February 3, 2021
Pages 2211-2213
Whole Number 110
QUERY
WILLIAM J. SPARKS (ca.1800-1875)
([Editor's Note: Descendants of William J. and Mary Ann (Hornaday) Sparks of Rush, Hendricks, and Marion Counties, Indiana, are seeking information about the parentage of William J. Sparks. Readers who have any knowledge of this family are urged to write to the editor, Russell E. Bidlack.]
William J. Sparks was born ca. 1800 in Ohio, perhaps in Butler County. He came to Rush County, Indiana, in the early 1820's, and it was there that he married Mary Ann Hornaday on July 25, 1825. They were married by John P. Thompson, a minister of the Regular Baptist Church. Mary Ann was born January 30, 1807, in Chatham County, North Carolina, and was a daughter of John and Naomi (Ward) Hornaday, natives of North Carolina. The Hornadays had moved from North Carolina to Butler County, Ohio, ca. 1809, and then to Rush County, Indiana, in 1821.
On October 28, 1825, William J. Sparks bought land in Rush County from Jeremiah and Mary Marston of Butler County, Ohio, and he and Mary Ann settled down to housekeeping. When the 1830 census was taken of Rush County, the couple had two children, both daughters, born between 1825 and 1830.
William and Mary Ann Sparks sold the land in Rush County on December 10, 1833, to James Armstrong. They signed the deed by making their marks. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Hendricks County, Indiana, where they settled in the general area of Pittsboro and Brownsburg, near the Marion County line. William was a farmer. The family continued to grow, and when the 1840 census was taken of Hendricks County, one daughter and two sons had been added.
On June 5, 1850, William J, Sparks bought land from his brother-in-law, Nathan Hornaday, in Marion County, Indiana, and when the 1850 census was taken on October 10, 1850, he and Mary Ann were living in Pike Township, west of Indianapolis and on the Hendricks-Marion Counties line. William was aged 49, born in Ohio; Mary Ann was aged 44, born in North Carolina. With them were:
Amanda Sparks, 20;
John Sparks, 18;
Elmira Sparks, 15;
Alfred Sparks, 14;
Isaiah Sparks, 8;
Francis Sparks, 6; and
Samuel Sparks, 3.
All were born in Indiana. William was listed on the census as a farmer with real estate valued at $1,000.
William J. and Mary Ann Sparks sold the land which they had purchased from her brother, Nathan Hornaday, in 1850, on January 26,1875. William apparently died between that date and March 18, 1875, for when a corrected deed was prepared on March 18th, it was signed by Mary Ann Sparks, alone. Descendants say that she then went to live with her daughter, Amanda, but when the 1880 census was taken of Marion County, she was living in the household of her son, Alfred Sparks. She died sometime after 1880. Descendants say that she and William were buried on the farm where they lived for so many years.
From census data and from information furnished by descendants, it seems apparent that William J. and Mary Ann (Hornaday) Sparks had eight children:
1. Naomi Sparks, daughter of William and Mary Ann (Hornaday) Sparks, was born ca. 1827. She was probably named for her maternal grandmother. She may have married prior to 1850.
2. Amanda J. "Mandy" Sparks, daughter of William J. and Mary Ann (Hornaday) Sparks, was born ca. 1829. She married David Sanders on October 13, 1853, in Marion County. They are said to have returned to David's home town, Zionsville, Indiana.
3. William John Sparks, son of William J. and Mary Ann (Hornaday) Sparks, was born ca. 1832. As a young man, he went to Iowa where he homesteaded near what is today the town of Corydon. He married Margaret McKinney in Wayne County, Iowa, on May 5, 1857. William (he was also called John part of the time) became discouraged with homesteading, and returned to Marion County, Indiana. It was there that he appeared on the 1870 census with Margaret and their five children: Mary Sparks, 12; William Sparks, 10; Josephine Sparks, 5; Alexander Sparks, 3; and Elmira Sparks, born in March 1870.
