August 6, 2023
Pages 4978-4993
Whole Number 182
DESCENDANTS OF 25. MARTIN PEEPLES SPARKS (1786-1837)
THROUGH HIS ONLY SURVIVING CHILD, THOMAS HUNTER SPARKS
by Russell E. Bidlack
Some forty years ago, this writer had extensive correspondence with a Sparks descendant named Charles H. Smith (1872-1964), of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Smith was a son of Hines Maguire and Sarah Jane (Sparks) Smith. (For an autobiographical sketch of Mr. Smith see the Sparks Quarterly of March 1958, Whole No. 21, pp. 281-85.)
Charles H. Smith was a great-grandson of Martin Peeples Sparks, who had been born July 18, 1786, according to family records preserved by Mr. Smith. We cannot be certain, however, of the place of birth of Martin P. Sparks, but he was a member of the branch of the Sparks family long associated with Morgan County, Georgia. Our earliest official record of him is found in a deed dated November 6, 1810, by which he purchased land on Sandy Creek in Morgan County, described as Lot 294, District 20, containing 202j acres, for which he paid $1,002. This was a considerable amount of money for a twenty-four-year-old Youth to pay for land at that time, making one wonder whether he may have inherited it. The man selling this tract to Sparks was Charles M. Lin, who was the guardian of Nancy and Thomas Cooper, children of Thomas Cooper, deceased. (See Morgan County Deed Book B, p.362.)
Martin Peeples Sparks continued to acquire Georgia land, not only in Morgan County, but in several nearby counties as well, and he soon became a man of considerable wealth.His home in Morgan County appears to have been located on Hard Labor Creek, not far from the present town of Madison.On a tax list of Morgan County for 1832, he was credited with owning twenty-two slaves, a town lot, plus 3,033 acres of land. He was one of the few men in the county to be taxed that year on a carriage, considered to be a major luxury.He served as Morgan County1s sheriff from 1818 to 1820 and from 1822 to 1824, and he represented the county in the Georgia Legislature in 1832, 1833, and 1834.
On December 2, 1810, 25. Martin P. Sparks married Elizabeth Whatley, who had been born July 28, 1795, according to family records preserved by Mr. Smith. He believed Elizabeth Whatley to have been a daughter of Oman and Judith Whatley, but we are uncertain of the accuracy of his memory in this regard. Martin and Elizabeth (Whatley) Sparks became the parents of three children, but only their son named Thomas Hunter Sparks, born September 1, 1814, lived to adulthood.
Martin P. Sparks seems to have been possessed of the pioneering spirit, and in or ca. 1836, he moved his family northwest to Paulding County, Georgia, acquiring land formerly belonging to the Cherokee Indians.This was part of a vast area that had been purchased from the Cherokees by the state of Georgia in 1831. Sparks settled in that part of Paulding County that became Polk County in 1851, near the present town of Cedartown, in an area called Cedar Valley.
Within a year of his move to Paulding County, Martin P. Sparks died. The fact that he left no will suggests that his death on June 8, 1837 may have been sudden. His widow, Elizabeth, lived until September 4, 1870.
25.2 Thomas Hunter Sparks, only surviving child of 25. Martin P. and Elizabeth (Whatley) Sparks, had been born, as noted above, on September 1, 1814. He was only twenty-two years old when he inherited his father's considerable estate, for the settlement of which he became administrator.
A much more complete account of the life of Martin P. Sparks can be found in the Quarterly of March 1958, Whole No. 21. That issue includes a photograph of his widow, Elizabeth(Whatley) Sparks, taken when she was quite old. As noted earlier, however, we have never succeeded in finding proof of Martin's parentage. We know from several sources that he had a close relationship with Carter Walton Sparks, born May 28, 1797, who was, thus, eleven years younger than Martin. A record of Carter Walton Sparks's life appeared In the Quarterly of December 1960, Whole No. 32, pp. 523-25. Some descendants of Martin P. Sparks remembered calling Carter W. Sparks 'Uncle," but this could simply have been a courtesy title used by children for a man whom their parents called by his first name, a common practice of the time.
