January 17, 2022
Pages 5095
Whole Number 184
WILLlAM B. SPARKS, Born 1851
OF QUEEN ANNES COUNTY, MARYLAND
[Editor's Note: The following biographical sketch of William B. Sparks appeared in the Portrait and Bio~?raphical Record of the Eastern Shore of Maryland published by the Chapman Publishing Co. in 1898, pp. 864-65.]
William B. Sparks is the genial and popular proprietor of a good hotel and livery at Queen Anne, in the county of the same name. Everything about the place is kept up in a commendable manner, and pleasant accommodation is afforded the weary traveler. The hotel impresses such a one with a sense of quiet, cleanliness and the comforts of home, rarely obtained in the great hotels of a metropolis, and he is loath to leave when business or other necessary evils call him elsewhere. Mr. Sparks endeavors to please his extensive patronage, and well does he succeed. In May, 1896, he was appointed magistrate by the governor, and is discharging the duties of the office with ability and faithfulness. He is a strong worker in the ranks of the local Republicans, and is greatly interested in everything bearing upon the party's prosperity.
His father, Joseph B. Sparks, is a native of the first district of Queen Anne's County, and is still residing in that neighborhood, now in his seventy-fourth year. He has led a very active life and has been a man of prominence. He was in the custom house in Baltimore for about nine years, and was at one time a candidate for the position of sheriff on the Republican ticket, and was a constable for many years. He married Sarah Rebecca, daughter of Joshua Walls, of this county, and she is still in the enjoyment of good health, though about sixty-three years of age. Their children are as follows: Annie, Mrs. Thomas Hill, of Wilmington, Del.; William B.; John F. of the first district; Carrie V., wife of Andrew Brown, Jr., of Baltimore; Frank B., of Philadelphia; Mary, who is unmarried; and Joseph B., Jr.
William B. Sparks was born in the first district of this county, September 15, 1851. He was reared to farm life and received such an education as he could obtain in the common schools of the vicinity. When he was sixteen he went to farming in earnest, and worked for his father for a number of years. He became a practical, industrious business rnan and succeeded in almost everything which he undertook. In 1895 he bought, sold and shipped immense quantities of peaches, and did well on the whole. The year following he rented the hotel property which he is now managing, and has since carried on the business, as well as that of the livery.
The first marriage of Mr. Sparks took place in Sudlersville, January 28, 1881, his bride being a Miss Lucy Crossley. She died in May, 1887, and left two children, Edith and William Dudley. December 19, 1888, Mr. Sparks and Miss A. Levenia Stevens were united in marriage in the Sudlersville Methodist Episcopal Church. She comes of an old and honored family here, and is of Scotch descent. Our subject and his estimable wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are actively concerned in all enterprises worthy of their support, whieh are started in thisvicinity. August 4, 1897, Mrs. Sparks received her commission as postrnistress at Queen Anne.
[Editor's Note: See page 5089 of the present issue of the Quarterly for the record of W. B. Sparks and his family on the 1900 census of Oueen Annes County, Maryland.]