She mayhave married a man named Nelson by whom she had three children for whomWilloughby Sparks was serving as guardian in 1855. (See above)
4. William Sparks wqas born about 1832 in Arkansas. He married M.A. ---, and they had two children when the 1860 census was taken ofFalls County, Texas.
5. An unnamed daughter was born between 1830 and 1835.
6. Tillman Sparks was born about 1836 in Arkansas. He marriedAley (or Alcey) Peaveyhouse in Falls County, Texas, in 1861, and they hadat least four children.
7. Clarinda Sparks was probably born about 1840 in Tennessee. Shemarried James D. Erskine in 1858 in Falls County, Texas.
8. Nancy C. Sparks was born about 1842 in Tennessee.
9. Bailey M. Sparks was born about 1847 in Texas. He marriedMandy ---.
10. John Sparks was born about 1848 in Texas. He married RebeccaBrown on December 29, 1870, in Falls County, Texas."

SPARKS QUARTERLY, September, 1989, Whole No. 147, pps 3463-3472:

"Willoughby Sparks was born about 1802 in Clarke County, Georgia , andwas a son of Absalom and Lydia (Elsberry) Sparks and a grandson ofMatthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks. Absalom Sparks was in Clarke Countyin 1802 when he gave an affidavit to the Clarke County Court pertainingto the losses he and his mother, Sarah Sparks, had suffered from theuprisings of the Creek Indians in 1793-94.

"Willoughby Sparks accompanied his parents to the Illinois Territoryabout 1807, and it was there that he grew to manhood. He also went withhis parents to the Territory of Arkansas when it was opened up forsettlement in 1819, and it was probably there that he married Mary"Polly" Harrell about 1825. She was born about 1810 in IllinoisTerritory.

"Willoughby joined his father, Absalom Sparks, and his brothersElsberry Sparks, William Sparks, and Matthew Sparks, in Miller County ,Arkansas, in 1825 in presenting a petition to the President and to theU.S. Congress asking for help in keeping possession of their land inLovely County, Arkansas Territory, which lay just north of Miller Countyand which later became a part of Oklahoma Territory. The federalgovernment, in a treaty, had ceded the land to the Choctaw Indians thatincluded the farms belonging to the Sparks families. Willoughby was inCrawford County, Arkansas, in 1829, but by 1830 he was living in PopeCounty. It was there, on October 17, 1830, that he was given replacementland by the federal government. On the 1830 census, he and his wife wereshown has having three children, a son and two daughters.

"On November 5, 1832, Willoughby and his wife, Polly, of Hot SpringsCounty, Arkansas, sold 320 acres of land to Elias Rector of PulaskiCounty, Arkansas. In this deed, Willoughby's wife was referred to as"Polly Sparks nee Harrell." Willoughby paid taxes in Hot Springs Countyin 1834, but by 1837, he was in Sevier County, Arkansas, where he paidtaxes in 1837 and 1838. By 1840, he was back in Hot Springs County, andthen on the 1840 census, he and Polly were listed there with sevenchildren. The following year, he moved over into Tennessee where fourmore children were born. In all probability, he moved to Carroll County,Tennessee, to be near his uncle Isaac Sparks, al though he also had anuncle, Nathan Sparks, in Wilson County, Tennessee, and and uncle, JesseSparks, in Hickman County, Tennessee.

"Willoughby did not remain very long in Tennessee, and by 1845, he wasin Robertson County, Texas, where he paid taxes that year. His move toRobertson County may have been prompted by the fact that he had a brotherand four sisters already there. His uncle, William Sparks, was alsothere, along with several cousins who had participated in theTexas-Mexican War in 1835-36; they had been granted land for theirservices.

"Edy Sparks, sister of Willoughby, died shortly after he moved toTexas, and, since she apparently had never married nor had any children,her estate (consisting of a rather large tract of land) was divided byher brothers and sisters. On September 8, 1849, Willoughby sold hisshare of the estate for one dollar and "other considerations. " He alsoapparently traveled to Scott County, Arkansas, to obtain the releases ofEdy's estate from his brother, Elsberry, and also from Elsberry's son,Willis Sparks. The releases were signed on November 27 1851, but by 1853Willoughby was in Falls County, Texas, where, on March 5th, he witnessedthe release of his sister, Lydia (Sparks ) Boatright, to her share ofEdy's estate.