70.1.1.1 Carter Walton Sparks was a son of 70.1.1 Jeremiah Sparks, Sr , who made his will in Morgan County, Georgia, on October 11, 1839; it was probated on January 4, 1841, indicating that he had doubtless died late in 1840. Jeremiah was called 'Senior' because he had a nephew of the same name for whom he served as guardian for a number of years. This elder Jeremiah Sparks's will was published in the December 1960 issue of the Quarterly, pp. 521-22. While he made a detailed record of how his possessions were to be divided among his son, Carter Walton Sparks, and two living daughters, as well as his grandchildren whose mothers (his daughters) had died, he made no mention of the widow of Martin Peeples Sparks nor of her son, Thomas Hunter Sparks. We are doubtful, therefore, that Martin and Carter could have been brothers, although they must have been closely related because of their close association with each other as adults.
25.2 Thomas Hunter Sparks (1814-1863)
and Descendants
25.2 Thomas Hunter Sparks, son of 25. Martin Peeples and Elizabeth (Whatley) Sparks, was born in Morgan County, Georgia, on September 1, 1814. As his parents' only child to reach adulthood, at age twenty-two he became a Southern planter with a considerable inheritance. He had been married on September 2, 1834, a day following his twentieth birthday, to Mary Ann Leonard, daughter of James P. Leonard. She had been born January 14, 1818. Thomas and his wife had moved with his parents to Paulding County in or ca. 1836. Either shortly before, or soon after their move, a daughter was born to Mary Ann and Thomas. They named her Martha, adding four middle initials: A. M. E. T. She was born April 27, 1836, but she died on the following May 11th. Another daughter, Medora Newton Sparks, was born August 16, 1837, and a son, James Martin Sparks, was born on October 11, 1839. A week following the birth of James, Mary Ann died, not yet having attained her twenty-second birthday. Elizabeth (Whatley) Sparks, who made her home with Thomas following the death of her husband, doubtless became a second mother to her two small grandchildren.
Thomas Hunter Sparks did not consider marrying a second time until ca. 1844 when he returned to Morgan County to court a lady whom he had known there. Apparently, through correspondence, he had gained the impression she would accept his proposal of marriage. She had second thoughts, however, when she considered having to move to Paulding County where she had no friends. Thomas started home alone. Stopping in Greene County to visit old friends ["Uncle Billy and Aunt Sally Daniel"), he there met the Daniels' ward, a niece of "Uncle Billy," named Ann Linton. Ann's mother had died in 1829, two years after Ann's birth on October 17, 1827. On February 25, 1845, Thomas H. Sparks and Ann Linton were married. During the following eighteen years they became parents of eleven children, nine of whom survived childhood. The family Bible in which these births were recorded by Thomas and Ann Sparks was inherited by their son, William Daniel Sparks. In the 1930s, Charles H. Smith borrowed this Bible from his uncle who had inherited it and had photostatic copies made of the family record to share with family members. The pages devoted to births and deaths are reproduced on here.
 |
 |
 |
Photos of Thomas and Ann (Linton) Sparks, as well as their beautiful home in Cedar Valley, appeared in the Quarterly of March 1958, Whole No. 21.
Like his father before him, Thomas prospered, and when the 1860 census was taken, he was credited with land valued at $75,000 and personal property at $50,000. The latter figure included ninety slaves, ranging in age from infancy to fifty years.
