August 6, 2023
Pages 2738-2756
Whole Number 130
DESCENDANTS OF 1.2.1.2.2.3 WILLIAM SPARKS (1761-1848)
son of
1.2.1.2.2 MATTHEW AND SARAH (THOMPSON) SPARKS
by Paul E. Sparks
(Editor's Note: 1.2.1.2.2 Matthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks of Maryland, North Carolina, and Georgia had eleven sons and two daughters. Articles about some of the sons have been published in earlier issues of the Quarterly.
Here we present information about the descendants of another son, 1.2.1.2.2.3 William Sparks. His descendants constitute a large segment of the membership of the Sparks Family Association, and many of them have made significant contributions to this article. For further details about Matthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks, see the June 1961 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 34.)
1.2.1.2.2.3 William Sparks, son of 1.2.1.2.2 Matthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks, was born on April 3, 1761, in Rowan County, North Carolina. When he was about fourteen years old, his parents moved to Surry County, North Carolina, where they settled on the New River in an area which became part of Wilkes County in 1777 and of Ashe County in 1799. It was there that William, when about age seventeen, joined a military unit which conducted a campaign against the Cherokee Indians during the Revolutionary War. He continued to serve until the close of the war. (See the March 1954, Whole No. 5, and the June 1954, Whole No. 6 issues of the Quarterly, for a detailed account of his military service as he stated it in an application for a pension.)
At the close of the Revolutionary War, William Sparks went with his parents to Georgia where they were among the first settlers in the lands east of the Oconee River which, prior to the Revolution, had belonged to the Creek Indians. The Georgia legislature had opened these lands for settlement in February 1784 and had formed two counties, Franklin and Washington. The settlers met with resistance from the Creeks who, under the leadership of the Indian Chief Alexander McGillivray, kept up a series of depredations for several years. As a consequence, every neighborhood had its fort, or blockhouse, to protect the women and children while the men worked in the fields.
Members of the family of Matthew Sparks, Sr. were caught up in this conflict (referred to as the Oconee War), and several of them suffered property losses. In a report made in 1789, the commander of the Wilkes Battalion, a man named Freemans, reported "A return of all Depredations committed by Indians in my Battalion since January 1st, 1787." Included in his list were William Sparks, who had lost three horses, and Matthew Sparks, who had lost one horse.
The most tragic loss for the Sparks family, however, occurred in the fall of 1793 when Matthew Sparks, Sr. was killed in an Indian raid. After his death, his family apparently broke up, and at least two of his sons left and went to neighboring South Carolina; however, some of the family continued to live in the area that became Clarke County in 1801. William Sparks was one of those who remained, probably because he was now married and had a young son. He had married Mary ["Polly"] Fielder, ca. 1791. She had been born ca. 1770 and was a daughter of William Fielder.
In 1802, William Sparks filed a claim against the state of Georgia for a horse which he had lost during the Indian depredations. He made the following sworn statement:
State of Georgia, Clarke County, formerly Greene. Personally appeared Wm. Sparks and made oath that sometime in 1793 about the first week in November, he the said Sparks lost a mare which was taken by the Creek Indians which creature was lost at Sparks Fort upon the waters of the Oconee, Franklin County, which property he the said Sparks had just reason to believe was taken by the said Indians and that he hath never received any satisfaction for the same. Sworn and subscribed before me this 14th June 1802. [signed] R. Traylor, J.P."
Proved by: Benjamin Rice his
Jesse Sparks William X Sparks
mark
On September 19, 1797, William Sparks sold land to Randolph Traylor in Jackson County, Georgia. He also witnessed a property claim of his brothers, Absalom Sparks and Jesse Sparks, in Clarke County.
Sometime prior to 1811, William Sparks moved his family across the Oconee River into Morgan County, Georgia. From there he decided to move westward to the Mississippi Territory where a land boom was underway; thus it was that, in the early fall of 1811, he and several other men were granted a "passport" by the State of Georgia to travel through the lands belonging to the Creek Nations. The complete record of the granting of the passport was as follows (the document has been punctuated and the spelling corrected):
Monday, 16th September 1811. On application, ORDERED, that passports be prepared for the following persons to travel through the Creek Nations of Indians, to wit: One for Messrs. Stephen Nobles with his wife, seven children and seventeen Negroes; Jacob Carter with his wife, four children and five Negroes; William Sparks with his wife, five children and two Negroes; Henry Askue with his wife, one child and one Negro; Howell Holley with his wife, seven children and five Negroes; Jeremiah Farlow with his wife and four children; Minor Johnson with his wife, eight children and sixteen Negroes; Bird Smith with his wife and one child; and Lodewick Henderson with his wife and two children - all from the County of Morgan in this State; and One for Messrs. Obadiah Dumas and Edward Avery Lucy, both from the County of Jones in this State. Which was presented and signed.
William and Polly Sparks traveled to Marion County, which had just been formed in the Mississippi Territory, where they settled near the village of Silver Creek on the east side of Pearl River. It was here that their son, 1.2.1.2.2.3.1 Richard Sparks, married Elizabeth Cooper the following summer.
William Sparks and his family were in a portion of Marion County which became a part of Lawrence County in 1814. On January 19, 1815, he and his son, Richard, were among the inhabitants of the two counties to sign a petition to Congress asking that body to declare a moratorium on the payment for government lands because of the war with the British. by this time, Richard Sparks had become an officer in the Territorial Militia.
William Sparks was undoubtedly a deeply religious man. He held positions of leadership in the Baptist churches wherever he lived, and he represented his church at statewide conventions. In October 1818, when the Mississippi Baptist Association convened at the New Providence Baptist Church in Amite County, he and William Stamps represented the Silver Creek Baptist Church. The following summer, he and Stamps, along with William Martin, received permission to organize the Bethany Baptist Church at White Sands. On September 11, 1819, William Sparks, with his wife Polly, were among those dismissed from the Silver Creek Church to go to the new Bethany Church. Five years later, he was named as a trustee of the Bethany Church.
William and Polly continued to live near Silver Creek in Lawrence County, Mississippi, for several years and were enumerated there on the 1820 and 1830 censuses. According to those censuses, it appears that they had seven children--five sons and two daughters.
In the fall of 1830, William and Polly Sparks sold their land in Lawrence County. The following is an abstract taken from the deed which was recorded on November 19, 1830, on page 222 of Deed Book B.
William and Mary Sparks sell two tracts of land except for six acres previously disposed of - a parcel of 159 acres out of which two acres were deeded to the Bethany Baptist Church as a gift on May 17, 1823 (page 257 of Deed Book A) and another parcel of land of 159 acres out of which four acres were sold to Adam Tyrone (no date). The remainder of this land was sold on the above date to John Martin.
their
Witnesses: William and X X Mary Sparks
Wm. L. Pickins marks
Wm. bishop
There can be little doubt that William and Polly.sold their land as a step in joining their sons in Yazoo County. On the third Sunday in November 1830, the clerk of the Bethany Baptist Church wrote in the minutes: "Brother William Sparks, beloved deacon, and his wife applied for a letter of demission." Years later, in his pension application, William Sparks also testified that "he moved to Lawrence County in 1811, thence to Holmes County where he lived until March 1836 when he moved to Nacogdoches County, Texas." Since Holmes County was not formed until 1833, he probably went to that portion of Yazoo County which became Holmes County. He and his sons, John, James H., and William M., paid taxes there in 1833.
William Sparks went to Texas in March 1836 just at the time that Texas announced its independence from Mexico. Extant tax records show that he paid taxes in Nacogdoches County, Texas, in 1837, 1839, 1840, and 1845. When the 1840 census was taken of the Republic of Texas, he had 2,214 acres of land and two slaves. As stated above, he applied for a pension for his military service during the Revolutionary War, but his request was denied. In all probability, he failed to qualify as a person who needed financial assistance.
On January 9, 1847, William Sparks made gifts to three of his children. To his daughter, Sarah (Sparks) McAnulty, he gave a female slave, Mary, aged 4 years. To his daughter, Edy (Sparks) Simmons, he gave a female slave, about two months old. To his son, John Sparks, he gave a male slave, Norton, aged 40, and a female slave, Lizzie, aged 25. At the same time, he also gave a grandson, James Sparks, a female slave, Dolly, aged 40 years.
No record has been found of the death of the wife of William Sparks, Mary ["Polly"] (Fielder) Sparks, but we know that she died sometime after November 1830. William died in 1848 at the age of 87 years. Some descendants believe that he was buried in the "Sparks Cemetery" at the Old North Church near Nacogdoches, Texas, and that his grave was marked by a plain field stone.
Descendants of William and Polly Sparks are not agreed on the number of their children - - some saying that they had five; others believe that they had seven. The writer of the major part of this article (Paul E. Sparks) believes they had seven children. He bases this on (1) the passport William as issued to travel through the Indian Territory and (2) the 1820 and 1830 censuses of Mississippi.
When William Sparks was issued a passport in September 1811, he had five children. All descendants agree that these were:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1 Richard Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.2 Sarah Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.3 John Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.4 James H. Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.5 Eady Sparks.
All were born prior to August 1810, the year Eady was born. When the 1820 census was taken, William had two males in his household who had been born between 1804 and 1810, and a female and two males born between 1810 and 1820. (His son, Richard, and his daughter, Sarah, had been married before the census of 1820 was taken.) When the 1830 census was taken, William had two males in his household who were born between 1810 and 1820. (His son, John, as well as his daughter, Eady, had married before 1830; his son, James, did not fit in this age group.) For these reasons, we believe that William and Polly Sparks had seven children and that they were:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1 Richard Sparks, born ca. 1793
1.2.1.2.2.3.2 Sarah Sparks, born January 1, 1798
1.2.1.2.2.3.3 John Sparks, born ca. 1804
1.2.1.2.2.3.4 James H. Sparks, born ca. 1808
1.2.1.2.2.3.5 Eady Sparks, born August 15, 1810
1.2.1.2.2.3.6 Levi N. Sparks, probably born ca. 1812
1.2.1.2.2.3.7 Eli G. Sparks, probably born ca. 1814
1.2.1.2.2.3.1 Richard Sparks, son of William and Mary (Fielder) Sparks, was born ca. 1793 in Franklin County, Georgia, and was about eighteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to the Territory of Mississippi where they settled in Marion County. It may have been there that he met and courted Elizabeth Cooper. They were married on July 7, 1812. She had been born ca. 1796 in North Carolina and was a daughter of William Cooper. Richard was well-educated for his day, and he was a capable surveyor. He also had a quality for leadership, and civic responsibilities seem to have come to him naturally.
Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks were probably unaware on the day of their wedding that just three weeks earlier the Congress of the United States had declared war on Great Britain. It was not long, however, before the effects of the declaration began to be felt in the Territory of Mississippi as the war dragged on and foreign trade trickled to a stop. On January 19, 1815, Richard Sparks joined his father (and others) as a petitioner from Marion and Lawrence Counties who asked Congress to declare a moratorium on the payments for government lands because of the war.
Just a few days earlier, on January 8, 1815, Sparks had been mustered into military service as an ensign in Capt. Harmon M. Runnel's Company of the 13th Regiment (Nixon's) of the Mississippi Territory Militia to serve for three months. He was mustered out with his company on February 7, 1815. A story handed down by his descendants relates that his regiment was within sound of the guns at the Battle of New Orleans, but that he did not participate in that battle. Since the Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815, which was the same day that Sparks was mustered into the service, it appears likely that the personnel of his company rendezvoused neared New Orleans.
(Editor's Note: Richard Sparks under discussion here has been confused occasionally with another 32.3 Richard Sparks who was also in the Territory of Mississippi in the early 1800's. The other Richard Sparks (ca.1758-1815) was an officer in the United States Army (he retired with the rank of colonel). He was born in New Jersey and was stolen by the Shawnee Indians as a small boy at about the time that his parents moved to Pennsylvania. He married his second wife, Ruth Sevier, daughter of the well-known frontiersman, John Sevier, of Tennessee. This 32.3 Richard Sparks died on July 2, 1815, in Claiborne County, Mississippi. See the September 1974 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 87, for further details about the life of this interesting man.)
On May 14, 1819, Richard Sparks, son of William Sparks, resigned as a constable of Lawrence County, Mississippi, an office to which he had been appointed ca. 1814. He and Elizabeth were enumerated on the 1820 census of that county. With them were three young males and two young females, probably their children. On April 19, 1823, he was named as a trustee of the newly- constituted Bethany Baptist Church at Whitesand. A short time later, he moved his family to Copiah County where he paid a tax on himself and three slaves. The total tax was $3.00. He did not stay in Copiah County very long, however, for when Simpson County was formed in 1824, he was commissioned its first sheriff on May 4, 1824. It was that same year that there was a death in his family, probably that of an infant son or daughter.
This death in his family may have been the reason that Richard Sparks made another move, this time to Yazoo County. There he was appointed a justice of the peace in 1825. Two years later, he was elected as a representative to the Mississippi State Legislature. He was reelected in 1828, 1829, and 1831. During this period of time, he bought and sold several pieces of land in and around the thriving village of Franklin, located a few miles southeast of Lexington, although it is scarcely more than a memory today. He also went security on two notes for his friend, Jesse Wadlington, who used slaves as his security.
by the spring of 1832, Richard Sparks had disposed of most of his land, and, in the winter of 1833-34, he moved his family to Texas where he stopped at San Augustine in January 1834. That fall he moved a few miles further west to Nacogdoches.
Richard Sparks arrived in Texas at a time of great unrest among all who had settled there earlier. American settlers were no longer welcome; in fact, Mexico had tried to halt American immigration in 1830. Clashes between American farmers and the Mexican troops were frequent, and a proposal to organize a new and independent government was gaining support. by the fall of 1835, a pitched battle was fought at Gonzales and the following year Texas declared her independence.
Richard Sparks was involved immediately in the conflict. On August 15, 1835, he was appointed, along with James Bradshaw, Sam Houston, and Thomas J. Rusk, "to treat with the Indian tribes in Texas according to promises made to them by the Mexican government." One of the records of the Texas Indian Papers, 1825 -1843, which gives some insight into Sparks's activities in carrying out his assignment, is as follows:
A Bill of Goods furnished by Richard Sparks and Smith for the Cherokees on their trip to the Prairies. February 24, 1837.
12 blankets $8.00 per blanket $ 96.00 21 tin cups 25 cts each 5.25 1 coffee Biler for Bowles 1.50 20 flaps of strand, per flap, $1.50 30.00 14 large Butcher Knives, per knife, $1.00 14.00 1 pair Brass Spirs for Bowles, 75 cts. 25.00 20 lbs. of Bar lid, 25 cts per pound 5.00 20 lbs.of tobacco, 75 cts per lb. 15.00 2 Brass Kitels of a reasonable large size $5 10.00 21 papers of Paint Vermillios, 50 cts each paper 10.50 $212.50 I, Bowles, the Command Chief of the party so ask and with agent to percure the above mentioned articles for me if possible for my journey to the prairies to preceed on the above request mentioned with my twenty-one men with me.
I, the said Col. Richard Sparks, and Smith, seeing the necessity and being present and seeing the above number of Cherokee Indians this far on their march at the Saline, I have furnished the same to be forwarded to the president where unto we have set our hand and seals this day and date. February__ th, 1837.
Col. Bowl Capt. Egg William Goyens Acting Agent.
(Endorsed) Goyens-Sparks Bill. $198.25cts, there being an error of $14.25 cents in Charg for Spirs. Recd 24th February 1837. Referred same day to War Department, Houston.
In September 1835, Richard Sparks, George Pollitt, and Andrew Hendrie were elected Commissioners from the Municipality of Nacogdoches to organize the militia. In January 1836, Sparks was elected Second Regidor of Nacogdoches. Subsequently, the Alcalde (Mayor) of Nacogdoches moved away, and the First Regidor resigned, thus Sparks became the Alcalde of Nacogdoches on October 24, 1836.
To all intents and purposes, the war between Texas and Mexico ended on April 21, 1836, with the surrender of Genl. Santa Ana at the Battle of San Jacinto. With the war ended, Richard Sparks became involved in the practice of surveying. Land was cheap (25¢ per acre) and plentiful, and surveyors usually received a portion of the land they surveyed. It was on one of his surveying expeditions that Richard Sparks lost his life.
The manner of the death of Richard Sparks has been told in two different versions. The version which has generally been accepted, however, is that he was killed by hostile Indians while surveying land in what later became Navarro County. Records indicate that in the spring of 1838, he was asked to survey land on Richland Creek southwest of Corsicana and near the village of Dawson. There, his surveying party was surprised by a band of roving Indians and Sparks was killed.
Elizabeth Sparks, widow of Richard, and James L. Bryant, a Baptist preacher, were named as the executors of the estate of Richard Sparks. He had left a hugh estate consisting of approximately 50,000 acres of land in various parts of the Republic of Texas. The job of administering the estate undoubtedly weighed heavily upon Elizabeth. In addition, she was faced with the task of rearing her youngest children. Her health apparently broke and on December 20, 1847, she made her will. She died on New Year's Day of 1848, before she could make a final settlement of her husband's estate.
An abstract of the will of Elizabeth Sparks, as found on page 17 of the Nacogdoches County Will Book A, is as follows:
To sons: A. J. Sparks, Thomas B. Sparks, John M. Sparks, all my personal property, my Negroes, stock, household furniture, wagon and team "together with my interest in the Headright of Richard Sparks situated on the Trinity River near Cincinnati."
To the children of James M. Sharp: J. H., J. E., E. E., and Mary "all my remaining interest in the landed estate of the said Richard Sparks."
Executors: Joseph D. Sharp, James M. Sharp, James H. Sparks, and Stephen F. Sparks.Witnesses: Samuel Kirk and J. N. Bradshaw
Filed January 22, 1848.
The estates of Richard and Elizabeth Sparks were finally settled on January 30, 1851. Named as heirs and appearing in court on the last Monday in August 1850, were the following:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4 Stephen F. Sparks
James Sharp, as guardian of the children of Mary A. Sharp:
Elizabeth J. Sharp, Emeline E. Sharp, Joseph H. Sharp, and Mary E. Sharp1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2 James Hawkins Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3 Eliza C. (Sparks) Rogers, alias Eliza C. Sparks, represented by her husand and attorney, Samuel Rogers.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1 William F. Sparks, represented by his attorney, 1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4 Stephen F. Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8 Thomas B. Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7 Andrew Jackson Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.9 John M. Sparks, represented by his guardian appointed by the court, Stephen F. Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1 Richard and Elizabeth May (Cooper) Sparks were probably buried in the Old North Church Cemetery north of Nacogdoches; however, their graves are not marked. They were the parents of nine children, all of whom were born in Mississippi. They were:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1 William Fielder Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2 James Hawkins Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3 Eliza C. Sparks. She married Samuel Rogers
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4 Stephen Franklin Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.5 Sarah Jane Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.6 Mary Ann Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7 Andrew Jackson Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8 Thomas Benton Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.9 John Marion Sparks1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1 William ["Billy"] Fielder Sparks, son of Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks, was born January 22, 1814. He accompanied his parents to Texas and was a member of their household when the 1835 census was taken of Nacogdoches County. It was probably there that he married Minerva Frances McKay ca. 1838. She, was a born ca. 1816 in Louisiana. They started house-keeping about two miles southwest of the village of Douglass.
When the Texas-Mexican War began, Billy Sparks first joined Capt. Bryant's Company of the Texas Army of the Republic. He then became an orderly-sergeant in Robert Smith's Company and was in the Battle of Kickapoo. His company arrived too late to participate in the Battle of San Jacinto.
Sparks returned to Nacogdoches County after the war ended, and in 1839 he moved to Robertson County where he was listed on the 1840 census of the Republic of Texas. In 1841, he was elected to represent Robertson County at the Seventh Texas Congress, and, after Texas became the 28th state of the United States in 1845, he returned to Nacogdoches County.
War between the United States and Mexico broke out in May 1846, and on May 16, Billy Sparks enrolled as a captain in Company E (Capt. Sparks's Company) of the 2nd Regiment of Texas Mounted Volunteers at Nacogdoches to serve for a period of six months. He was mustered into service at Port Isabel, Texas, on June 22, 1846, and was present for duty until October 2, 1846, when he was mustered out with his company at Monterrey, Mexico. He returned to Nacogdoches for a brief stay, and in 1848 he went to Houston. His stay there was also short, and when the 1850 census was taken, he and his family were in Fort Bend County, Texas.
On August 7, 1863, Billy Sparks joined the Confederate States Army in J. M. Weston's Company as a lieutenant. At the close of the Civil War, he went to Johnson County where he was elected tax assessor for 1879-1880.
When the 1880 census was taken, the family of his son, Thaddeus, was living in the Billy Sparks household.
