See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1985, Whole No. 130, p. 2756:

"Mary Ann Elizabeth Rogers, daughter of Sam and Elizabeth (Sparks)Rogers, was born about 1850, and her mother died shortly after herbirth. The only record we have found of her is on the 1860 census ofMcLennan County, Texas. She was then eleven years of age and was livingin the household of her uncle, Stephen Franklin Sparks."

SQ pg 2754: "He was killed in 1864 while serving in the ConfederateStates Army."

SQ pg 2753:

"He was living with his uncle, James Hawkins Sparks, when the 1860census was taken of McLennan County. He served as a lieutenant in theConfederate States Army. Rogers was a rancher/merchant; he attended theBaptist Church. They were the parents of nine children:

1 . Hortense Telefious Rogers;
2. William Arelius Rogers;
3. Samuel M . Rogers;
4. Linton G. Rogers;
5. Walter Everett Rogers;
6. Harvey Ernese Rogers;
7. Otto H. Rogers;
8. Charles Ward Rogers;
9. Mary Minnie Rogers.

SQ p. 5601: His name was Harris or Horace Rootes. He was a nephew ofJefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America and wasliving with him in the 1830s.

Information on the mother of Dorcas Ross and of her maternalgrandparents was supplied by Renee Carlson on 29 Aug, 1999, Wog & Nae"wognae@@compu-ad.net" with no substantiation provided.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3897: They had five children: Daniel, Martha, David, Elber t,and Phoebe Bailey.

Estal Ross was killed in World War II.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3898: They had at least one child: Jesse Ross.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY for March, 1970, Whole No. 69, at p. 1307:

DEATHTAKES SIDNEY ROSSITER

We have been informed by Roy Sparks of Omaha, Nebr., that Sidney Rossiterof Dewitt, Nebr., the husband of Mrs. Luala (Sparks) Rossiter, passedaway on July 27, 1969, aged 100 years, 9 months, and 11 days. Mr.Rossiter was mentioned in the article on Calvin and Mahala
(Carmichael) Sparks which appeared in the QUARTERLY of March 1969 (Vol.XVII, No. 1, Whole No. 65, p. 1207).

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg. 3202: They had six children: Retha H., Ruth B., Derrill L .,
Merrill E., John W., and James R. Royall.

.
!NOTES:
SQ 3201: Etta Royall was born in 1887. She died sometime durin g the
1970's. She married (1st) Amos McCoy and (2nd) Roy Morris. She had
three children by her first marriage: Mildred P., Retha I., and Dor a E.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3201: They had four children: Lawrence, Camilla, Esther an dRoland.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg. 3202: They had four children: Russell D., Iris I., Ronal d M.,
and Robert R. Royall.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg. 3201: They had eight children: Carl, Clyde, Ralph, Wiley H.Jr.,
Vera, Martha, Kenneth, and Mary.

(Here continues on page 3844 the article appearing in THE SPARKSQUARTERLY for September 1991, Whole No. 155:)

£ Shilling Pence
Of current money due from the deceased to Wm. Carman & paid by the afsdaccountant
to his executors William & John Carman as by acct proved & receipt 1 12 1

Of Tobo due from this accountant to Daniel Dulaney Esq Commissary generalon his
administration and pd by him as by account and the Sherrifs Rec appears 279½

Of ditto due from ditto to Mr. James Earle late Deputy Commissary forgranting the
administration and pd by him as by account and Sherifs receipt apprs 150

Of ditto due from ditto to William Tilghman Deputy Commissary of thisCounty for
drawing and stateing this and the fore going account & secured to him byDo. 130

Of ditto due from ditto to ditto from passing this and the foregoingaccount &
Secured by Do. 100

TOTAL 3253lb. 6 16 6
3023 at 20 s per C 30 4 7
230 at 16 s per C 1 18 4
Of Commission on £38.19.5 3 17 11½
42 17 4½
Ballance due the Estate 65 4 3½
108 4 3½

John Earle ) Sureties
Richd Collins )
Queen Anns County December 14th 1739. George Sparks the foregoingAccountant made oath on the Holy Evangels of Almighty God that theforegoing account is Just and true as it Stands Stated which thereuponafter due examination is by virtue of a commission from the prerogativeOffice at Annapolis passed by-

Wm Tilghman D. Com of Queen Anns County
George Sparks )
John Sparks )
Millington Sparks )
Absalom Sparks )
Caleb Sparks ) Representatives
Sarah Herbert )
Mary Ruth )
Cornelia Alley )

Millington Sparks, son of John and Cornelia (Curtis) Sparks, was marriedto Mabel Ruth on February 9, 1740, in St. Lukes Church in Church Hill,Maryland. We have learned very little about her. In all likelihood, shewas a member of the Ruth family that settled near Ruthsburg in QueenAnnes County. (Note that Millington's sister, Mary Sparks, also married aRuth.) The birth of the first child of Millington and Mabel (Ruth) Sparks(a daughter named Rachel) was recorded on page 45 of the Register of St.Lukes Parish. Their marriage was recorded on page 48. (The account of theestablishment of St. Lukes Parish in 1728 was told on pages 1389-391 ofthe March 1971 issue of the QUARTERLY, Whole No. 73.)

