SQ 805: "Minus Lafayette Sparks (also called Miner and Minnie), son ofDavid and Mary (Little) Sparks, was born in Rowan County, North Carolina,about 1811. He remained at home with his parents and did not marry untilafter 185O. He died on April 23, 1889, at Crainesville (now Hornsby),Hardeman County, Tennessee. He marrried about 185O or 1851 Sarah (Sally)Cherry, who was part Indian; she was born about 1826. They were theparents of the following children: [here lists 7 children]."

SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 1984, No. 127, pg. 2665:

"Miriam Beale Sparks, daughter of John and Sarah (Brooks) Sparks , wasborn on February 10, 1824. She is probably the Maryann Sparks whomarried Israel Gambol on February 15, 1846, in Tallapoosa County,Alabama. We have no further information on this couple."

SPARKS FAMILY QUARTERLY, June 1985, Whole No. 130, pg 2747:

"Missouri Elida Sparks, daughter of Billy and Minerva (McKay) Sparkswas born in January 1852. She was married to Everett J. Parrent about1867. He was born in November 1842 in Texas. When the 1900 census wastaken of McLennan County, Everett and Missouri were living in the samedwelling as Missouri's parents, Billy and Minerva Sparks. Living at homewere four children of Everett and Missouri, and there were probably otherchildren: (1) Frank M. Parrent was born in February 1878. He marriedElla A. --- about 1899; (2) William H. Parrent was b. April 1880; (3)Thomas W. Parrent was b. December 1883; (4) Nellie Parrent was b.January, 1888.

A photograph of another Mitchell Sparks appears on the cover of the June,1961 issue of the Sparks Quarterly, Whole No. 34, p.549 bearing thefollowing caption: MITCELL SPARKS, Prominent Nineteenth-Century Merchantof Fort Smith, Arkansas, Born February 4, 1811, Died November 16, 1864.His relationship to this Mitchell Sparks, if any, is unknown. The elderMitchell was a native of Dublin, Ireland, and migrated to the US in 1836.

SQ 101: "Mittie Sparks, born about 1828; married 1846, James Durh am."

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

Mittie Sparks was born about 1828. She was married in 1846 to JamesDurham (marriage bond dated August 15, 1846, with Meredith Lyon
as James’s bondsman). James Durham was a son of John Durham whose willwas probated In Wilkes County in July 1863. His sisters, Charlotte Lyonand Susan Lyon, were married, respectively, to Joel Sparks, Jr. andRobert Sparks, also in 1846. James Durham died in Wilkes County in 1887or 1888, hIs will being probated there at the March 1888 term of theWilkes County Court. Written some 8 years before his death, his willmentioned his wife, Milly, (“Mittie” apparently being a nickname) hisson, J. S. Lyon (who was designated to be his executor), and a grandsonnamed Thomas N. Durham. He also mentioned Susan Durham and Lura JaneDurham, who were probably granddaughters. When the 1860 census ofTraphill Township in Wilkes County was taken, James, age 37, and Mittie(Sparks) Durham, age 32, were shown with two children: (1) Thomas Durham,age 13; and (2) Mary Durham, age 9.

.
!NOTES:
His grandfather was Garrett Sparks (820) and his grandmother was Elizabeth (Boggs) Sparks. He was a 5th ggrandson of William thru Jose phSparks and Cora was a 6th ggranddaughter of William through Willia m IV.Thus, Cora Lyon was his sixth cousin, once removed.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 398:

"Moses Sparks, son of Solomon and Isabella (Swaim) Sparks, was born inWilkes County, North Carolina, about 1812. He had died by 1854 when hisfather made his will. In THE HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY, INDIANA(Chicago, Brant & Fuller, 1887), page 748, appears the following:

"In 1834 Moses Sparks, a native of North Carolina, moved to thetownship of Rock Creek and settled a short distance southwest of Markle,where he located and improved a small farm." From the will of SolomonSparks, it would appear that Moses left two children."

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See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September, 1971, Whole No. 75, p. 1421:

MOSESSPARKS, born 1815, died 1840

In the QUARTERLY of June 1959 (Vol. VII, No, 2, Whole No. 26) wepublished an article (page 395 and following) on Solomon Sparks, who wasborn in Wilkes Co., North Carolina, about 1792 and died in Wells Co.,Indiana, on April 28, 1854. He married Isabella Swaim. One of the sons ofSolomon and Isabella (Swaim) Sparks was Moses Sparks, born in 1815 (seep. 398), At the time we published this article, we did not know when hedied nor his age at the time of his death. Recently one of ourcorrespondents, Marjorie Crosbie, discovered his tombstone in a cemeteryin Huntington Co., Indiana, near the town of Markle, (The cemetery islocated on the bank of Rock Creek, 3 miles east and 4 miles south ofMarkle.) According to his tombstone, Moses Sparks died November 11, 1840,aged 25 years & 16 days. This would mean that he was born October 25,1815. On this same stone are recorded the deaths of two daughters ofMoses Sparks, Both died in 1845; Catherine Sparks died September 15,1845, aged 11 years and 6 months, and Elizabeth Sparks died September 2,1845, aged 12 years and 6 months. The widow of Moses Sparks, whose namewas Abigail, married Robert Roberts in Wells County, Indiana, on April21, 1841.

**********

See also THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 1601 for several dates and burialinformation.

**********
See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, Whole No. 189, pp.5292-3:

Moses Sparks, second son of Solomon and Isabella (Swaim) Sparks, was bornon October 25, 1815. In the History of Huntington County, Indiana,published in Chicago in 1887, it is stated (p.748): "In 1834 MosesSparks, a native of North Carolina, moved to the township [Rock Creek]and settled a short distance southwest of Markle, where he located andimproved a small farm."

When he made his will on April 14, 1854, Solomon Sparks, father of Moses,made no mention of Moses, but four days later, on reflection, he added acodicil stating: "I do hereby give and bequeath to the heirs of my sonMoses Sparks. namely Albert Sparks and Mary Jane Sparks, the sum oftwenty dollars to be equally divided between them."

Moses Sparks had been dead fourteen years when his father wrote his will,and Solomon probably had little contact with Moses' children, hence hisnot thinking of them when he signed his will. Moses Sparks had died onNovember 11, 1840, and had been buried in a cemetery in HuntingtonCounty, Indiana, located on the bank of Rock Creek, three miles east andfour miles south of the town of Markle. On his gravestone are carved,also, the record of the deaths of two Sparks children, but their ages atdeath precludes their being children of Moses. While we cannot identifythem, we note them here:

Elizabeth Sparks died on September 2, 1845, age 12 years and 6 months;
Catherine Sparks died on September 15, 1845, age 11 years and 6 months.

Many years ago Mrs. Iva Lane of Marion, Indiana, (from whom we last heardin 1988) who descended from Moses Sparks's brother, Isaac B. Sparks,shared with us letters that had been written by Amos Redding of Blufflon,Indiana, providing biographical and genealogical information on thefamily of Moses Sparks. Mr. Redding was a member of the Redding family towhich Moses' wife had belonged. We believe that his information isaccurate.

Moses Sparks was married to Abigail Redding "by David M. Steward, aPresbyterian minister" on February 20, 1838, in Rush County, Indiana.(See Rush County Marriage Book 1, p.17.) Abigail had been born onDecember 12, 1815, a daughter of Isaiah Redding.

Moses Sparks was only 25 years old when he died on November 11, 1840. Hisson, Albert Sparks, was still an infant, and his daughter, Mary Jane,would be born posthumously. On April 21, 1841, Moses' widow was marriedin Wells County, Indiana, to Robert Roberts, whose first wife, Nancy(Brown) Roberts, had died in 1840, as had Moses Sparks. Robert Robertshad been born on February 23, 1811, and died on February 5, 1880. Abigailwas the mother of five Roberts children (John, Martha, Nathan, Elizabeth,and Robert); she died on April 8, 1862.

(1) Albert Sparks, son of Moses and Abigail (Redding) Sparks,was born on November 24, 1839, according to a biographical sketch of himappearing in the 1887 history of Huntington County cited earlier(pp.704-05). Amos Redding, mentioned above, however, gave his date ofbirth as December 24, 1838. He died on June 17, 1923. He was a farmer inRock Creek Township in Huntington County, having inherited the farm thathis father had purchased shortly before his death. A record of his lifeand children appeared in the QUARTERLY of December 1973, Whole No.84,pp.1601-03.

A photograph of Albert Sparks and his second wife, Martha (Roberts)Sparks, taken on their 50th wedding anniversary, appears on the cover ofthe December 1973 issue of the QUARTERLY, pg 1599.

(2) Mary Jane Sparks, born after her father had died, did notmarry, according to the records of Amos Redding.

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

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!NOTES:
SQ pg 2781: Myrtle Sparks was married twice. Her first marriag ewas to a man named Lott; her second was to a man named Everetts.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3944: Myrtle's mother, Polly Carpenter, was a widow with tw ochildren when she married Tillman Sparks. Myrtle's half-sisters we reTetsie Carpenter and Rhoda Carpenter.

SQ 3795: Nancy Sparks, believed to have been a daughter of Williamand Ann Sparks, born ca. 1756. She was married to William Wilcockson(sometimes spelled Wilcox and Wilcoxon). Shortly after he served as anexecutor of the estate of William Sparks, they moved to Green County,Kentucky, then to Barren County, Kentucky, where he died in 1828. Theirchildren were: (1) Thomas Wilcockson; (2) Daniel Wilcockson; (3) Mary("Polly") Wilcockson. She was married to John Masters; (4) GeorgeWilcockson; (5) William Wilcockson, Jr.; (6) Sarah ("Sally") Wilcockson.She was married to Horatio Short; (7) Nancy Wilcockson. She was marriedto William Mann on April 4, 1808 ; (8) Rachel Wilcockson. She wasmarried to John Tibbs; (9) Martha ("Patsy") Wilcockson. She was marriedto David Caldwell in 1810; (10) Isaac Wilcockson. He died before hisfather; (11) Catherine Wilcockson, born November 7, 1798 . She wasmarried to her first cousin William Wilcockson in 1818.

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

Continuation of article relating to William Sample's middle name: AMYSTERY SOLVED from the notes of Nancy's sister Rachael:

References From the NewCastle Court Records Pertaining to Josine Sample

In attempting to gather information regarding Josine Sample in order totell something of her life, we are fortunate that she was mentioned anumber of times in the extant Court records of New Castle. It is alsohelpful that she was the only person with the forename Josine in theserecords. Her name is also spelled Josyn, Joslyn, and, on one ocasion,Usyn.

This writer is quite certain that her maiden name was Boyer. She wasmarried, first, to a man named John Marshall by whom she had a number ofchildren; he had died prior to 1675. Josine was married, second, toWilliam Sample; they were the parents of one child, Margaret Sample. WithWilliam Sample's death in 1681, Josine again became a widow. Sometimeprior to 1686 she was married, third, to William Hamilton. She died priorto March 1696. The Court records revealing her marriage and other eventsin her life are discussed below.

Josine was doubtless of Dutch origin; she was probably born prior to1650. Our most important clue that her maiden name was Boyer (or Boeyaror Boeyer) is contained in a curious entry in the minutes of the NewCastle Court of November 5, 1678:

Josyn Boeyer, the wyfe of Mr William Semple, for hur unhandsome & illbehavior being heretofore bound over to the Court, The Court, (in hopesof hur better behavior) did Continue the prsentment till next Court day.William Sample, who had been appointed a magistrate in this Court onlyfive months earlier, must have found himself in an awkward situation withthis Court's notice of his wife's "unhandsome & ill behavior." We willreturn to this incident later in this article.

Our interest at this point, however, is that in this record his wife isidentified by, we believe, her maiden name, "Josyn Boeyer." This is givenfurther credence by a Court record dated March 15, 1679/80. As seen inthis, in 1675 a man named Justa Andries (also written as Andersen) hadpurchased a tract of land lying on Christina Creeke in New Castle County,the record of which could not be found because of the neglect of thetown's clerk at that time, a man named William Tom. (There are frequentstatements in these Court records complaining about Tom's neglect of hisduties.) In order to prove that he had purchased the tract (400 acres) ofland, Andries prevailed upon the justices of the Court to obtainconfirmation from those who had sold him the 400 acres, they being RobertScot, Josyn Marshall, widow of John Marshall, John Cosins, and JohnBoeyer. Apparently this tract had been inherited by these fourindividuals. Of these four, John Boeyer and Josyn Marshall attested inperson to the 1775 sale. It is the belief of this writer that John Boeyerand Josyn Marshall were brother and sister, and that Robert Scot and JohnCosins were husbands of Josine's sisters. Four of the magistrates,including William Sample (Will: Sempill), signed this document.

We underwritten, the Justices of This Towne of New Castle Doe herebyCertifie That upon tfle Request of Justa Andries we have made Examinaconand doe fiend that there was heretofore in the year 1675 sould and madeover by Rob: Scot, Josyn the widow of John Marshall deceased, JohnCosins, and John Boeyer unto him the said Justa Andries a seartainePattent for fouer hundred acres of land Lying and being in CristinaCreeke aforesaid betweene the Land of Jan Staalcop & the mill Creeke asby the said Pattent baring date the first of october 1669 may more attLarge appeare by the neglect of the former Clercq Mr William Tom (as issupposed) nothing Can bee found upon Record thereof however Livingwittnesses To witt John Boeyer and Josyn marshall and others do attestthat there was such a Transport Past In the Court of new Castle Inwitness Whereof wee have herunto sett or hands at New-Castle this 15 dayof March 1679/80.
(was signed) John Moll Pieter Alrichs J: d'Haes Will: Sempill

The charge by the New Castle Court against Josine Sample for her"unhandsome & ill behavior" noted earlier, appears to be explained in aCourt record of November 3, 1680. This reads:

Josyn the wyfe of William Sempill in open Court did Terme & call Ryniervander Coelen a man wth twoo fathers, a murtherer, a Roug and a dogh. MrWill: Sempill desiers that the Case may be referred till next Court tothe end he may bee the better provyded, wch the Cort Grant and doe orderthat the plt & deft [i.e., Rynier Vander Coelen and Josine Sample] beeboth & each of them bound in a bond of £40 for their good behavior tillthen, hee wch first breakes the peace and afronts the other shall beeImediately Imprizoned & pay the sd 40 pounds.
The next meeting of the Court was on December 9, 1680, but there was nomention in its proceedings of Josine' s "unhandsome & ill behavior." Itwas during Court session, however, that: Jan Boeyer was this day sworneConstable of this Towne of New Castle in the roome of Jan Biscus [JohnBisk] for one year or till another bee sworne in his Roome. Jan Boeyer[John Boyer] was, we feel certain, a brother of Josine Sample. When theCourt met on May 3, 1681, John Boeyar (as his name was spelled on thisoccasion) brought "an action of Slaunder" against Hendrik Vanden Burgh,in which Josine was mentioned.

Susanna the wyfe of Geo: Moore sworee in Cort sayeth that, shee washingatt the house of Jan Hermsen did heare Hendrik Vanden Burgh say that thewastecoate wch John Boeyar had was Lyke to the wastecoate hee had Lost,and the deponant replyed that shee had seen such a wastecoate wch Aeltie[wife of John Boyer] brought from William Sempills wyfe & therefore didnot thinke itt to bee the same & further sayeth nott: Peter Claesensworne Sayeth that he heard Hendrik vanden Burgh say that hee supposedthe Blancquet which Brantie [?] had bought of John Boeyar was his & attan other tyme hee heard Hendrik vanden Burg's wyfe say that itt was a sadthing that a man must see hur owne things Every day worne & wth that thedeponant sawe Aeflie Boeyars pas by but whether shee was meant thedeponant nowes nott: Edmund Cantwell Swore sayeth that being in theoffice of Mr Herman, Hendrik Vanden Burg Came in there and the deponantasked what was the matter wth him he replyed that John Boeyar had in theStreet threatned to stryke him, wth the Constables stike and that JohnBoeyar had bad him to goe to mistrs Darby; an ugly theefe as hee is sayedthe sd hendrik whereupon the deponant sayed you must not say soe. Yesreplyed the sd hendrik. I: can proove itt and further sayeth nott.

The cort thought itt fitt to referre this action untill next Court day &the deft hendrik vanden Burgh then to appeare, or Else Judgemt to passwth out delay.

The case of John Boyar against Hendrick Vanden Burg, labeled in the Courtproceedings of July 6, 1681, "In an action of Slaunder," was decided asfollows:
The deft being 3 tymes called did not appeare nor none for him. Thisaction haveing Long Continued in Cort Contrary to the order of the LaestCort, The Court doe therefore order him to pay the sume of 50 gilders asa fyne for the Slaunder sence hee did not proove [disprove] it; and thatthe deft pay the Costs of suit.
Recallng that it had been Rynier Vander Coelen who had complained aboutJosine Sample insulting him in Court, and that it had been Hendrik VandenBurg who was fined for his slander against John Boyer, the followingentry in the minutes of New Castle Court for December 6, 1681, isinteresting:
Justice Alrichs, Justice Will: Sempill & Justice Dehaes are of opinion,that drink shall be sould by the halfe aneker but not by the smallmeasure & the halfe anckers Carried out of the Towne as before. It isthis Corts opinion & order that all those as have sould drinke to theIndians Contrary to a former order of this Cort bearing date the 2d dayof August 1680, and the Tolleration of the Governor shall be fynedaccording thereto.

The Constable John Boeyar prsents Hendrik Vanden Burgh and Reynier VanderCoelen for selling of drink to the Indians by the small measure [i.e., bythe glass].

John Boyar sworne in Court Sayeth that hee has seen Hendrik Vanden Burghtake drinke by the bottell to the Indians, and that hee sawe twoo Indianwoomen drinke small chyter att Reynier Vander Coelens. This Case referredtill next Court.

Unfortunately, the extant record of New Castle's Court proceedings endsat this point. From 1681 until 1699, the only record that we have of theCourt's actions pertains to land and probate matters. It is among theserecords, however, that were published by the Colonial Society ofPennsylvania in 1934, we learn of the death of William Sample ("WilliamSempill") in December 1682 and have the text of his will dated December11,1682. A transcription of William Sample's will was given earlier inthis article, with the added information that, although he had clearlydesignated James Walliam and Samuel Land as his executors, his widow,Josine, convinced the Court that she should be the executrix, withWalliam and Land to serve as "overseers & assistants to the widdow." Fora woman to prevail in this manner at that time was most unusual.