Billy Sparks died on July 13,1900, in McLennan County, Texas. His wife, Minerva, survived him by only two months, dying on September 3, 1900. They were buried in the Oakwood Cemetery at Waco, Texas. The following obituary of Billy appeared in a Waco newspaper.
There died in this city last night, one of the surviving soldiers of the War of Texas Independence and a veteran of the Mexican War. Capt. William, better known as "Uncle Billy," Sparks was a soldier in the Texas Army in 1836, but did not participate in the Battle of San Jacinto. He, with others, attempted to join General Sam Houston, but did not reach him until after the famous battle was fought. He was born in Mississippi in 1814 and was at Nacogdoches when the Alamo fell. He was a strong, vigorous man up to a few years ago, and traveled over the country a great deal. He was associated in early days with Col. Rip Ford, Major George B. Erath and Capt. Shapley P. Ross, and fought with them against marauding bands of Mexicans and Indians. He leaves a wife, with whom he has lived more than sixty years, three daughters, Mrs. E. J. Parrent of this city, Mrs. W. A. Mudd of Laredo, and Mrs. W. P. Hennessy of Houston, and a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The remains will be buried at Oakwood, this city, as soon as his daughters arrive.
According to descendants and census records, Billy and Minerva (McKay) Sparks had five children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.1 Amanda E. Sparks was born ca. 1837. She married W. P. Hennessy and was living in Houston, Texas, in 1900 when her father died.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.2 Naomi Sparks was born ca. 1840. She married William Ambrose Mudd on May 29, 1861, in Fort Bend County, Texas. She was living in Laredo Texas, in 1900 when her father died.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.3 Matilda B. Sparks was born ca. 1843.
She married Marshall King on June 23, 1859, in McLennan County(***). Since she was not mentioned in her father's obituary, we assume that she had died by 1900.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.4 Thaddeus C. Sparks was born January 9, 1848. He married Mary E. Gaines in 1867 in Cooke County, Texas. She was born ca. 1851 and was a daughter of John B. and Nancy (McMahon) Gaines. Thaddeus died on February 28, 1890, and was buried in the First Street Cemetery in Waco, Texas. According to the 1880 census of Johnson County, Texas, he and Mary had at least three children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.4.1 John M. Sparks was born ca. 1870.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.4.2 Walter Sparks was born ca. 1876.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.4.3 Mary Sparks was born ca. 1878. She is said to have married FNU Dorris.(Thaddeus C. Sparks, son of Billy and Minerva (McKay) Sparks, should not be confused with D.1.2 Thaddeus P. Sparks who was listed on the 1860 and 1880 censuses of McLennan County, Texas. The latter was born ca. 1839 and was a son of Thomas and Juliana (McWhorter) Sparks. See page 541 of the March 1961 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 33, for further details of the family of Thaddeus P. Sparks.)
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.5 Missouri Elida Sparks, daughter of Billy and Minerva (McKay) Sparks was born in January 1852. She married Everett J. Parrent ca. 1867. He was born in November 1842 in Texas. When the 1900 census was taken of McLennan County, Everett and Missouri were living in the same dwelling as Missouri's parents, Billy and Minerva Sparks. Living at home were four children of Everett and Missouri, and there were probably other children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.5.1 Frank M. Parrent was born in February 1878. He married Ella A. MNU ca. 1899.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.5.2 William H. Parrent was born in April 1880.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.5.3 Thomas W. Parrent was born in December 1883.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.5.4 Nellie Parrent was born in January 1888.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2 James Hawkins ["Hawk"] Sparks, son of Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks, was born May 28, 1815. According to information published in a History of McLennan County, Texas, he was married three times. His first marriage was to Penelope Mann, ca. 1833 in Mississippi. (James H. Sparks and his wife, Penelope, sold land in the town of Franklin in Holmes County, Mississippi, on December 21, 1833.) She apparently died the following year. They had no children. James Hawkins Sparks married (second) Rebecca MNU by whom he had one child, also named 1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.1 Rebecca, who was born ca. 1837. (James H. Sparks and his wife, Rebecca, sold lots in the town of Franklin, Mississippi, in September 1837.) The third marriage of James Hawkins Sparks was to Elizabeth E. McKnight on December 20, 1838, in Nacogdoches County, Texas. (A grandson believed her name was actually Eleanor Elizabeth McKnight.) She was born August 20, 1822, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and was a daughter of James and Susannah (Palmer) McKnight. She and "Hawk" Sparks had seven children.
James Hawkins Sparks probably did not accompany his parents to Texas during the winter of 1833-34, and we have found no evidence that he served during the Texas-Mexican War. He was there, however, by 1837 when his first child was born. He was listed on the 1840 census of the Republic of Texas as the head of his household, and extant tax records of Nacogdoches County indicate that he paid taxes there in 1846 and 1847.
According to a History of North and West Texas, James Hawkins Sparks left a store that he had established at Douglass, Texas, and moved to McLennan County, Texas, ca. 1850. There "he established the first drug store in Waco employing an experienced man to conduct it. He also engaged in general merchandising, having stores at Douglass and Marshall, Texas. During that period he made his home at Douglass but subsequently he went to western Texas and settled in McLennan County where he opened a general mercantile store upon his farm. It was about this time that he established the first drug store in Waco. He had a wide acquaintance throughout the state and was liked by all who knew him because of his reliability in business, his genial manner, kindly disposition and interest in the welfare of others."
James Hawkins Sparks died on September 12, 1885, at Bosqueville, Texas. He was a Presbyterian and a member of the Masonic Fraternity. His wife, Elizabeth, died on February 3, 1892, also at Bosqueville. They were buried in the Bosqueville Cemetery. He was the father of eight children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.1 Rebecca E. C. Sparks, daughter of James Hawkins and Rebecca (MNU) Sparks, was born ca. 1837 in Texas. She married Richard Michael Deckard (or Decherd) on May 12, 1857. He was born May 14, 1837, at Decherd, Tennessee. He died on October 3, 1893, at Fayetteville, Arkansas. According to the Genealogy of the Deckard Family, 1932, by P. E. Deckard, they had eight children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.1.1 John Ernest Deckard was born in May 1858 in Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.1.2 Mary Elizabeth Deckard was born August 9, 1861, in Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.1.3 Katherine ["Kate"] Deckard was born March 16, 1864, in Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.1.4 Myrtle Estelle Deckard was born April 22, 1867, in Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.1.5 Walter Hawkins ["Hawk"] Deckard was born August 12, 1870 in Arkansas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.1.6 Frances Henrietta ["Hallie"] Deckard was born March 27, 1873, in Arkansas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.1.7 Peter Spyker Deckard was born July 12, 1875, in Arkansas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.1.8 Edgar Corydon ["Corrie"] Deckard was born October 20, 1878, in Arkansas.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2 Martha Ann ["Mattie"] Sparks, daughter of James Hawkins and Elizabeth (McKnight) Sparks, was born March 5, 1842, at Douglass, Texas. She was married twice. Her first marriage was to Newell Walton Crain on November 7, 1859, in McLannan County. He was a native of Mississippi. He served in the Confederate States Army in Joe Cobb's Scouts and was killed at Port Gibson, Mississippi, in a skirmish. He and Mattie had two children. After his death, Mattie married (second) John W. Steinbeck on April 3, 1867, also in McLennan County. He, too, had served in the Confederate States Army. He died on February 23, 1881. by her second marriage, Mattie had five children. She died on January 17, 1938, at the age of 95 years. She was a Presbyterian. Her children were:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.1 Lillia Hawkins Crain was born July 17, 1861. She married Thomas P. Johnson in 1881 and they had one child. Lillie died on November 17, 1883, and her son was reared by his maternal grandmother.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.1.1 Bewell W. Johnson
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.2 Ina Newell Crain was born February 12, 1864. She married Richard Jurney and they had two children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.2.1 Richard Loyall Jurney who married Lillian Williams and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.2.2 Eleanor Fay ["Nell"] Jurney who married Gustav H. Pope.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.3 Bertelle Cappits Steinbeck was born March 22, 1868. She died on November 20, 1870.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.4 Perry Lee Steinbeck was born May 18, 1871. He died at the age of three.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.5 John McKnight Steinbeck was born August 24, 1873. He married Mrs. Lenoir Law Murphy.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.6 Floy Steinbeck was born May 7, 1876. She married twice. She married (first) Caleb James Daniel(***) by whom she had a daughter. Floy married, (second) FNU Golledge (***).
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.6.1 Mattie Daniel. Mattie married Henry Wagner of Belton, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.7 Minnie May Steinbeck was born August 31, 1878. She married (first) C. Bryant Allen. He died in 1919. She married (second) Robert Wortham. by her first marriage she had five children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.7.1 Johnny Wortham (a daughter),
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.7.2 Sybil Wortham,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.7.3 Floy Wortham,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.7.4 Marguerite Wortham, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.2.7.5 Clifton Wortham.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.3 Isabella ["Ellen"] Sparks was born ca. 1844. She married Mark M. Burgess and they had at least four children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.3.1 Walton Burgess.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.3.2 Etta Burgess married Percy C. Townsend
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.3.3 Callie Burgess. She died while quite young.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.3.4 Roy Burgess. He died at the age of ten years.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.4 Nancy J. ["Maria"] Sparks was born ca. 1848. She was married twice. Her first marriage was to FNU Williams by whom she had three children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.4.1 Durward Williams,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.4.2 Elizabeth Williams, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.4.3 Edgar Williams.She married (second) W. M. ["Jim"] Cobb.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.5 James R. Sparks, son of James Hawkins and Elizabeth (McKnight) Sparks, was born ca. 1850. He married Sarah Ellen Edwards, ca. 1875. She was born ca. 1855 in Texas and was a daughter of Mrs. Sarah M. Edwards. James Sparks was an attorney. Sarah Ellen died on June 10, 1888, in Nacogdoches County. According to the 1880 census and her will, she and James had four children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.5.1 Jamy E. Sparks was born ca. 1877.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.5.2 Edgar Thorn Sparks was born in June 1880. He died in 1920 at El Paso, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.5.3 Richard Coke Sparks.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.5.4 Nellie Josephine Sparks.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.6 Charles D. F. Sparks was born ca. 1851. He married Fannie Robertson, ca. 1874. She was born ca. 1858. Charles died on December 2, 1903, in an accident and was buried at Bosqueville, Texas. According to census records and to information given by a descendant, he and Fannie had six children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.6.1 Charles D. Sparks, Jr. was born ca. 1875. He lived in California.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.6.2 John Edward Sparks was born ca. 1878. He married in Waco, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.6.3 Earle Evans Sparks was born ca. 1881. He was a policeman and was killed in the line of duty in Waco on March 25, 1910.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.6.4 Lillie Sparks married FNU Dial and lived in Houston.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.6.5 Ethel Sparks married FNU Lester.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.6.6 Fannie ["Fan"] Sparks married Willie Bert Daniels.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.7 Laura W. Sparks was born ca. 1854. She married George A. Bell and they had at least one child, a daughter,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.7.1 Eleanor Bell.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.8 Beverly Edgar ["Bedd"] Sparks was born April 25, 1858, near Waco. He was reared and educated in Texas and spent seven years at Trinity University in Limestone County which at that time was located at Tehuacana. It was probably there that he met Annie Lelia Jones, and they married in Limestone County on June 22, 1880. She was born December 24, 1860, at Kosse, Texas, and was a daughter of S. M. Jones, a native of Alabama.