William John & Margaret (McKinney) Sparks had five more children born after 1870 according to descendants. They were: Mattie, James, Mahala, John, and Gilbert. William John Sparks died in 1907 at Melrose, Iowa. He and Margaret had ten children:
a. Mary Sparks was born ca. 1858.
b. William Sparks was born ca. 1860.
c. Josephine "Josie" Sparks was born ca. 1864. She married Isaac Hightshoe and they lived in Iowa.
d. Winnings Alexander "Winie" Sparks was born July 4, 1867, in Springfield, Illinois. He married Martha Miller and they lived near Indianapolis, Indiana. Their son, John Albert Sparks (1892-1966) was the grandfather of Rick Sparks, of Anderson, Indiana. Winie Sparks died on September 14, 1928, at North Vernon, Indiana.e. Marie Elmira Sparks was born in March 1870. She married Solomon Hightshoe, brother of Isaac Hightshoe who married Josie Sparks, and they lived in Iowa.
f. Mattie Sparks was born ca. 1871. She is said to have married Jim Bell.
g. James Sparks was born in 1873. He settled near Fulton, Missouri, where he died.
h. Mahala Sparks was born in 1875.
i. John Sparks was born in 1877.j. Gilbert Sparks was born in 1880 near Indianapolis, Indiana. He moved to Illinois with his parents and on to Melrose, Iowa, where his parents finally settled. Gilbert moved several times, including a move to Granger, Missouri, where he married Ruth Rowland, daughter of Mayfield and Maggie (Duncan) Rowland. Other states in which he lived were Arkansas, Iowa, and Minnesota. He died in Minnesota in 1974. He had two sons, Arthur Sparks, born in 1909, who is the father of David Sparks, of Blue Earth, Minnesota, and who now lives in Austin, Minnesota, and James Sparks, born in 1913, of Brownsdale, Minnesota.
4. Elmira Sparks, daughter of William. J. and Mary Ann (Hornaday) Sparks, was born on 3 February 1834. She was married twice. Her second marriage was to Caleb Hightshoe on October 20, 1859, in Marion County, Indiana. She died on November 30, 1915, and was buried in the North Liberty Christian Graveyard, Indianapolis, Indiana.
5. Alfred T. Sparks, son of William J. and Mary Ann (Hornaday) Sparks, was born ca. 1837. He married Nancy A. "Nan" Ward, ca. 1862, and they lived in Marion County. When the 1880 census was taken of that county, Alfred and Nan had seven children. Also living with them in the same household were his mother, Mary Ann Sparks, aged 73, and his brother, Isaiah Sparks, aged 36. Children of Alfred and Nan were:
a. Martha J. "Mattie" Sparks, was born ca. 1863. On December 9, 1886, she married Charles Ringo in Hendricks County, Indiana. She is said to have later married FNU Sparks who was not related to her.
b. Oscar Sparks was born ca. 1864.
c. John Sparks was born ca. 1866.
d. Linnie Sparks (daughter) was born ca. 1868.
e. Eva Sparks was born ca. 1871. She married FNU Knight.
f. Marion Tillman "Til" Sparks was born ca. 1873. He invented a process for making cinder blocks and formed a company in Indianapolis.
g. Lilly Sparks was born ca. 1876.
6. Isaiah "Zare" Sparks, son of William J. and Mary Ann (Hornaday) Sparks, was born ca. 1842. He was probably named for a maternal uncle, Isaiah Hornaday. He "was living with his brother, Alfred Sparks, when the 1880 census was taken of Marion County. Relatives report that he never married.
7. Francis Marion Sparks, son of William J. and Mary Ann (Hornaday) Sparks, was born in 1844. He was a drayer in the Pittsboro-Brownsburg area of Hendricks County, Indiana. He was married twice. His first wife was Mary Margaret Ward, sister of Nancy Ward, who married Alfred Sparks. They were married ca. 1870. After her death in March 1902, Francis married Margaret E. Ward, another sister of his first wife. She was born in 1844 and died in 1917. Francis died in 1936 and was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana. He and Mary Margaret had six children:
a. Everett Loring "Low" Sparks was born April 22, 1872. He was a plasterer. On June 10, 1894, he married Katie Maher in Pittsboro, Indiana. She was born September 19,1876, and was a daughter of Frank Maher of Lizton, Indiana. Low Sparks died ca. 1956 and Katie died ca. 1960. They had four children: Chester Sparks, Gilbert Justin Sparks, Cecil Rose Sparks, and Herschel Sylvester Sparks. Cecil Sparks is the father of James Albert Sparks of St. Louis, Missouri.
b. Anna Sparks was born ca. 1876. She married George Bounsall, a native of Canada.
c. Emerald Glenn Sparks probably was born ca. 1880.
d. Hazel Thelma Sparks probably was born in the 1880's.
e. Francis Marion Sparks was born ca. 1894 and died in infancy.
f. Elmer Bryan Sparks was born in 1896. He died in 1956.
8. Samuel Sparks, son of William J. and Mary Ann (Hornaday) Sparks, was born ca. 1847.