"The family of Willoughby Sparks was listed on the 1850 census ofLimestone County Texas; however it was in that portion of the county thatbecame a part of Falls County that same year. In August 1850, Willoughbywas one of the petitioners who asked for a voice in locating the newcounty seat. The following year, he served as a juror for the FallsCounty Commissioners Court, and at the December 8th session of the courthe was appointed to "review" the road from Springfield, Texas, to Marlin,Texas.

"Sometime in 1852, Willoughby and Polly Sparks were in Parker County,Texas, where their last child, Rachel, was born on April 7th, but by thespring of the following year they were back in Falls County whereWilloughby witnessed the release of his sister Lydia for her share ofEdy's estate (see above).

"Willoughby was also active in buying and selling land in Falls Countyduring the 1850s; he was a party to at least five transactions. Hebought (and sold) land in July 1854, August 1854, August 1855 , December1857, and March 1858. Among the persons involved in these sales andpurchases were: David Clark and John A. Goudy of Big Creek; James Burtonand John H. Walker of the Pin Oak Branch of Brushy Creek; Samuel D.Barclay, James Cook, James Long, and Isaac Cook of Rocky Creek; and D. F.Garrett.

"When a special school census (called "The Texas Scholastic of 1854-1855") was taken, Willoughby Sparks was in Limestone County. School-agechildren in his household included his own children: Clarinda, Nancy,Bailey, and John, and also three other children with the surname ofNelson: John, Willoughby, and Minerva. The latter three children wereprobably his grandchildren.

"By 1959, Willoughby Sparks was back in Parker County; however, he didnot appear on any 1860 census of Texas counties. He may have been missedby the census- taker because he was making one of his frequent movesbetween Parker County and Falls County. These moves were the result ofthe frequent Indian uprisings during the period 1849-1865, and Willoughbywas following a pattern adopted by the pioneer sett lers in this area ofTexas. Simply stated, these families would settle along the Brazos Riverin the general area of Parker, Palo Pinto , and Jack Counties.Periodically, the Indians would "go on a rampage," and the settlers wouldreturn to the relative safety of Falls and Limestone Counties until orderwas restored, after which they would return to their former homes.

"Willoughby Sparks apparently died between March 1858 (when heparticipated in his last land transaction) and 1862 (when his wife, Mary, apparently received a tax exemption in Parker County, probably becauseof her widowhood.) Mary may have died the following year. She wasburied in an unmarked grave in the Hills Cemetery in Parker County . Somerelatives believe that Willoughby was also buried there.

"(A great many years ago, two great-grandchildren of Willoughby andPolly (Harrell) Sparks, Frank Sparks and Segonia (Sparks) Pritchett ,found Mary's (Polly's) grave in Hills Cemetery. It had a headstonemarker then which read "Polly Sparks, 1813." When they revisited thecemetery the following year for the purpose of replacing the marker,someone had removed it.)

"For a photograph of Willoughby and Polly Sparks, see SQ pg 3465.

"They had an unidentified daughter between 1825 and 1835 and anotherbetween 1830 and 1835. She may have been named Minerva. She may alsohave married S. Nelson and perhaps she was the mother of the threechildren who were living in the household of Willoughby Sparks when aspecial school census was taken in 1855. The names of these childrenwere: John Nelson, Willoughby Nelson, and Minerva Jane Nelson . They hadanother unidentified daughter born between 1830 and 1835."

SQ 5619-20:

"Wimoth J. Sparks was born on April 10, 1828, and was, without doubt, adaughter of Bailey and Martha (Noland) Sparks. She was enumerated on the1830 census as under 5 years of age. She was married in Yalobusha County,Mississippi, on January 27, 1848, to William Gentry. As in the marriagesthere for Susan A . Sparks and Martha Sparks, Wilmoth and William weremarried by a justice of the peace named William M. Pollan , as recordedin Marriage Book A.

Wilmoth J. Sparks was doubtless named for Wilmoth (Noland) Sparks, wifeof Bailey's brother, Isaac Sparks. Isaac and Wilmoth also named adaughter Wilmoth, but she was given the middle initial "P. " (See page5630 of the present issue of the QUARTERLY for further informationregarding Wilmoth P. Sparks.

Much of the information that we have regarding Wilmoth J. Sparks came tous in 1983 from Margie Bates Nelson (Mrs. J. H.), of Kingwood, Texas, agreat-great granddaughter of Wilmoth. From Mrs. Nelson, we learned thatWilmoth's middle initial, "J.," was for Jane, and that family recordsreveal that she had been born on April 10, 1828, in Tennessee. Wilmothdied on May 17, 1896, in Limestone County, Texas, and was buried in theHyden Cemetery near Limestone. The source for Wilmoth's birth and deathdates were copied by Mrs. Nelson from her gravestone .