BEVERLY EDGAR ["BEDD"] SPARKS (1858-1938)
Following his marriage, Bedd Sparks returned to his boyhood home in McLennan County where he managed his parents' farm until ca. 1891. In 1892,he was elected clerk of Texas District No. 19, and, in 1893, he was elected clerk of Texas District No. 54. He held these positions for four years. Subsequently he was engaged in the cotton business in Waco until 1901 when he sold his farms in McLennan County and moved to Stamford, Texas. There he entered into a law partnership with Judge L. M. Buie and formed one of the strongest land agencies in Jones County.
Annie (Jones) Sparks died on March 27, 1912, at Stamford. Bedd Sparks survived her many years, dying on May 21, 1938. They were the parents of seven children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.8.1 Edgar Milton Sparks was born April 14, 1881. He died in 1884.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.8.2 James Albert Sparks was born March 19, 1883. He married Ethel Fanning.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.8.3 Erin Franklin Sparks was born March 21, 1885.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.8.4 Anna Lelia Sparks was born July 18, 1887. She never married.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.8.5 Rupert Trevlyn Sparks was born December 16, 1889.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.8.6 Leslie Steinbeck Sparks was born April 25, 1892.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2.8.7 Perry Hawkins Sparks was born August 10, 1898. He married Freida Chastain on October 11, 1936.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3 Elizabeth C. Sparks, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks, was born ca. 1818 in Lawrence County, Mississippi. She went with her parents to Yazoo County, Mississippi, ca. 1826 where they settled in an area that would become Holmes County in 1833. It was probably there that she married Samuel Everett Rogers ca. 1834. He had been born ca. 1809 in Tennessee. Shortly after their marriage, Sam and Elizabeth moved to Texas where their first child was born September 18, 1835. Just two weeks earlier, Sam had been granted a "League and Labor" of land by the Mexican government. The land was located in what would become Montgomery County in 1837.
Sam Rogers fought in the Texas-Mexican War and after the war ended, he moved his family to his land in Montgomery County. They stayed there until the spring of 1841 when they sold the land and returned to Nacogdoches County. Three years later, Sam purchased land northeast of Tyler in Smith County. Here he was elected as one of the county commissioners and it was here that the family was listed on the 1850 census.
Elizabeth (Sparks) Rogers died ca. 1851, probably at the time their youngest child was born, and the family broke up. Some of the children went to live with their mother's relatives and in 1860, Frank Rogers, 16, and his sister, Mary Rogers, 11, were living in the household of their uncle, 1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4 Stephen Franklin Sparks, in McLennan County. Living nearby was their brother, William Rogers, 18, in the household of their uncle, 1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2 James Hawkins Sparks.
by June 1854, Samuel Rogers was again living in Nacogdoches County. With him were his sons, William E. Rogers and Joseph F. Rogers. In 1858, Sam was in Erath County living in the home of his son, James Carroll Rogers, who had married two years earlier and was living on a ranch. Both Sam and his son were members of the Erath County Militia which had been organized to protect the inhabitants from Indian raids.
The military service of Sam Rogers was probably the cause of his death on May 3, 1863. He had been asked to guard a neighbor's house while the neighbor was away, and on his way back to his home the following day, Sam Rogers was attacked and killed by roving Indians. His daughter-in-law, Mrs. James C. Rogers, later rescued his body, and he was buried on his son's ranch with rocks marking the site of the grave. Many years later, his grandson and namesake, James Everett Rogers, placed a bronze plaque at the grave, and other descendants enclosed the grave with a chain link fence.
The grave site of 1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3 Elizabeth (Sparks) Rogers is unknown; however, at least one descendant believes there is a possibility that she was buried in Nacogdoches County. There is a spot that old-timers call "The Sparks Cemetery" which is located within the Sparks Survey. This is a piece of land that 1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1 Richard Sparks sold to his brother, 1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4 James Sparks, and to his sister, 1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2 Sarah McAnulty, and is located near the water tower, northwest of the town of Nacogdoches. Samuel Everett and Elizabeth (Sparks) Rogers had six children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1 James Carroll Rogers, son of Sam and Elizabeth (Sparks) Rogers, was born September 18, 1835, in Nacogdoches County. On August 4, 1857, he married Nancy Elizabeth Howard in Erath County. She had been born on April 4, 1837, and was a daughter of John and Sarah Howard. She died on October 26, 1903, at Foss, Oklahoma. James died on December 13, 1912, at Clinton, Oklahoma. They were the parents of sixteen children, all of them born in Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.1 Sarah A. E. Rogers was born in Erath County on August 4, 1858. She married George F. Brock on March 18, 1875, in Hood County. She died on September 22, 1928.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.2 Mary Lou Rogers was born October 21, 1859. On August 31, 1879, she married Simon Jordan in Hood County. She died on June 1, 1945.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.3 Columbus Alexander Rogers was born January 7, 1861. He married Laura Cox on March 28, 1888, in Erath County. He died on November 10, 1950.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.4 L. F. Rogers was born September 3, 1862; he died on September 20, 1862.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.5 William A. Rogers was born October 21, 1863; he died on June 25, 1865.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.6 J. C. Rogers was born January 8, 1865; he died on June 25, 1865.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.7 Thomas Pitts Rogers was born August 20, 1866, in Limestone County. He married Florence Virginia Womack on July 8, 1888, in Erath County. He died on December 20, 1939, at Porterville, California. He and Florence were the grandparents of Helen (Rogers) McKee who has made contributions to this article.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.8 John Howard Rogers was born August 18, 1868, in McLennan County. He was married twice. He married (first) Minnie Johnson. He married second, Frances Emalene Hunt on April 12, 1896. He died on April 8, 1947, in Wichita County, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.9 Edgar Ernest Rogers was born January 28, 1870. He married Emma Hatchett on January 8, 1896, in Wichita County. He died on January 21, 1947.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.10 Margaret Lee ["Maggie"] Rogers was born August 16, 1871, in Hood County. She married Robert Lee Hawkins in 1891. She died in 1940 at Purcell, Oklahoma.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.11 Charles Bennett Rogers was born February 18, 1873, in Burleson County, Texas. On July 25, 1897, he married Hallie B. Combs at Maxwell, Indian Territory (Oklahoma). He died on April 16, 1953, in California.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.12 Son1 Rogers was born to James and Nancy (Howard) Rogers on August 2, 1874, and died at birth.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.13 Samuel Everett Rogers was born July 30, 1875, in Somervell County, Texas. He married Edna Gertrude Speed on July 25, 1897. He died on March 15, 1963, and was buried in South Park Cemetery at Houston, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.14 Son2 Rogers was born to James and Nancy (Howard) Rogers on ca. 1876, and died at birth.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.15 Archie D. Rogers was born December 17, 1878, and died on December 15, 1901.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.1.16 Bertie Milam Rogers was born November 6, 1881, at Hood, Texas. He married Lillie Reeder on December 11, 1901. He died on June 20, 1901.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2 William Everett Rogers, son of Sam and Elizabeth (Sparks) Rogers, was born on November 27, 1841, in Nacogdoches County. He was living with his uncle, James Hawkins Sparks, when the 1860 census was taken of McLennan County. He served as a lieutenant in the Confederate States Army. After the war, he married Virginia Amazon Purtell on May 26, 1868, in McLennan County. She had been born on September 20, 1848, in Union County, Arkansas, and was a daughter of James Madison and Frances B. (Ryan) Purtell. William Rogers was a rancher/merchant; he attended the Baptist Church. He died on December 25, 1909, at Midland, Texas. Virginia died on August 1, 1931, at Brownwood, Texas. They were the parents of nine children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.1 Hortense Telefious Rogers was born June 17, 1869, in McLennan County. On October 26, 1887, she married John Brooks Landers in Johnson County.
 |
| WEDDING PICTURE OF JOHN BROOKS and HORTENSE T. (ROGERS) LANDERS |
John Brooks Landers was born April 2, 1858, at Talladega, Alabama, and was a son of Jesse A. and Lurana H. (Smith) Landers. He died on December 29, 1927, and Hortense died on January 17, 1935. They were buried at Menard, Texas. They were the parents of eight children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.1.1 Ama Landers,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.1.2 Hassie Landers. Hassie Landers was a grandmother of Ruth M. Harlow who has made valuable contributions to this article.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.1.3 Grover Landers,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.1.4 Jesse Landers,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.1.5 John Landers,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.1.6 Roger Landers,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.1.7 Tilman Landers, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.1.8 Weldon Landers.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.2 William Arelius Rogers, son of William and Virginia (Purtell) Rogers, was born April 18, 1871. He married Kate Morris in 1900 at Globe, Arizona. They lived in Los Angeles, California.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.3 Samuel M. Rogers was born April 20, 1873. He died on June 27, 1878.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.4 Linton G. Rogers was born September 14, 1875. He died on November 7, 1876.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.5 Walter Everett Rogers was born August 2, 1877. He married Bertie Kennon on November 23, 1901, in Johnson County. He died on August 28, 1961, in Bosque County.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.6 Harvey Ernest Rogers was born July 3, 1880. He married Mattie Kennon on July 21, 1900. She was a sister of Bertie Kennon. (See Item 1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.5 above.) Harvey died on July 21, 1906, in Tarrant County, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.7 Otto H. Rogers was born July 21, 1882. He was married twice. His first marriage was to Jessie Ingram. His second marriage was to Vera Abbott. He died on July 10, 1964, at Dallas, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.8 Charles Ward Rogers was born April 3, 1885. He married Freda Louisa Miller in 1908. He died in 1918 at Ft. Worth, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.2.9 Mary Minnie Rogers was born August 7, 1887. She died on December 30, 1892, at El Paso, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.3 Joseph Franklin ["Frank"] Rogers, son of Sam and Elizabeth (Sparks) Rogers, born on February 27, 1844. After the death of his mother, he apparently went to live with his uncle, Stephen Franklin Sparks. He served in the Confederate States Army and after the war ended, he served as a Texas Ranger. He married Susie E. Davis on December 11, 1871, in McLennan County. He died in 1929. He and Susie had three children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.3.1 Washington Tillman Rogers was born ca. 1872. He married Viona L. Lyons on November 11, 1898, in McLennan County.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.3.2 Mattie J. Rogers was born in August 1873.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.3.3 Eula Bess Rogers was born in February 1876 in Bosque County. She married James Charles Cooper and they lived in Los Angeles, California. Eula died on February 11, 1930.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.4 Thomas M. Rogers, son of Sam and Elizabeth (Sparks) Rogers, was born ca. 1846. He was killed in 1864 while serving in the Confederate States Army.