This page contains a map of New Castle County, Delaware as it looked inthe 17th Century.

EventsLeading to and Following the Death of William Sample

We shall probably never know how it was that William Sample had become"Sick and weake in Boddy" as he described himself in his will datedDecember 11, 1682. Was it disease, of which there was always plenty inthe 17th Century, or was it an accident that brought on his quick demise?He had been present when the Court of New Castle met on November 2, 1782,at which none other the "The Right Honorble: Proprietry: William Penn"had been present with five Council members, including Captain WilliamMarkam, the new Deputy Governor of the "Lower Counties." On November 9,1682, when Capt. Markam called a special meeting of the New Cas tle Courtto announce that, henceforth, every Saturday would be set as the town's"Market Day," William Sample was present. The Court did not meet againuntil the following first day of January at which the first order ofbusiness was the appearance of John Bisk and Jonas Arskin who did"Solomly declare in Cort: that they were personally Prsent and did heareand See William Sempill Declare, Signe and Seale this his Laest will andTestament." There followed the transcription of the will.

With the annexation of the "lower Counties" to Pennsylvania, the Dutchand Swedish inhabitants could become English citizens through petition totheir county courts. There can be no doubt that William Sample had beenan English citizen by birth, whereas Josine was of Dutch origin. AsSample's wife, however, Josine shared her husband's English status, butas his widow, she was no longer considered an English citizen. So it wasthat, on February 21, 1862/3, two months following her husband's death,Josine was one of 71 inhabitants of New Castle County who signed apetition expressing their "desire to bee Naturalized." Her name appearedthereon as "Josyn Sempill." Only one other female was included, a widownamed Mary Blocq (Block).

As noted earlier, on April 19, 1681, William Sample had obtained, througha petition to the Court of St. Johns County (the name of which becameKent County the next year), a tract of 600 acres. As was English custom,the first owner of land could choose a name for it; the name chosen bySample was "The Vinyard." There was no specific reference in his willto this 600-acre tract in Kent County; it was simply included among his"worldly goods" that "I give, devyse and bequeath unto my dearly belovedwyfe Josyn Semple and my Little daughter Margaret wth [the] Rest of mywyfes Children..." A Kent County tax list of 1684 includes "The Vinyard"(600 acres), under the name of "Widdow Sample."

As we have noted earlier, the one property owned by William Sample thathe did not include with the rest to be divided among his heirs, was atract of land in New Castle County, on a branch of Christina Creek, thathe left specifically to his daughter, Margaret: "to my Little daughterMargaret all my Estate in Christina Creek or upon a branch of the saidCreeke..." He also directed that his widow, Josine, place livestock onthis land for the future benefit of Margaret. This land was undevelopedat the time he made his will.

As shown on the map of New Castle County on the previous page, ChristinaCreek flows some four or five miles northeast of the town of New Castle.The manner in which William Sample's land there had come into hispossession is not revealed in the New Castle Court records. From latertax records, however, we know that it comprised 400 acres.

The manner in which William Sample came into possession of a town lotshortly be fore his death may illustrate the advantage he enjoyed as ajustice of the New Castle Court. The Court minutes of September 6, 1681,contain the following:

Upon the motion of Justice Will: Sempill ordered that if the Cooper, HansCoderus, doth not settle his Lott Granted him by this Court Lying next toEngelbert Lott, within one yeare after the date of the grant, then hee toforfeit the same and Mr Sempil to have preferrence to take itt up beforeany others.
It had been during a meeting of the Court on April 6, 1680, that thejustices had granted to Hans Coderus one lot of land "within this Towneof New Castle Provided hee himself settles the same & follows the Cooperstrade for Incourradgemt [encouragement] & the Conveniency of theInhabitants."
It was not until the Court met on May 2, 1682, however, that confirmationwas made, among several other grants of land, that Sample acquiredownership of this lot: "Granted to... William Sempill the Lott which wasformerly Granted to Hans Corderus & not improved."

Tax lists were compiled following William Penn's appointment as Governorof the "Lower Counties" in accordance with his careful record keeping.These reveal that William Sample's widow now owned both the land onChristina Creek, in trust for her daughter, Margaret, but town lots inaddition to the one formerly granted to Hans Coderus. From WilliamSample's will, we know that Josine had children by her first husband,John Marshall, (called "the rest of my wyves Children"), and that Josinehad held property that had been left to her and/or her children by herearlier husband. With her marriage to Sample, however, that property,under English law, would have come under his control. After his death in1682, however, it would have reverted to Josine and to her children byMarshall. A tax list for the town of New Castle in 1683 shows her, as"Josyn Sempel," taxed for two town lots in the amount of two shillingsand two pence. As a woman, she was not taxed as a "tithable," however.Taxed and living near her in the town of New Castle in 1683, were thefollowing individuals whose names also appear in other records pertainingto William and Josine Sample: James Walliam, John Bixcus (Bisk), Emeliusd. Ring, and John Henrickson.

In a New Castle County tax list of 1684/5, "Joslyn Semple" was shown with400 acres of land and one town lot; her total tax on this property was 5shillings and 5 pence that year. This town lot was doubtless the one onceowned by Coderus. The name of John Biscus follows that of "Joslyn" inthis list; he held three town lots. James Walliam is next (one town lot).John Boyer is also included with one town lot and Mathyas De Ring withthree.

In his will, William Sample had referred on four occasions to his wife'schildren, besides his and Josine's one child, their daughter, "littleMargaret." Since he made no mention of any children of his own, we mayassume that if he had been married prior to his union with Josine, therehad been no issue.

From available records, we can identify only one of Josine's children byher first marriage to John Marshall; this was Cataline, wife of JonasWright. It was at about the time that Josine was married to her thirdhusband, William Hamilton, former close associate of William Sample, thather children petitioned the New Castle Court for their inheritance to beprotected. It was Jonas Wright, son-in-law of Josine (though he calledhimself a son), who presented the petition on behalf of "himself and therest of the orphans." By definition at the time, an orphan was one whosefather was deceased, and it was not unusual for a son-in-law to identifyhimself as a son of his wife's mother. The following New Castle Courtaction was dated January 17, 1688/9:

Upon the Peticon of Jonas Wright the Son of Josyne Hamilton in behalf ofhimself and the rest of the orphans. The [Court] haveing considered thematter of the Peticon doe appoint James Walliam & Edward Blake who aredesired to be Supervers of the estate & usuage of the sd orphans, andJohn Biscus, John Hendickson & Emelius De Ring are appointedAdministrators in the behalf of the orphans.
The sd John Discus, JnO Hendrickson & Emelius De Ring Joyntly & Severallydoe Recognize themselves & heirs &ct in the Sum of one thousand pounds tothe Court of Orphans for the time being of the County of newcstle torender a true accopt [and] make good pay of all the estate of the orphansto them committed: when thereunto lawfully required.

James Walliam, one of the two men appointed by the Court to supervise"the estate," had been one of the executors named by William Sample inhis will. The name Bisk was sometimes written "Biscus" as in the aboveCourt document, and the John Biscus named here as one of theadministrators to act on behalf of the "orphans" was the John Biskmentioned in the deed of March 31, 1696, transcribed earlier in thisarticle. It is also interesting to note that in the February 21, 1682/3petition to the New Castle Court for citizenship that included "JosynSempill," there were also the names of Emilius D'Ringh and Jan Hendriksen.

Margaret Sample, Wife of William Sparks, Jr.

As we have noted earlier, it was in or about 1695 that William Sparks,Jr. was married to Margaret Sample. In his will, William Sample hadcalled Margaret "my little daughter." She was probably born about 1676and was probably 18 or 19 years of age at the time of her marriage.William Sparks, Jr. was probably a little older than Margaret.

We cannot be certain where William Sparks, Jr. was living in 1695. In the1696 deed quoted earlier, he was identified as a resident "of theprovince of Maryland." He and his father, William Sparks (died 1709),had witnessed the will of John Ellet in Talbot County, Maryland, inOctober 1695. Talbot County then included what became Queen Annes Countyin 1706.

On December 2, 1696, William Sparks, Jr. and his father were among 62"Military Officers of Kent County, Maryland" who signed a pledge ofloyalty to King William III expressing their shock on learning of anassassination plot to restore King James II to the English throne.

We can be sure that William Sparks, Jr. lived close enough to New Castle,Delaware, for him easily to have become acquainted with Margaret Sample.With their marriage, William, of course, came into possession ofMargaret's inheritance.

In the will of the senior William Sparks in 1709, he had left property toeach of his four sons (William, Jr., George, John, and Joseph), as wellas to a grandson, Charles Hynson, whose deceased mother had been adaughter. He also mentioned a granddaughter, a child of his son, William,Jr., as follows:

I give to my Daughter, that is to say my grand Daughter, being thedaughter of my Son Wm. Sparks, one year heffer with all her femaleIncreias to be marked and Delivered for her use presently after my Death,the males to go to him or them that Shall or does take care of the same.
Unfortunately, William Sparks, Sr. did not include the name of hisgranddaughter in his will. Perhaps his singling her out for a specialgift was simply because she was his first granddaughter. A discussion ofthe tracts of land that William Sparks, Jr. inherited from his fatherwill appear in a future issue of the QUARTERLY. Here we note, however, aland transaction that proves Margaret (Sample) Sparks was living in 1710.She died at some point during the next two decades, however, for anotherdeed proves that William, Jr.'s wife's name in 1730 was Ann.

The senior William Sparks (died 1709) had a brother named John Sparks whodied in Kent County, Maryland, in 1700. In his will, John Sparks had lefthis 100-acre farm, that was described as part of a larger tract called"Bucks Hill," located in Kent County on the north side of Chester River,to his two sons, John, Jr. and George Sparks, who were still in England.To claim their inheritance, however, John Sparks required that one orboth of these sons would have to come to Maryland "to enjoy it." (Thetext of the will of John Sparks was published on pp. 1377-78 of theQUARTERLY of March 1971.) Neither of these sons of John ever came toAmerica to claim their inheritance, however, although they attempted tohave an intermediary do so for them, an attempt that failed. By March1710, John's oldest nephew, William Sparks, Jr., had become the land'sowner, following the death of John's widow, Elinor Sparks. (Note: Afterthe death in 1709 of the elder William Sparks, his son, William, Jr., wasno longer called "Junior" in court and land records. We will continue torefer to him as "Jr." in this article, how ever, for the sake of clarity.)

On March 6, 1710, "William Sparks of Queen Anns County and Margaret hiswife" sold this land to William Cummings (spelled "Comegys" in this deed)of Kent County, Maryland, for 3,500 pounds of tobacco, the commoncurrency of Maryland at that time. Acknowledging the possibility that hisuncle's sons in England might still claim this land, the followingstatement was included in this deed. (Punctuation has been added forclarity.)

...... said William Sparks & Margarett his wife, their heirs Extrs andadmtrs [i.e., executors and administrators], Shall & will from time totime & att all times for Ever hereafter warrant & for Ever defend thebefore granted premises to the said William Comegys, his heirs & assigns,for Ever against the hris [heirs] & Successors of John Sparks, Deceased,Onckle [uncle] to the aforenamed William Sparks, as alsoe any otherperson or persons Claiming Right by heire Ship from the said John Sparks,Deceased...
It was required in Maryland that deeds be presented to the Court of thecounty in which the land was located to be registered and recorded.William Sparks, Jr. presented this deed to the clerk of the Kent CountyCourt, John Smith, on March 79 1710. Margaret did not accompany herhusband on his journey from their home in Queen Annes County to KentCounty to sign this deed and present it in Court (See Land Records JS #N, pp.248-49 of Kent County.) Instead, she appointed a family friend, whomay also have been a relative, Michael Haskett, to represent her. Herappointment of him was recorded with the deed, following:

Know all men by these prsents that I Margrett Sparks of Queen Anns Countyhave & doe appoint my trusty & well beloved friend Mr. Michell Haskett ofKent County to be my true & lawful attorney for & in my name, stead &behalf, to affix my name to a Sertain Deed of Sale for one hundred akersof Land as in the Said Deed may more lawfully appear and also toacknowledge the same as the law directs, to Wm Comegys, his heirs &assigns for Ever, Rattifling & holding good & firm in Law Whatever mySaid Attorney Shall act in & aboute the prs. In witness whereof I havehereunto sett hand and fixed my Seal this [blank] day of March anno Dom1710/11. Signed, Sealed & delivered in the Presents of us
[Names of witnesses not recorded.]
[her] Margaret M Sparks [mark]

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'sLdrd 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 mar riage 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.

(This article is concluded in the notes for Nancy's sister Margaret.)

SQ 3795: Married to Alexander Smith in 1796.
**********
SQ p. 5355-6:

Nancy Sparks, eldest daughter of Matthew and Eunice Sparks, was bornabout 1777. She was married to Alexander Smith in 1796. Their marriagebond in Surry County, North Carolina, was dated July 22, 1796, withJoseph Smith serving as bondsman. We have not succeeded in locating anydescendants of Nancy (Sparks) Smith, and cannot even be certain that shehad children.

As was noted on page 5346 of the present issue of the QUARTERLY, MatthewSparks sold 100 acres of his land to Alexander Smith for 20 pounds in1797. This tract adjoined land owned by Joseph Smith who, also in 1797,sold Alexander a portion of land (130 acres) that he owned adjoining theland Alexander had purchased from his father-in-law. On October 9, 1801,Alexander sold both of his tracts to Charles Worth for 115 pounds. BothSmith and Worth were identified in the deed as being of Surry County.(Deed Book M, pp.64-65) The witnesses were Tristram Coggshall, JohnWhitlock, and Matthew Sparks. For some reason, this deed was not recordedofficially until August 3, 1808, when Matthew Sparks appeared before theSurry County Court to swear that he had witnessed his son- in-law signit. This suggests that Alexander Smith was no longer a resident
of Surry County in 1808; had he been, he would have been the one toacknowledge the deed's validity before the Court.

Less than two weeks after Alexander Smith sold his land to Charles Worth,Joseph Smith sold to David Walker the remaining 117 acres that he hadretained out of the tract from which he had sold Alexander 130 acres in1797. In this deed, dated October 20, 1801 (Book K, p.79) Joseph Smithwas described as "of the County of Rowan." On October 2, 1802, "JosephSmith of Rowan County" sold to Charles Worth for 100 pounds, 200 acresnear the land he had sold to Walker in 1801. (Surry Co. Deed Book L, p.14)

There seems little doubt that Alexander Smith had also moved to RowanCounty after selling his land in Surry County. In fact, on May 24, 1800,Alexander had obtained from the state a grant of 118 acres in RowanCounty "on Cabin Creek adjoining Elisha Shamwell, Ebenezer Parks, AnthonyPeeler, and David Cox." Cabin Creek is located in the part of RowanCounty that was cut off to form Davidson County in 1822. It flows intothe Yadkin River about five miles above the south end of Davidson County.While we cannot be certain, it is probable that Joseph Smith was abrother of Alexander; his marriage had takenplace in 1791. Families namedSmith are difficult to research, but, fortunately, the fore nameAllexander" was then fairly unusual. A possible clue for the identity ofAlexander Smith is that in a Rowan County will of a James Smith datedMarch 11, 1826, and probated in May of the same year (Rowan Co. Will BookH,p.352) reference was made to James's "natural brothers: Luis Smith,Joseph Smith, Alexander Smith, and Thomas Smith." A tax list of Salisburyin Rowan County (Capt. Jetter's Company) taken in 1823 includes the name"Alexander Smith" with one white poll (himself). (SeeRowanCountyRegister, August 1998, Vol. 13, p.3036)

There is also a will recorded in Rowan County for an Alexander J. Smithdated March 11, 1830, and probated the following year. In his will thisAlexander J. mentioned his wife, Nancy, who was to serve with Henry Smithas executors of his estate. He also mentioned having a share in the landsof Jacob Hartman, deceased. There is no reference to children. Our onlyreason for believing that this might have been the Alexander Smith whohad been married to Nancy Sparks in 1796 is that, in his will, he gavehis wife's name as Nancy.

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

Continuation of Article on Matthew Sparks (Near bottom of page 5348)carried from notes for Eunice Nicy:

"On January 12, 1807, Matthew Sparks purchased a remarkably small plot ofland comprising only five acres, for which he paid ten dollars. (DeedBook L, pp. 297-98) The deed traces this plot's ownership history fromthe time it had been granted to David Allen by the state on September 20,1779; then it was described as located near "a certain iron mine pit nearThomas Yates' house." What use had been made of it through the years isnot revealed. On January 23, 1811, Matthew sold it to his son, MatthewSparks, Jr., for five pounds. (Book 0, p.375)

The 1810 census again provides us with a glimpse of Matthew Sparks'shousehold. Again, only the head of each household was named on thiscensus; its members were then enumerated in the same form as in 1800.Matthew and Eunice were, as in 1800, the male and female shown as overthe age of 45. The two males living with them who were between 16 and 26were probably their sons, William D. and John. Matthew Sparks, Jr. hadbeen married to Sarah Elmore in 1808 and was shown on the 1810 census, ashead of his own household, which included his wife and two small sons.

As noted above, on the 1810 census Matthew Sparks was shown as thenowning one slave. From a bill of sale dated June 14, 1800, and recordedin Surry County's Will Book 2, p.50+, we know that this was the "Negrogirl, Tamer, aged five years" whom Matthew had purchased for $100 fromAaron Moore. The bill of sale was witnessed by Oby Martin and JamesSparks, brother of Matthew. It was unusual for a record of the purchaseof slaves to be recorded in Surry County, but for some reason a number ofsuch sales were copied in 1810. We may wonder why little Tamer's purchasewas recorded as well as what Matthew's reason may have been for acquiringa female slave only five years old. Aaron Moore lived in Stokes County,North Carolina; he owned one slave when the 1800 census was taken there.

On the Surry County tax list of 1815, Matthew was required to pay a polltax for two slaves, and in 1816 for three. Under a North Carolina lawthen in effect, all slaves, male and female, between the ages of 12 and50, were taxed as "Black Polls." As will be noted in Matthew's will andthe settlement of his estate, his total number of slaves was six in 1819.

