January 24, 2022
Pages 2424-2425
Whole Number 118
INFORMATION WANTED ON THE DESCENDANTS OF
32.4.9.1 ALEXANDER K. SPARKS (born ca. 1827)
Mrs. Eleanor M. Worley, 4339 Patrick Road, Sunbury, Ohio, 43074, is seeking information about the brothers and sisters of her grandfather, 32.4.9.1.x John Samuel Sparks, of McLean County, Kentucky and Bracken County, Kentucky. He was born or about July 9, 1851, in Kentucky, descendants say in Larue County. He was a son of 32.4.9.1 Alexander K. and Louisa (Antell) Sparks; a grandson of 32.4.9 Walter Sparks, Jr. and Nancy (King) Sparks; a great-grandson of 32.4 Walter and Phoebe Sparks; and a great-great-grandson of 32. Richard Sparks (ca.1725 -ca.1792) of Middlesex County, New Jersey and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. (See pages 1440-1446 of the December 1971 issue of the Sparks Quarterly, Whole No. 76, for further details regarding 32. Richard Sparks.)
32.4.9.1 Alexander K. Sparks, father of 32.4.9.1.3 John Samuel Sparks, was born ca. 1827 on Floyds Fork in Bullitt County, Kentucky. He was the eldest child of 32.4.9 Walter and Nancy (King) Sparks who were married in Bullitt County on January 5, 1826.
Walter Sparks was born ca. 1802; Nancy (King) Sparks was born May 6, 1803. They settled down to housekeeping in Bullitt County just a few miles north of Sheperdsville quite near the place where Bullitt, Jefferson, and Spencer Counties join. There they were listed on the 1830 and 1840 censuses. About 1846, however, Walter Sparks bought land on Dutchmans Creek in Spencer County where they moved and where they lived when the 1850 census was taken.
The last move made by Walter and Nancy was to Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, ca. 1855, where they settled near Greenville. It was here that they died. Walter apparently died prior to 1870; Nancy died April 19, 1876. They had eight children:
32.4.9.1 Alexander K. Sparks, subject of this query;
(2) Richard Sparks, born ca. 1828, married Mary E. Heady in 1852 in Vigo County, Indiana;(Note: a correction in Whole No. 140 states that Richard was not a child of Walter and Nancy (King) Sparks)
32.4.9.2 Walter J. Sparks, born ca. 1829, married Eliza Ann Terrell in 1851 in Shelby County, Kentucky;
32.4.9.3 William H. Sparks, born ca. 1830, married Lucy Pierce in 1855 in Bullitt County, Kentucky;
32.4.9.4 James B. Sparks, born ca. 1832, married Mary Ann Tinkle;
32.4.9.5 Sarah Ann Sparks, born ca. 1834, married Charles Karnes in 1856 in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky;
32.4.9.6 Charles M. Sparks, born ca. 1836, married Sally Miller in 1859 in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky; and
32.4.9.7 Mary Elizabeth U Sparks, born ca. 1839, married John Markwell in 1853 in Spencer County, Kentucky.
32.4.9.1 Alexander K. Sparks, subject of this query, married Louisa Antell on July 22, 1846, in Jefferson County, Kentucky, by Samuel Helm. She was "without parents or guardian and having been raised by her grandfather, Samuel Griffy, who consents in person." Shortly after the marriage, Alexander and Louisa moved to Vigo County, Indiana, probably to join the host of SPARKS relatives who had gone there from the Jefferson-Bullitt-Shelby Counties area of Kentucky. There Alexander practiced his trade as a shoemaker. by 1860, however, Alexander and Louisa had returned to Kentucky settling in Spencer County where Alexander was listed as a shoemaker on the 1860 census.
In the meantime, the parents of Alexander, Walter and Nancy (King) Sparks, had moved to Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, and by 1880, Alexander and Louisa also moved westward to settle in McLean County which joins Muhlenberg County on the north. Here they lived near the village of Sacramento, and this is where they probably died. We have found no record of their deaths which occurred sometime after 1880. They were the parents of ten children.
32.4.9.1.1 James W. Sparks, son of Alexander and Louisa (Antell) Sparks, was born in December, 1847, in Vigo County, Indiana. When the 1900 census was taken of Muhlenberg County, he was 53 years of age and single. He apparently never married.
32.4.9.1.2 George M. Sparks was born ca. 1849 in Vigo County, Indiana. He apparently died when quite young.
32.4.9.1.3 John Samuel Sparks was born ca. July 9, 1851, in Larue County, Kentucky. (On the 1900 census of Bracken County, Kentucky, his birth month and year were given as July 1856.) On April 30, 1891, he married Anna Cora Power. She was born June 15, 1866, and was a daughter of George and Eleanor (Taylor) Power. John Sparks was a groceryman at Brooksville, Kentucky, from 1900 to 1908 when he moved to Augusta, Kentucky, where he operated the Sparks Hotel until his death in 1918. His wife died October 5, 1917. They had two children.
32.4.9.1.3.1 Anna John Sparks was born March 14, 1893, probably in Bracken County, Kentucky. She married Carl M. Beasley ca. 1917. She died February 24, 1920, probably at Zebulon, North Carolina. She and Carl had one child, Mary Anna Beasley, who never married.
32.4.9.1.3.2 Hazel Eleanor Russell Sparks was born July 16, 1902, at Brooksville, Kentucky. On December 20, 1920, she married Samuel Bruce McCauley at Greensboro, North Carolina. She died April 20, 1977, at Decatur, Georgia. She and Bruce had three children, Eleanor, Miriam, and Jacquelyn. Eleanor married David P. Worley. She has been quite helpful in preparing this query.
32.4.9.1.4 Charles F. Sparks was born on January 13, 1853, in Spencer County, Kentucky.
32.4.9.1.5 Nancy Catherine ["Kate"] Sparks was born January 19, 1855, in Spencer County, Kentucky. She is said to have married FNU Soucebier in Daviess County, Kentucky.
32.4.9.1.6 Alexander A. Sparks was born September 13, 1856, in Spencer County, Kentucky.
32.4.9.1.7 Thomas Sparks was born August 4, 1861, in Spencer County, Kentucky.
32.4.9.1.8 Lewis Sparks was born ca. 1864. He is probably the Louis Sparks who married Ida L. Karnes ca. 1887 and who was listed on the 1900 census of Marshall County, Kentucky. This couple had at least six children, including Goldie Sparks, Nina Sparks, Minnie Sparks, Marande Sparks, Jacob Sparks, and P. S. Sparks (male).
32.4.9.1.9 Louisa Annie Sparks was born in November 1866. When the 1900 census was taken of Muhlenberg County, she was 33 years old, single, and keeping house for her brothers, James W. and Peter. She may never have married.
32.4.9.1.10 Peter Sparks was born in April, 1870. When the 1900 census was taken of Muhlenberg County, he was 30 years old and single.