JOHN MARION ROGERS and HIS WIFE
LAVINIA JANE (SMITH) ROGERS
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5 John Marion Rogers, son of Sam and Elizabeth (Sparks) Rogers, was born on February 17, 1848. On January 1, 1869, he married Lavinia Jane Smith at Quincy, California. She had been born on October 23, 1854, in Hemstead, Arkansas, and was a daughter of James H. and Sarah Jane (Holbrook) Smith. Lavinia died on November 2, 1898. John died on January 1, 1926. They were the parents of nine children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.1 Joseph Webber Rogers was born April 16, 1871, in Sierra County, California. He died on October 22, 1942. He never married.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.2 James Williams Rogers was born March 3, 1873, in Texas. He died on July 9, 1938. He never married.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.3 Mary Alice Rogers was born May 2, 1875. She married FNU Roberts. She died on May 10, 1922.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.4 Rucker Arthur Rogers was born July 21, 1880. He died on December 3, 1952.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.5 Linnie Rogers was born May 3, 1882. She married Robert Lee Hickey on February 1, 1900. She died on July 30, 1965.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.6 Samuel Rogers was born April 12, 1886, in Texas. He died on February 4, 1961.
DRUSY ELEANOR (ROGERS) DHALLIN, 1889-1984 (Photograph taken on Mother's Day, 1984)
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.7 Drusy Eleanor Rogers was born November 24, 1889, at Downey, California. She married Arthur J. Dhallin on December 13, 1910. He was born at Prescott, Washington, and was a son of Carl and Minnie Dhallin. He was a farmer and a rancher. He died on January 23, 1977. Drusy died on October 27, 1984. She and Arthur were the parents of six children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.7.1 Elaine Dhallin,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.7.2 Mildred Dhallin,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.7.3 Dorothy Dhallin,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.7.4 Marjorie Gene Dhallin,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.7.5 Arthur Dhallin Jr., and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.7.6 Frances Dhallin.Drusy (Rogers) Dhallin was intensely interested in her family and provided a great deal of the material used in this article.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.8 Josie Ford Rogers was born December 30, 1890. She died on September 24, 1963.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.5.9 Leland Stanford Rogers was born June 23, 1895, in California. He died on June 29, 1949.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3.6 Mary Ann Elizabeth Rogers, daughter of Sam and Elizabeth (Sparks) Rogers, was born ca. 1850, and her mother died shortly after her birth. The only record we have found of her is on the 1860 census of McLennan County, Texas. She was then eleven years of age and was living in the household of her uncle, Stephen Franklin Sparks.
(Editor's Note: This record of the descendants of William and Mary (Fielder) Sparks will be continued in a future issue of the Quarterly.)
Whole Number 131
Pages 2768-2786
DESCENDANTS OF 1.2.1.2.2.3 WILLIAM SPARKS (1761-1848)
son of
1.2.1.2.2 MATTHEW AND SARAH (THOMPSON) SPARKS
continued by Paul E. Sparks
[Editor's Note: The June 1985 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 130, contained the first part of an article about the descendants of 1.2.1.2.2.3 William and Mary (Fielder) Sparks. He was a son of 1.2.1.2.2 Matthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks and was born in North Carolina in 1761. He lived for a time in Georgia and Mississippi and then went to Texas ca. 1836 where he died in 1848. His first child:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1 Richard Sparks, was born ca. 1793 in Georgia. Richard married Elizabeth Cooper in 1812 and they had nine children, all probably born in Mississippi. They were:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1 William Fielder Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2 James Hawkins Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3 Eliza C. Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4 Stephen Franklin Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.5 Sarah Jane Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.6 Mary Ann Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7 Andrew Jackson Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8 Thomas Benton Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.9 John Marion Sparks
Biographies and a record of their known children and grandchildren were published in issue of the Quarterly mentioned above. We begin this portion of the article with the biography of the fourth child, Stephen Franklin Sparks (1817-1908). On the cover of the present issue appears a photograph taken in Goliad, Texas, on April 21, 1906, that includes Stephen Franklin Sparks and five of his companions, all veterans of the Texas War of Independence; they were the last survivors of the Battle of San Jacinto fought on April 21, 1836, seventy years earlier.)
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4 Stephen Franklin Sparks, son of 1.2.1.2.2.3.1 Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks, was born April 7, 1817, in Lawrence County, Mississippi. He was a sixteen-year-old lad when his parents moved to Texas during the winter of 1833-34. He recalled that event many years later in a letter which he wrote to the Rev. J. L. Walker, of Bruceville, Texas, on March 16, 1895:
We first rented land in San Augustine County, but in the fall of 1834, we moved and settled five miles north of Nacogdoches on a League of land [Editor's note: ca. 4600 acres] that my father had bought. In the fall of 1835 I started to school some twenty miles north of us in what was then known as the Williams Settlement.... I did not stay more than a month before General Cos invaded Texas with an army of 1000 or 1500 men and there being a call for volunteers to meet them, I left school and joined the army. My Captain was H. T. Edwards of Nacogdoches County.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4 Stephen Sparks served in the Texas Army from the start of the hostilities in the fall of 1835 until the defeat of the Mexican Army in April 1836. His first service was at the Battle of San Antonio in which the Texans soundly defeated the Mexicans in a hard-fought battle involving much door-to-door and face-to-face fighting. The Mexicans surrendered on December 6, 1835, and were paroled across the Rio Grande River, promising not to return again.
The Mexican Army did return, however, and defeated the Texans at San Antonio in a siege that lasted from February 23, 1836, until March 6, 1836, and ended with the massacre of a hardy group of Texans at the Alamo. The Mexicans also won a hard-fought battle at Goliad on March 27, 1836, which ended with the killing of helpless prisoners of war by the Mexicans. A month later, on April 21, 1836, under the leadership of General Sam Houston and shouting the war cries of "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad," the Texans whipped General Santa Ana at the Battle of San Jacinto. Stephen Sparks received a bayonet wound during this battle, but continued to fight to its end. The Battle of San Jacinto, to all intents and purposes, ended the Texas-Mexican War.
An incident involving Stephen Sparks is related in the History of the Waco Baptist Association written in 1897 by J. L. Walker and C. P. Lumpkin. Just before the battle at San Jacinto, when General Sam Houston crossed Buffalo Bayou, Sparks and Howard Bailey, a lad of about the same age as Sparks, conveyed the baggage of the Texas Army across the bayou while the men crossed in the ferry boat. They took rope and bound three logs together and then placed on the "raft" as much baggage as it would carry. A rope was tied to one end. Sparks took this rope in his teeth and swam and pulled while Bailey swam behind and pushed. In this way they swam the bayou 21 times and had all the baggage over by the time the men crossed.
After the war ended, Stephen Sparks rejoined his family which had moved to Sabine County, probably as a safety measure. He helped them move back to Nacogdoches County where they planted a crop of corn. That fall, on October 6, 1836, he married Emily Beauchamp Whitaker by Adolphus Sterne, Judge of the Municipality of Nacogdoches. She had been born ca. 1822 and was a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Hammond) Whitaker of Woodford County, Kentucky. Shortly after his marriage, Stephen was converted, baptized, and joined the Baptist Church. Years later, he commented that since his conversion he had helped to build churches and schools wherever he had lived. He helped to build the first Baptist church in the village of Nacogdoches.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4 STEPHEN FRANKLIN SPARKS
(1817-1908)
In 1854, Stephen Franklin Sparks moved his family to McLennan County, Texas. There, in January 1855, his wife, Emily, died when their son, Newell Crane Sparks, was born. A year later, he married Jane M. Jurney on April 14, 1856, in McLennan County. She was born ca. 1822 in Tennessee. No children were born to this marriage.
Stephen Sparks was a justice of the peace in McLennan County. He was also elected to the Board of Trustees of the Trinity River Baptist Association and helped to organize many churches in the area around Waco, including the Bosque Baptist Church, the East Waco Baptist Church, and the Oak Grove Baptist Church. Descendants describe him as a missionary preacher who would travel many miles to preach on a Sunday.
In 1890, Stephen made his last move, this time to Aransas County, Texas, where he settled at Rockport. He was elected president of the Texas Veterans Association (he was the last one) in 1905, and he often bragged that the only organizations to which he had belonged were the Baptist Church and the Texas Army.
On July 19, 1903, Stephen Sparks gave an account of his SPARKS ancestry. He was now aged 86 years and apparently his memory was fading for he made several errors in his account. These have been corrected in the text which follows, so that they will not be perpetuated. The original statements have been preserved and are now in the possession of a great-granddaughter, Effie Jewel (Sparks) Owen. Here are his statements (as corrected):
Rockport, Texas. July 19, 1903. The Ancestry and Kindred and Posterity of S. F. Sparks, Sr.
I will commence with my great-grandfather. His name was Matthew. He and six other brothers came to the U.S. from Ireland in the early day and he was killed at Mimms Fort, Georgia, while serving in the Oconee Indian War. My grandfather, whose name was William, was among the oldest children of his father who was killed at Mimms Fort. Some of his brothers were Jesse, Bailey, Isaac, and Nathan. I don't know whether there were any more children or not. My grandfather told me he did not know what became of his father's brothers.
My grandfather's (1.2.1.2.2.3 William Sparks) children were:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1 Richard Sparks (who was my father) and
1.2.1.2.2.3.2 Sally Sparks McNulty
1.2.1.2.2.3.3 John Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.4 James Sparks (who was Jesse W. Sparks, Sr.'s father)
1.2.1.2.2.3.5 Edie Sparks Simmons
1.2.1.2.2.3.6 Levi Sparks
1.2.1.2.2.3.7 Eli SparksSo Jesse's father and my father were brothers. None of my uncles were in the war with Texas and Mexico except Levi who was with me in the Battle of San Antonio in 1835. John Sparks left two children whose names were 1.2.1.2.2.3.3.1 Allen Sparks and 1.2.1.2.2.3.3.2 Sussie Sparks. Levi and Eli left no children.