With the outbreak of the Civil War, and anxious to acquire land outside the state of Georgia, Thomas made several "land scouting trips" to Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas. He was most favorably impressed with an available tract of 2,240 acres in Clark County, Arkansas, and soon moved his family there in 1861, confident that the war would be won by the Confederacy. This "Arkansas Dream" was doomed to failure, however, when, shortly after his ten-year-old son, Carter Whatley Sparks, died of a local malady called 'congestion of the brain,' the same disease claimed the life of Thomas H. Sparks. Father and son shared the same grave in Bozeman Cemetery near Arkadelphia, Clark County, Arkansas. Thomas had dictated his will on September 13, 1863, and he died at 10 o'clock that night. The text of Thomas H. Sparks’s will appears on pp. 308-09 of the Quarterly of June 1958. While he provided liberally for the support of his mother, he left the bulk of his estate to his wife. Still firm in his belief that the Civil War would be won by the South, he died believing that his land and his Confederate bonds and cash would easily meet his family1s future financial needs. Although Ann's two stepchildren had been married by 1863, she was left with nine surviving children of her own, the youngest, Charles Sankey Sparks, having been born July 8, 1863, only two months prior to his father's death.
After the war's end, Ann (Linton) Sparks returned to Georgia with her children and her mother-in-law, who continued to live with Ann for the remainder of her life. Ann’s brother, Dr. John Linton, provided a house for her and her family in Athens, Georgia. As noted earlier, Elizabeth (Whatley) Sparks, widow of Martin Peeples Sparks, died at the Athens home of her daughter-in-law on September 4, 1870. Ann (Linton) Sparks later moved to Rome, Georgia, where she died on May 3, 1895.
Many more incidents in the lives of Thomas H. and Ann (Linton) Sparks appear in an article in the Quarterly of March 1958, Whole No. 21, pp. 272-280, and that of the June 1958, Whole No. 22, pp. 308-314, written by their grandson, Charles H. Smith. We did not include in that article, however, a record of their children and grandchildren, hoping that more information might come to light regarding them, beyond that known to Mr. Smith. Recently, a new member of our Association, Sallie McHenry of Sherman Oaks, California, who descends from Thomas H. and Ann Sparks through their son, William Daniel Sparks, has provided additional information. We now publish this record. It is our hope that it will come to the attention of other descendants who may provide us with still more information on this branch of the Sparks family.
Likewise, we are publishing for the first time photographs of Ann (Linton) Sparks and six of her children. Charles H. Smith had loaned these to the present writer for reproduction. They had been arranged as a collage for framing, with the mother (Ann) in the center. Judging from the apparent age of the youngest child, Charles Sankey Sparks (probably about six years old), it would seem that these photographs were probably taken ca. 1869, in Athens, Georgia. The six children included seem to have been those still living at home then: Sarah Jane, Samuel Peeples, John Veasey, Alexander H., Annie Elizabeth, and Charles Sankey. Mr. Smith was positive in his identification of each of these children except he could not distinguish between the sons of Ann named John and Alexander. In reproducing these children's pictures on page 4991, we have speculated on the identity of these two sons based on their dates of birth. Perhaps with the publication of these photographs, someone will be able to determine positively which is which. Ann (Linton) Sparks's photograph from this collage appears on page 4983.
Children of Thomas H. Sparks by His First Wife, Mary Ann Leonard:
25.2.1 Martha A. M. E. T. Sparks, was born April 27, 1836; she died on May 11, 1836.
25.2.2 Medora Newton Sparks was born August 16, 1837; she died on March 11, 1880. She married, on January 14, 1857, in Cedartown, Georgia, to Col. James D. Waddell, who had been born in Abbeville District, South Carolina, on December 22, 1832; he died in Marietta, Georgia, on December 15, 1881. Both were buried in Marietta. They had no children. Portraits of Col. James D. and Medora (Sparks) Waddell were published on page 361 of the Quarterly for March 1959, Whole No. 25. A record also appears there of Col. Waddell's military career in the Confederate Army.
