August 16, 2023
Pages 982
Whole Number 54
NOTES ON THE FAMILY OF 60. JOHN SPARKS (died 1710)
OF WINDSOR, HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
The probate records of the town of Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, reveal that John Sparks died there early in 1710. We have no information regarding his origin. He was apparently a relatively young man, judging from the ages of his children, and he did not leave a will. His widow, Dorothy (MNU) Sparks, was appointed administrator of his estate on July 3, 1710. An inventory, amounting to 54 pounds and 14 shillings had been taken on May 20, 1710, by John Williams, Samuel Burnham, and Benjamin Coult.
On May 27, 1712, Dorothy Sparks, widow of John Sparks, married John Parsons in the town of Hartford in the same county. Her children by John Sparks appear to have moved with her to Hartford. On November 3, 1712, the Probate Court of Hartford County appointed Jabez Coult as administrator in her place. by June 7, 1714, Dorothy had died, on which date John Parsons, her second husband, was described in the court records as "sometime of Hartford," meaning that he had moved away.
From the records pertaining to the estate of 41. John Sparks, it can be determined that he and his wife Dorothy were the parents of the following children:
41.1 Noah Sparks, born prior to 1692. On September 1, 1724, Noah Sparks, describing himself as the eldest son of 41. John Sparks, deceased, appealed to the court in Hartford "that the house and lands of John Sparks could not be divided without spoiling the whole, and prays that the house and lands may be set out to him, the said Noah,... he giving bond for the payment to the rest of the heirs the whorth thereof." The court granted Noah Sparks's request.
41.2 Esther Sparks, born ca. 1695. Her age was given as 18 years in May, 1713, when she chose Samuel Wells as her guardian. She was probably the "Esther Sparks, daughter of John, deceased, of Hardford," who married Joseph Fox, son of Richard Fox, Sr., of Glastonbury, Hardford County, Connecticut, on December 6, 1717. They were married in Glastonbury.
41.3 Martha Sparks, born ca. 1697. Her age was given as 16 years on May 4, 1713, when she chose her step-father, John Parsons, as her guardian.
41.4 Ruth Sparks, born ca. 1700.
41.5 John Sparks, born ca. 1702.
41.6 Anne Sparks, born ca. 1704.
41.7 Dorothy Sparks, born ca. 1706.41.8 Thomas Sparks, born ca. 1708; he was described as 16 years of age on September 1, 1724, when his brother, Noah, was appointed his guardian. Nothing more has been learned of this family of John and Dorothy Sparks. The fact that John Parsons, Dorothy's second husband, was described in 1714 as "sometimes of Hartford" indicates that the family had moved between 1712 and 1714. Perhaps the children scattered following their mother's death in 1714; the younger ones may even have assumed the name Parsons. There were a number of Sparkses in the town of Glastonbury, also in Hartford County, at a later date who may have been connected with the above family. (See the following sketch of John Sparks, died 1746, of Glastonbury.)
This same 41. John Sparks is discussed in the Quarterly of June, 1990, Whole No. 150, pp. 3584-3598.