My brothers and sisters are:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.1 William F. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.2 James H. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8 Thomas B. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7 Andrew J. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.9 John M. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.3 Eliza Sparks Rogers, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.6 Mary Sparks Sharp.My children are:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3 James H. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6 Stephen F. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7 Newell C. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.2 Amanda E. Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.4 America Sparks.
[Editor's Note: As was noted at the beginning of this article in the June 1985 issue of the Quarterly, a record of the life of Matthew Sparks, great-grandfather of Stephen Franklin Sparks, appeared in the June 1961 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 34. Matthew and his wife, Sarah (Thompson) Sparks, were the parents of eleven sons and two daughters. We believe that Stephen Franklin Sparks was mistaken in saying that his great-grandfather came to America from Ireland, although it is possible that Matthew's forebears did so. We believe, but cannot yet prove conclusively, that Matthew Sparks, who was born ca. 1730, was closely related to the William and Mary Sparks who came from County Hampshire, England, to Queen Annes County, Maryland, (at that time Talbot County) ca. 1680. William Sparks died there in 1709, leaving a will that we published, with biographical data, in the Quarterly of March 1971, Whole No. 73, pages 1381-89.]
Jane (Jurney) Sparks, the second wife of Stephen Franklin Sparks, died ca. 1900. Stephen died on March 12, 1908, and was buried in the Seaside Cemetery at Rockport. He left a long line of descendants, numbering today more than one hundred. He and his first wife, Emily, had eight children, including an unnamed child born ca. 1848 who died at birth.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.1 Lula Sparks was born ca. 1838. She married A. E. Rogers. She died sometime after 1908, probably in Hamilton County, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.2 Amanda Elizabeth Sparks was born ca. 1839. She is said to have married twice. Her first marriage was to J. O'Hair (or O'Hara) on August 9, 1856, in McLennan County. He was born ca. 1826 in Illinois. He died ca. 1863. He and Amanda had two children, Alice O'Hair (or O'Hara) and Clara O'Hair (or O'Hara). After his death, Amanda married FNU Rogers by whom she had one child, J. F. Rogers. Children of Amanda Elizabeth Sparks:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.2.1 Alice O'Hair (or O'Hara) was born ca. 1860. She married T. W. Foster.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.2.2 Clara O'Hair (or O'Hara) was born October 6, 1861. She died on July 30, 1904. She married Euclid Madison Scott in 1881.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.2.3 J. F. Rogers was born in 1864.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3 James Hawkins ["Hawk"] Sparks was born July 29, 1844. He was attending school at Bosqueville, Texas, when the Civil War broke out, and he enlisted on September 18, 1861, in Company A, 7th Regiment Texas Infantry, Confederate States Army. He served until he was discharged in May 1865. After he returned from the service, he married Mary Ann ["Mollie"] Davis on December 4, 1866, in McLennan County. She had been born on September 16, 1846, at Nashville, Tennessee, and was a daughter of G. W. and Eliza T. (Richey) Davis.
JAMES HAWKINS SPARKS (1844-1923)
and his wife
MARY ANN (DAVIS) SPARKS
Hawk Sparks was a rancher and also a farmer. He is also said to have built houses, and a descendant has furnished a picture of a house he is alleged to have built in Portland, Texas, which is still standing. An excellent account of the life of a rancher-farmer in that section of Texas in the late 1800's was given on pages 904-07 of the June 1965 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 50, in an article entitled "Memories of a Texas Childhood." The article was based upon an autobiographical.book written by Dr. John E. Sparks, a son of Hawk Sparks.
House in Portland, Texas - Reputedly Built by Hawk Sparks
Hawk Sparks received a Texas Confederate Pension for his service during the Civil War. (See page 1286 of the December 1969 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 68, for an abstract of his military service.) Hawk Sparks died on November 20, 1923, and Mollie died three years later on February 22, 1927. They were buried in the Seaside Cemetery at Rockport. They had nine children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.1 Emma K. Sparks was born August 22, 1868. She married Pete Burch and they had a son and three daughters. She died on November 15, 1929, and was buried at Palestine, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.2 Robert Wallace Sparks was born January 12, 1870. He married Mattie MNU Wallace (as he was commonly called) died in August 1928 and was buried in the Rockport Cemetery. He and Mattie had at least five children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.2.1 Darius Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.2.2 Nora Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.2.3 Hazel Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.2.4 Vera Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.2.5 Theo Sparks.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.3 Margaret Elizabeth ["Maggie Lizzie"] Sparks was born May 29, 1872. She died on September 14, 1873, and was buried at Valley Mills, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.4 William Franklin Sparks was born August 18, 1874, in Hill County, Texas. On September 14, 1896, he married Elizabeth Effie ["Libbie"] Peets at Rockport, Texas. She had been born on January 9, 1867, in Refugio County, Texas, and was a daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Becker) Peets. She died on February 11, 1928; William died on April 15, 1941. They were buried in the Seaside Cemetery at Rockport. They had five children, including an unnamed baby girl who died at birth. The four children were:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.4.1 Effie Jewel Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.4.2 Alta May Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.4.3 Thelma E. Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.4.4 William Forrest Sparks.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.5 John Edgar Sparks was born September 1, 1877. He was a physician in Floresville, Texas, and wrote an autobiographical book entitled, An M.D. the Hard Way. Paragraphs from this book formed the article mentioned earlier that appeared in the June 1965 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 50. Dr. Sparks married Tennie Madray on September 7, 1898. She was a daughter of Obadiah and Narcissus (Davis) Madray. Dr. Sparks died on March 9, 1960. He and Tennie had four children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.5.1 Alma Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.5.2 August E. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.5.3 Lola Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.5.4 Virgil Davis Sparks.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.6 Mary Myrtle Sparks was born August 18, 1880. She married W. A. ["Bud"] Brundett, and they only had one son. She died on July 30, 1959.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.7 Lura Mabel Sparks was born December 1, 1882. She married (first) Bernard Barber on April 1, 1902, and they had one child, a son, named Travis Earl Barber. Bernard died in 1908 and Lura married (second) J. S. Kennerly. She died on December 18, 1964.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.8 Nellie Claire Sparks was born February 8, 1885. She married Thomas Tipton (or Timmpens), and they lived in Oklahoma. After his death she is said to have married FNU Scott.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.9 James Martin Sparks was born March 30, 1888, in Bosque County, Texas. He married Nancy Drucilla Nelson on December 9, 1908, at Oakville, Texas. She had been born on January 31, 1889, in Lavaca County, Texas, and was a daughter of William and Melinda (Alevine) Nelson. James died on December 10, 1948; Nancy died on June 1, 1964. They had six children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.9.1 Clearance M. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.9.2 Clyde R. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.9.3 James M. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.9.4 Mary Ellen Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.9.5 Leslie L. Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.3.9.6 Edna Alene Sparks.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.4 America E. Sparks, daughter of Stephen and Emily (Whitaker) Sparks, was born ca. 1846. She married J. H. Dawson on February 12, 1866, in McLennan County.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.5 Unnamed Sparks was born to Stephen and Emily (Whitaker) Sparks, ca. 1848, and died at birth.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6 Stephen Franklin ["Long Frank"] Sparks, Jr. was born November 11, 1852. On August 8, 1872, he married Ida Jane Bentley. She had been born on January 29, 1852, in Tennessee. He died on April 14, 1933, and Ida Jane died on March 20, 1938. They had at least two children and there may have been others.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6.1 Annie Beauchamp Sparks was born February 18, 1873. She married Charles Davis, a son of Lee R. Davis. They had three children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6.1.1 Richard Davis,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6.1.2 Charles Davis, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6.1.3 Robert Davis.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6.2 Elizabeth ["Lizzie"] Magdalene Sparks was born May 2, 1879. She married Newton Felix Moncrief, Sr. They had five children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6.2.1 Ruth Moncrief,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6.2.2 Lucy Moncrief,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6.2.3 Kizzie Lee Moncrief,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6.2.4 Margaret Elizabeth Moncrief, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.6.2.5 Newton Felix Moncrief, Jr.
NEWELL CRANE SPARKS and WIFE, LAURA (Fetzer) SPARKS Photograph taken ca. 1890 at China Springs, Texas
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7 Newell Crane Sparks was born January 21, 1855. He was named for the Rev. Newell W. Crane, a Baptist preacher, who was a close friend of his father. (See also Item A, 2, b, above.) On August 31, 1876, Newell Sparks married Laura Fetzer in McLennan County. She had been born on April 3, 1856, and was a daughter of Enoch and Sarah (Martin) Fetzer. She died on November 21, 1902. Newell died on March 14, 1926, in San Patricio County, Texas. He and Laura had nine children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.1 Ada Sparks was born July 11, 1877. She married James David Kring on December 29, 1897, and they had seven children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.1.1 Newel Kring,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.1.2 Nora Kring,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.1.3 Everett Kring,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.1.4 Louise Kring,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.1.5 Woodrow Kring,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.1.6 Jack Kring, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.1.7 Ruth Kring.Ada died on November 22, 1953.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.2 Richard Newell Sparks was born August 15, 1879. He married Kate Fairey on January 20, 1904, and they had one child,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.2.1 Laura Emma Sparks. He died on December 20, 1956.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.3 Joseph Fetzer Sparks was born September 19, 1881. He married Maude S. Madray on October 24, 1905. He died on May 12, 1930. They had four children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.3.1 Irene Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.3.2 Willa Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.3.3 Jo Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.3.4 Conrad Sparks.
ENOCH BONNER SPARKS and ELLA REAGAN
On their wedding day, 1907
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.4 Enoch Bonner ["Bon"] Sparks, son of Newell Crane and Laura (Fetzer) Sparks, was born November 13, 1883. He died in March 1969. He married Ella Reagan in 1907. She and Bon had four children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.4.1 Clarice Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.4.2 Natalie Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.4.3 Lucille Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.4.4 Bonnie Sparks.Clarice has been most helpful in supplying information about her branch of the family and has furnished the above photograph of her parents taken on their wedding day.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.8.5 Halcyon ["Hallie"] Sparks, daughter of Newell Crane and Laura (Fetzer) Sparks, was born March 30, 1885. She married Alex Z. Harrison and they had four children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.5.1 Leslie Harrison,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.5.2 Annie Laurie Harrison,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.5.3 Richard Harrison, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.5.4 Eugene Harrison.Hallie died on May 19, 1969.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.6 Paul Caldwell Sparks, son of Newell Crane and Laura (Fetzer) Sparks, was born March 1, 1887. He married Annie Longorie and they had one child,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.6.1 Pauline Sparks.