It was on March 26, 1819, that Matthew Sparks made his will. He must haveknown that death was fast
approaching because two days earlier, on March 24, he signed deeds givingtracts of land to each of his five sons, "in consideration of the naturallove and affection that a parent hath towards a child," a phrase repeatedin each deed. Throughout the descriptions of the land in these deeds, hereferred to the North Branch of Hunting Creek simply as Hunting Creek.

To his son William D. Sparks (he called him simply William in the deed)he gave 70 acres that constituted the upper northwest corner of hisplantation, which was part of the tract on which his father had"squatted" in 1773. To his son Joel Sparks he gave 60 acres, being themiddle part of this original tract. Matthew Sparks, Jr. received 90 acresthat was largely part of Matthew's patent of 1800. To his son GeorgeSparks, Matthew gave 100 acres which was essentially the west half of the200-acre tract that he had purchased from Thomas Yates in 1780, includingthe grist- mill. To his youngest son, John Sparks, Matthew gave 50 acresconstituting the northeast corner of his plantation adjoining the 60-acretract given to Joel Sparks. According to Matthew's calculations, thesegifts to his sons left 352 acres that in his will were to be held andused by his wife, Eunice Sparks, throughout her lifetime.

We know that the four oldest sons of Matthew and Eunice were present whenthese deeds were drawn up by Thomas Wright, long a friend as well as thesheriff of Surry County. These four sons took turns witnessing eachother's deeds. John Sparks, the youngest son, was probably also present,but being then under the age of 21, he was too young to serve as awitness to a legal document.

Matthew Sparks died sometime between March 24, 1819, and the May 1819meeting of the Surry County Court in May 1819 when his will was enteredfor probate.

The will of Matthew Sparks was duly recorded in Surry County's Will Book3, pp. 140-41, but the original,
bearing Matthew's actual signature, has also been pre served at the NorthCarolina State Archives. Many years ago, William Perry John son obtaineda photostat copy of this original. Matthew's signature on his will isreproduced below from this negative photostat; the text of his willfollows on page.

Matthew Sparks's Last Will and Testament, March 26, 1819.

In the Name of God, Amen. I Matthew Sparks of the County of Surryand State of North Carolina
being weak in Body but of sound mind and Memory Blessed be God, dothis 26th day of March in
the year of Our Lord 1819 make and publish this my last will &testament in manner following, that is
to say --

First I lend unto my beloved Wife Nice Sparks, the whole of my tractof land & plantation, together
with my Household furniture & plantation Tools, the whole of mystock of Every description & two
stills, also three Negros to wit, Cate, Stephen & Joan during hernatural life -- after her decease the
said Estate above mentioned to be sold and equally divided among myChildren herein named, that
is to say, Joel, George, Matthew, William, John, Nancy Smith [and]Sally Bray -- At the same time
authorising my said wife in her lifetime, if she sees cause to giveunto my Daughter Peggy West, of
the above property put in her possession such sum or sums notExceeding one Hundred dollars at
her discretion. My will and desir [sic] is that the Ballance of mynegro property not already named
shall after my decease be sold and the proceeds of such sale to beEqually divided among my
Children Above named, to wit, Joel, George, Matthew, William, John,Nancy & Sally.

I make and Ordain my Sons Joel Sparks and Matthew Sparks Executorsof this my last Will and
testament, and I do hereby Revoke all other wills by me made andAcknowledge this only to be my
last will and Testament. In testimony whereof I have hereunto sit[sic] my hand and seal the day and
date above written -- Signed, Sealed and Acknowledged in presence of--

[signed] T. Wright Jurat [Signed] Mathew Sparks Seal
" J. B. Hampton

The following statement was added at the end of the recorded copy of thisSurry County's Will Book 3,
pp.140-41:

State of North Carolina Surry County May Session 1819

Thomas Wright one of the subscribing Witnesses to the forgoing Lastwill and testiment of Matthew
Sparks Decd Made Oath in Open Court that he saw Matthew Sparks SignPublish and Declare the
same to be his last will and Testament that he was of sounddisposing mind and memory. That he
did it freely and without compulsion and that he saw John B. Hamptonat the same time, sign the
same as subscribing witness thereto whereupon it was ordered to berecorded. Recorded
accordingly.
(signed] Jo. Williams CC

In the minutes of the Surry County "P's & Q's" Court, the following entryappears for the session of the Court for May 12, 1819:

The last will & testament ot Matthew Sparks dec'd was duly proven in opencourt by the oath of Thomas B. Wright & ordered to be recorded. JoelSparks one of the executors therein named qualifyed agreeable to law.Matthew Sparks the other executor refuses to qualify and it is ordered tobe recorded.

Why Matthew Sparks, Jr. refused to be an executor with his brother in theprobat ing of their father's estate is not known. The Court did notappoint a replacement for him, and Joel acted as the sole executor. Inaccordance with the law, Joel proceeded to prepare an inventory of hisfather's estate, all of which his father's will had directed to beretained in his widow's possession for her natural lifetime. (As seen,Matthew had called Eunice by her nickname, "Nice," in his will)

Joel Sparks completed the inventory in time for it to be presented to theCounty Court when it met for its August 1819 session. During its meetingon August 11, 1819, the following entry was made in its minutes: "Aninventory of the estate & account of sales of Matthew Sparks dec'd wasreturned & ordered to be recorded." This document, in Joel Sparks's ownhandwriting, has been preserved. A copy was made by William Perry Johnson(one of the founders of the Sparks Family Association) with the followingnotation: "Transcribed at Dobson, Surry Co., N.C., August, 1952, Officeof Clerk of Court."

No better word-picture of Matthew and Eunice Sparks's living style couldbe found than this inventory of their possessions at the time ofMatthew's death in 1819. It is apparent from this that he was no longerin the milling business then. He was "well off" by the standards of thetime, and Eunice could be assured of a comfortable living during herwidowhood. Matthew owed no debts when he died. Four of his sons owed himmoney for which he held their notes. Three of his slaves were on loan,also, to sons Joel, William, and George; and in accordance with his will,they were now to be sold and the proceeds divided among his children(except his daughter (Peggy). Two neighbors owed him money: DanielWilcockson $41.00 for a desk and Joshua' Hendrick for a "yoke of steers"worth $25.56.

As has been noted, Matthew had made deeds of gift to each of his fivesons before making his will. As
calculated by Joel Sparks in preparing the inventory, "the land nowremaining" comprised 300 acres, to be managed by Eunice Sparks during herlife time. From his will and the inventory, we know not only the numberof slaves that Matthew owned when he died (six), but their names as well:Cate, Stephen, and Joan to be held by Eunice during her lifetime, andCaty, Fanny, and Judy on loan to sons. (Caty was also called "Cit," andFanny was called "Fann."

In presenting Joel Sparks's inventory of his father's possessions here,some punctuation has been added for the sake of clarity, but spelling hasnot been corrected.

The Inventory of Matthew Sparks's Estate

Land now remaining 300 [acres]
One neagro woman named Cate
One neagro boy named Steve
One neagro girl named Jin
Two Stills & 15 Stands & 2 barrels &
3 Caggs [kegs]
Four head of horses
17 head of Cattle
27 head of hogs
11 head of Sheep
1 Book Case & Desk
1 Crunk [trunk]
1 trumpetet [sic]
1 Candle stick
1 looking glass
15 pounds of taller
1 par of Stellards
3 iron pots & hooks
2 iron ovens and leads [lids]
3 Iron Skillets
1 Spice morter & pesel
1 tea kittle & lead [lid]
2 Smothing irons
2 tin buckets
6 tin Cups & 1 tin quart & 1 tin funnel
6 Earthen Crocks
3 Earthen Jugs
1 man Saddle & Saddle bags & one
woman Saddle
3 Bridles
2 flax wheales
1 cotton wheal
l3 par of Cardes
1 Check real
6 Chears [chairs]
1 hackle
1 meal Sifter
1 par of Spoon moles
1 iron Shovel
Some spun thread
2 Small sides of Tand leather
I raw hide
1 headed hoghead
1 Cors-Cut Saw
2 hands Saws
1 foot adds & iron Squar
3 Skraw Augurs
1 Iron potrack
1 par of Sheap Shears
1 larg hous bible
1 Small bible
1 hime Book
1 Book by the name of Wesleys
works
1 Shygar canester
2 water vesels in the hous
1 Churn
1 Sithe & Cradle
2 Sithe blades
1 Cutting box & nife
3 Chopping axes
2 mattucks
1 Sprowting hough
2 plouglis & 2 Cuters & 2 irond
swingel trees
3 weading

1 Chist (chest]
2 Firer locks & one Shot bag
3 Beds & stids & firniture
2 tables1 loom & 9 Slays [?]&
two par of harnis
16 puter plates
5 puter plates
8 puter basons
1 slate
1 lantern
1 par of Candle moles
2 iren wedges
1 par of iron Stretchers & one
1 log Chain
2 par of iron gears
1 iron frow
2 drawing nives
1 par of Comperseses [7]
1 long jointer & coopers adds
1 broad chizzel
4 reap hooks.
1 bar or iron
1 Ox carte
10 barrels of corn
7 bushels of wheat
200 pounds of bacon
1 Small Coberd
3 Small cobberd
3 Small tubes [tubs]
Som ry in a small tube
3 small firkins with som fat in
all of them
20 pounds of Coton
16 pounds of wool
4 bee hives
1 grindstone
1 half bushel
20 gallons of vineger
a small parcel of roted flax
1 note of hand on George Sparks for $42.94
1 note on Joel Sparks for $50
1 note on Joel Sparks for $20
1 Note on Matthew Sparks [Jr.] for $9
1 note on Wm. D. Sparkes for $24
Joel Sparks, one neagro girl named Caty $350
William Sparks, one neagro girl named Fanny $351
George Sparks, one neagro girl named Judy $280
These last three named neagro girls to be sold that ismenshend in the will Cit & Fann & Jude
Daniel Wllcockson to one Desk $41
Joshua Hendrick to one yoke of steers $25.56

Matthew Sparks's name had appeared on the annual tax lists of SurryCounty for the last time in 1818. More information was now recordedbecause of taxes being levied on the value of land in addition to thepoll tax Matthew's plantation was valued at $1,110 in 1818. As had beentrue since 1791, he was not taxed as a poll, but there were two Blackpolls (slaves) in his household for whom he was taxed.

As provided in his will, his wife, Eunice Sparks, was to possess whatremained of his plantation (350 acres), Matthew having given a portion ofit to each of his sons before he made his will. So it was that when the1819 tax lists were prepared for Surry County, "UnicySparks" was listed(in Capt. Denney's District) as a taxable landowner for 350 acres now inher name and valued at $700.00. A tract of land adjoining each taxpayerwas recorded in 1819--Peter Mock's 310 acres to the south adjoined bothEunice Sparks and the land Matthew had given his son, Matthew Sparks, Jr.As a white female, Eunice did not have to pay a poll tax, but she wastaxed for two "Black polls." The tax collected in Surry County in 1819was in accordance with the following Court order:

....eight cents on every hundred dollars value of land; eight centson every hundered dollars value of town property, and twenty five centson each and every white and black poll. [Also] to aid the funds alreadyprovided for erecting a jail, the sum of fifteen cents on every hundreddollars value of land, fifteen cents on every hundred dollars value oftown property, and thirty cents on every white and black poll.

A curious reference to Eunice Sparks was entered into the minutes ofSurry County's Court of "P's & Q's" during its August 1820 session, asfollows:

Ordered by the court that the sheriff be directed to summon a juryto inquire into the state of mind of Nicey Sparks & make report to nextcourt.

We can only guess the meaning of this order for there was no subsequentreference the matter. Was there the question in the all-male courtwhether an elderly woman was capable of managing a plantation? If thesheriff made such a report when the Court met the following February, nonote was made of it in the Court's minutes.

When the 1820 census was taken, "Unicyy Sparks" was shown as head of herhousehold consisting only of herself and her three slaves. She wasenumerated in the same "over 45" category as earlier.

The 1830 census provided for the enumeration of households in 13 agegroupings. On this census, Eunice Sparks was shown as between 70 and 80years old, thus born be tween 1750 and 1760. Living also in her householdin 1830 was a white male between 20 and 30, and two white females between30 and 40. We do not know who these individuals were. Eunice now ownedsix slaves according to the 1830 census, the increase in number probablyhaving resulted from children being born to one or both of her femaleslaves. The age categories for slaves differed from those of free whitepersons on census records. The six owned by Eunice in 1830 wereenumerated as follows:

1 female --- 36 to 55
1 male --- 24 to 36
1 female --- 10 to 24
2 males --- under 10
1 female --- under 10

Besides paying taxes, landowners were required on occasion to form a juryto survey the route for a new road; neighbors owning land through or nearwhich the road had been surveyed were then required to help build andmaintain it. A woman was not expected, of course, to perform this kind ofservice herself, but if she was a land owner, she was required to providea male substitute. During the August 1831 session of the Surry CountyCourt, it was determined that the road from the Wilkes County line to"Hendrick's Old Field" was in need of repair. Hiram Sales, a nearneighbor of Eunice, was appointed as overseer of the group of men whomthe Court ruled should contribute to this repair work. "Eunice Sparks'Stephen" appears in this list. Some have assumed that Stephen was a sonof Eunice, but it will be recalled that one of Matthew's slaves given toEunice for the period of her widowhood was named Stephen--it was he who"contributed" Eunice Sparks's share of labor for the road repair--he wasdoubtless the slave enumerated on the 1830 census as being in the 24 to36 age category.

Eunice Sparks's name, usually spelled "Unicy," continued to appear onSurry County's tax lists for nearly twenty years following her husband'sdeath. Her last entry was on the list for 1837, and in her place in 1838appeared "M. Sparks heirs." From this we know that Eunice died either inlate 1837 or early in 1838. She must have been over 80 years of age atthe time of her death. There was no probating of her estate because inMatthew Sparks's will in 1819 he had stated:
"First I lend unto my beloved Wife Nice Sparks the whole of my tract ofland & plantation.. .after her decease the said Estate.. .to be sold andequally divided among my Children herein named..."
On May 28, 1839, Joel Sparks, "Exr. (Executor] of Mathew Sparks, Senr.Decd." sold to Miles Wells the land on which Joel's mother had continuedto live following her husband's death in 1819. Both Joel Sparks and MilesWells were identified in the deed (see Surry Co. Deed Book 3, pp.11-12)as residents of Surry County. Wells paid Joel Sparks, in his role asexecutor of his father's estate, "Seven Hundred dollars Cash in hand" forwhat was described as 352 acres. The lengthy description of this tractbegins: "... at a double white oak running thence South Sixty four polesto an old stump in the edge of the public road...." This was the roadpassing through Matthew Sparks's land that had been surveyed by the roadjury on which Matthew had served in 1791 and for the building of which hehad been appointed overseer. As noted above, the slave named Stephenlater helped to repair the road on which his master had helped to buildsome twenty years before.

Miles Wells continued to own this land until his death in 1849. In hiswill dated July 25, 1849, he referred to his "Mat. Sparks tract of land."

Matthew and Eunice Sparks were the parents of eight children who lived toreach adulthood. Census records suggest that there may have been a son,possibly two, who died in childhood, but we have found no other record tosuggest this. There can be no doubt that their first three children weredaughters named Nancy, Margaret (called Peggy), and Sarah (called Sally).The births of five sons followed those of the three daughters; they werenamed in Matthew's will in the order of their births: Joel, George,Matthew, Jr., Wiffiam D., and John. In future issues of the QUARTERLY wewill publish in detail the information that we have on these sons andtheir descendants, but here we note only basic information.

The dates of the marriage bonds of some of the children of Matthew andEunice help to determine their
probable dates of birth. For detailed information about marriage bonds,the reader may wish to read an article written by William Perry Johnsonfor the SPARKS QUARTERLY of December 1954, Whole No.8. Briefly stated,the marriage bond law in North Carolina was in effect from 1741 until1868. Under this law, the clerk of the County Court was required tomaintain a register of each marriage license that he issued along with arecord of the marriage bond that enabled him to issue the license. Toobtain a marriage bond, the prospective groom was required to provide abond "with sufficient security." Initially, the bond was to be in theamount of $250; later it was increased to $500, then to $2,500, and after1837 it was set at$1,000.; In obtaining the bond, the groom guaranteedthat both he and his bride were legally free to marry, i.e. that theywere both white and of legal age to marry (or, if under age, had writtenpermission from a parent or guardian), and were both single. It was notsufficient for the groom to be his own bondsman--an adult male withproperty was required to required to fill this role--usually a closerelative of either the groom or the bride, or a near neighbor.

The marriage ceremony could take place at any time after the issuance ofthe license. Rarely do we have the exact date. If the groom could find noone able or willing to serve as bondsman, the couple could be married bythe "crying of the banns." This required that a public announcement ofthe intended union be made in church on three successive Sundays or beposted for the same period in public view, such as on the door of thecourthouse. No license was involved in this type of marriage, nor was anyofficial record made of its occurrence."

[Note: Here ends the article on Matthew Sparks, p. 5355. Information ontheir children can be found under their notes.]

THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1994, Whole No. 165, p. 4274 states:
" Nancy Sparks, daughter of James Sparks, was born about 1794,probably in North Carolina, although her birthplace was given as Virginiaon the 1860 census of Johnson County, Kentucky. She married JoshuaPennington in 1815 in Lee County, Virginia. He was born about 1790 inVirginia. It seems quite probable that Joshua and Nancy followed herfather to eastern Kentucky where they settled in that part of FloydCounty which became a part of Johnson County in 1843. It was there thatNancy died on March 15, 1878. According to her death record, she was 87years old.
"In all probability, Joshua and Nancy (Sparks) Pennington, had eightchildren, or perhaps more. We have been able to make positiveidentification of only four of them, but have included three others inthe following list whom we believe were probably theirs. (Here provides7 names and info for which see notes under respective names.)