On March 3, 1744, after the death of his brother, George Sparks,Millington had in his possession 1800 pounds of tobacco which belonged inthe inventory of his brother's estate. He acknowledged the obligation.When the final accounting was made of the estate of George Sparks onDecember 10, 1847, Millington was given a cow and a calf, owed to him byhis brother and apparently from their father's estate. (Our readers arereminded that tobacco was used as a form of currency in Maryland duringits colonial period. The tobacco itself was usually in a commercialwarehouse and its transfer from one party to another was only on paper.Note the conversion of the value of tobacco to English currency on theprevious page in the inventory of the estate of John Sparks.)

On November 13, 1744, Millington Sparks (designated as a "Planter"), andhis wife, Mabel, sold his share of Sparks Enclosure and all of SparksChoice to his brother, Absalom Sparks, for 5,000 pounds of tobacco(probably equivalent to about 50 pounds in English currency). Heapparently retained some financial hold on Sparks Choice, however, for onJuly 4, 1752, he joined his brothers, Absalom Sparks, John Sparks, andCaleb Sparks, in disposing of that tract of land. The buyer was EdwardTilghman who paid 107 pounds for the property.

Because owners of land in Colonial Maryland were required to pay the LordProprietary an annual quit-rent (a form of tax), the extant "Debt Books"in which these quit-rents were recorded constitute an important sourcefor genealogical research. Unfortunately, only a few survive for themiddle 1700s, but those that do survive reveal that in 1747, 1754, 1756,and 1757 Millington Sparks paid quitrent on three tracts of land. One wasa 25-acre portion of Adventure. The other two tracts, each 25 acres insize, were parts of Sparks Own and Sparks Choice. Millington also made apayment as late as the fall of 1767 as a tenant of Queen Annes Manor. Ashas been noted, land that had been set aside by Lord Baltimore in his"manors" could only be leased, but the lease could be passed on to one'sheirs. With the American Revolution, of course, the property rights ofLord Baltimore were swept away along with all other English land holdingsin the United States.

In the early days of the Maryland Colony, each county was responsible formaintaining a regular organization of militia whose function was todefend the county against hostile Indians and foreign enemies. In 1748,Millington Sparks was shown as a member of Captain William Hooper'sCompany. Other members included his brothers, Absalom, Caleb, and John.

Absalom Sparks, brother of Millington Sparks, died in 1769, and aninventory was taken of his estate on January 21, 1772. Millington Sparkswas one of the witnesses to the appraisal of the estate. Other witnesseswere John Sparks, Caleb Sparks, and Levi Sparks. (For further details ofthe settlement of the estate of Absalom Sparks, see the December 1974issue of the QUARTERLY, Whole No. 88.)

There were nineteen Sparks families in Queen Annes County, Maryland, in1776 when a special census was taken of the colony. Among these familieswas that of Millington Sparks. In addition to himself (he was describedas a male over age 21), he had in his household the following: 1 maleover 21; 1 male aged 16 to 21; 2 females over 21; and 1 female aged 12 to16. He owned no slaves.

The last record that we have found pertaining to Millington Sparks (whomwe must now designate as "Senior" because he had a son also namedMillington) is on another special census taken of Maryland in 1778. Therewere now twentyseven persons named Sparks who were shown as heads ofhouseholds in Queen Annes County. Unfortunately, no other information wasobtained of these persons other than the name of the "Hundred" in whichthey were listed. (A "hundred" was a geographical subdivision of acounty, used today only in the state of Delaware.) Millington Sparks wasnow designated officially as Senior since there was another MillingtonSparks living nearby in the Town Hundred. Also listed on this census wasJohn Sparks "of Millington," obviously a son of Millington Sparks,Senior.

An index of property owners in Queen Annes County in 1783 gives one finalpiece of information about Millington Sparks, Senior. Among thetwenty-eight persons named Sparks on this assessment schedule, three weredirectly related to him. One of these was Millington Sparks whom webelieve to have been his son. The other two were obviously sons, also,since they were designated as such. One was John Sparks "of Millington";the other was William Sparks "of Millington." All three were in the UpperDistrict of Queen Annes County. (Census takers and tax collectorsfrequently identified young men having common forenames like John andWilliam in this manner in order to distinguish them from others with thesame names.)