Paul died in 1925.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.7 Felix Franklin Sparks, son of Newell Crane and Laura (Fetzer) Sparks, was born October 24, 1891. He married Mary Estelle Ray on November 10, 1914, and they had five children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.7.1 Lydell Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.7.2 Felix Lawrence Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.7.3 Earl Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.7.4 Frances Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.7.5 Margaret Sparks.Felix died on September 24, 1971.
POLITICAL CARD
OF
CHARLES LAWRENCE SPARKS
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.8 Charles Lawrence Sparks, son of Newell and Laura (Fetzer) Sparks, was born February 23, 1894. He was an elected official serving as a tax assessor. He married Ethel Mae Barnes on April 28, 1919, at El Paso, Texas, and they had children named:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.8.1 Laurine Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.8.2 Ruth Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.8.3 Mildred Sparks.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.4.7.9 James Emmett Sparks, son of Newell and Laura (Fetzer) Sparks, was born October 1, 1895. He married Ruby Thelma Poulter and they had children named James Sparks and June Sparks. James Emmett Sparks died on April 3, 1936.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.5 Sarah Jane Sparks, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks, was born ca. 1820. She apparently died prior to 1848 for she was not mentioned in the settlement of her mother's estate in Nacogdoches County.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.6 Mary Ann Sparks, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks, was born ca. 1824. On February 6, 1840, she married Dr. James M. Sharp in Nacogdoches County. He was born ca. 1812 in Tennessee. Mary Ann died in either 1846 or 1847, and Dr. Sharp married (second) Margaret Ann Evans on December 24, 1848. He and Mary Ann had four children, all born in Texas. They are:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.6.1 Elizabeth S. Sharp born in 1841,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.6.2 Emeline E. Sharp born in 1842,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.6.3 Joseph E. Sharp born ca. 1844, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.6.4 Mary E. S. Sharp born ca. 1846. When the 1860 census was taken of McLennan County, she was shown as 13 years of age and living in the household of her uncle, James Hawkins Sparks.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7 Andrew Jackson Sparks, son of Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks, was born October 19, 1826. On August 24, 1848, he married Mary Ann Allen in Nacogdoches County, Texas, by the Rev. John M. Beckton, a Presbyterian minister. She had been born on December 28, 1830, in Tennessee and was a daughter of Elijah and Asenith Tonisa (Hollingsworth) Allen.
 |
|---|
| ANDREW JACKSON SPARKS (1826-1857) Son of Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks |
Andrew Jackson Sparks died on August 6, 1857, at the untimely age of 30 years, just a few months following the birth of his youngest child. His widow, Mary Ann, married (second) William Anderson on February 18, 1859, in Nacogdoches County. She died two years later, on August 1, 1861. Andrew Jackson and Mary Ann (Allen) Sparks had five children. (The photograph reproduced above must have been taken shortly before Andrew's death--it has been provided to us by his great-grandson, Lester B. Sparks of Lufkin, Texas.) Children of Andrew and Mary Ann (Allen) Sparks:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.1 Thomas Allen Sparks, son of Andrew and Mary Ann (Allen) Sparks, was born July 2, 1849. He was married on December 15,1867, to Cynthia L. Parmely in Nacogdoches County, Texas. She had been born ca. 1851 in Tennessee and was a daughter of Mitch and Margaret (Powers) Parmely. When the 1880 census was taken of Nacogdoches County, Thomas and Cynthia had four children and, in all probability, they had other children born to them later. Thomas died on August 10, 1928.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.1.1 Minnie Sparks was born ca. 1869.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.1.2 John Sparks was born ca. 1872.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.1.3 Mariany (or Marianna) Sparks was born ca. 1875.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.1.4 Thomas B. Sparks was born ca. 1877.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.2 Mary Ophelia Sparks, daughter of Andrew and Mary Ann (Allen) Sparks, was born February 14, 1851. She died on July 31, 1851.
WILLIAM RENULDO and
MARY ARTIMITIA (KING) SPARKS
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3 William Renuldo Sparks, son of Andrew and Mary Ann (Allen) Sparks, was born December 11, 1852, in Robertson County, Texas. He became a farmer, but as a young man he also began a business career which lasted for many years. He obtained from a man named Young Lloyd three secret formulae for removing skin cancers. These consisted of a killing salve, a healing salve, and a blood tonic. The tonic became quite popular and was so much in demand that a drug store had it bottled and sold it over the counter for several years. In his community, William Sparks was known as "Dr. Sparks." The secret formula remained in his family until the F.D.A. made the ingredients unavailable. William Renuldo Sparks was married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Artimitia King on November 3, 1872. She had been born on August 25, 1848, and was a daughter of Thomas W. and Nancy A. (Allison) King, natives of Tennessee. She and William had eight children. She died on June 17,1903. After her death, William married (second) Lavinia Watkins Gardner. She was born January 20, 1866. She and William had two children. She died on November 26, 1927, and William died on April 18, 1931. He was buried in the Cold Springs Cemetery. The children of William Renuldo and Mary A. (King) Sparks were:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.1 Laura Sparks was born ca. 1873. She married Frank Burns on December 24, 1900. She died in Sabine County, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.2 Benjamin Jackson Sparks was born July 16, 1876. He was married twice. His first marriage was to Nettie McClain. After her death, he married Evie Virginia Rambin on November 27, 1904. She was a daughter of James and Sarah (Cavin) Rambin. Benjamin died on December 8, 1955.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.3 Odelia ["Dee"] Sparks was born ca. 1878. She married George Hammond on March 8, 1900. She died in 1958.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.4 Roxanne ["Roxie"] Sparks was born ca. 1880. She married Grover Sullivan on June 18, 1903. They lived at Melrose, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.5 Mollie A. Sparks was born January 23, 1881. She married Lafayette L. Singleton. She died on January 7, 1907.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.6 Ophelia Sparks was born July 9, 1886. On February 18, 1905, she married Horace K. Barrington, a son of Thad and Mary Ann Barrington. Ophelia died on February 25, 1960.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.7 William Allen Sparks was born April 9, 1889, in Rock Springs, Texas. He married Mollie Frances Rambin on December 12, 1909, in Appleby, Texas. She had been born on March 10, 1893, and was a daughter of James and Anna L. (King) Rambin. William Sparks died on April 19, 1968. He was a successful pioneer in egg and broiler chicken production. He and Mollie had six children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.7.1 William C. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.7.2 James V. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.7.3 Iris L. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.7.4 Lester B. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.7.5 Ruby K. Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.7.6 Mary H. Lester Sparks has been most helpful in providing information about his branch of the family.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.8 Albert Joel Sparks was born in August 1891. He married Essie Stokes on May 10, 1914. She was a daughter of Boney and Sallie Elizabeth (Humphrey) Stokes. Albert died on March 18, 1934.
As stated above, William Renuldo Sparks married (second) Lavinia Watkins in 1903, and they had two children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.9 John Thomas Sparks was born June 30, 1905. He married Bertie Polk on September 12, 1928. She was a daughter of Timothy and Alice (Cowart) Polk. John died on April 24, 1981.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.3.10 Myrtie Sparks was born ca. 1907. She married Ralph Polk, a brother of Bertie Polk, next above.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.4 Odelia Sparks, daughter of Andrew and Mary Ann (Allen) Sparks, was born February 24, 1855. She died on Juiy 25, 1862.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.7.5 Benjamin Jackson Sparks, son of Andrew and Mary Ann (Allen) Sparks, was born April 26, 1857. He married Mary Winnie MNU, ca. 1878, and when the 1880 census was taken of Robertson County, Texas, they had one child, Cynthia D. Sparks, born in the spring of 1880. In all probability, this couple had other children born to them.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8 Thomas Benton Sparks, son of Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks, was born August 28, 1829, in Yazoo County, Mississippi. (At least one record has the date as February 3, 1829.) He was probably named for Thomas Hart Benton, United States Senator from Missouri, who helped the settlers of the territories obtain government land. Thomas Sparks was a small boy when he accompanied his parents to Nacogdoches County, Texas, and it was there that he grew to manhood.
It was also there that he married Phereby Ann Mildred ["Milly"] Mahala Smith on June 20, 1850. She was born December 19, 1831, in Fayette County, Tennessee. After the settlement of the estates of his parents in 1851, Thomas Sparks, along with his brother, Stephen, moved to McLennan County where he settled a few miles north of Waco. He was elected clerk of the Bosque Baptist Church in 1855, and in the summer of 1872 he was elected as the first clerk of the newly-formed Rock Creek Baptist Church. He died a few months later, on October 27, 1872, and he was buried in the church cemetery. The age inscribed on his tombstone is 43 years, 9 months, and 24 days. After his death, Milly married Robert Loughridge in 1874. She died on April 16, 1908. She and Thomas had eight children.
 |
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| JOHN FRANKLIN SPARKS and MARY LUCY ANN SPARKS (Child not identified) |
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.1 John Franklin ["Frank"] Sparks, son of Thomas and Milly (Smith) Sparks, was born March 23, 1851. He married Mary Lucy Ann MNU, ca. 1872. Mary Lucy Ann was born in Alabama on September 8, 1855. When the 1880 census was taken of McLennan County, Frank and Mary had three children. Relatives say that they had six more children born to them later. Frank died on April 19,1931, and Mary died on September 4, 1939. They are believed to have had the following nine children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.1.1 Lelia Sparks was born ca. 1872. She married FNU Dawson; they lived at Iredell, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.1.2 Andrew Jackson ["Jack"] Sparks was born ca. 1877. He lived at Ft. Worth, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.1.3 William C. Sparks was born January 21, 1880. He married Ina Chatham. She was born January 4, 1881. William died on February 14, 1905, and after his death, Ina married FNU Dawson. She died in 1948.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.1.4 Nora Sparks married Bud Smith.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.1.5 Myrtle Sparks was married twice. Her first marriage was to FNU Lott; her second was to FNU Everetts.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.1.6 Ella May Sparks married Bill Davis.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.1.7 Ola Sparks is said to have never married.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.1.8 Thomas Benton Sparks lived at Dublin, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.1.9 Oran Sparks lived at Iredell, Texas.
