November 7, 2020

Pages 4581-4582
Whole Number 172

NEW INSIGHT INTO THE LIVES OF SOME DESCENDANTS OF
ELIJAH SPARKS (1778-ca.1830)
OF QUEEN ANNES COUNTY, MARYLAND

[Editor's Note: Information about Elijah Sparks (1778-ca.1830+) of Queen Annes County, Maryland, has been published earlier in two issues of the Quarterly. The first information was on page 1256 of the September 1969 issue. Whole No. 67, and consisted of records from a Bible that Elijah had owned. The second piece of information was on pages 2567-68 of the December 1983 issue, Whole No. 124, and was an account of Elijah and his family.

[As noted below, Elijah Sparks was born in Queen Annes County, Maryland, on July 28, 1778. He was a son of Nathan Sparks, Jr. who had been born ca. 1760, also in Queen Annes County. The parents of Nathan Sparks, Jr. were Nathan, Sr. and Eliza (Bolton) Sparks. Nathan Sparks, Sr. was a son of James and Elizabeth (Barkhurst) Sparks. James Sparks, who had been born ca. 1710-1715, and Elizabeth Barkhurst were married in Queen Annes County on February 9, 1737. As Paul E. Sparks pointed out in his article in the Quarterly of December 1983, cited above, there can be little doubt that James, who made his will in Queen Annes County on March 21, 1775, and died shortly thereafter, was a grandson of William Sparks who died in Queen Annes County in 1709. Circumstantial evidence points strongly to James Sparks having been a son of William Sparks, Jr. and his wife, Margaret Hamilton. Readers interested in this Sparks line are urged to review the articles cited above, as well as articles regarding William Sparks (died 1709) and his family appearing in the Quarterly of March 1971, Whole No. 73, and that of December 1992, Whole No. 160.

[Now, thanks to the keen interest and careful reading of the evidence, Mary Lee Konz, a relative of Elijah Sparks (1778-ca.1830+), we are able to add to the earlier information that we have of this man. For the sake of uniformity, we have retained the same alpha-numeric outline used in the earlier articles.]

1.2.1.4.1.1.2 Elijah Sparks, son of 1.2.1.4.1.1 Nathan Sparks, Jr., was born in Queen Annes County, Maryland, on July 28, 1778. Apparently, he was married four times. His first marriage was to Nancy Hinds ca. 1796, probably in the county of his birth. She was an heir of Isaac Hinds; in fact, she may well have been his daughter. According to the Bible record cited above, she and Elijah had two daughters, Mahala and Mary Ann:

1.2.1.4.1.1.2.1 Mahala Sparks was born March 17, 1797. She married William Clarke on March 18, 1817, in Queen Annes County by the Rev. Jackson, and they had five children.

1.2.1.4.1.1.2.1.1 John Clarke was born September 22, 1823.
1.2.1.4.1.1.2.1.2 George Clarke was born April 7, 1827.
1.2.1.4.1.1.2.1.3 Samuel Clarke was born June 19, 1829.
1.2.1.4.1.1.2.1.4 William Clarke was born in August 1832.
1.2.1.4.1.1.2.1.5 Susanna Clarke was born March 26, 1835.

1.2.1.4.1.1.2.2 Mary Ann Sparks was born in 1811.

The second marriage of Elijah Sparks was to Rebecca Davis ca. 1814. They had three children,

1.2.1.4.1.1.2.3 Sarah ["Sally"] Sparks was born ca. 1814.
1.2.1.4.1.1.2.4 Elmina Sparks, daughter, was born ca. 1816.
1.2.1.4.1.1.2.5 John Merritt Sparks was born February 23, 1818. He married Ann MNU ca. 1842, probably in Kent County, Delaware. He was a tinner. When the 1850 census was taken of Kent County, Delaware, Merritt (as he was called) and his wife, Ann, had a son named

1.2.1.4.1.1.2.5.1 William S. Sparks, aged 7. He served in the 4th Regiment Delaware Infantry during the Civil War and received a pension for his service. (See page 1917 of the June 1977 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 98, for an abstract of his pension file at the National Archives.)

Also living in their household in 1850 were Mary F. Casles, aged 17, born in Maryland, and John Bryant, aged 14, born in New York.

The third marriage of Elijah Sparks was performed ca. 1820 when he married Elizabeth Davis. She was a sister of Rebecca Davis, the second wife of Elijah Sparks. She and Elijah had four children.

1.2.1.4.1.1.2.6 Clinton C. Sparks was born ca. 1820. (See page 2568 of the December 1983 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 124, for further information about this man.)

1.2.1.4.1.1.2.7 Leven Davis Sparks was born ca. 1822. (See page 2568 of the December 1983 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 124, for further information about him.)

1.2.1.4.1.1.2.8 Robert Sparks was born ca. 1820-1825.

[Note: He was incorrectly identified on page 2568 as the Robert Sparks who married Emiline Bevans in Queen Annes County, Maryland, on August 16, 1844. We now believe that the Robert Sparks who married Emiline Bevans was a son of Robert and Ann Wrench (Hackett) Wright Sparks, who were married ca.1815. She was a widow of James Wright and a daughter of William and Alice Clayton (Wrench) Hackett. (See page 2844 of the March 1986 issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 133.)]

1.2.1.4.1.1.2.9 Henry Sparks was born ca. 1825-1830. (See page 2568 of the December 1983 issue of the Quarterly, Whole 124.)

Elijah Sparks's fourth marriage was to Henrietta Davis on May 15, 1828, in Queen Annes County. The Rev. Walton performed the marriage ceremony. We have no further information regarding this couple.

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