February 3, 2021

Pages 2194-2197
Whole Number 109

QUERY: 62. JAMES SPARKS (ca.1803-ca.1880)
OF HARLAN AND LAUREL COUNTIES, KENTUCKY

Mrs. Jeraldyne B. Clipson, Cincinnati, Ohio (45246) is seeking the ancestry of her great-great-great-grandfather, 62. James Sparks, who lived in Harlan and Laurel Counties, Kentucky. She would be pleased to correspond with anyone who has information about him, or who is a descendant.

62. James Sparks was born ca. 1803 in Virginia, and he may have been a son of Absalom and Elizabeth McQuown Sparks who were married in Washington County, Virginia, on January 5, 1801. Absalom Sparks was apparently born ca. 1770-1775. He paid taxes on his personal property in Washington County, Virginia, in 1799 and also from 1802 to 1805. by 18ll, however, he had moved to Lee County, Virginia, where he paid taxes that year.

Sometime between 1811 and 1818, Absalom Sparks moved westward to Knox County, Kentucky, settling in that portion which became a part of Harlan County in 1819. He paid taxes in Knox County in 1819, but the following year he paid taxes in Harlan County. He also appeared on the 1820 census of Harlan County as the head of a household which was enumerated as follows:

Absalom Sparks -----
1 male "between 10 and 16 years of age
1 male between 16 and 18 years of age
1 male over 45 years of age

1 female between 10 and 16 years of age
2 females "between 16 and 26 years of age
1 female over 45 years of age

Absalom Sparks continued to pay taxes in Harlan County until 1829. He also served on a jury there in 1829, but we have found no further record of him. He apparently died prior to 1830, for he did not appear on the 1830 census of Harlan County. James Sparks, probably son of Absalom, was listed in Harlan County as the head of a household which included his wife, three children, and three adults. The enumeration was as follows:

James Sparks -----
1 male under 5 years of age
2 males between 20 and 30 years of age

2 females under 5 years of age
4 females between 20 and 30 years of age

From these census data and from what we know about the family of James Sparks, it would appear that in 1830 his household consisted of the following persons:

himself, 20-30;
his brother, 20-30;
his son, Calvin Sparks, 0-5;
his wife, 20-30;
his three sisters, 20-30; and
his daughters, Elizabeth Sparks and Rebecca Sparks, 0-5.

62. James Sparks married Matilda MNU ca. 1825, probably in Harlan County. She was born ca. 1804 in Kentucky. She and James lived on Martins Fork? a tributary of the Cumberland River, where they owned a 150-acre farm. James was a farmer-attorney, and represented Harlan County in the 1845 session of the Kentucky Legislature. Shortly thereafter, he and Matilda sold their farm and moved to Laurel County, Kentucky.

James and Matilda Sparks had ten children according to census data. All were apparently born in Kentucky. According to the 1830 and 1840 censuses of Harlan County, they had four sons and four daughters born prior to 1840. Two daughters were added ca. 1843. James and Matilda appeared on the 1850 and 1860 censuses of Laurel County. Matilda died sometime after 1860; James died after 1880. Here are their ten children:

62.1 Calvin Sparks, son of James and Matilda Sparks, was born ca. 1826. He married Esther Green ca. 1846 and they had eight children:

62.1.1 Elizabeth Sparks was born ca. 1847. She died on March 4, 1855.
62.1.2 Nancy Sparks was born ca. 1850. She died on February 27, 1855.
62.1.3 James Sparks was born on February 17? 1852. He married Rachel MNU and they had at least one child,

62.1.3.1 Mary A. Sparks, born ca. 1874.

62.1.4 John M. Sparks was born October 1, 1853. He married Mary MNU and they had at least four children:

62.1.4.1 William H. Sparks,
62.1.4.2 Malisa E. Sparks,
62.1.4.3 Jonathan Sparks, and
62.1.4.4 Laura A. Sparks

62.1.5 William Burton Sparks was born June 2, 1856.
62.1.6 Rebecca Sparks was born ca. 1858.
62.1.7 Mary E. Sparks was born ca. 1862.
62.1.7 Absalom Sparks was born ca. 1864.

62.2 Elizabeth Sparks, daughter of James and Matilda Sparks, was born ca. 1828. She married Caleb Witt Catching on November 12, 1849, in Laurel County. He was born ca. 1821 in Kentucky and died ca. 1881. Elizabeth died sometime after December 1881. She and Caleb had ten children:

62.2.1 Matilda Ann Catching was born ca. 1851. On February 2, 1868, she married Wiley W. Jones in Laurel County.

62.2.2 Louisa Catching was born in January 1852. She died on November 1, 1853.
62.2.3 Elizabeth Catching was born April 10, 1853. She died on April 5, 1918, in Elbert County, Colo. She married John Jones on December 31, 1869, in Laurel County.