William and Wilmoth Jane (Sparks) Gentry moved from Yalobusha County,Mississippi, to Choctaw County. Mississippi, shortly after theirmarriage. Apparently it was in Choctaw County that their only child,Sarah Ann Gentry, was born on December 1, 1849, and it was there that herfather died either shortly before or soon after Sarah Ann's birth.William Gentry was recorded on Mississippi's Mortality Schedule for 1850as having died in Choctaw County at the age of 26, and that he had beenborn in Alabama. It was as part of the 1850 federal census that amortality schedule was used to record the deaths in each county duringwhat was called the "census year," i.e., deaths between June 1, 1849, andMay 31, 1850.

Wilmoth (Sparks) Gentry has not been found on the 1850 census of ChoctawCounty, nor on any other 1850 eensus, but we next find her in LimestoneCounty, Texas , where she must have gone with her infant daughter shortlyafter her husband's death . It would seem probable that a relativeassisted her in this move. It was not long after William Gentry's deaththat his widow was married, second, to a widower with three smallchildren named Alexander Hyden. We can imagine that Hyden needed a wifeto care for his motherless children, while Wilmoth, a young widow , hadneed for a provider and protector. Marriages of convenience were oftenin that day a solution to such problems. Mrs. Nelson copied for us anaccount of this marriage written by a man named Hampton Steele whorecalled that he had gone to school with Hyden's children. His accountwas published in A Memorial and Biographical History of Navarro,Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone, and Leon Counties [Texas]published in 1893, as follows:

Alexander Hyden came to the county [of Limestone] about the latter partof 1846. When he came here he
stopped and lived in a cedar log house that William Anglin built, about amile north of Groesbeck. He was a widower and he had three children, aboy and two girls. They were James and Jemima and Lydia. We used to go toschool together. I think he lived there three or four years before hemoved down in the timber below Groesbeck. He was elected CountyCommissioner in 1852 and again in 1854 and again in 1856 and again in1858. About the year 1850, he married the widow Gentry. They had fivechildren, 3 boys and 2 girls. There are now [1893] just two of themliving, Bailey Hyden and Jake Hughes' wife. After Alexander Hyden camehere, he helped Anton Sharp build a gin, the second gin built in thiscounty; hewed out all the timber for the gin and Bailey says he has thatold broadaxe yet. . . "

Mrs . Nelson provided us with a list of the children of Wilmoth JaneSparks by her two husbands , the first, Sarah Ann, by William Gentry, andthe other five by her second husband, Alexander Hyden. They were:" [JSNote: See their individual sheets.]

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 2001, Whole No. 196, p.5630.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 2002, Whole No. 198, p 5693:

Wilson ["Wilt"] Sparks, son of Allen Sparks, was born about 1822/24; hisage was given as 28 on the 1850 census of Yancey County, North Carolina,and as 36 on the 1860 census. His post office address was Spruce Pine.His first wife, Mary ["Polly"], was shown as 26 in 1850 and as 34 in1860. On the 1880 census her age was given as 56 and she was called bythe nickname "Callie." Wilson Sparks was married (second) to BetsyHensley, but we believe that all of his children were by his first wife.They were:

(1) William Keith Sparks, born ca.1840, died 1890 in Mitchell County,North Carolina; his wife's name was Mary Jane ----- (1850-1905);
(2) Susannah ["Susie"] Sparks, born ca.1847; she was married in 1865 toStephen M. Greene (1838-1924), a Baptist preacher.
(3) Thomas G. Sparks, born c.1849; he was probably the 11-year-old childon the 1860 census and noted there as "Idiot.";
(4) Stephen C. Sparks, born ca. 1850, he appears to have died in youth;(5) Hardin (or Harden) Sparks, born ca.1851; he was married to Nancy E.Blalock;
(6) Reuben A. Sparks, born December 20, 1854, died December 25, 1895; hewas married to Dolly Elvira Blalock in 1877 in Mitchell County; (7) JohnB. Sparks born ca.1855;
(8) Jane M. Sparks born c.1863;
(9) Malissa [ "Lissie" ] Sparks, born ca.1863 ;
(10) Alice Sparks, born ca.1866;
(11) Dosha [or Bashie] M. Sparks; she was married to C. E. Buchanan inMitchell County on December 30, 1877.
d. Nancy

