July 26, 2023
Pages 5631-5633
Whole Number 196
UNION SOLDIERS NAMED SPARKS WHO APPLIED
OR WHOSE HEIRS APPLIED
FOR PENSIONS FOR SERVICE IN THE CIVIL WAR
[Editor's Note: From time to time since September 1967, we have been publishing abstracts of pension files for Union veterans of the Civil War named Sparks. (Confederate soldiers could not qualify for federal pensions.) For a full explanation the nature of these files, see page 5572 of the September 2001 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No.195.]
1.2.5.10.11.4.2 JOSEPH A. SPARKS, son of 1.2.5.10.11.4 William and Jane (Truesdale) Sparks, was born September tember 4, 1844, in Lewis County, Kentucky. He married (first) Mary O. Kingsbury about 1871, and (second) to Lillie D. Ingrim on August 18, 1888. He served in Company 1, 4th Regiment Kentucky Mounted Infantry, and in Company G, 10th Regiment Kentucky Cavalry. File Designations: Inv. Cert. No. 853,389 and Wid. Cert. No. 571,766.
On November 12, 1892, Joseph A. Sparks, 48 years of age, appeared before the clerk of the Lewis County, Kentucky, Court to make application for an invalid pension based on his Civil War service. He stated that he had been enrolled as a corporal on March 25, 1864, in Company I, 4th Regiment Kentucky Mounted Infantry, commanded by Capt. Wm. B. Riggs, and he had served until his discharge on June 13, 1865, at Camp Chase, Ohio. He stated that at the time of his enlistment, he had been 20 years old; 5 feet, 8 inches tall; and that he had a ruddy complexion, black hair, and blue eyes. While in the service, he had been captured and imprisoned at Andersonvilie, Georgia, where he contracted inflammatory rheumatism and an infection of the liver. Also, while a prisoner at Florence, South Carolina, he had contracted dengue fever which aggravated his rheumatism and liver trouble.
Sparks went on to state that he had been treated at the Florence prison by Drs. Murray and Tebbs, who were Confederate surgeons. He had not had any previous military service except that he had been a private in Company G, 10th Regiment Kentucky Cavalry Volunteers from August 9, 1862, to September 17, 1863. He said that after his discharge, he had lived in Lewis County, Kentucky, where he was county clerk until May 1, 1890. He now [1892] lived in Washington, D.C., where he was chief of a division of the Treasury Department. L. B. Rugles and J. C. Williams witnessed his signature.
On December 29, 1892, the War Department confirmed Sparks's military service. He had served in Company G, 10th Regiment Kentucky Cavalry from August 9, 1862, until he head been mustered out with his company on September 17, 1863. He had been enrolled in Company I, 4th Regiment Kentucky Mounted Infantry on March 25, 1864, and served until he had been mustered out on June 13, 1865. He had beene captured at Noonan, Georgia, on July 30, 1864. He had been paroled at N. E. Bridge, North Carolina, on March 1, 1865, and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he remained until he was mustered out. No medical records were on file for him.
Joseph A. Sparks was issued Invalid Certificate No. 853,389, and he was placed on the pension rolls. When he died February 22, 1904, at Washington, D.C., he wae receiving a pension of $12.00 per month.
On March 25, 1904, Lillie B. Sparks, age 43 years, a resident of Washington, D.C., and the widow of Joseph A. Sparks, made application for a widow's pension. She stated that she and Sparks had been married on August 18, 1886, at Vanceburg, Kentucky, by the Rev. Mr. Aiken. She was married under her maiden name of Lillie B. Ingrim. Her husband had been previously married, but his first wife had died October 17, 1875. Lillie Sparks appointed Butts & Phillips, Washington, D.C., as her attorneys to aid her in obtaining a widow's pension. M. E. Jeffries and Z. V. Holtzclaw witnessed her signature.
On April 21, 1904, Lillie B. Sparks made an affidavit stating that her husband had left no property of any kind at his death, and that she had no one legally bound to support her. She stated that It was impossible for her to furnish evidence of the death of her husband's former wIfe, Mary O. Sparks, in 1875. She also stated that she had been in error in her application for a pension in stating that the minister who had performed her and Joseph's marriage was a Rev. Aiken; his name had actually been the Rev. Mr. Maltbie, pastor of the Vanceburg M. E. Church.
Widow Certificate No. 571,766 was issued to Lillie B. Sparks, and she was placed upon the pension rolls. When she died August 17, 1930, she was receiving $30.00 per month. Shortly after her death, Donald O. Blagg, Charleston, West Virginia, attorney for Mrs. C. M. Boran, also of Charleston, requested the Bureau of Pensions to send any accrued or unused proceeds from the pension fund of Mrs. Lillie B. Sparks to his client as next of kin. He said Mrs. Brown had already received one-fifth of Mrs. Sparks's last check.
[Editor's Note: For further information about the family of Joseph A. Sparks, see the June 1970 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 70.]