25.2.3 James Martin Sparks was born October 11, 1839; he died on March 5, 1876. He married Lula Virginia Blance in Cedartown, Georgia, on December 2, 1858. ["Lula" may have been a nickname for Louisa, which the census taker in 1860 recorded as her name.) According to The family Bible of his father, the marriage was performed "at the residence of Col. H. Fielders in Cedartown at 8 o'clock P.M. by the Rev. J. M. Wood."
Lula Virginia Blance was a sister-in-law of Col. Fielders. A grandchild of James Martin Sparks, Annie Sue (Brewer) Morgan, recalled many years ago that her mother, Medora Waddell (Sparks) Brewer, told her that, on his wedding day, James Martin Sparks had been given twenty slaves and a plantation by his father. James sold his plantation, investing in Confederate bonds, early in the Civil War, throughout which he served as an officer in the army, advancing to the rank of colonel. Financially ruined at the end of the war, James had also lost his health due to "heart dropsy." He died at the age of thirty-eight, on March 5, 1876. His widow, who supported the family by teaching school, lived until May 18, 1888. Both were buried in Westwood Cemetery, in Cedartown, Polk County, Georgia.
Portraits of James Martin and Lula Virginia (Blance) Sparks, may be found in an article regarding their lives and family in the Quarterly of March 1959, Whole No. 25, pp. 360-66. We will not repeat that information here, except to list the names of their children.
25.2.3.1 Medora Waddell Sparks, born September 15, 1859; died September 8, 1937.
25.2.3.2 James M. Sparks, Jr., born October 6, 1861; date of death not known.
25.2.3.3 Mary E. Sparks, born ca. 1863; died May 13, 1863.
25.2.3.4 Joseph Blance Sparks, born ca. 1865; died October 6, 1865.
25.2.3.5 Annie D. Sparks, born September 17, 1866; died October 20, 1884.
25.2.3.6 Eugene Pierce Sparks, born March 21, 1871; died May 1, 1943.[Editor's Note:A great-grandson of Medora Waddell Sparks (her husband was George W. Brewer) was Curtis Taylor Gay, born September 29, 1947.Curtis' name is one of some 58,000 names carved on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. See photograph on page 4595 of the Quarterly of March 1996, Whole No. 173. He was killed in action on January 20, 1968, while defending a bunker on the summit of Ke Sien Mountain in the Battle of Qui Nhon.]
Children of Thomas H. Sparks by His Second Wife, Ann Linton:
25.2.4 Linton Sparks, son of Thomas H. and Ann (Linton) Sparks, was born January 18, 1846; he died on September 20, 1913. (The family Bible of his parents gives his name as Linton Sparks, but some descendants give it as "Thomas Linton Sparks".) He married, in Cedartown, Georgia, on December 17, 1867, Sarah Elizabeth Wimberly, daughter of Capt. Henry Franklin and Anna (Wood) Wimberly. (See Sallie McHenry's sketch of their lives following this article.)
Sarah Elizabeth Wimberly had been born June 5, 1846; she died on July 5, 1912. Both Linton and Sarah were buried at Cave Spring, in Floyd County, Georgia.Their children:
25.2.4.1 Eula Sparks was born November 16, 1869, in Rome, Georgia; she died in Wilmington, North Carolina, on August 6, 1949. She married, in Cave Spring, Georgia, on January 4, 1893, Joshua Hill Foster, Sr. of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Their children:
25.2.4.1.1 Linton Foster, born April 2, 1894, died June 1, 1898.
25.2.4.1.2 Frances Cornelia Foster, born December 19, 1895, died January 16. She married Henry Hale, and they lived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.Their children:
25.2.4.1.2.1 Henry Harrison Hale
25.2.4.1.2.2 Dayton Hale,
25.2.4.1.2.3 Cornelia Hale
25.2.4.1.2.4 Frances Hale (twin to Cornelia). The latter married Forrest Patterson.25.2.4.1.3 Joshua Hill Foster, Jr., born January 2, 1897, died January 5, 1897. He was buried in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
25.2.4.1.4 lone Foster, born May 26, 1899. She married Howard A. Hanby. They lived in Wilmington, North Carolina. They had no children.