SQ 1984: "Wilson Sparks, son of Cornelius and Susannah (Stevens)Sparks, was born in Berrien County, Michigan, on April 19, 1830. He wasthe second white child born in the county. He died on June 23, 1922. Hewas married in Berrien County on June 5, 1864, to Mary Gray -- both wereidentified as residents of Oronoko, Michigan, in the marriage record. Shedied on June 14, 1920. In a HISTORY OF BARRIEN COUNTY, written by JudgeOrville B. Collidge published in 1908, Wilson Sparks was described ashaving 'a vivid recollection of Indians who came to his parents' house totrade berrys for something to eat . Their papooses were tied to a flatstick. He states that the lot now occupied by the Dean Drug Store wasonce offered to his father for fifteen dollars.' A clipping containinghis obituary has been furnished by Miss Helen Sparks and reads as follows:
'Wilson Sparks, 92 years of age, and one of the first, if not thefirst, white children born in Barrien County, died at his home hereFriday night , June 23 [1922]. He had been unusually active for one ofhis age until last January when he suffered a broken hip in a fall whichconfined him to his home and caused a gradual decline. Mr. Sparks'parents came to Michigan in 1828, settling near Niles where he was bornApril 19, 1830. With the exception of two years, his entire life wasspent in Berrien County. In 1864 he was married to Mary Gray who passedaway two years ago, since when he has made his home with his nieces, Mrs.Nellie Park and Mrs. Fannie Miller, in this village, coming here fromBenton Harbor where he resided for 30 years. He is also survived by oneson, Ralph, in Alaska, whose two daughters reside in the state ofWashington; also C. R. Sparks and Miss Nina Sparks of this villiage[BerrienSprings], grandnephew and grandniece of the deceased. Mr. Sparkswas the last of eleven children, five of whom lived to celebrate theirgolden wedding anniversaries. Funeral service was held Sunday afternoonconducted by Rev. J. M. Jenkins. Interment in Rosehill cemetary.' Censusrecords indicate that Wilson and Mary (Gray) Sparks had the followingchildren (1) Inez Sparks, born about 1865; (2) Ralph Sparks, born about1867; (3) Fred Sparks, born after1870."

See SQ p. 2927:

"Wilson W. Sparks, son of David and Sarah Ann Sparks, was born about1841. He served in Company K, 208th Regiment Pennsylvania Infantryduring the Civil War. (See the June 1977 issue of the QUARTERLY for anabstract of his pension file [which is reproduced below].) On February 7,1866, he married Mary C. Williams in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Shewas born about 1842.

"Wilson W. Sparks was one of the original incorporators of the CrystalSpring Camp Meeting Association, an early Methodist Church Camp,established in 1886. He also served as a trustee of the organizationuntil his death. The camp is located just east of the Bedford Countyline in Fulton County, Pennsylvania, about four miles south ofBreezewood. The Association celebrated its centennial in August 1986.

"Wilson W. and Mary C. (Williams) Sparks had at least two children,Bertha W. Sparks, born ca.1867, and Ross A. Sparks, born ca.1875. Wilsondied on November 16, 1898, and Mary died on August 17, 1932. He left hisestate to his wife, Mary C. Sparks, and to his son, Ross A. Sparks, andhis daughter, Bertha W. Sparks who had married ----- Harter.

***************
See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY for June, 1977, Whole No. 98, pp.1914-15 for thefollowing:

UNION SOLDIERS NAMED SPARKS WHO APPLIED, OR WHOSE HEIRS APPLIED, FORPENSIONS FOR SERVICE IN THE CIVIL WAR:

WILSON W. SPARKS, son of David and Sarah ( ----- ) Sparks, was bornabout 1841 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. He died on Nov. 16, 1898. Hewas married to Mary C. Williams on Feb. 7, 1866. He served in Co.K, 208th Regiment Pennsylvania Infantry. File Designations: Inv. Cert.No. 447,628; Wid. Cert. No. 478,616.

"Wilson W. Sparks, age 47, a resident of Everett, Pennsylvania,appeared before the clerk of the Common Pleas Court of Bedford County,Penna., on Dec. 20, 1888, and made an application for an invalidpension. He stated that he had enrolled as a 2nd Lieutenant on Sept. 12,1864, in Co. K, 208th Regt. Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, commandedby Adam Weaverling, and was discharged on June 1, 1865, at Alexandria,Virginia. While commanding his company at Petersburg, Va., on April 2,1865, he received an injury to his back and spine from a shell, thrown bythe enemy, which burst under him. He said that he was thrown severalfeet and was unconscious for about an hour. Because of his injury, hewas now greatly disabled and unable to perform his job as a farmer.