As shown above, Millington Sparks, Senior, did not appear on the 1783 taxassessment list of Queen Annes County, and in all probability, he haddied before that list was made. If he had been born about 1715 (as wehave judged), he was about 65 years old when he died, thus he was anelderly man according to the longevity standards of that time. We havefound no clues to try to determine the time of death of his wife, Mabel(Ruth) Sparks.

(The records that we have found pertaining to men named Millington Sparksindicate that there were three persons bearing that name in Queen AnnesCounty, Maryland, during the period 1730-1800. As indicated above, theoldest man was a son of John and Cornelia (Curtis) Sparks. He was marriedto Mabel Ruth in 1740. The second Millington Sparks (and the one we knowthe least about) was born about 1745; we believe that he was a son ofMillington and Mabel (Ruth) Sparks. He was listed on the 1790 census ofQueen Annes County. The third man named Millington Sparks was born about1775, and we believe that he was a son of the Millington Sparks bornabout 1745. We shall give information about him and his descendants in afuture issue of the QUARTERLY.)

Millington and Mabel (Ruth) Sparks apparently had six children.

1. Rachel D. Sparks, daughter of Millington and Mabel (Ruth) Sparks, wasborn on January 12, 1741, according to the information recorded in theRegister of St. Lukes Church at Church Hill in Queen Annes County. Wehave found no further information about her.

2. Millington Sparks, Jr., son of Millington and Mabel (Ruth) Sparks, wasborn about 1745 in Queen Annes County. No records have been foundpertaining to him, however, until 1778. For some reason, he was notlisted as the head of a household on the special census taken of Marylandin 1776. He was listed on the special census taken in 1778. His father(as we believe him to be) was listed on that census as "MillingtonSparks, Sr."

Millington Sparks was listed as a property owner on the 1783 tax scheduleof Maryland. Listed also were his brothers, John Sparks "of Millington"and William Sparks "of Millington." All of them lived in the UpperDistrict of Queen Annes County. There were 24 other men named Sparks onthe schedule.

The last record we have found pertaining to Millington Sparks, Jr. iscontained on the federal census of 1790 for Queen Annes County. On thatfirst U.S. census, free white males were enumerated only as under 16 andover 16; free white females were enumerated in only one category.Millington Sparks was the only male in his household (he was over 16) ;there were three females in his household, probably his wife and twodaughters. (See the QUARTERLY of March 1953, Whole No. 1, page 5, for acomplete listing of Sparkses appearing on the 1790 census of Maryland.)

Although we have found no record of the marriage of Millington Sparks,Jr., nor the name of his wife, we believe that he was the father of atleast one son, Millington Sparks, born about 1775. We must assume thatthis son was living in a household other than his father's when the 1790census was taken. This Millington Sparks was married to Rebecca Brooks onMay 23, 1797, in Kent County, Maryland, and subsequently moved toGeorgia. An article about him and his descendants is planned for a futureissue of the QUARTERLY.

3. John Sparks, son of Millington and Mabel (Ruth) Sparks, was born about1750. The only record we have found of him is the tax assessment list of1783 for Queen Annes County on which he was identified as "ofMillington."

4. William Sparks, son of Millington and Mabel (Ruth) Sparks, was bornabout 1750. The only record we have found of him is the tax assessmentlist of 1783 for Queen Annes County on which he was identified as "ofMillington."

5. and 6. According to the special census taken in 1776 in Queen AnnesCounty, Millington and Mabel (Ruth) Sparks had two daughters in theirhousehold. One was born about 1750; the other was born about 1760. Wehave no further information about either of them.

END OF ARTICLE

This family planned to emigrate to Canada but George Rutherford died theday before the trip was to begin. His wife Ann Howe Rutherford and sixchildren continued with their plans and made the move in 1854.

Maureen Ryan, called "Liz" provided a good deal of information on thedescendants of Solomon Martin and Melinda (Seagraves) Sparks. Her emailaddress is oneveryirish1@@yahoo.com and her mailing address is 925 PrimmRoad #414, Lincoln, IL 62656.

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!NOTES:
SQ pg 2653: "Add Sacra married a man named Tanner: they had a daughter,
Elizabeth."

.
!NOTES:
SQ 2653: "Fay Sacra married (1st) Joe Whittenton and (2nd) Frank George."

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 2653: "Jim Sacra (female?) married Robert Whittenton; they h adthree
children: Catherine Whittenton; Betty Lou Whittenton; and Ned Whittendon."