[This continues the lengthy article re William Sparks IV at pg 3784from the notes for Nancy's eldest brother - - - Sparks: ]

There was a rush by settlers throughout the old Granville District in1778 to make claims for the vacant land now made available by theConfiscation Act of the General Assembly. In making a claim, one's firststep was to prepare, or have prepared, a written description of the tractone wished to acquire, including the name of the nearest watercourse.With this document, one then went to the Entry Taker who, for a fee ofsixteen shillings, would enroll one's name in his Entry Book, with anestimate of the number of acres claimed along with the writtendescription. The Entry Taker assigned a successive number to each entry.There followed a three-month waiting period to give interested partiesopportunity to file an objection. Where there were conflicting claims,the matter was brought before the County Court for a jury trial. If andwhen a claim was determined to be clear, a warrant was issued followed bya survey of the tract by the County Surveyor or one of his deputies. Forthis there was a fee of thirty shillings for every 300 acres, plus threeshillings for each 100 additional acres. The surveyor was assisted by twochain carriers (or bearers), usually relatives or neighbors of the personmaking the claim. The law required that they be at least twelve years ofage. The resulting survey frequently revealed a different number of acresthan had been estimated by the claimant.
After the survey was completed, a copy of the surveyor's plat was sent tothe Secretary of State who was supposed to issue grants, endorsed by thegovernor, twice each year, on April first and October first. TheSecretary of State charged a fee of five shillings for making out andrecording the grant, and the Governor's secretary charged three moreshillings for attaching the "great seal." When he finally received thegrant (deed, actually), the claimant was to have it recorded at thecourthouse.

Whenever and wherever government land has been offered for sale, therehave been land speculators--men with money to invest with the hope thatthe price would increase. Even though the fees mentioned above were aburden for many, the danger was that another person able to pay themwould "steal" the tract on which one had squatted. In recognition ofthis, the North Carolina legislators had provided some protection for thesquatters. In judging a claim, the Entry Taker and the County Court wereto give preference to a person who had settled on and improved land forat least seven years prior to 1777. In 1778, the word "improvement" wasdefined by the State Assembly as "erected a House thereon, or cleared,enclosed and cultivated a part thereof." This "prior claim" provision,however, extended only to January 1, 1779. After that date, the squatterof seven or more years had no advantage over a newcomer.

There was another important provision in the Confiscation Act. As RichardA. Enochs explained in 1988 in his foreword to his Rowan County, NC,Vacant Land Entries, 1778-1789, p. ii: "Enterers, except guardiansclaiming in the right of an orphan or those in military service, WERE TOTAKE AN OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE STATE." (Capital letters added by thiswriter)

On July 24, 1778, when a man named George Philips made a claim for atract of land located on "the North Fork of Hunting Creek," he describedit as adjoining "the claim of William Sparks, Senr." The Philips claimwas assigned #310 in the Surry County Entry Book. Claim #311, recorded onthe same day for Thomas Yates, was also for land described as lying onthe North Fork of Hunting Creek "joining William Sparks and WilliamWillcocks."

No claim, however, was registered by William Sparks for the tract onwhich he had settled and built his grist mill, it being the land referredto by Philips and Yates in their adjoining claims.

While no records have been found to explain why William Sparks failed toenter a claim, his reason for not doing so was probably because of therequirement mentioned earlier - - that all claimants must take the oathof allegiance to the state as the legal government of North Carolina. Aswe have noted earlier, Solomon Sparks was certainly a Loyalist. We alsoknow that he and William lived on nearly adjoining land and that theywere close friends as well as being cousins. We strongly suspect thatWilliam, likewise, held Loyalist convictions.
The Revolution was far from over in 1778 and 1779, and many of theinhabitants of western North Carolina remained convinced that thePatriots would lose. If one remained loyal to the King in his heart, hecould not, in good conscience, take an oath renouncing him. Following isthe text of the oath of allegiance which we believe William Sparks couldnot bring himself to sign, even though this meant that he could notregister a claim for "his" land.

I will bear Faithful and true Allegiance to the State of North Carolinaand will do the utmost of my Power, Support, Maintain and defend, theIndependent Government thereof, against George the 3rd, King of GreatBritain and his successors and the attempts of any other Person, Prince,Power, State or Potentate, who by secret Arts, treason and Conspiraciesor by open Force shall attempt to Subject the same, and will in everyrespect conduct myself as a peacefull orderly subject and that I willdisclose and make known to the Governor, some member of the Council ofState or some Justice of the Peace all treasons, Conspiracies andattempts committed or intended against the State that shall come to myknowledge, So help me God.

A study of the entry books of both Surry and Wilkes Counties reveals thata man named William Terrell Lewis entered a large number of claims inboth counties for tracts of land containing "improvements" that had beenmade by others. He was a man of some means. He was credited with owningfifty-eight slaves when the 1790 census was taken, for example; he wasalso a high ranking officer in the Surry County Militia as well as a"bounty hunter" as shown by the fact that he received monetary rewardsfrom the state on a number of occasions for identifying and locating armydeserters and draft-dodgers. Because of these activities, Lewis wasprobably quite aware of which settlers might be reluctant or unwilling totake the required oath and thus be in no position to protest when he laidclaim for land they had spent years improving. He actions were legal, buthis ethics might be questioned. Other members of the Lewis family (Joeland Micajah Lewis) appear to have pursued the same tactics.
So it was that on September 7, 1778 (a Monday), William T. Lewis entereda Surry County claim [#680] for 200 acres "on the waters of Hunting Creekincluding William Sparks' mill and plantation." On the same day, Lewisentered two other claims for land already settled in Surry County, onebeing a 250-acre tract on the north side of the Yadkin River on whichWilliam Riggs had built his home [#679]. The other was for 200 acres onDeep Creek, "including George Robards plantation" [#6811].

From the surviving records, it seem apparent that, upon learning ofLewis' action, William Sparks attempted to save his home and investmentsby selling his mill and improvements to his son, Matthew Sparks. As amember of the next generation, we can speculate that Matthew had noobjections to taking the oath of allegiance - - perhaps he had alreadydone so.

Because he had no legal title to the land, William could not give a deedto his son, so he made the transfer in the form of a "Bill of Sale." Hedid this on September 12, 1778, just six days after Lewis had registeredhis claim. The recorded copy of this document reads as follows:

BILL OF SALE

Know all men by these presents that I William Sparks of the County ofSurry and State of North Carolina for and in Consideration of the Sum ofone Hundred Pounds to me in hand paid by Matthew Sparks of the County andState aforesaid have Bargained and sold unto the Said Matthew Sparks OneGrist Mill and Improvement of Land lying and being in Surry County on theNorth fork of hunting Creek Which Mill and Improvement I do warrant untothe Said Matthew Sparks from any person or persons Laying any Just Claimthereunto Except the Lord of the Soil
Given under my hand this 12th day of September 1778

his

William o Sparks

mark
Test
William Davis
William Roysdon
North Carolina Surry County November Court 1778

The Execution of the within Bill of sale was aknowledged in open court bythe sd Wm Spark and ordered to be Recorded

Recorded according &c [signed] Jo Williams C C

[Surry Co. Will Book 1, p. 1-21]

On the Monday following the signing of this bill of sale, Matthew Sparksappeared before the Surry County Entry Taker, Joseph Winston, tochallenge the claim made by Lewis. This was called making a "caveat tothe claim," and the law required that such a caveat then be filed withthe Secretary of State's office. Winston was also required to turn thedispute over to the County Court for a jury to determine who was therightful claimant. He wrote in the margin of the Lewis: "September 14,1778 - - caveated by Matthew Sparks - - returned to Court."
When the Surry County Court met on November 11, 1778, four justices werepresent (John Hudspeth, William Hall, Michael Howzer, and WilliamHankins). They listened to William Sparks's explanation of the sale ofhis mill and improvements to his son, as well as Matthew's challenge ofthe claim of William T. Lewis for his father's land. Unfortunately, courtminutes of this period are almost always quite brief, and the only entryregarding this matter by the clerk reads: "Deed from William Sparks toMatthew Sparks." From this entry, however, it appears that the justicesaccepted William's bill of sale as though it had the authority of a deed.The clerk, for a reason we do not understand, recorded this document inthe county's will book rather than in its deed book, even though it wascustomary to record bills of sale with the deeds rather than among theprobate records.

Subsequent records prove that Matthew Sparks did, indeed, come to own theland upon which his father had built the mill as well as the mill itself.Whether Matthew had to compensate Lewis in some manner, we do not know -- no formal grant of the land to Matthew by the state has been found.Many years later, however, following an adjustment in the dividing linebetween Wilkes and Surry Counties, a grant was issued to Matthew by thestate on December 3, 1795, (#2054) for 350 acres which included "Sparks'former survey." [Surry Co.
Deed Book I, p. 437]

Curiously, on November 12, 1779, William T. Lewis transferred to WilliamSparks a warrant for a 200-acre tract he had obtained on the same day(#1734). This tract was described in the warrant as "near the waters ofDeep Creek, including William Cates's Improvement." In making thetransfer, however, Lewis stipulated: "I Transfer this warrant to Wm.Sparkes that he obliges him self not to Lay it on the place it calls forbut to put it on some other land that he may chuse at his own Risk[signed] Wm. T. Lewis." Why Lewis made this transfer to William remains amystery.

From subsequent tax lists of Surry County, it appears that William Sparkswas able to use this warrant to acquire a tract on a spur of BrushyMountain about three miles northeast from his mill, near land which hisoldest son, William, Jr. , had acquired. This tract, described as"joining Gilbert Keens Line," and comprising 200 acres, was shown on a1781 tax list for Surry County. This tax list also credited William withfive horses and nine cattle, as well as "40 pounds of money at interest."It was not until July 19, 1794, however, that William actually receivedthe grant from the state for this land. [See Surry Co. Deed Book G, p.240) The chain carriers were James Sparks and Thomas Sparks.

While the record pertaining to the attempt by William T. Lewis toappropriate to himself the land on which William Sparks had squatted isnot entirely clear, there is less mystery regarding Solomon Sparks's lossof his land. Mention was made earlier regarding the reference toSolomon's "plantation" in the report of the commissioners charged withdetermining the dividing line between Surry and Wilkes Counties in 1777.The line had been drawn through Solomon's "plantation," leaving his houseand the bulk of "his" land in Surry County while the smaller part now layin Wilkes County. This tract, on which one Moses Darnell had squattedinitially, contained 490 acres. It will be recalled that Darnell had soldhis "improvement," which doubtless included a house, to Solomon, but, ofcourse, Solomon had no title to the land itself. We can assume thatSolomon had continued to make improvements with the expectation that,eventually, he would be able to purchase this land from Granville'sheirs. The line drawn by the commissioners had left 340 acres, includingSolomon's house, in Surry County and 150 in the new county of Wilkes.

Being the "celebrated old Tory" that he was (using the words of ThomasParks), Solomon Sparks could scarcely have taken the oath of allegiancerequired in order to enter a claim when the state of North Carolinaauthorized the sale of "vacant" land beginning in 1778. Not surprisingly,the same William T. Lewis who tried to "steal" William Sparks's land andmill, also entered a claim for the 150 acres of Solomon Sparks's"plantation" that lay in Wilkes County. He did this on November 29, 1779.[Wilkes Co. Entry #1322 ] Another wealthy land speculator, however, hadgotten ahead of Lewis in making a claim for that part of Solomon's landlying in Surry County. This was Richard Goode, another Surry CountyMilitia officer and, beginning in 1779, a justice of the peace. On August13, 1778, Goode made claim to "340 acres of land in Surry County on thewaters of Hunting Creek including Solomon Sparkes improvement forcompliment." [Surry Co. Entry #5371 No caveat was entered against eitherclaimant, and in due course Richard Goode and William T.Lewis acquiredtitles to the land that Solomon Sparks had once considered to bevirtually his own. Neither man seems to have been in a hurry to pay forthe required survey, however. Lewis did not receive his deed from thestate for the 150 acres in Wilkes County until October 23, 1782 [WilkesCo. Deed Book A-1, p. 290], and it was not until October 13, 1783, thatGoode obtained his deed for the 340 acres he had claimed in Surry County[Surry Co. Deed Book B, pp. 352-53 ] .

Richard Goode permitted Solomon Sparks and his family to continue tooccupy their house and to farm the land, although he probably chargedthem rent. A document dated January 1, 1791, proves this. On that date,Henry Speer, a deputy surveyor for Surry County, made claim to a 300-acretract which may have been land confiscated from a Loyalist [Surry Co.Entry #0120]. In making his claim, Speer described the tract as "300acres on the waters of Hunting Creek adjoining the south side of RichardGoode's land whereon Solomon Sparks now lives including the long meadowand both sides of the road that leads from Allin's Iron Works Mines atYeate's place." A survey of this tract was made for Speer "Beginning at apine the second corner of the old Mill Tract in Matt Sparks line." Herewe have proof of how close the land on which Solomon Sparks had squattedwas to the tract on which William Sparks had built his mill.

The sons of Solomon Sparks must have had strong attachment to theirfather's "plantation," as it had been called by the commissioners who hadsurveyed the line between Surry and Wilkes Counties in 1777. On January12, 1791, Solomon Sparks, Jr. purchased from William T. Lewis the 150acres which lay in Wilkes County, for which he paid Lewis six pounds andeight shillings [Wilkes Co. Deed Book F-1, p. 1531. Robert Lewis andJoseph Sparks, another son of Solomon and Sarah Sparks, witnessed thisdeed. (Solomon Sparks, Jr. was born about 1764; an article about him andhis family appeared in the QUARTERLY of June 1959, Whole No. 26, althoughat that time we did not realize that the land which he purchased fromLewis had been part of his father's "plantation.")

On August 11, 1792, Reuben Sparks, born about 1755, who was another ofthe sons of Solomon and Sarah, purchased the 340 acres in Surry County onwhich his parents' home was located. He paid Richard Goode "fifty poundscurrent money." [See Surry Co. Deed Book E, pp.229-230] The witnesses tothis deed were John Cooley, Sr., John Cooley, Jr., and Hannah Cooley.(For biographical information on Reuben Sparks, see the QUARTERLY ofSeptember 1967, Whole No. 59. )

On March 8, 1779, Matthew Sparks had made claim [#1466] for "200 acres ofland in Surry County on the top of Brushy Mountain adjoining WilliamSparks's and Simon Leach." (This was William Sparks, Jr.) No onecontested his claim, and a year later, on March 9, 1780, Matthewtransferred his warrant for this tract to his father for whom a surveywas made the same day by Henry Speer, Deputy Surveyor for Surry County.Speer noted in his survey of this tract that he began his measurements"at William Sparks Junr. Beginning corner." William Sparks, Jr. and JohnGwin served as chain carriers. It was probably not necessary for WilliamSparks to take the oath of allegiance in order to receive the warrant forthis vacant land as a gift from his son.

Just when William and Ann Sparks left their home and mill on the NorthBranch of Hunting Creek (now called either Flat Rock Creek or NorthHunting Creek), to move to near land drained by Deep Creek on BrushyMountain, we do not know. We assume that they settled on the 200-acretract obtained for William by his son, Matthew. about 1780. They thuscame to live very near their eldest son, William Sparks, Jr., and it wasthere that they spent the remainder of their lives.

William Sparks, Jr. had become a "squatter" on Brushy Mountain as earlyas 1771. On September 17, 1778, he laid claim [#734] to the tract he hadchosen.

In his claim, William Sparks, Jr. described the tract as lying "on thetop of Brushy Mountain." [See Surry Co. Claim #1468 and Surry Co. DeedBook B, pp. 236 and 245]

In Surry County (the part that is now Yadkin County), Brushy Mountain ismentioned frequently in land records of the period under study here.Across the line in Wilkes County, however, there are the BrushyMountains, causing considerable confusion for one who has never visitedthe area. Bill Sharpe, in his A New Geography of North Carolina (Raleigh,NC, 1958), in his chapter on Wilkes County, wrote:

The Blue Ridge crosses the extreme part of [Wilkes ] County,trending a westerly direction, attaining a width in the county fromonehalf mile to 3 miles, and an elevation of 3,000 to 4,000 feet. TheBlue Ridge which is the continental divide - - presents an abrupt face tothe east, but sends long ridges down into the plateau.

A curiosity is the Brushy Mountain range, a spur of the Blue Ridgesrunning off from the parent range at a right angle and occupying thesouthern border. These low, confused ridges reach a height of from 1,500to 2,500 feet and occupy a bilt of from 1½ to 6 miles wide. They aredeeply dissected by narrow valleys and ravines. Their slopes vary fromgentle to steep and their tops are narrow but comparatively smooth.[Vol. II, p. 1,084]

In his chapter on Yadkin County, Sharpe wrote:
[Yadkin County] sits high on the northwest plateau, backed up to thefoothills of Wilkes and cradled in the generous curve of the YadkinRiver. Its rolling landscape is one of small, tidy farms and quiet,middling-sized towns.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A spur of the Ridge, the Brushy Mountain range, wanders gently overthe county's upper left hand corner, thrusting up one peak to 1,590feet above sea level. The average elevation is 1,000 feet. Numerousstreams, all emptying into the Yadkin, thoroughly drain the rollingto broken floorlands. [Vol. IV, p.2229]

In part grass-covered in William Sparks's lifetime, Brushy Mountain inSurry, now Yadkin County, called "spur of the Ridge [of] the BrushyMountain range" by Sharpe, was attractive to a number of early settlersbecause of the prevalence there of wild game. Not all of the wild animalson the mountain were valued, of course. Wolves and wild cats wereespecially troublesome because they preyed upon the settlers' livestock.To encourage their elimination, the county offered a bounty for any thatwere killed. When the Surry County Court met on August 18, 1787, forexample, the clerk recorded the fact that "William Sparks, Senr." hadpresented proof, probably in the form of severed ears, that he had killed"7 young wolves," while his son, "Wm. Sparks, Junr." was rewarded forhaving killed two wild cats.
In 1789, William Sparks obtained a grant in his own name for 200 acres"on the South Side of Brushy Mountain" through which Deep Creek flowed[Surry Co. Deed Book E, pp.7-8]. By this time, of course, the Revolutionhad been won and the taking of oaths of allegiance was a thing of thepast, except for foreigners.

A number of Surry County tax lists survive from the close of the AmericanRevolution to after 1800. During the 1780s, William Sparks's nameappeared regularly, as did the names of his sons, William, Jr. andMatthew.