"During the month of February 1889, three of Sparks's former comrades:Joseph Avey, age 67, and Joseph S. Bussard, age 50, both residents ofEverett, Penna., and William Davis, age 45, a resident of Graceville,Penna., made affidavits to support Sparks's application. They statedthat Sparks was in charge of their company in front of Petersburg, Va.,and on April 2, 1865, he was standing on a platform when a shell, thrownby the enemy, exploded and injured him. They said that Sparks did notstay in the hospital after treatment, but continued to perform hismilitary duties until the company was discharged. All of the men saidthat they had continued to see Sparks after his discharge and that he waslaid up and unable to perform his work as a farmer. G. W. Richey andJames Sparks witnessed the affidavits.

"On March 1, 1889, Sparks made an affidavit to support hisapplication. He said that on April 2, 1865, they had engaged in a battlewith the enemy in front of Petersburg and had captured a small fort. Hewas inside the fort, standing on a platform, and was urging his men to dotheir duty and trying to encourage them when the enemy threw a shellwhich exploded under the platform. The explosion threw him about ten ortwelve feet and rendered him unconscious. When he came to, he was unableto walk and he was examined by the Field Surgeon who ordered him to betaken back to camp. He was able to rejoin his company the next day, butcontinued to suffer, more or less, all the time until he was discharged.When he returned home he was treated by Dr. James Henry until about 1867when he went to Dr. E. J. Miller who had continued to treat him for theinjury until the present. G. W. Richey witnessed the affidavit.

"The following day (March 2nd) Dr. E. J. Miller, age 52, a resident ofEverett, made a supporting affidavit to Sparks's application. He said hehad treated Sparks for an old back injury in 1867 which had graduallygrown worse until he was now what could be classified as a confirmedinvalid. At first, Sparks was able to perform about a half day's work ateasy labor by conforming to a most rigid discipline and with the help offavorable weather, but if he over-exerted himself, he suffered from aparalysis of his lower extremities. At the present time, he was entirelydisabled and confined to his bed most of the time. His back muscles werenow atrophying and he was suffering from curvature of the spine all ofwhich in his (the doctor's) opinion was a direct result of the earlierback injury.

"On March 2, 1889, the War Department confimred Spaxks's militaryservice. He was mustered in at Bloody Run, Penna., as a 2nd Lieutenantin Co. K, 208th Regt. of Pennsylvania Volunteers on Sept. 12, 1864, toserve for one year. He was present for duty until May 20, 1865, when hewas recorded as "present-sick." He was "absent- sick" from May 27 to the29th, 1865, in the Regimental Hospital and then was recorded"present-sick" on May 30 and 31. He. was mustered out with his companyon June 1, 1865. The regiment was in action on April 2, 1865, atPetersburg, Virginia.

"Sparks was issuedInvalid Certificate No. 447,628 and he was placed onthe pension rolls. He died on November 16, 1898.

"On December 29, 1898, Mary C. Sparks, age 55, widow of Wilson W.Sparks, made an application for a widow's pension. She said she had beenmarried to Sparks under her maiden name of Mary C. Williams on Feb. 7,1866, by the Rev. J. W. Leckie at Rainsburg, Penna. It was the firstmarriage for both of them. She said they had no children under the ageof sixteen years. J. H. Appel and J. M. Stailey witnessed herapplication.

"Mary C. Sparks was issued Widow's Certificate No. 478,616 and she wasplaced on the pension rolls. On February 13, 1929, her pension wasincreased from $40.00 per month to $50.00 per month by a special Act ofCongress. She died on August 17, 1932.

(Editor's Note: Wilson W. Sparks was a son of David and Sarah Sparks whoappeared on the 1850 census of Bedford County, Penna., in West ProvidenceTownship. David Sparks (born about 1809, died 1869) was a son of Jamesand Nancy (Rogers) Sparks, and a grandson of Joseph Sparks, Sr. (born ca.1730, died 1809) and his wife, Mary (McDaniel) Sparks, natives ofFrederick County, Maryland. For further details on these families, seethe September 1961 issue of the QUARTERLY, Whole No. 35, page 587).

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!NOTES:
SQ pg 3404: They had one child, Peggy Ann Sparks.

SQ 2783: "Zora Elizabeth Sparks was born May 23 1877. She was married
to Lovet ("Boaz") Chatham on August 27, 1896. She was boiling water towash
clothes when her dress caught on fire, and she was burned to death onOctober
1, 1897. They had no children."