62.2.4 Elvada (or Eldorado) "Dora" Catching was born ca. 1855. She married FNU Cox.
62.2.5 William Burton Catching was born April 17, 1857. He married Elizabeth Hardin in 1881.
62.2.6 John Catching was born ca. 1859.

62.2.7 Ida B. Catching was born ca. 1861. On December 17, 1881, she married W. T. Morris at the home of Widow Catching.
62.2.8 Benjamin Catching was born ca. 1864.
62.2.9 James Catching was born ca. 1866. He married in Laurel County in 1895.
62.2.10 Charles Catching was born ca. 1868.

62.3 Rebecca Sparks, daughter of James and Matilda Sparks, was born ca. 1830. She was a schoolteacher in 1860. On September 10, 1864, she married James D. Harvey in Madison County, Kentucky.

62.4 Martha Sparks, daughter of James and Matilda Sparks, was born ca. 1833. She married Wesley Johnson on September 16, 1857, in Laurel County.

62.5 Burton Sparks was born ca. 1834.

62.6 Absalom Sparks (relatives refer to him as Robert Absalom Sparks), son of James and Matilda Sparks, was born ca. 1836. On July 2, 1856, he married Elizabeth Miller in Laurel County. She died in 1861. They had one child,

62.6.1 William James Sparks was born ca. 1858. He died on April 16, 1927, ln Louisville, KY. He married Zula MNU and they had two daughters,

62.6.1.1 Frances Sparks and
62.6.1.2 Bess Sparks.

On July 17, 1862, Absalom enlisted in Company A, 2nd Regiment Kentucky Cavalry, Confederate States Army, commanded by Col. Basil Duke, for three years. He left his son with his parents. When the war ended, he married Susan Ann Turley on August 13, 1867, in Madison County, KY. They had one child,

62.6.2 Robert Absalom Sparks. He was born ca. 1870, He married Lena Bentley and they had five children:

62.6.2.1 Harry M. Sparks,
62.6.2.2 Alfred Bentley Sparks,
62.6.2.3 William J. Sparks,
62.6.2.4 Robert A. Sparks, and
62.6.2.5 Margaret Sparks.

62.7 Nancy Sparks, daughter of James and Matilda Sparks, was born ca. 1838. She was a schoolteacher when the 1860 census was taken of Laurel County.

62.8 James Sparks, son of James and Matilda Sparks, was born January 12, 1840. He served in Company C, 7th Regiment Kentucky Infantry, Union Army, during the Civil War. After returning from the service, he married Hiley Ann Moore on September 20, 1866, in Laurel County. James died in 1884, and Hiley Ann received a widow's pension under Widow Certificate No. 419,349. She died in 1909. She and James had nine children:

62.8.1 Elbert B. Sparks was born August 12, 1867. He died on May 15, 1894.
62.8.2 Tilford Sparks was born December 8, 1868. He died on June 9, 1914.
62.8.3 Jesse A. Sparks was born September 4, 1870. He died on May 8, 1890.
62.8.4 Eliza Jane Sparks was born November 14, 1873. She died in June 1929- She married Robert Evans.
62.8.5 Mahala Annie Sparks was born February 17, 1875. She died in December 1935. She married Louis Barnett.
62.8.6 Edmond D. Sparks was born December 12, 1876. He died on July 11, 1937.
62.8.7 Julia Catherine Sparks was born October 14, 1878. She died December 31, 1920. She married James H. Brown.
62.8.8 Arrie Bell Sparks was born July 21, 1880. She married Robert Stansbury.
62.8.9 William Absalom Sparks was born May 13, 1882. He died on December 17, 1929. He married Virginia Hardin and they had at least one child,

62.8.9.1 Mary Elizabeth Sparks.

62.9 Mary Ann Sparks, daughter of James and Matilda Sparks, was born ca. 1843. She was a twin sister of Matilda Sparks.

62.10 Matilda Sparks, daughter of James and Matilda Sparks, was born ca. 1843 and was a twin sister of Mary Ann. She married FNU Bible, ca. 1867 and they had at least three children according to the 1880 census of Laurel County.

62.10.1 William Bible was born ca. 1869.
62.10.2 Nathaniel Bible was born ca. 1871.
62.10.3 Alexander Bible was born ca. 1873.

[Editor's Note: For other information about this branch of the SPARKS family, see the December 1965 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 52, pp. 938-40.]

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