25.2.4.1.5 Frank Foster, born May 22, 1902. He married Anne Farrar Turner of Louisa County, Virginia. who had been born on May 31, 1915. Their children:
25.2.4.1.5.1 Frank Foster, Jr., born in 1936
25.2.4.1.5.2 William Hill Foster, born in 1951
25.2.4.1.5.3 Patricia Farrar Foster, born in 1949.25.2.4.1.6 Helen Foster, born January 2, 1905, in Anniston, Alabama. She married John Segar Newcomb in Wilmington, North Carolina, on June 20, 1938. He had been born in Gloucester County, Virginia, on May 12, 1890. They had a son:
25.2.4.1.6 John Foster, born April 23, 1839.
25.2.4.2 Ione Sparks, daughter of Linton and Sarah (Wimberly) Sparks, was born in 1871, died July 5, 1945. She married Samuel L. Crook and lived in Anniston, Alabama. Their children:
25.2.4.2.1 Margaret Crook. She married General Edward Almond.
25.2.4.2.2 Eula Crook. She married Hunt Vaden.
25.2.4.2.3 Samuel Linton Crook.25.2.4.3 Linton Sparks, Jr. was born in 1873. He married and lived in Georgia. Their children:
25.2.4.3.1 Linton Sparks, III.
25.2.4.3.2 Eula lone Sparks.25.2.4.4 Frank Sparks was born in Aetna, Georgia, on December 12, 1874. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he was a professional baseball player. His career began in the Southern League, and he later pitched for the teams of Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, New York, Boston, and, from 1903 through 1910, for Philadelphia. He was married twice; the name of his first wife is not known. In May 1936, in Anniston, Alabama, he married, second, Mrs. Sadie (Patterson) Comer, widow of J. W. Comer. They had no children.
25.2.4.5 Hal Sparks was born in 1877. He married late in life. He had no children.
25.2.4.6 Lillian Sparks was born in 1880; she died in 1957. She married C. W. Davis, and they were the parents of the following children:25.2.4.6.1 Chievous W. Davis, Jr. He married Page Luck of Ashland,Virginia. Their children:
25.2.4.5.1.1 Chievous Whitney Davis
25.2.4.5.1.2 Daughter Davis25.2.4.6.2 Hal Davis
25.2.4.7 Sarah Jane Sparks, daughter of Thomas H. and Ann (Linton) Sparks, was born August 13, 1848; she died on September 27, 1912, and was buried in Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Rome, Georgia. She married in Athens, Georgia, on May 17,1871, Hines Maguire Smith, who had been born January 19, 1850; he died on June 8, 1935. He was the son of Major Charles H. Smith, C.S.A., born 1826, died 1903, a noted humorist of his day who wrote under the pseudonym of "Bill Arp," and Mary Octavia Hutchins. Children of Hines Maguire and Sarah Jane (Sparks) Smith:
25.2.4.7.1 Charles Henry Smith was born in Athens, Georgia, on June 15, 1872; he died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on August 11, 1964. He married on June 15, 1922, in St. Paul, Minnesota, Caryl Mabel Ervin of Yellow Springs, Ohio. She had been born January 19, 1890, and was a daughter of Robert and Martha (George) Ervin. Known as Mabel, she died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 4, 1964, and was buried in Rome, Georgia. It was Charles H. Smith who provided this writer with many of the family records contained in this article.(See his autobiographical sketch in the Quarterly of March 1958.) Their children:
25.2.4.7.1.1 Charles Henry Smith, Jr., born April 11, 1923. On August 23, 1952, he married Mary Elizabeth Lenhart, who had been born October 21, 1930. Their children:
25.2.4.7.1.1.1 Cynthia Jean Smith born in 1953
25.2.4.7.1.1.2 Roger Alan Smith, born in 1960.25.2.4.7.1.2 Mabel Sara Ann Smith, known as Sally, born March 21, 1926. On January 31, 1948, she married Harvey Spicer Miller, who had been born March 1, 1923. He died tragically in a car accident in December 1963.Their children:
25.2.4.7.1.2.1 Jay Allan Miller, born in 1957
25.2.4.7.1.2.2 Sara Beth Miller, born in 1960.On July 16, 1966, Sally married, secondly, Stanley R. Scott.
25.2.4.7.2 Linton Sparks Smith was born November 8, 1873; he died on August 8,1906. He married Mabel Bradford on May 15, 1905,in Memphis, Tennessee.
25.2.4.7.3 Hines Hunter Smith was born October 5, 1877; he died at Bay Pines, Florida, on May 18, 1948. He married Belle Dawson Richie on June 15, 1904.
25.2.4.7.4 Victor Alexander Smith was born December 6, 1881, at Rome, Georgia. He married Rebecca Veal on April 20, 1910.
25.2.4.7.5 Hines Maguire Smith, Jr., was born May 17, 1887; he died at Rome, Georgia, on April 22, 1889.
25.2.4.7.6 Sarah Smith was born March 17, 1890. She married George K. Henshall, who was born May 3, 1887, at Richmond, Virginia. Their children:
25.2.4.7.6.1 Sarah Jane Henshall, born April 3, 1912.
25.2.4.7.6.2 George Kenneth Henshall, born May 12, 1914.
25.2.4.7.6.3 Ann Holt Henshall, born December 8, 1918.25.2.4.8 Thomas Hunter Sparks, Jr. was born April 22, 1850; he died on June 25, 1893, in Tyler, Texas. He never married.
25.2.4.9 William Daniel Sparks was born September 3, 1851, in Polk County, Georgia. He married Annie Elizabeth Wimberly at Pryors Station, Georgia, in the temporary home of his bride's mother, on June 1, 1882. Annie had been born at Cedartown in Polk County, Georgia, on July 4, 1858, and was the daughter of Capt. Henry Franklin and Anna (Wood) Wimberly.
(See Sallie McHenry's sketch of their lives following this article.) Annie Wimberly's sister, Sarah Elizabeth Wimberly, had been married to 25.2.4.3 Linton Sparks, brother of 25.2.4.9 William Daniel Sparks, in 1867.
A record of Wimberly Family marriages from the family Bible (New York: American Bible Society, 1841) of Capt. Henry Franklin and Ann C. (Wood) Wimberly.
William Daniel and Annie (Wimberly) Sparks began their family in Georgia with two children, then moved to Alabama where they added five more. They settled later in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where William Daniel Sparks was a sales agent for the J. R. Barnes Coal Company. William Daniel and Annie (Wimberly) Sparks retired to Punta Gorda, Florida. She died there on January 9, 1926, as did he, on March 3, 1943. Sallie McHenry of 14225 Dickens St., #7, Sherman Oaks, California (91423), a great granddaughter of Annie (Wimberly) Sparks, owns her Bible where the births of their children were recorded. Their children:
25.2.4.9.1 Annie Linton Sparks was born February 16, 1883, at Etna, Polk County, Georgia. She married Gregory Miller Omberg in Rome, Georgia, on September 3, 1901, and later lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She died in January 1977 while residing as a widow in Pennsylvania with one of her daughters.Their children:
25.2.4.9.1.1 William Gregory Omberg. He married FNU Gall
25.2.4.9.1.2 Sallie Elizabeth Omberg. She married Harvey Black.
25.2.4.9.1.3 Sparks Omberg. He married FNU Kirkie; he died in 1960.
25.2.4.9.1.4 Anne Omberg. She died as an infant
25.2.4.9.1.5 Mary Sue Omberg.
25.2.4.9.1.6 Edgar Omberg. He died as an infant.
25.2.4.9.1.7 Charles Franklin Omberg.25.2.4.9.2 William Randolph Sparks was born February 16, 1885, at Etna, Georgia; he died on April 18, 1951, at Tampa, Florida, and he was buried in Punta Gorda. He was a professional accountant and the owner of a sporting goods store at Punta Gorda. He married, prior to 1918, a widow named Louella Armstrong; she had a son by her previous marriage. William R. Sparks had no children of his own.