When the first federal census was taken in 1790, William Sparks's nameappeared on that for Surry County, as did also the names of his sonsWilliam, Jr., Matthew, George, and Thomas. The 1790 census enumeratedhouseholds simply as free males over sixteen, free males under sixteen,and free females of all ages. Besides William and Ann, their householdincluded a male under sixteen. Ann was surely too old for this to be ason of hers and William's; we can only conjecture that he may have been agrandson. A daughter of William and Ann named Margaret, who was bornabout 1764, was married to William Gibson in 1782. He lived on BluesCreek in Surry County. We believe that Margaret died within a few yearsof her marriage and that it is possible that she left a son who was takeninto the home of her parents. This is only a conjecture by the presentwriter, however.

On February 26, 1791, William Sparks purchased a tract of 100 acres fromJoel Lewis for fifteen pounds. This tract adjoined some of William's ownland as well as land owned by James Parsons. The witnesses to this deedwere "Wm. T. Lewis [and] William Sparks, Junr." [See Surry Co. Deed BookE, pp.134-35]

This was the last occasion on which William Sparks acquired land. OnMarch 6, 1800, he sold to his son, George Sparks, the 200-acre tract thathe had obtained from the state in 1789. In this deed, the tract wasdescribed as located on "the South side of Fox Knob," a detail notincluded in the earlier description.
George paid his father "the sum of forty Pounds Current Money of theState of N. Carolina." The witnesses on this occasion were "Wm Cook Senr.[and] Saml. Marsh." [See Surry Co. Deed Book K, pp.167-68]

In 1801, William Sparks sold to his son, Benjamin, the 200 acres that hehad obtained after William T. Lewis had transferred to him a warrantwhich Lewis had obtained from the state in 1779. It will be recalled thatLewis had required, however, that William "not Lay it on the place itcalls for but to put it on some other land that he may chuse at his ownRisk." Although he did not receive a clear title until 1794, William hadused the warrant to obtain a 200-acre tract near his other land on BrushyMountain "joining Gilbert Keen's line." Benjamin Sparks paid his father"fifty Pounds Current money of the state of North Carolina" for thistract on February 3, 1801. The witnesses were William's son, GeorgeSparks, and a neighbor named Richard Gentrey (or Gentry) who was also aBaptist preacher. [See Surry Co. Deed Book K, p. 179]

It is probable that William Sparks's health had failed when he sold thesetwo tracts of land to these two sons. On both of the deeds, he made an"X" as his mark rather than carefully drawing the small circle as hadbeen his custom.

The federal census of 1800, like that for 1790, called for only the nameof the head of each household, with all members, including the head, thenenumerated in age categories. There were more categories in 1800 than in1790, however. Again, in William Sparks's household, besides Ann (who wasenumerated as a female over forty-five) there was a child, a male shownin 1800 as aged between ten and sixteen. It would appear that this wasthe same child shown in William's household in 1790, whom this writerbelieves may have been a grandson.

On December 21, 1801, William Sparks made his last will and testament.Whether he had made an earlier will which this superseded, we do notknow. Fortunately the original of this will has been preserved in theNorth Carolina State Archives. It is reproduced on the following page.

As seen, William Sparks made no mention of being ill, but he must havesensed that death was approaching. At this time in American history, agesevemty-five (or thereabout) was considered to be remarkably old. As hehad done in signing the deeds noted above, William Sparks made his markon his will with an awkward "X" rather than the dainty circle of thepast.

[Here appears a photographic reproduction, beneath which is the followingcaption; copy too illegible to place in scrapbook:]
A photographic reproduction of the original will of William Sparks whichis preserved at the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh. This hasbeen reduced by about 40 percent.

In the Name of God Amen I William Sparks of the County of Surry and Stateof North Carolina Being of sound and perfect mind and memory Blessed beGod do this 21 Day of December 1801 make and Publish this my Last willand Testament in manner following Viz - first I will and Desire my LovingWife Ann Sparks to have her Feather Bed and Furniture and One Cow andCalf and her Chest During her Life All the Rest of my Estate Be it Landor Moveable propertie or whatever to be found of my propertie may be Soldand then the money Equally and peaceably divided amongst my Children andwife She Taking an Equal Share with One of the Children and I doConstitute and Appoint William Wilcox William Sparks Thomas Sparks andGeorge Sparks Executors of this my Last will and Testament and Trusteesfor my wife and Other Children In Witness where of I have hereunto set myhand and seal the day and Year Above Written

Signed Sealed published and declared By the Said William Sparks theTestator as his Last Will and Testament in the presence of us who were
present at the Time of Signing and Sealing thereof his
William X Sparks (seal)
mark

NB the words Estate and Executors was Interlined Before Assigned Text
Richard Gentrey
his
Jeremiah Sparks
mark
his
MajorAustill Juat
mark

When the will of William Sparks was recorded in Surry County Will Book 3,p.52a, the following probate information was added:

State of North Carolina, Surry County, May Session A.D. 1802 MajorAustill, one of the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing last will andtestament of William Sparks, made oath that he saw the said William signpublish and declare the same to be his last will and testament that hewas of sound disposing mind and memory and at the same time he [saw]Richard Gentry and Jeremiah Sparks sign the same as witnesses thereto:which was ordered to be recorded.
Recorded accordingly Jo Williams CC

From this court record, we know that William Sparks died sometime betweenDecember 21, 1801, and May 1802. It is probable that his death occurredin 1802, but we cannot be positive. It is probable, also, that it wasRichard Gentry who wrote the will for William Sparks as well as signingas a witness. Richard Gentry was a Baptist preacher. This suggests thatWilliam Sparks was probably a Baptist, since he obviously called onRichard Gentry to assist him to made his will.

(Final portion of article re William Sparks IV (SQ 3752-98) continued atpage 3793 under notes for Nancy's younger brother Thomas Sparks)

!NOTES:
SQ pg. 8O1: "Nancy Sparks, daughter of William Sparks. She marrie dWilliam
Griggs or Greggs, in Jefferson County, Kentucky, on August 1, 1822 . Inthe
settlement of the estate of her brother Hampton in 1865, reference wa smade to
Nancy Grigg's heirs. This was probably the Wiley and Nancy Griggs wh owere
living in Hardeman County, Tennessee, in 185O. (His age was given a s53, hers
as 45, and the birth place of each was given as North Carolina.) Livi ngwith
them was E. H. Sparks, aged 24, born in Tennessee, and by professio n a"clerk".
He was probably a nephew of Mary."

.

!NOTES:
See SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 4270: "A daughter whom we have been unabl e to
identify was born about 1805. She may have been the Nancy Sparks, bo rn
1800-10, listed on the 1830 census of Lee County, Virginia."

SQ 5365:

Nancy Sparks, born ca.1808. She was married to ------- Ashcraft, WhenJoel Sparks applied for bounty land in 1855, Nancy signed by mark anaffidavit stating that she was his eldest child. She was then a residentof Cass County, Missouri. We have no further information about her.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September, 1997, Whole No. 179, p 4858-9:
"Nancy Sparks, daughter of Robert (Pigg) Sparks, was born about 1809in North Carolina. She accompanied her brothers to Kentucky and it wasthere, on February 19, 1830, that she was married to Martin Ison inMorgan County. He had been born in Washington County, Virginia, about1804, and was a son of Archibald and Mary (Gilliam) Ison. He was abrother of Ira Ison who was married to Loucina Sparks in 1833.
"Martin and Nancy (Sparks) Ison lived near Newcombe on Ison Creek inpresent- day Elliott County. We have found no records of their deaths,which apparently came to Martin about 1850 and to Nancy sometime after1880. They had eight children."

SQ 3206: "Nancy Sparks, youngest child of John and Elizabeth (Rose)Sparks, was born on April 27, 1824, probably in Wilkes County, NorthCarolina. (The 1850 census of Wilkes County has her birthplace as AsheCounty.) She married Robert Bauguess, Jr., probably about 1846. He hadbeen born on December 23, 1823, and was a son of Robert and Mary (Sparks)Bauguess ; Mary was a daughter of John and Sarah (Shores) Sparks; see pg.101 of the December 1955 issue of the SQ, Whole No. 12.) Robert andNancy (Sparks) Bauguess were listed on the 1850 census of Wilkes County.Both were 23 years of age according to this census, and with them was aone-year old girl, Mary Bauguess. Nancy died on March 22, 1897, and wasburied in the Old Roaring River Baptist Church Cemetery at Traphill,North Carolina. Robert died on June 26, 1914, and was buried beside hiswife Nancy."

SQ 101: "Nancy Sparks, born about 1820; married Meredith Lyon." (Thisspouse is same name as spouse of Nancy's sister Melinda (832)--must beerror)

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

Nancy Sparks was born about 1825 and was married to Meredith Lyon(orLyons). When the 1850 census was taken of Wilkes County, North
Carolina, their household then consisted of Meredith Lyons, age 35, andNancy, age 25, with the following children: (1) Emily Lyons, age 13; (2)
Hanson Lyons, age 25; (3) Mary Lyons, age 8; (4) Thomas Lyons, age 6; (5)Nancy Lyons, age 5; (6) John Lyons, age 2; and (7) Joshua Lyons, age 1
year. Nancy Sparks must have been the second wife of Meredith Lyonsbecause, at age 25 in 1850, she could scarcely have been the mother of
13-year-old Emily and 11-year-old Hanson; she was probably the mother ofthe five younger children. Nancy (Sparks) Lyons headed her own householdwhen the 1860 census was taken of Traphill Township in Wilkes County.

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 886 for the following marriage informationfrom Lawrence County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds (1822- 1865):
Nancy Sparks & John Hutchison, March 21, 1847. (Book II, p. 112)Consent of her father, George Sparks. His father, Peter Hutchison.Married by William Barker. Witnesses: William Green & James Mason.

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 886 for the following marriage informationfrom Lawrence County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds (1822- 1865):
Nancy Sparks & Nelson White, January 8, 1857. (Book II, p. 106)

SQ pp 4862-3"

"Nancy Sparks, daughter of Bill and Polly (Lyon) Sparks, was born onMay 18, 1834. She may have been named for her father's sister, Nancy(Sparks) Ison. On January 8, 1857, she was married to Nelson T. White inLawrence County. He had been born on October 4, 1831, in Virginia, andwas a son of James Claiborne and Susan (Green) White. He served in the68th Regiment Kentucky Militia of the Union Army during the Civil War. Heand Nancy lived on White Creek (sometimes referred to as Whites Creek), atributary of Little Fork. Nancy died there on January 18, 1908, andNelson died there on August 29, 1912. They were buried in the WhiteCemetery on White Creek. They had eight children."

SQ p4852:
1. Nancy Sparks, daughter of Wes and Nancy (Kozee) Sparks, was bornabout 1836 in Lawrence County. She was married to Daniel Stephens, a sonof Thomas Stephens. We have no further information about this couple.

The 1850 census for Lawrence County, KY, does not show a NancySparks but does show a Mary Sparks, age 14 indicating a birth date about1836.

SQ 3187:

"Nancy Sparks, daughter of Solomon and Malinda (Caudill ) Sparks wasborn about 1836 in Wilkes County, North Carolina. She married Jesse N.King in 1854, and they had at least three children:

John S. King,
William J. King
Mary King."

SQ 3864: Nancy "Nan" Sparks was born in May 1867. She was married to
Lincoln Sparks about 1886. (They were first cousins. Lincolns fatherSamuel
(955) and Nancy's mother Dianna (958) were brother and sister. Dianna was
married to Thomas (212) who was her 2nd cousin, both having the samegreat-
grandfather, William IV (199).

SQ 3184: "Nancy Alice Sparks was born on September 24, 1880. She wasmarried to Linton Henry Roberts on August 15, 1900. He had been born onSeptember 13, 1879, in Dallas Center, Iowa. Nancy died on June 26, 1964,at Clarinda, Iowa, and was buried in the Old Memory Cemetary. Lintondied on January 20, 1968 and was buried beside his wife."

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 886 for the following marriage informationfrom Lawrence County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds (1822- 1865):
Nancy Sparks & Isaac Lester, February 4, 1858. (Book II, p. 121) He bornin Tazewell County, Virginia, age 20 years. She 20 years old. Married athome of Garrett Sparks by Enoch Green, Baptist minister. Witnesses: R. R.Sparks & William Lyon.

SQ p. 4642:

"Nancy Artha Sparks, daughter of Garrett and Betsy (Boggs) Sparks, wasborn on June 7, 1837, in Lawrence County, Kentucky, and it was there thatshe was married to Isaac Lester on February 4, 1858. He had been born onSeptember 20, 1837, at Tazewell County, Virginia, and was a son ofWilliam and Rutha (Bishop) Lester, natives of Virginia. Isaac and Nancylived on the Raccoon Branch of Hood Creek. They had three children whenIsaac enlisted in the 68th Regiment Kentucky Infantry of the Union Armyon May 21, 1864. Many years later, he applied for an Invalid Pension forhis military service. It is from the materials in his pension file thatwe have learned a great deal about him and his family.

"Isaac Lester was an avid hunter and was accidentally shot and killedby his son, Lantford Lester, while they were squirrel hunting inPocahontas County, West Virginia. He died on October 12, 1908, and hisbody was brought back to Lawrence County. He was buried in theBishop-Lester Cemetery near Wilbur, Kentucky. Nancy died in 1914 and wasburied beside her husband. They had six children."

SQ p. 4641:

"Nancy Bell Sparks was born on December 27, 1876. She died ininfancy."

SQ p. 3631:

"...They were buried in the Larkin Cemetery near Bold Springs,Tennessee. They had at least two children."

[On Jan 20, 2002 I received an email from Donald L. Smith(ndsmith@@imf.net), a grandson of Annie Ophelia Ayers Larkin, who was adaughter of Nancy Sparks Ayers. He furnished the names of the fourchildren of John and Nancy. He stated that someone earlier haderroneously changed the given name of his greatgrandfather from John toJames.]

SQ 5316:

Nancy E. Sparks, daughter of Hampton and Jemima (Blue) Sparks, was bornabout 1859. He mother died shortly after her birth . She was 6 years oldwhen her father was declared to be her legal guardian . We have nofurther record of her.

SQ p. 2168:

When Truelove Sparks died on Feb. 4, 1907, he was receiving a pension of$12 per month. His death created a problem for his daughter, Nancy E.Sparks, for she had been a hopeless invalid from birth and unable to carefor herself. Since she was over sixteen years of age when her fatherdied, she was ineligible for consideration under the existing pensionregulations. Her mother had died in January 1904. To solve the problem, aresolution was passed in the House of Representatives placing her on thepension rolls at $20 per month. She died on April 23, 1947.

SQ p 3903: "Nancy Emeline Sparks, daughter of Matthew and Alsey (Osburn) Sparks, was born about 1850. She was married to William J.McKenzi e on Christmas Day 1873."

See SQ p. 232 for birth information.

See SQ p. 817 for marriage information.

SQ pg 2633: She was married four times. Her first marriage ended indivorce after only three weeks. She was married (2nd) to William E.Murphy. Following his death she married a man, name not known , who diedabout a year later. Her 4th husband was Walter Bailey. She had nochildren.

SQ pg 2749:

"Nancy J. "Maria" Sparks, daughter of James Hawkins and Elizabeth(McKnight) Sparks, was born about 1848. She was married twice. Her firstmarriage was to a man named Williams by whom she had three children:Durward Williams, Elizabeth Williams, and Edgar Williams . She married(2nd) W. M. ("Jim") Cobb."

SQ 3865: Nancy J. Sparks was born on April 20, 1855. She was marriedto William DeHart on December 11, 1878, in Elliott County, KY.

Information on the ancestors of James William Dehart and of thedescendants of James William and Nancy (Sparks) Dehard was received fromMargaret Ann Susan DeHart of Clifford DeHart of Benjamin Harrison DeHartof James William DeHart in December, 2000 via email.

!NOTES:
SQ 3866: Nancy J. Sparks was born in May 1866. She was married t oWilliam
Jesse Lemaster on March 9, 1883. He had been born in April 1862 an d wasa son
of Daniel Phillip and Phoebe (Bayes) Lemaster. William and Nancy ha d atleast
four children: Stelle, Linda, Genoa and Daniel.

See SQ p. 333 for birth information.

SQ 3861: Nancy Jane Sparks was born on September 15, 1853. She wasmarried to Reuben Phillips.

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1969, Whole No 66, p. 1245:

DEATH TAKES NANCY JANE SPARKSSCAGGS

"We learned recently that on June 5,, 1968, death claimed anothermember of The Sparks Family Association, Mrs. Nancy Jane Sparks Scaggs.Mrs. Scaggs was a daughter of Levi Hansford and Nancy (Lawson) Sparks andwas born in Elliott County, Kentucky, on March 9, 1878. She was unitedin marriage to William Scaggs on May 20, 1897. To this union were born:Eva, Estill, Cecil, Joseph, Alma Lee, Nellie, Earnest, and Charlie. Mrs,Seaggs's paternal grandparents were George and Nancy (Short) Sparks. (Seethe December 1956 issue of the QUARTERLY, Vol. III, No. 4, Whole No.12., page 102.)"

Nancy ["Nannie"] Jane Sparks was born on September 8, 1885. She wasmarried to Lyon, and they lived at Blakeley, West Virginia

See notes on her husband (and first cousin) Lincoln Sparks.

SQ p 5706:

Nancy Marine Sparks, born August 11, 1860, died in Grassy Creek Township,Mitchell County, North Carolina, on April 20, 1915, age 54 years. Herfather gave Nancy's age as 53 in response to a questionnaire from theBureau of Pensions on August 13, 1912. She had been shown as age 11 and"at home" in the household of Whitfield Sparks on the 1850 census of SnowCreek Township. She was still a member of her parents' household when the1880 census was taken, age 21. When she died in 1915, she was buried inthe Bear Creek Baptist Church Cemetery with the gravestone engraving:"Nancy, daughter of Whitfield Sparks, died April 2, 1915, age 54 years."It appears that she did not marry.

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3691: They had four children: Myrta, Blane, Floyd, and Ira.