91.4.1 JOSEPH S. SPARKS, son of 91.4 Isaac and Mary Ann (Hendricks) Sparks, was born ca. 1831 in Jessamine County, Kentucky. He died January 12, 1897. He married Nancy Jane Lawless on January 13, 1857. He served in the 8th Regiment East Tennessee Infantry. File Designations: Inv. Cert. No.824,404; Wid. Cert. No.446,035.
On February 26, 1892, Joseph S. Sparks, age 60, a resident of Nicholasville, Jessamine County, Kentucky, made application for an invalid pension. He stated that he had enlisted on February 10, 1863, as an Assistant Surgeon in the 8th Regiment, East Tennessee Infantry, commanded by Col. Felix A. Reeve, and was mustered out of service at Company Shops, North Carolina, on June 30, 1865. He stated that he was 5 feet, 5 1/2 inches tall, and that he had a dark complextion, grey hair, and black eyes. He added that he was suffering from progressive paralysis, hemorrhoids, and intermittent diarrhea which rendered him incapable of earning his support. He appointed George E. Lemon, Washington, D. C., as his attorney to assist him in obtaining a pension. L. Saunders and James A Dennis witnessed his signature.
The War Department confirmed Sparks's military service as he had stated it to have been in his application, but added that he had been promoted to Surgeon on August 10, 1863. He was placed on the pension roll under Invalid Certificate No.824,404. When he died January 12, 1897, he was receiving a pension of $12.00 per month.
On January 21, 1897, Nancy J. Sparks, age 59, the widow of Joseph, made application for a widow's pension. She stated that she and Joseph S. Sparks had been married in Fayette County, Kentucky, on January 13, 1857, by James P. Herndon. It had been the fIrst marriage for both. She stated that she was now without any means of support except her own labor. She appointed Thomas B. Crutcher, Nicholasville, Kentucky, as her attorney to assist her in obtaining a pension. James L. McMurtry and Robert L. Wilmore witnessed her signature.
The pension application of Nancy J. Sparks was accompanied by four supporting affidavits. On January 19, 1897, M. C. Smith, age 66, and S. M. Duncan, age 65, both of Nicholasville, swore that they had known Joseph and Nancy J. Sparks as man and wife for over forty years, and that neither of them had had a previous marriage.
On January 19, 1897, Dr. W. H. Fish stated that he was a practicing physician and had been called to see Dr. J. S. Sparks at the time he was shot on January 12, 1897, and had been present when he died. He said that Dr. Sparks died insolvent and left his widow with no means of support and with no one legally bound to furnish her support. On that same day, Dr. Thomas R. Welch also swore that he had been present when Dr. Joseph S. Sparks died January 12, 1897; he died with out estate and left his wife with no income and no means of support except by her own daily labor.
On March 30, 1897, N. L. Burnaugh, age 40, and James A. Dennis, age 42, both residents of Nicholasville, also swore that they had known Dr. J. S. Sparks and his wife, Nancy Jane, for about thirty years and that they had lived together as man and wife and were never divorced.
Nancy J. Sparks was issued a pension under Widow's Certificate No.446,035. When she died On November 21, 1910, she was receiving a pension of $12.00 per month.
[Editor's Note: For further details of this family, see pages 1221-1225 of the March 1969 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 65.]
BAYLES SPARKS married Amanda Brown on May 15, 1876, at St. Louis, Missouri. He served In the 138th Regiment U.S. Colored Volunteers. File Designations: Inv. Appl. No.784,606; Wid. Appl. No. 654,682.
On May 3, 1895, Bayles Sparks, a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, applied for an invalid pension. He stated that he had served in Company F, 138th Regiment U.S. Colored Volunteers. He now suffered from rheumatism and lung disease. He was 5 feet, 4 inches tall; he had a brown complexion, black hair and black eyes. He appointed Frederick W. Fout of St. Louis, Missouri, as his attorney to assist him to obtain a pension. George Taylor and A. C. Emery witnessed him make his mark.
Bayles Sparks died October 26, 1895. On the same day his widow, Amanda Sparks, age 41, a resident of St. Louis, made application for a widow's pension. She stated that she had been married to Sparks on May 15, 1876, at St. Louis; it had been the first marriage for both. Sparks had enlisted on May 1, 1865, as he stated in his application, and had been discharged on January 6, 1866. They had no children. She appointed Henry O'Brien of St. Louis as her attorney. J. L. Cohron and C. A. Dupree witnessed her signature.
The War Department confirmed Sparks's military service as he had stated, from May 1, 1865, until he had been mustered out with his company on January 6, 1866. Records showed that he had been sick in the Post Hospital at Atlanta, Georgia, from
October 11th to December 17th, 1865, with intermittent fever. but that he had return to duty.
No other records were Included in this pension file provided by the National Archives. Apparently Bayles Sparks had died before his pension was processed, and it appears, also, that Mrs. Sparks's application was never acted upon.