25.2.4.9.3 Lora Aline Sparks was born December 12, 1887, at Rock Run, Cherokee County, Alabama. She died on February 10, 1888,
25.2.4.9.4 Sallie Wimberly Sparks was born November 18, 1888, at Rock Run, Alabama. She married Thomas McHenry, Jr. on June 3, 1919, in the Highland Park Methodist Church, South, Chattanooga, Tennessee. He had been born December 18, 1880, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. This later became the north side of Pittsburgh.
Thomas McHenry, Jr. was the son of a pharmacist, Thomas McHenry, Sr. who was born September 20, 1850, in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and died there on March 26, 1936. On December 18, 1877, Thomas McHenry, Sr. had been married to Sarah Catharine Wilson, who had been born August 5, 1855, in Ohio; she died on January 2, 1881, just over two weeks after giving birth to her son. The children of Thomas McHenry, Sr. and Sarah Catherine Wilson:
Katherine McHenry
Thomas McHenry, Jr., who married 25.2.4.9.4 Sallie Wimberly Sparks.Thomas McHenry, Sr. was one of six sons of James McHenry, who had been born ca. 1823 in Ireland. Sarah Catharine Wilson was the daughter of Thomas C. Wilson, born July 13, 1827, and died June 2, 1877, and Catharine (Derrenberger) Wilson, born December 15, 1836, and died on April 24, 1902. A widow, Catharine moved in to raise her grandchildren, Thomas, Jr. and his older sister, Katharine. Thomas McHenry, Jr. was a 1904 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in civil engineering.
He worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Chattanooga, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. He died at home in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, on October 22, 1957. Sallie (Sparks) McHenry followed him to the grave on October 7, 1962. They were buried in Highwood Cemetery. (A photograph of Sallie Wimberly Sparks appears on the cover of this issue of the Quarterly, Whole No. 182, courtesy of her granddaughter, Sallie McHenry.) Thomas, Jr. and Sallie Wimberly (Sparks) McHenry were the parents of the following children:
25.2.4.9.4.2.1 Dr. Thomas McHenry, III was born June 6, 1920, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. On May 20, 1944, in East Liberty, Pennsylvania, he married Gloria Louise Schmitt, who had been born December 26, 1919, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the Medical School at the University of Pittsburgh in 1944, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army in World War II. Later, he had a long career as a pediatrician in private practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They had a daughter, Christine Louise McHenry, born in 1951.
25.2.4.9.4.2.2 William Sparks McHenry was born February 24, 1923, in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army, and his future wife was a volunteer nurse's aide. On September 6, 1947, in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, he married Adelaide Kowaleska, who had been born there on December 16, 1923. He graduated in 1949 from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in industrial engineering. He had a thirty-four-year career with the General Electric Company in Ohio and Illinois. Adelaide (Kowaleska) McHenry died in Chandler, Arizona, on September 5, 1994, and was buried in Green Acres Cemetery in Scottsdale, Arizona. The children of William Sparks and Adelaide (Kowaleska) McHenry are:
25.2.4.9.4.2.2.1 Sallie Ann Sparks, born in 1949
25.2.4.9.4.2.2.2 Susan Alice Sparks, born in 1951
25.2.4.9.4.2.2.3 Robert William Sparks
25.2.4.9.4.2.2.4 David (twin to Robert William) Sparks, born in 1953.He married, (second), Ruth Dahn, on March 22, 1997, in Scottsdale.
[Editor's Note: Sallie Ann McHenry, as noted earlier in this article, has contributed significantly to this article.]