.
!NOTES:
Naomi Sparks was born about 1840. She was married to William Ambr ose
Mudd on May 29, 1861, in Fort Bend County, Texas. She was living in
Laredo, Texas, in 1900 when her father died.

CENSUS RECORD:
Queen Anne's County, Town Hundred, Census of 1776, taken from MarylandRecords, Vol. 2, pg 203, FHL 975.2 D29b:
Sparks: Nathan; 1 white male over 21; one white female over 21 ; 2white females 16-21; 3 white males 12-16; 4 white males less than 12; 3white females less than 4; total: 8 males, 6 females.

MARRIAGE:
MARYLAND MARRIAGES, 1634-1677, by Robert Barnes, GenealogicalPublishing Company, Baltimore, 1987; copied at the Maryland HistoricalSociety, Baltimore, Maryland from the records of St. Luke's Parish, QueenAnne's County, Maryland, page 64: "Sparks, Nathan, 20 Feb. 1759,Elizabeth Bolton"

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

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1983, Whole No. 124, pp. 2562-2572 @@p. 2563:

DESCENDANTS OF JAMES SPARKS (BORN ABOUT 1710-15) OF QUEENANNES COUNTY
MARYLAND THROUGH HIS SON NATHAN SPARKS (BORNABOUT 1738)

"Nathan Sparks (683), father of Levi Sparks and Elijah Sparks, wasprobably born about 1760 in Queen Anne's County. He was a son of Nathan(676) and Eliza (Bolton) Sparks and was a grandson of James (402) andElizabeth (675) (Barkhurst) Sparks. James Sparks was undoubtedly agrandson of William Sparks (204) who died in Queen Anne's County in 1709.

Page 2565:

"Nathan Sparks, son of James and Elizabeth (Barkhurst) Sparks, wasprobably born about 1738 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. It was there,on February 20, 1759, that he was married to Eliza Bolton. They had fivechildren: (1) Nathan Sparks, Jr.; (2) Simon Sparks; (3) James Sparks; (4)Isaac Sparks; (5) Benjamin Sparks. All five of these sons were probablyborn between 1760 and 1775. Eliza apparently died about the time of theoutbreak of the American Revolution, and Nathan married ( 2nd) a womannamed Sarah. He seems to have served in some official capacity duringthe Revolutionary War. Like his father, he too, made a will shortlybefore his death. Here it is with up-to-day changes in spelling, grammarand punctuation:

"In the name of God, Amen. The 15th day of September 1787.

I, Nathan Sparks, of Queen Anne's County and State of Maryland,farmer, being in health and of perfect mind and memory, thanks begiven to God. Therefore calling unto mind the mortality of my body andknowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make andordain this my last will and testament, that is to say;

ITEM, Principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soulinto the hands of Almighty God that gave it, and my body I recommend tothe
earth to be buried in decent Christian burial at the discretion ofmy Executor, and as touching such worldly estate wherewith it has
pleased God to bless me in this life, I give, demise and dispose ofthe same in the following manner and form:

ITEM, First, I give and bequeath unto my son Nathan Sparks, a lot of whereon he now lives containing one acre more or less.

ITEM, I give and bequeath to my sons, Simon Sparks and James Sparks,all remainder of my land containing 226 acres more or less, being part
of a tract of land formerly called "Lord Baltimore's Manor" to beequally divided between them. To begin at the line of a tract of land
formerly belonging to Edward Tilghman and to run south east to themain road leading from Church Hill to into the Beaver Dam Causeway.

ITEM, I give and bequeath to my two sons, Isaac Sparks andBenjaminSparks, ten Pounds, current money, each to be applied to the useof
educating them.

ITEM, My will and desire is that my personal estate shall be equallydivided among all my children as the law directs (except my son
Nathan Sparks only).

ITEM, I give and bequeath unto my grandson, John Sparks, one youngcow.

ITEM, I likewise constitute and ordain my two sons, Simon Sparks andJames Sparks, my sole executors of this my last will and testament,
and I do hereby disallow, revoke and disannul all and every formertestaments, wills, legacies and bequests and executors by me in any
ways before named, willed and bequeathed, ratifying and confirmingthis and no other to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof
I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above writted.
his
Signed, sealed, published, pronounced NathanS Sparks
and declared by the said Nathan Sparks mark
as his last will and testament in the
presence of us the subscribers:
Samuel Burgess, Chargles Burgess, Natl. Pence

On the back of the foregoing will was written thus:
(here appears attestation clause signed by the witnesses)
"I further certify that Sarah Sparks, the widow, and Nathan Sparks,the heir at law to the deceased, were present at the time the above pro-
bate was taken and that they did not object to the taking of thesame.
Certified bySol Clayton, Regr. of Wills for Queen Anne's County

"Queen Anne's County, on the 24th of November 1787. Came SarahSparks, the widow of Nathan Sparks, late of Queen Anne's County,deceased, and quitted her claim to the several bequests and devises madeto her in the will of her said husband, deceased, and elected, in lieuthereof, her dower, or third part of the deceased's estate, both real andpersonal.
Before Sol Clayton, Regr. of Wills for
Queen Anne's County."

"Simon Sparks and James Sparks, sons of Nathan Sparks and executors ofhis will, survived their father by only a few years. James Sparks diedprior to November 1797, and left his share of his father's estate to hisbrother, Simon Sparks. In all probablility, he never married."

(Commencing on page 2567, the article discusses the children of Nathanand Eliza (Bolton) Sparks and Sarah (---) Sparks and their children.)

Nathan's second marriage after 1776 to a woman named Sarah is notentered because of no additional information. See SQ pg 2565.

See SQ p. 4958, "SPARKSES WHO SERVED IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:

Nathan Sparks (ca. 1738-1878) Queen Anne's Co., MD. (1) Sarah Bolton(2) Sarah ---; Oath of Fidelity, 1778 (found in the archives ofMaryland); Intendent's Letter Book No. 10, 26 August, 1782 (see SparksQuarterly pp. 2561-72.)

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1995, Whole No. 172, Page 4548:

NATHAN SPARKS (1775-1 844) SON OF MATTHEW AND SARAH (THOMPSON) SPARKS OFNORTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA AND TENNESSEE And Three Generationsof His Descendants
By Paul E.Sparks

"[Editor's note: We have sometimes called Nathan Sparks's father "Matthew Sparks the Elder" in order to distinguish him from his son of thesame name. He was born in Maryland about 1730 and died in 1793 . (JS: Hewas a brother of William Sparks IV. Thus, Nathan was a first cousin ofJames Sparks 189.] An article about Matthew and his wife, Sarah,appeared in the QUARTERLY of June 1961, Whole No. 34 , pp. 556-566. Atthe time that article was published, however, we had not determinedMatthew's parentage. In the QUARTERLY of December 1989, Whole No. 148,pp. 3484-3501, we presented evidence that Matthew Sparks was a son ofWilliam Sample Sparks, who moved from Frederick County, Maryland, toRowan County, North Carolina, with other members of the Sparks family in1754.

"[We have learned nothing regarding the parentage of Sarah, wife ofMatthew Sparks, but a granddaughter of Nathan Sparks, Elizabeth E.Sparks, whose nickname was "Bettie," stated in a letter dated March 11,1899, that Sarah's maiden name had been Thompson. Her letter appears onpage 4575 of this issue in the QUARTERLY. Sarah (Thompson ) Sparks diedon August 23, 1831.

"[William Sample Sparks, father of Matthew, was a son of WilliamSparks, Jr. and a grandson of William Sparks, Sr., who died in QueenAnnes County, Maryland, in 1709. (See the QUARTERLY of March 1971, Whole No. 73, and that of December 1992, Whole No. 160.)

"[We have published articles on the lives of six of Nathan Sparks' sbrothers, as follows: John Sparks, March 1966, Whole No. 53; AbsalomSparks, September 1982, Whole No. 119; Matthew J. Sparks, September 1984,Whole No. 127; William Sparks, June 1985, Whole No. 130, September 1985,Whole No. 131, and June 1986, Whole No. 134; Jesse Sparks , March 1990,Whole No. 149, and September 1990, Whole No. 151; and Hardy Sparks,December 1990, Whole No. 152.

"[A family bible was found, published in 1816, which contains a recordof the births of Nathan Sparks and his siblings, all being the childrenof Matthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks. This Bible had apparently beenthe property of Nathan Sparks, and someone had copied therein these birthrecords, perhaps from a bible that had belonged to Matthew and Sarah. Oneof the entries copied is the date of death of Sarah (Thompson) Sparks --August 23, 1831.

"[This 1816 bible had doubtless become worn and fragile, and Mr.Thompson found it impossible to decipher at least six of the forenames ofchildren born between 1757 and 1768. He was able, however, to copy thebirth dates of Nathan (October 23, 1775); James (April 14, 1778); Isaac(July 15, 1780); Hardy (May 23, 1783); and Bailey (May 3 , 1788). Whilewe are confident that the dates given for Nathan, Isaac, and Hardy arecorrect, we are doubtful that those for James and Bailey are entirelyaccurate. Each time a date is copied, there is opportunity for error, ofcourse, and old handwriting can be difficult to interpret."

(Continued on SQ pg 4550:)

"Nathan Sparks, son of Matthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks, was bornon October 29, 1775, according to the information copied from the familybible published in 1816. Nathan was born in Rowan County, NorthCarolina, and was probably just an infant when his parents moved to SurryCounty, North Carolina. There, they settled near the village ofJefferson on New River in present day Ashe County. He was a young manwhen he accompanied his parents to Franklin County, Georgia, followingthe American Revolution, where his father was killed by hostile Indiansin the fall of 1793.

"The first official record we have found of Nathan Sparks is thelicense for him to be married to Sarah "Sally" Elsberry on March 10, 1800, in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. She had been born about 1780 and wasa daughter of Benjamin and Francina Elsberry. It was also in OglethorpeCounty that Nathan participated in Georgia's "First Land Lottery."Registration for the drawing was made in May 1803, and Nathan wasentitled to one draw. The actual drawing did not take place until 1805,however. Nathan was not one of the winners.

"Sally (Elsberry) Sparks, wife of Nathan, died, apparently, soon aftertheir marriage. It seems highly probable that she died in Georgia;however, no record has been found indicating the date or place of herdeath. Nathan was married (second) to Nancy Hancock on September 2,1802, probably in Georgia. She had been born on September 17 , 1782, andwas a daughter of Martin Hancock. According to a descendant, she was afirst cousin of General Winfield Scott Hancock, born on February 14,1824, in Pennsylvania, who was a Union officer during the Civil War; hewas the Democratic candidate for the United States Presidency in 1880.

"Nathan Sparks moved his family to Tennessee sometime between 1805 and1809. (His son Isaac was born in Georgia in 1805; his son Martin wasborn in Tennessee in 1809.) It is quite likely that Nathan wasaccompanied to Tennessee by his brothers, Jesse Sparks, Bailey Sparks,Isaac Sparks, and Hardy Sparks, as well as by his mother, Sarah Sparks.Apparently, the five families settled first in Humphreys County.

"Nathan Sparks did not stay very long in Humphreys County, and onFebruary 15, 1812, he bought 208 acres of land from Charles Hayes inWilson County. He paid $500 for the tract that was located on SpringCreek. Martin Hancock and Joan Doak witnessed the deed. Nathan remainedin Wilson County for the rest of his life; he and his household wereenumerated there on the 1820, 1830, and 1840 censuses.

"Nathan Sparks bought 100 acres of land in Carroll County, Tennessee,on April 16, 1827, from William P. Anderson and Edward Gwin for $3 00.Two years later, on November 5, 1829, Sparks gave 60 acres of the tractto his son, Martin Sparks, and the remaining 40 acres to his son, IsaacSparks. The consideration was for his "love & affection for his sons."Nathan's brothers, Bailey Sparks and Hardy Sparks, witnessed the transferof the property.

"An account of the efforts of the Sparks brothers to obtain recompensefor the property loss suffered by their father, Matthew Sparks, duringthe Indian raids in Georgia, has been told in an earlier issue of theQUARTERLY and will not be retold here. Nathan Sparks played a major rolein these activities, including a journey back to Baldwin County, Georgia,in 1828. Apparently, these efforts were successful. (See pages 561-565of the June 1961 issue of the QUARTERLY, Whole No. 34, [included here inthe notes for Nathan's father, Matthew] for a detailed and thoroughaccount of this episode.)

"In 1832, a new post office was created at Rock Springs in WilsonCounty, Tennessee, and was named "Sparks" in honor of Nathan Sparks . Hewas appointed its first postmaster on September 20, 1832. Sparks,Tennessee, was located on a star route running from Lebanon to Columbia,and was about nine miles south of Lebanon. In 1835, Sparks reported thathe had collected $15.96 in postal fees. His compensation for the periodSeptember 30, 1841, to September 30, 1843, was $24.70. He held theoffice until his death.

"Nathan Sparks was said to have been a "cripple." (Today we would say"physically challenged.") We have learned nothing about the nature ofhis disability, however. Because of his handicap, he is said to haveused a large chair with a special writing desk attached to it . Thechair was handed down to a grand-daughter who retained it until herdeath. We have no further information regarding it.

"On September 3, 1835, Nathan and Nancy (Hancock) Sparks, who wereamong the heirs of Martin Hancock, deceased, gave a deed for theirportion of 160 acres of land that had been owned by Hancock, located onBartons Creek, to Samuel and Hope Hannah.

"Nathan Sparks died on September 4, 1844, in Wilson County, and hisson, Jesse H. Sparks, was appointed as the administrator of his estate.At the November 1844 term of the Wilson County Court, Jesse presented thefollowing inventory of his father's personal estate:

One negro boy, Anthony, aged about 18 years; 6 head of horses ; oneyoke of oxen; 7 head of cattle, 16 head of sheep; 23 hea d of hogs; 60geese.
One wheat fan; one cutting knife; 4 ploughs & one plough hoe ; 7sets of gear; one scythe; 7 old blades; 3 pole axes; one frow; onedrawing knife; one croze & pointer; one handsaw; one hammer; one auger;one log chain; one cotton needle; 2 smoothing irons; one flax hackle; onegrubbing hoe; two weeding hoes; one gun & stone; one pair steelyards ;one ox cart; 7 single trees, clevis & pins; one pr. stretchers.
5 feather beds & furniture; one china press; one clock; 12 chairs;one chest; one slate; one Bible; one dining table & table furniture ; onedressing table; one lot castings; one loom; one lot pails and churns;
2 spinning wheels; one saddle; one pr. saddle bags. One note for $2.00on George W. Carrell given December 6, 1843 , and due December 8, 1843; acredit of 25 cents insolvent; a claim on Wm . S. New, amount notcertain & uncertain whether it can be collected.

"At the same term of the Wilson County Court, November 1844, SpecialCommissioners Thomas E. Spain, E. M. Booker, and Stephen H. Hearnreported that one year's provisions had been alloted to the widow andfamily of Nathan Sparks. Included in the provisions were the followingitems: 60 barrels of corn; 2,000 bundles of oars, fodder, and hay;twelve head of hogs, 20 bushels of wheat; one small beef; 5 pigs ; 10pounds of wool and 50 pounds of seed cotton. The widow would have tofurnish her own sugar, coffee, salt, etc.

"At the October 1945 term of court, Jesse H. Sparks was permitted toresign his administration of his father's estate, and Henry Edwards was"approved to close the business." Edwards had been married to MildredSparks and was a son-in-law of Nathan Sparks.

"Nancy (Hancock) Sparks survived her husband by a dozen years, dyingon April 15, 1856. James R. Green was appointed to administer herestate. He had been married to Priscilla Sparks in 1845 and was ason-in-law of Nancy Sparks. He made an inventory return at the September1856 term of the Wilson County Court and a final settlement of her estateat the march 1857 term. Each of her eight heirs received a share of herestate in the amount of $41.37. According to the records sent to us by adescendant, Nathan Sparks had nine children." (here named but see theirindividual sheets.)

* * * * * * * * * *

**********

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 2001, Whole No. 196, pp 5605-5630, p.5610:

"Nathan Sparks, son of Matthew and Sarah Sparks, was born on October 23,1775, in the part of Surry
County, North Carolina, that was cut off in 1778 to form Wilkes County .The area in which his father settled was, many years later (1799), cutoff from Wilkes County to form Ashe County. He was a lad of eight or nineyears when he accompanied his parents on their move to Georgia. Heremained there after his father was killed by the Indians in 1793, and itwas in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, that he was married (first) to Sarah("Sally") Elsberry, daughter of Benjamin and Francina Elsberry, on March10, 1800. She was a sister of the wife of his brother, Absolom Sparks .Sarah died soon after their marriage , and on September 2, 1802, Nathanwas married (second) to Nancy Hancock (1782-1856), a daughter of MartinHancock. Nathan Sparks died on September 4, 1844, in Wilson County ,Tennessee . He was physically handicapped , apparently unable to walk.For an article about him and his nine children, see the QUARTERLY ofDecember 1995, Whole No. 172, pp.4548-4574."

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 1990, Whole No. 151, p. 3631:

"Nathan Sparks, son of Jesse and Susan (May) Sparks, was born onAugust 28, 1819, in Hickman County, Tennessee. He was probably named forhis uncle, Nathan Sparks. Young Nathan was married to Martha Cannonabout 1839. She had been born about 1823 in Tennessee and was a daughterof Dennis Cannon. (Martha and Nathan Sparks were among the heirs namedin the will of Dennis Cannon on August 12, 1853, according to Will Book Hof the Humphreys County Court.)

"On January 5, 1846, Nathan Sparks bought 61 acres of alnd on BigHurricane Creek, a tributary of Duck River, from Lewis W. Bryant for$75.00. He sold the land in 1853 and he and his family apparently movedfrom Tennessee. According to the 1850 census of Humphrey's County, heand Martha had four children, and they may have had others who were bornto them later. We have no further information about this family.

1. Nancy Sparks was born about 1840.
2. Hannah Sparks was born about 1843.
3. James Sparks was born about 1847.
4. Jesse Sparks was born about 1849."

SQ p. 4559:

"Nathan Sparks, son of Martin and Rachel (Marrs) Sparks, was bornabout 1832 in Tennessee. He served in Company C, 24th Regiment ArkansasInfantry of the Confederate States Army in the Civil War. We have nofurther information about him."