ANDREW JACKSON SPARKS and MARY HASELTINE (ROBERTSON) SPARKS
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2 Andrew Jackson ["Jack"] Sparks, son of Thomas and Milly (Smith) Sparks, was born April 6, 1853. He married Mary Haseltine ["Molly Hassy"] Robertson on November 14, 1872. She was born November 14, 1853, in Alabama. Jack died on January 27, 1941, at Gholson, Texas. "Molly Hassy" died on May 17, 1927. They were buried at Gholson, Texas. They had nine children, all of them born at Patrick, Texas.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.1 Albinia Sparks was born August 20, 1873. She married Simeon M. High on December 8, 1891, in the Caladonia Baptist Church at Gholson, Texas. He was born September 9, 1869, and died on February 12, 1918. Albinia died on December 12, 1967. They were buried at Gholson. They had four children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.1.1 Laura High,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.1.2 James T. High,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.1.3 Jesse W. High, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.1.4 Clarence H. High.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.2 Susan T. Sparks was born January 11, 1875. She died on July 8, 1875.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.3 Ada Sparks was born February 15, 1876. She died three days later, on February 18, 1876.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.4 Zora Elizabeth Sparks was born May 23, 1877. She married Lovet ["Boaz"] Chatham on August 27, 1896. She was boiling water to wash clothes when her dress caught on fire, and she was burned to death on October 1, 1897. They had no children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.5 May Virginia Sparks was born May 8, 1879. She married Edward L. Ryals on July 19, 1894, at Waco, Texas. They had six children. After Edward's death, she married Elbert Lardingham. She died on April 5, 1957, and was buried in the Rosemound Cemetery. She was a member of the Caladonia Baptist Church. Her children were:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.5.1 Andrew Ryals,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.5.2 Cecil Ryals,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.5.3 Dora Ryals,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.5.4 Erma Ryals,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.5.5 Marshall Ryals, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.5.6 Edna Ryals.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.6 Eugene Marshall Sparks was born February 19, 1882. He married Hattie McMourrough. He died on November 7, 1959, and Hattie died on November 18, 1969. They were buried at Gholson, Texas. They had five children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.6.1 Eugene Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.6.2 Burton Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.6.3 Mary Elizabeth Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.6.4 Dorothy Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.6.5 Harriet Sparks.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.7 Jesse Wilmer Sparks was born June 18, 1884. He married Elvira Payne on December 16, 1911, at Gholson. She had been born on May 23, 1895, at Shaw, Arkansas, and was a daughter of Thomas J. and Luanda (Nations) Payne. They attended the Gholson Baptist Church. Elvira died on November 23, 1955, and Jesse died on September 14, 1957. She was buried in the Rosemound Cemetery at Waco; Jesse was buried in the Gholson Cemetery. They had five children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.7.1 Dalton Mae Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.7.2 Carroll R. Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.7.3 Mildred Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.7.4 Jesse W. Sparks, Jr., and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.7.5 Hollis Sparks.Carroll R. Sparks is the father of Dr. Larry D. Sparks who has furnished information and pictures of his family.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.8 Horace O. Sparks was born February 11, 1886. He died on November 7, 1888.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.9 Asa Clarence Sparks was born October 4, 1888. He married Sarah Annie Merritt on September 16, 1909. Annie (as she was called) was born December 4, 1885. Asa died on November 8, 1926, and Annie died on January 8, 1968. They were buried at Gholson. They were members of the Caladonia Baptist Church. They had four children
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.9.1 Ruth Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.9.2 Bryant Sparks,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.9.3 Doris Sparks, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.2.9.4 Blanche Sparks.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.3 Richard Marion Sparks, son of Thomas and Milly (Smith) Sparks, was born ca. 1857. He died in 1865.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4 Sarah ( "Sally"] Elizabeth Sparks, daughter of Thomas and Milly (Smith) Sparks, was born August 12, 1858. She married George Leonard Robertson in June 1874. He was born June 5, 1852, in Clarke County, Alabama. He died on August 4, 1923, at Lindsay, Oklahoma. Sally died on June 6, 1937, at Martha, Oklahoma. They were the parents of eight children.
FAMILY of GEORGE L. ROBERTSON
and
SARAH ELIZABETH (SPARKS) ROBERTSON(Photograph taken ca. 1900)
Back row, L-R: Willie Florence, Missouri, John Ballard, and Mollie Ann Front row, L-R: Sarah E. (Sparks) Robertson, Lillie Mae (over her mother's left shoulder),Norma Lee, George L. Robertson, and James T. Children of George L. and Sarah Elizabeth (Sparks) Robertson:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1 John Ballard Robertson was born August 4, 1876, at Patrick, Texas. On May 14, 1899, he married Brantley Belle Haney. She had been born on November 14, 1882, at Hickory Flats, Mississippi, and was a daughter of David and Lucy Catherine (Crosley) Haney. John died on March 11, 1943; Brantley died on November 16, 1978. There were the parents of twelve children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.1 Katie May Robertson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.2 Guy C. Robertson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.3 Charlie C. Robertson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.4 Richard S. Robertson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.5 Myrtle L. Robertson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.6 Scott L. Robertson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.7 Andrew J. Robertson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.8 Samuel P. Robertson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.9 Johnnie F. Robertson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.10 Edna Rae Robertson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.11 Eva G. Robertson, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.1.12 Jewel L. Robertson.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.2 Mary ["Mollie"] Ann Robertson was born May 12, 1880. She died in 1970. She married Will Hinson, and they had two children,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.2.1 Fred Hinson and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.2.2 Mattie Hinson.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.3 Missouri ["Sudie"] Robertson, daughter of George L. and Sarah E. (Sparks) Robertson, was born September 24, 1883. She died in 1938. She married James T. Harlin, and they had eight children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.3.1 Leola Harlin,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.3.2 Ruby Harlin,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.3.3 Thomas E. Harlin,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.3.4 Nora E. Harlin,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.3.5 Clyde Harlin,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.3.6 Clade Harlin,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.3.7 Margie Harlin, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.3.8 Everett L. Harlin.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.4 William Florence Robertson was born March 3, 1886. She died in 1956. She married Joseph Wiley Brown, and they had eight children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.4.1 Virgil Brown,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.4.2 Marion Brown,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.4.3 Lois Brown,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.4.4 Merle Brown,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.4.5 Ina Faye Brown,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.4.6 Barbara Brown,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.4.7 Fern Brown, and
an unnamed infant who died at birth.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.5 James Tucker Robertson was born June 5, 1888. He married Ervie Davis and they had two children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.5.1 Joe Robertson and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.5.2 Aline Robertson.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6 Lillie Mae Robertson was born October 5, 1890. She died in August 1964. She married Sam Beene, and they had thirteen children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.1 Preston Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.2 Florence Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.3 Foy Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.4 George L. Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.5 Tommy Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.6 Wilford Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.7 Avinelle Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.8 Helen Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.9 Verna Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.10 Wayland Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.11 Charlie R. Beene,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.12 Louise Beene, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.6.13 Jessie Lee Beene.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.7 Norma Lee Robertson was born July 24, 1892. She married Marvin B. Shelton in 1910, and they had nine children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.7.1 Ethyl Shelton,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.7.2 Norma Shelton,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.7.3 Leonard W. Shelton,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.7.4 Lillie P. Shelton,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.7.5 Glenn A. Shelton,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.7.6 Jesse D. Shelton,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.7.7 Robert E. Shelton,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.7.8 Billie J. Shelton, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.7.9 Leatrice J. Shelton.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.8 Gladys Robertson was born December 15, 1901. She married Harmon Holcomb, and they had four children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.8.1 Harmon Holcomb, Jr.,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.8.2 William Holcomb,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.8.3 Evelyn Holcomb, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.4.8.4 Lucille Holcomb.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.5 Thomas Hawkins ["Hawk"] Sparks, son of Thomas and Milly (Smith) Sparks, was born ca. 1861. According to information given to us by a relative several years ago, he was married twice. His first marriage was to a widow, Jane McAdeen. They had no children. His second marriage was to Nannie MNU by whom he had four children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.5.1 Charles Sparks.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.5.2 Elmo Sparks.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.5.3 Dulice Sparks; she married C. C. Curtis and lived in California.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.5.4 David Sparks.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6 William Doyle Fielder Sparks, son of Thomas and Milly (Smith) Sparks, was born September 25, 1862. He married Josie Florence Tubbs, ca. 1884. She had been born on July 4, 1871, and was a daughter of Joe C. and Nancy Jane (Lockhart) Tubbs. Joe Tubbs is said to have been a fullblood Indian. William Sparks died on November 27, 1898, at the age of 36 years, and Josie married (second) Bero ["Nib"] Shaw. She died on June 17, 1937. She and William had five children.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6.1 Walter Thomas Sparks was born January 27, 1885.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6.2 Etta Lee Sparks was born April 30, 1889.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6.3 Willie Neva Sparks (daughter) was born April 15, 1893.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6.4 Millie Marie Sparks was born August 29, 1895. She was married twice. Her first marriage was to J. E. Beard on January 26,1913, and her second marriage was to J. Y. Slayden on August 28, 1935. by her first marriage, she had five children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6.4.1 Samuel Beard,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6.4.2 J. E. Beard, Jr.,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6.4.3 Hazel M. Beard,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6.4.4 Eunice L. Beard, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6.4.5 Wilson A. Beard.She had no children by her second marriage.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.6.5 Audie Ophelia Sparks (son) was born October 11, 1897. He died on March 23, 1960, and was buried in the Bosqueville Cemetery.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.7 Margaret W. ["Mattie"] Sparks, daughter of Thomas and Milly (Smith) Sparks, was born in July 1869. She married William H. Johnson in 1886, and they had at least nine children:
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.7.1 Edgar Johnson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.7.2 Clint Johnson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.7.3 Newton Johnson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.7.4 William Fritz Johnson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.75 Ivy Mattie Johnson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.7.6 George L. ["Guy"] Johnson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.7.7 Sarah Johnson,
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.7.8 Iola Lee Johnson, and
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.7.9 Barney Johnson.1.2.1.2.2.3.1.8.8 James William Sparks, son of Thomas and Milly (Smith) Sparks, was born in 1871.
1.2.1.2.2.3.1.9 John Marion Sparks, son of Richard and Elizabeth (Cooper) Sparks, was born June 26, 1831, in Yazoo County, Mississippi. He and his descendants were the subjects of an article that appeared in the September 1978 issue of the Sparks Quarterly, Whole No. 103, and for that reason, no biographical data about him and his children will be given here.
[Editor's Note: This record of the descendants of William and Mary (Fielder) Sparks will be continued in a future issue of the Quarterly.]