SQ 2570:

"Nathan Sparks, son of Levi Sparks, was born on November 20, 1838, inDaviess County, Indiana. He, like his brother, Thomas, went toJeffersonville to live with his brother after the death of their father,and he also became a clerk in Levi's store. After the death of LeviSparks, Jr. , Nathan and Thomas became owners of the store, and operatedit for several years. Nathan was active in the Jeffersonville CityCouncil, the Masonic Lodge, and the Methodist Church. On October 21,1879, he was married to Fannie Belle Pile. She was born on April 7,1854, and was a daughter of Burdette Clifton and Mary Ann (Cunningham)Pile. Nathan Sparks died on August 30, 1924, and Fannie died on August28, 1933." (Photographs of Nathan and Fannie are on the cover of WholeNo. 124, pg 2561.)

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, March 1992, Whole No. 157, p. 3901:

"Nathan Sparks, son of Matthew and Alsey (Osburn) Sparks , was born onJanuary 22, 1840. He was married to Elizabeth Craft on June 1, 1961, inJohnson County (Kentucky). [See SQ p. 817] She had been born in November1842 and was a daughter of Tillman and Sarah (Sparks) Craft (826),natives of North Carolina. She and Nathan lived near Flat Gap, Kentucky.

"(Sarah Sparks, mother of Elizabeth Craft, was a daughter of Levi (378) and Sarah (Lyon) Sparks (822). See the December 1955 issue of THESPARKS QUARTERLY, Whole No. 12, for further details of this branch of theSparks family.)"

[JS Note: Thus, Nathan and Elizabeth Craft were fifth cousins. Theircommon ancestor William Sparks (204) as follows:
William (204)
William (202) brothers Joseph (344)
William Sample (201) 1st cousins Solomon (356)
William IV (199) 2nd cousins John (359)
Thomas (536) 3rd cousins Levi (378)
Matthew (545) 4th cousins Sarah (826)
Nathan (2383) 5th cousins Elizabeth (6082) ]

"Shortly after his marriage, Nathan Sparks enlisted in the 14thRegiment Kentucky Infantry of the Union Army and served until the CivilWar ended. He died in the Home for Disabled Veterans of Ohio on August30, 1919. (See abstract of his pension file on page 3929, SQ, copiedbelow.) Elizabeth died sometime shortly after 1900, probably in BoydCounty, Kentucky. She and Nathan were the parents of ten children.

a. William H. Sparks was born on March 18, 1863. He was married toMary J. ---, probably about 1881. She had been born in October 1861.According to the 1900 census of Johnson County, she and William had fivechildren: Mascom, John, Cornelius, Arlie, and Luella.

b. Amanda J. Sparks was born on March 18, 1865.

c. Sarah Alice Sparks was born on March 15, 1867. She was married toa man named Young, and they had at least one child, Goldie.

d. Jesse Sparks was born on May 18, 1869.

e. Rose A. Sparks was born on February 8, 1871.

f. Melvin H. Sparks was born about 1873.

g. Levi sparks was born about 1875.

h. Fernando Sparks was born on December 18 (or 23), 1879, near FlatGap, Kentucky. He was married twice. His first marriage was to AnnaHorn on March 2, 1900, in Boyd County, Kentucky. She had been bornabout 1881 in Scioto County, Ohio. She and Fernando lived in Greenupounty, Kentucky, where they had six children befor e Anna's death onNovember 20, 1915. They were William, Goldie, John Henry, Albert, IdaMay, and Charles. Fernando Sparks was married (2nd) to Laura Hogan onJanuary 28 , 1918, in Boyd County. She had been born on September 2,1899, in Boyd County, and was a daughter of Ison and Samanta (Fuller)Hogan. She and Fernando had five children: Samantha, E arnest,Lester, Nathan and Alberta. Laura (Hogan) Sparks die d on September 3,1931, and Fernando died on April 27, 1940.

i. Mary Etta Sparks was born on June 20, 1881. She had died priorto1915.

j. U. S. Sparks was born on June 14, 1883. He had died by 1915.

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

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, Whole No. 157, March 1992, p 3929:

"CIVIL WAR PENSION APPLICATION:

"NATHAN SPARKS, son of Matthew and Alsey (Osburn) Sparks, was born onJanuary 22, 1840, in Lawrence County, Kentucky. He died on August 31, 1919. He was married to Elizabeth Craft on June 1, 1861. He served inCompany B, 14th Regiment Kentucky Infantry. File Designation: Inv.Cert. No. 639,537.

"Nathan Sparks made an application for an invalid pension on November1, 1869. He was then 28 years of age and a resident of Hood Creek,Johnson County, Kentucky. He said he had enlisted in Company B, 14thRegiment Kentucky Infantry, commanded by Capt. J. M. Atkinson, on August5, 1863, at Louisa, Kentucky, and had served until he was mustered outwith his company on September 15, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky. He saidthat while on duty in Georgia, he had contracted hepatitis which hadrendered him incapable of doing any work except that of light labor onthe farm. He appointed A. Hart & Co., Washington, D. C. as hisattorneys. Tillman Craft and James M. Green witnessed him make his mark.

"Apparently Sparks was not issued a pension at once for the WarDepartment
did not confirm his military records until September 3, 1877. He hadenlisted in Company D, 14th Regiment Kentucky Infantry on August 30 ,1863, to serve for three years, according to the War Department, and hehad been present for duty until he had been mustered out on September 15,1865.

"On September 1, 1883, Jaun Caudill, age 69, a resident of Flat Gap ,Johnson County, Kentucky, made an affidavit on behalf of Sparks's claim.He said that prior to going into the service, Sparks had been a strong,healthy man, but that after he returned home, he complained of troublewith his liver and kidneys, and had been unable to do a full day's work.Two months later, on November 20, 1883, another neighbor of Sparks,George M. Murry, made a similar statement on his behalf.

"Nothing was included in the "selected papers" from Nathan Sparks'sfile by
the National Archives to show what effect these affidavits had upon hisclaim, but by January 29, 1894, he was receiving pension benefits underInvalid Certificate No. 639,537. He was then living at Lowmansville,Lawrence County, Kentucky.

"On February 1, 1915, Nathan Sparks asked for increased pensionbenefits
under the 1912 Act of Congress. He was now 75 years of age and lived near
Ashland, Boyd County, Kentucky. He said that he had been born on January22,
1840; and at the time of his enlistment, he had been 5 feet, 7 inchestall; he had a dark complexion, blue eyes, and dark hair; and he was afarmer by occupation. After leaving the service, he had lived inJohnson, Lawrence, and Boyd Counties, Kentucky. John W. Woods and NellieDonta witnessed him make his mark.

"Sparks answered a questionnaire from the Bureau of Pensions on April14,
1915. He said that he had been married to Elizabeth Craft on June 1 ,1861, at the home of Tillman Craft, near Flat Gap, Kentucky, by the Rev.Dan Lewis. It had been the first marriage for both and to this marriageten children had been born. (see above)

"Of these ten children, Nathan Sparks said that six of them were deadat the time he completed the questionaire (April 14, 1915). They wereJesse, Rose, Melvin, Levi, Mary Etta, and U. S. Sparks.

"On December 10, 1917, Sparks entered the National Home for DisabledVeterans, at National Military Home, Ohio. He died on August 30, 1919.On October 21, 1919, his son, Fernando Sparks, a resident of Ashland,Kentucky, applied for reimbursement for his father's funeral expenses,which amounted to $124.00. J. F. Stewart and Sam Rothchild witnessed hissignature, and the application was sworn to before Kit C. Elswick, anotary public."

See SQ p. 2661:

Nathan F. Sparks was born in November 1871. He was married to Rosetta H.-----, probably about 1887. When the 1900 census was taken of the ChoctawIndian Nation in the Oklahoma Territory, Nathan and Rosetta had sixchildren; they may have others born to them later. Those listed on thecensus were: Rube P. Sparks; Annie B. Sparks; Myrtie M. Sparks; Mary 0.Sparks; John T. Sparks; and Dora E. Sparks. (See page 2238 of theSeptember 1980 issue of the QUARTERLY, Whole No. 111, for a transcript ofthis census record.)

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1962, Whole No. 38, pp. 644-45:

An Abstract of his bounty land application file:

NATHAN F. SPARKS, born about 1810 in Tennessee; resident of TallapoosaCounty, Alabama, before 1836 and until death removal to Anderson County,Texas, between 1850 and 1855; a resident of Johnson County, Texas, inlater years. Bounty Land Warrant File 52 454-120-55.

On May 28, 1851, Nathan F. Sparks, a resident of Tallapoosa County,Alabama, appeared before a justice of the peace named Luke Davenport, tomake application for bounty land under the act of September 28, 1850. Hestated that he was 40 years old and that he had served as "4th corporalin a Company commanded by Capt. John H. Brodnax, an Independant VolunteerHorse Company know: as the Tallassee Guards in the War with the CreekTribe of Indians in the year A.D. 1836." He stated that he hadvolunteered in Tallapoosa County sometime between May 4th and 27th, 1836,for 3 months and was discharged at Tallassee in Tallapoosa County on orabout the last day of July 1836; that he did not receive a writtendischarge. (War Department records proved that he served from May 4 toAug. 6, 1836.) He signed his application as "Nathan F. Sparks." Heappointed John A. Jordan,an attorney of Dadeville, Tallapoosa County,Alabama, as his attorney. He was issued a warrant for 40 acres of
bounty land.

On April 25, 1855, Nathan F. Sparks applied for additional bounty landunder the act of March 3, 1855. He was now a resident of Anderson County,Texas, and he made application for bounty land before a justice of thepeace named Morris R. Reagan. He gave no additional information regardinghis service. He signed as "Nathan F. Sparks"; Wiley H. Bowen and John L.Bailey signed as witnesses. He was issued a warrant for 120 additionalacres of bounty land.

(Editor's Note: Nathan F. Sparks was born in Tennessee about 1810, andwas a son of John Sparks (1784-1836) and his wife, Sarah (Brooks) Sparks(born 1788, died in the 1860's). John Sparks had served in the samecompany as his son, Nathan F., in the Indian War of 1836 and in 1854Nathan made a statement in support of his mother's claim for bounty land(see the QUARTERLY of September, 1961, Vol. IX, No. 3, p. 581 [Whole No.35]). Nathan F, Sparks was married to Elizabeth Taylor on March 16, 1836,in Montgomery County, Alabama. Elizabeth apparently died, because hiswife's name on the 1850 census of Tallapoosa County was given as "SarahE. A." aged 28 (see the QUARTERLY of March, 1959, Vol. VII, No. 1, p. 378[Whole No. 25]). Three children were listed with Nathan F. Sparks in1850: Virginia T. Sparks, aged 13; Frances D. Sparks, aged 10; and NathanF. Sparks, aged 4. Virginia and Frances were probably daughters by hisfirst wife. By 1870, Nathan F. Sparks was living in Johnson County,Texas, and one other child was listed, a son named John T. Sparks, bornabout 1859. Nathan F. Sparks was still living in 1880--he was listed onthe Johnson County, Texas, census of that year as a hotel keeper andfarmer in Alvarado Village; he gave his age as 67 while his wife, SallieC.
Sparks, was listed as 50 years old. Their son, John T. Sparks, aged 21,was still living at home, as was an "adopted daughter" named Zellah Lee,aged 14.)

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

SPARKS QUARTERLY, September 1984, No. 127. p. 2657:

MATTHEW J. SPARKS (1759-1841) & HISDESCENDANTS

"Nathan Fowler Sparks, son of John and Sarah (Brooks) Sparks, was bornon May 16, 1811, in Bedford County, Tennessee, according to statements hemade many years later in applying for bounty land for his militaryservice. His parents had apparently stopped in this section of Tennesseeto visit relatives on their way back to rejoin his mother's parents inGeorgia, and Nathan was born in the Duck River area, probably in BedfordCounty. (Actually, Bedford County was written in parentheses in hisapplication indicating, perhaps, some degree of uncertainty about theexact place where he was born; however, this area of Tennessee is wherefive of John Sparks's uncles settled in the early 1800's.)

"The earliest record we have found of Nathan Sparks is that of hisfirst marriage. On March 16, 1836, he applied for a license to marryMiss Sarah Elizabeth Taylor in Montgomery County, Alabama. They weremarried a week later, on March 24th, by L. F. Taylor, a justice of thepeace. Elizabeth (she went by her middle name) was born about 1822 inAlabama. Shortly after their marriage, Nathan volunteered for militaryservice in the Creek and Seminole Indian War, enlisting, along with hisfather and brothers, in Capt. John N. Broadnax's company of TallasseeGuards. Nathan Sparks was mustered into service on May 4, 1836, and wasmustered out on August 6, 1836. At the time of his enlistment, he was 25years old; he was 5 feet 10 inches tall; he had blue eyes, light or sandyhair, and a light complexion; and he was a mechanic. (See pages 644-645of the June 1962 issue of the QUARTERLY, Whole No. 38, for an abstract ofhis bounty land application file.)

"Nathan Sparks appears to have been a building contractor, as well asa carpenter, during his youthful years. In 1841, according to a documentin the Tallapoosa County courthouse, he contracted to build anewMethodist Church at Dadesville. For the sum of $275, he was to constructa building 44 feet long, 36 feet wide, with a 14-foot pitch. Thecontract also included 38 seats to be made, 30 of which were to havesolid backs. Sixteen seats were to be seven feet long and fourteen ofthe remainder were to be fourteen feet long. Plans also called foreleven windows, the necessary number of doors, and the owners were tofurnish the lumber and other materials.

"By this time, Nathan was investing in land. In 1840, he bought somelots in Dadesville, and in 1842 he bought some acreage in TallapoosaCounty. Apparently, farming was not to his taste, however, and thefollowing year he sold the acreage to his brother, James Brooks Sparks,for a Negro boy valued at $400. By the time the 1840 census was taken ofTallapoosa County, he was listed as the owner of a tavern or hotel, anoccupation which he followd when he went to Texas some years later.

"Nathan Sparks was the last member of his family to uproot himselffrom Alabama and move to Texas. He was still in Tallapoosa County in1851 when he applied for bounty land, but by 1853 he had moved to Texaswhere he stopped in Titus County, probably to visit with other members ofhis family. By 1855, he had moved southward to Anderson County where hemade a second application for bounty land under a new Act of Congress. Hereceived a warrant for 40 acres by his first application, and by hissecond he recieved a warrant for 120 acres. These warrants were soldsince they could not be used for land in Texas. (Texas retained its ownsystem of disbursing land when it entered the Union in 1845.)

"Elizabeth (Taylor) Sparks, wife of Nathan, died at Palestine, inAnderson County, Texas, on December 3, 1857, and on January 14, 1861,Nathan married Sarah ("Sallie") C. Swing in Dallas, Texas. She was bornon October 7, 1819, in Salem County, New Jersey. She and Nathan moved toCleburne, Texas, where they kept the Cleburne Hotel. In an articlewritten by J. B. Baillio in 1908, it was stated that the hotel was one ofthe best houses in that community and was built of post oak logs. Healso referred to Nathan as "Major Sparks," but that title was probably anhonorary one.

"Nathan Sparks soon moved a few miles eastward in Johnson County tothe village of Alvarado where he lived until his death on July 13, 1900,at the age of 89 years. His will, dated November 12, 1892, followed byseveral codicils, gives a gread deal of information about hisdescendants. He and Elizabeth, his first wife, had four children wholived to maturity. He had no children by his second marriage. Hiswidow, Sallie (Swing) Sparks, died on October 24, 1906. His childrenwere Virginia Alice Sparks; Frances D. Sparks; Nathan Fowler Sparks, Jr.;John Taylor Sparks." (Here follows some details about those children forwhich see their individual sheets).

END OF ARTICLE

See The Sparks Quarterly for September 1999, Whole No. 187, pg 5209showing the 1860 census for Anderson County, Texas:

Anderson County, Texas --1860 Census

Post Office: Palestine Page 10. Census taken by B. T. Duval on June 23,1860 225-230

Name Age Sex Occupation Born
Geoch [Govch ?] John G. 41 (M) Lawyer $18,000-$9,200 KY
" E. 32 (F) MS
" G.J. 16 (M) KY
" F.J. 13 (F) KY
" Y.J. 12 (M) KY
" Harriet 5 (F) TX
" E.C. 2 (M) TX
Sparks N.F. 42 (M) Carpenter -$4000 NC
" N.F. 12 (M) AL

Note: G.J., F.J., and Y.J. Geoch attended school within the year.

Post Office: Bethel Page 66. Census taken by B. T. Duval on September3 & 4, 1860. 1111-1113

Gee, J.H. 30 (M) Farmer $2,700-8,700 VA
" ,V.A. 23 (F) AL
" ,Benj. N 3 (M) TX
Sparks, John 2 (M) TX

Note: The N. F. Sparks, age 42, shown above was Nathan Fowler Sparks; hewas a son of John and Sarah (Brooks) Sparks and had been born on May 16,1811, in Bedford County, Tennessee, according to the family Bible of Johnand Sarah (Brooks) Sparks described on pp. 2647-48 of the QUARTERLY ofSeptember 1984, Whole No. 127, in an article entitled "Matthew J. Sparks(1759- 1841), Son of Matthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks, and HisDescendants." Matthew J. Sparks was the grandfather of Nathan FowlerSparks . For further information regrading Nathan Fowler Sparks and hisfamily, see the above article, pp. 2657-59. The age and place of birth ofN. F. Sparks given in the 1860 census, above, was obviously in error. TheN. F. Sparks, age 12, was a son of Nathan and his first wife, Elizabeth(Taylor) Sparks. Elizabeth had died in Anderson County, Texas, onDecember 3, 1857.
The V. A. Gee, wife of J. H. Gee, shown above, was Virginia Alice Sparks,a daughter of Nathan Fowler and Elizabeth Sparks; she had been born about1837. She was married to James H. Gee in Anderson County, Texas, on April10, 1856. The John Sparks, age 2, living in the Gee household in 1860 wasJohn Taylor Sparks, brother of Virginia, who had been born in 1837shortly before the death of his mother, Elizabeth (Taylor) Sparks.

THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1983, Whole No. 124, pp. 2562-72 at p.2567:

DESCENDANTS OF JAMES SPARKS (BORN ABOUT 1710-15) OF QUEEN ANNES COUNTY,MARYLAND THROUGH HIS SON, NATHAN SPARKS (BORN ABOUT 1738):

"Nathan Sparks was the only child of Nathan Sparks, Sr. to head ahousehold when the 1800 census was taken of Queen Anne's County. Inaddition to himself and spouse (both born between 1755 and 1774), therewere fifteen other persons in his household. Their age enumerationsuggests that , in addition to his own family, he was also taking care ofthe families of his deceased brothers. On the 1810 census, he and hisspouse, born prior to 1765) were in a household consisting of two maleswho were born between 1794 and 1800 and a male and a female who were bornbetween 1800 and 1810. Also living in the household were fourteen free,white taxables with unspecificied age enumerations.

"In all probability, Nathan Sparks married about 1780. We have notlearned the name of his wife, nor do we know the number of children theyhad. It appears likely that their oldest child was a son, John Sparks,who was named in his grandfather's will. According to descendants andrelatives, other sons were: Elijah Sparks, Levi Sparks, George Sparks,and Robert Sparks. Here is what we have learned about them:"

(Here follows details on children).

SQ p. 4563:

"Nathan Matthew Sparks, son of Nathan and Nancy (Hancock) Sparks, wasborn on September 8, 1813, in Tennessee and grew to manhood in WilsonCounty. The first official record we have found of him is hisappointment on August 11, 1841, by the Wilson County Court, to build abridge. According to a Bible record, he was married to Eliza C.Thomasson on December 1, 1844, probably in Wilson County. She had beenborn on May 10, 1825, in Alabama.

"Shortly after their marriage, Nathan and Eliza moved to Arkansaswhere they settled near the boundary between Ouachita and HempsteadCounties. Nathan paid a poll tax in Ouachita County until 1853, butafter he bought a 200 acre tract of land in Hempstead County that year,hepaid taxes in Hempstead County.

"Nathan Sparks became a Cumberland Presbyterian minister and accordingto a history of Nevada County, in 1857 he led the community in buildingthe Mount Moriah Church about ten miles south of the town of Prescott. Hewas also called to be its first minister and assumed that position onMarch 22, 1857. He died in the fall of 1858, perhaps a short time afterreaching his forty-fifth birthday. The cause of his death may never beknown.

"The Hempstead County Court appointed John Thadeus W. Gill as theadministrator of the estate of Nathan Matthew Sparks. Gill gave anaccounting of an inventory to the court at its February 1859 term. Amongthe several dozen items listed on the inventory were: stock, consistingof five horses, seven cows, fifteen hogs, and eight sheep; 250 bushels ofcorn and 500 shocks of fodder; books, including an encyclopedia and fourhistories of religion. Gill assured the court that the inventoryconsisted of Nathan Sparks's property, except for property reserved toEliza A. Sparks, his widow.

"(Why was John Thadeus W. Gill appointed as the administrator of theestate of Nathan Sparks? Gill had been born in 1831 in South Carolinaand had come to Arkansas in 1851 where he finally settled in HempsteadCounty in 1856. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Churchand a highly successful farmer. We have found no clues to anyrelationship between him and Nathan, although Nathan did name hisyoungest child Jane Gill Sparks. Perhaps one of our readers may be ableto tell us about a relationship.)

"Few other records of the family of Nathan and Eliza (Thomasson)Sparks have been found. The 1860 census of Hempstead County indicatesthat the family broke up after Nathan's death, and only three of hischildren appeared on that census. They were: Nancy T. Sparks, 14; MaryA. Sparks, 12; and Eliza T. Sparks, 10. They were living in thehousehold of Charles Reynolds, age 33, who had been born in Connecticut.Nathan's widow, Eliza C. (Thomasson) Sparks may have been the Mrs.Elizabeth Sparks who was married to Thomas M. Wilson on June 6, 1875, inHempstead County.

"Nathan M. and Eliza C. (Thomasson) Sparks had six children, accordingto the records in the Bible belonging to Nathan Sparks, Sr."

Nathan Michael Sparks is buried in the Orchard Mesa Cemetery in GrandJunction, CO.

SQ pg 3937: Nathan Oscar Sparks was born on September 29, 1867. Hewas married to Nellie Bly Timberlake on April 3, 1895, in Taylor County,Iowa. She had been born on October 19, 1870, in Alpha, Illinois, and wasa daughter of Robert D. and Amanda (Gamble) Timberlake. Nathan died onSeptember 30, 1933, at Clarinda, Iowa, and Nellie died on August 2, 1954,at Dubuque, Iowa. They had three children: Carl K. Sparks, Faith T.Sparks, and Elizabeth Sparks. Carl K. Sparks was married to Florence EvaJones on May 14, 1920, and they were the parents of Marlan Frank Sparks.

SQ p. 4562:

"Nathan Robert ("Bob") Sparks, son of Jesse and Susan (Cornell)Sparks, was born on March 15, 1845/46 in Wilson County, Tennessee. Heaccompanied his parents to Texas where he was married to Margery EllenMaxwell on December 9 1873. She had been born on October 2, 1856, atBeechgrove, Tennessee, and was a daughter of Andrew and Louisa D.(Watterson) Maxwell.

"Bob Sparks, as he was called, was a cattleman and took part in someof the early cattle drives over the old Chisholm Trail. Later on, heowned his own ranch where he branded his cattle with (JS: Here is drawnthe cattle brand of Bob Sparks) the letter "P" superimposed on {thebottom half} of the "S." He and Margery lived near Gainesville, Texas,until about 1890 when they moved to Oklahoma Territory where they settlednear the town of Purcell. Bob participated in the Oklahoma "Run of1892," but he failed to stake a claim because he stopped to help rescue afamily caught in quicksand in the South Canadian River.

"Bob died on June 26, 1906, in Beckham County, Oklahoma. Margerysurvived him nearly thirty years, dying on April 5, 1934, at Amarillo,Texas. She and Bob had nine children, the first six of whom were bornnear Gainesville, Texas, and the last three were born near Purcell,Oklahoma."

SQ pp. 4562-3:

"A descendant says that they drove to the county fair in their buggyand stood beside it for the wedding ceremony. In return, they receivedhousehold furnishings for drawing a crowd to the fair that day."

.
!NOTES:
SQ pg 3470: They had three children: Bervel, Melvin and Herbert Pritchett.

For information concerning the murder of Nellie by her husband, see thenote for George Washington Sparks, Jr. of George Washington Sparks,brother of Nellie Gray Sparks.

SQ 2651-2: Nellie Sparks...died on January 26, 1904, at the age of 19years while attending the William Woods College for Women in Missouri.Her grief-stricken father donated twenty acres of his Indian allotment land to the Oklahoma College For Women in her memory, so that Oklahom agirls might be educated nearer home. When the first dormitory waserected, it was named Nellie Sparks Hall.

SQ 3367: Nellie M. Sparks died on January 25, 1904, evidently atschool, although the William Woods School at Fulton, Missouri, has norecord of her ever attending that school. The obituary and funeralinformation in the Purcell, Oklahoma, Register states that Mrs. NonaShannon and her sisters, Mrs. R. J. Love and Mrs. C. M. McClain, wentover to Chickash a "to attend the funeral of Miss Nellie Sparks, daughterof Mrs. Shannon, who has been making her home with relatives in that cityand died suddenly while at school."

The land donated by Buck Sparks for Chickasha College was from theIndian Allotment of his daughter, Nellie Sparks. Land records show thatNona (Criner) Shannon deeded her interest in her daughter's estate toBuck Sparks on July 15, 1907. Although Buck Sparks gained citizenship inthe Chickasaw Nation on his wife, he did not loose it after the divorce.

SPARKS QUARTERLY, pg 100: "Nelson Sparks, born about 1818; married1843, Margaret Mauk."

SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1989, Whole No. 146, pps 3396-3423:

"DESCENDANTS OF NELSON SPARKS (ca.1818-1874) OF CARTER COUNTY, KENTUCKY."

"Editor's Note: In 1821, a number of families from the Surry-WilkesCounties area of North Carolina joined relatives and friends from theLee-Scott Counties area of Virginia and moved to Lawrence County,Kentucky. Among these families was that of Levi Sparks of Wilkes County,North Carolina. He was accompanied by his five sons. Here we presentthe family of his son, Nelson Sparks, and Nelson's descendants. Forfurther background of this branch of the SPARKS family , see the December1955 issue of THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, Whole No. 12.)

"Nelson Sparks, son of Levi and Sarah (Lyon) Sparks, was born about1818 in Wilkes county, North Carolina, and was only three years old whenhis parents moved to Lawrence county, Kentucky. There he grew tomanhood, on the headwaters of Big Blaine Creek. On March 14, 1843, hewas married to Margaret "Peggy" Mauk by Daniel Carroll, a minister of theBaptist Church. The wedding took place at the bride's home in CarterCounty, Kentucky.

"Peggy (Mauk) Sparks was born on June 8, 1820, in Virginia and was adaughter of Peter and Eleanor "Nellie" (Sparks) Mauk, natives of NorthCarolina. (See her picture on the cover of the present issue of theQUARTERLY [pg 3395]).

"(Nellie Sparks, mother of Peggy Mauk, was a daughter of Thomas andRebecca Sparks. She was born on February 5, 1791, in Scott County ,Virginia. Thomas Sparks, father of Nellie, was a son of William and AnnSparks, natives of Maryland, who moved to North Carolina abou t 1765.)

"Nelson and Peggy Sparks settled down to housekeeping on the Caney Forkof the Little Sandy River, but about a year later they moved to BigGimlet Creek where Nelson bought 314 acres of land on Septembe r 12,1845, from his father-in-law, Peter Mauk. He bought another tract ofland on December 21, 1847, from William Thomas. On July 12, 1 856,Nelson and Peggy sold 200 acres of land to her brother, Frederick Mauk.

"The outbreak of the Civil War tore the Levi Sparks family apart , asit did many other families in Kentucky. On October 22, 1861, Nelson andhis 17-year-old son, Peter Sparks, went to the town of Grays on wherethey both enlisted in Company H of the 22nd Regiment Kentucky Infantry ofthe Union Army. Three days later, Nelson's brother, John L. Sparks,traveled to Prestonburg, Kentucky, where he enlisted in Company S of the5th Regiment Kentucky Mounted Infantry of the Confederate States Army.The bitter feelings these actions created endured long after the warended.

"Nelson Sparks served in the Union Army until May 18, 1864, when hereceived a Certificate of Discharge at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hereturned to his home on Big Gimlet Creek and was listed with his familyon the first census of newly-formed Elliott County when it was taken inJune 1870. He was appointed one of the first justices of the peace forthe new county on May 25, 1869.

"On October 11, 1874, Nelson Sparks and his 12-year-old son, GeorgeW., went to the town of Olive Hill on business. There he met an oldfriend, Calvin Scott, and they had several drinks together at a liverystable where Nelson's horses were fed. For some reason which willprobably never be known, Scott shot Nelson Sparks fatally during theirvisit. It is said that as soon as he pulled the trigger, he exclaimed,"I've shot my best friend!" George drove the team, with his dead fatherlying in the wagon bed, back to Elliott County where Nelson was buried inthe Mauk Ridge Cemetery. [The following correction appears at SQ p.3655: George Winfield Sparks did not take the body of his father to hishome after his father was shot and killed in October 1874. Instead, hestayed overnight in the home of a friend in Olive Hill.]

"Peggy (Mauk) Sparks was left with several small children, but shekept them together. The older children rallied around her, and in 1890she applied for a Widow's Pension based on her husband's militaryservice. She received the pension until her death, which occurred onJanuary 14, 1897. she was buried beside her husband in the Mauk RidgeCemetery. She and Nelson had ten children, nine of whom reachedmaturity."

ABSTRACT OF THE PENSION RECORDS OF NELSON SPARKS, SQ pps 3426-27:

NELSON SPARKS, son of Levi and Sarah (Lyon) Sparks, was born about 1819in North Carolina. He died on October 11, 1874, in Carter County,Kentucky. He married Margaret Mauk on March 1 6, 1843. He served inCompany H, 22nd Regiment Kentucky Infantry. File Designation: Wid Cert.No. 292,410.

"On August 8, 1890, Margaret Sparks, 70 years of age, and a residentof Gimlet, Elliott County, Kentucky, made an application for a Widow'spension. She stated that her husband, Nelson Sparks, had enlisted as aprivate in Company H, 22nd Regiment Kentucky Infantry Volunteers onOctober 22, 1861, at Grayson, Kentucky, and was discharged in 1864. Hedied on October 11, 1874. She said she was married to Sparks under hermaiden name of Margaret Mauk on March 16, 1843, in Carter County,Kentucky, by Daniel Carroll. She had not remarried since the death ofher husband, nor did she have any children under the age of sixteenyears. She appointed H. D. Phillips of Washington, D.C. , as herattorney. Elizabeth Sparks and Ida E. Sparks witnessed her make her mark.

"Margaret Sparks supported her claim by sending the Bureau of Pensionsher husband's Certificate of Discharge which had been given to him on May18, 1864, by Col. George W. Monroe. Sparks had enrolled in company H,22nd Regiment Kentucky Infantry Volunteers, commanded by Capt. StephenNethercutt, on October 16, 1861, to serve for three y ears, and he wasdischarged at Baton Rouge, Louisana, by reason of di sability. At thetime the certificate was issued, he was 45 years o f age. He had beenborn in North Carolina; he was 5 feet, 11 inche s tall; he had a faircomplexion, black eyes, and dark hair; and he w as a farmer byoccupation. His mustering-out pay had been $228.05 . Margaret Sparksalso had the Clerk of Carter County, J. W. Thornton, send a copy of hermarriage record to the Bureau of Pensions.

"On January 15, 1891, William Rose, age 45, and James McFarland, age31, both residents of Gimlet, Kentucky, made an affidavit that, beingclose neighbors of Nelson Sparks, they knew that when he died, he lefttwo children under the age of sixteen, namely, Martha F. Spark s andGeorge W. Sparks. F. M. Mauk and Jacob McDowell witnessed theirsignatures, and the affidavit was sworn to before J. E. Sparks, a notarypublic of Elliott County.

"On January 21, 1891, Dr. J. H. Steele of Olive Hill, Carter County ,Kentucky, made a physician's affidavit. He said that he had practicedmedicine for 35 years and had been well acquainted with Nelson Sparkssince 1856, and he knew that he was shot and killed on October 11, 1874,for he was present at his death. The affidavit was sworn to before C. M.Erwin, a notary public of Carter County.

"The War Department confirmed the military service of Nelson Sparks onFebruary 16, 1891, and the Bureau of Pensions issued Widow's CertificateNo. 292,410 on May 21, 1891, to Margaret Sparks entitling her to apension of $8.00 per month, retroactive to August 28, 1890. Shecontinued to receive the pension until her death on January 14, 1897."

The 1870 census of Elliott County, Kentucky (FHL 976.9255x28b), no.128 shows Nelson Sparks, 51; Sarah (sic) 50; Margaret, 20; Leander, 19;Frederick, 16; Louisa, 13; Martha, 10; George, 9.

See the SPARKS QUARTERLY, p. 886 for the following marriage informationfrom Lawrence County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds (1822- 1865):
Nelson Sparks & Surrilda Holbrook, December 15, 1864. (Book 5, p. 55) He19 years old. She 15 years old. Witnesses: Jno. J. Gambill & WilliamBoggs, Jr.

SQ p. 4650:
"Nelson Sparks, son of Calvin and Sally (Lyon) Sparks, was born onJune 1, 1845. He was a merchant. He was married twice. His firstmarriage was to Sarrilda Holbrook on December 15, 1863, in LawrenceCounty. She had been born on March 4, 1849. She and Nelson had threechildren. She died on December 18, 1920. Nelson's second marriage wasto Mrs. Mary M. Holbrook in 1925. He died on February 26, 1932."

(JS: The reference to Nelson Sparks's second marriage to Mary M.Holbrook is possibly an error. In the QUARTERLY for December 1991, WholeNo. 156, at p. 3869, it states that Nelson Sparks, son of William Jayneand Elizabeth (Hager) Sparks, married (3rd) Mary M. Holbrook in LawrenceCounty, Kentucky in 1925. The particular Nelson Sparks who married MaryHolbrook is uncertain.)

See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, December 1991, Whole No. 156, p. 3869:

"Nelson Sparks was married three times. His first marriage was toCalista Ward about 1883. She had been born in January 1862 and diedsometime between 1900 and 1910. Nelson was married (2nd) to TeliaBurgess in 1911 in Lawrence County. His third marriage was to Mary M.Holbrook in 1925 in Lawrence County. He died on December 30, 1932, atThealka, Kentucky . By his first marriage, he had six children: Paulina,Charles C., Fred, Thom as J., Sarah, and Hulda.

[JS editorial comment: An inconsistancy appears in the QUARTERLY asto the third marriage of this Nelson Sparks to Mary M. Holbrook in 1925.A later article in the QUARTERLY for June 1996, Whole No. 174, p. 4650,states that Nelson Sparks, son of Calvin and Sally (Lyon) Sparks andgrandson of Levi and Sarah (Lyon) Sparks, married Mary M. Holbrook inLawrence County, Kentucky, in 1925. Since his first wife was namedSarrilda Holbrook, it seems more likely that Nelson, son of CalvinSparks, married Mary M. Holbrook, not this Nelson, son of William JayneSparks.]

SQ 3864: Nelson Sparks was born on January 26, 1863. He was marriedto Hannah Leadingham about 1864. She had been born on February 15, 1861. They lived at Gimlet, Kentucky, where they reared nine children.Nelson died on June 30, 1921, and Hannah died on September 29, 1940. Theywere buried in the Nelson Sparks Cemetary in Elliott County. Theirchildren were: Clarinda,
Maude, Minta, Mary, Alex, Jerry, Melvin, Jesse, and Lee.

See SQ p 4867: He served in the 2nd U.S. Infantry during theSpanish-American War. After returning home he was married to EmmaJohnson on February 25, 1902. She was a daughter of Alfred Johnson. Sheand Nelson went to Wisconsin where he died in Langlade County on May 14,1902.