25.2.4.9.4.2.3 Frank Wilson McHenry was born July 30, 1927, in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, and he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in civil engineering. On October 3, 1953, in Edgeworth, Pennsylvania, he married Betty Ruth Sittig, who had been born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, on December 21, 1926. He had a career in the Pittsburgh area in the steel iron industry. They were the parents of two sons, and a daughter:
25.2.4.9.4.2.3.1 Gregg Wilson McHenry, born in 1956, and
25.2.4.9.4.2.3.2 Brian Ford McHenry, born in 1961,
25.2.4.9.4.2.3.3 Rebecca Ann McHenry, born in 1963.25.2.4.9.5 Ruth Sparks, daughter of William Daniel and Annie (Wimberly) Sparks, was born February 19, 1892; she died at Rock Run, Alabama, on May 2, 1893.
25.2.4.9.6 Franklin Hunter Sparks was born September 19, 1893, at Rock Run, Alabama. He married on June 23, 1923, Willie Lou Johnson, daughter of William Burrell and Mary Lenora (Smith) Johnson, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They had no children.
25.2.4.9.7 Charles Augustus Sparks was born June 21, 1895, at Rock Run, Alabama. He served in World War I. In 1964, he published a novel entitled "Birthmark," under the pen name "Charles Augustus." He married Olivette Cowart and lived in Atlanta, Georgia. They had one adopted daughter.
25.2.4.10 Carter Whatley Sparks was born February 17, 1853. He died on August 16, 1863, after his parents had moved to Arkansas. In his parents' family Bible, the disease that took his life was called "congestion of the brain." He shares a grave with his father in Bozeman Cemetery near Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
25.2.4.11 Samuel Peeples Sparks was born December 28, 1854. He died on October 29, 1894, in Atlanta, Georgia. He married on November 27, 1889, a widow, Emma C. Edwards, of Atlanta. He was buried at Cave Spring, Georgia.
25.2.4.12 John Veasey Sparks was born March 16, 1856; he died on March 14, 1901, at Bessemer, Alabama. He never married. He was buried in the Sparks lot in the Myrtle Hill Cemetery at Rome, Georgia.
25.2.4.13 Alexander H. Sparks was born August 29, 1857; he died on March 1, 1906. He was killed by a train at Rosepine, Louisiana, and was buried at Neame, Louisiana.
25.2.4.14 Mary Elizabeth Sparks was born November 1, 1859; she died the same day, after living about ten hours.
25.2.4.15 Annie Elizabeth Townes Sparks was born December 29, 1860; she died on July 18, 1938. She married David Blount Hamilton, Jr. on October 27, 1881, in Rome, Georgia. He had been born September 17, 1869; he died on July 6, 1921.Their six children:
25.2.4.15.1 Martha Harper Hamilton was born March 27, 1883; she died on September 9, 1924. She married Elmer Parker Grant, Sr. on October 16, 1902. Their children:
25.2.4.15.1.1 Hamilton Grant.
25.2.4.15.1.2 Wallace Grant.
25.2.4.15.1.3 Martha Grant.
25.2.4.15.1.4 Elmer Parker Grant, Jr.
25.2.4.15.1.5 Hunter Grant.25.2.4.15.2 Anne Sparks Hamilton was born June 19, 1884. She did not marry.
25.2.4.15.3 Sarah Linton Hamilton was born February 17, 1886. She married James Boyce Brooks on September 21, 1914. Their three children:
25.2.4.15.3.1 James Brooks.
25.2.4.15.3.2 David Brooks.
25.2.4.15.3.3 Paul Brooks.25.2.4.15.4 David Emanual Hamilton was born March 1, 1888. He married Addie Belle Gray in June 1919.Their two children:
25.2.4.15.4.1 George Gray Hamilton.
25.2.4.15.3.2 David Blount Hamilton.25.2.4.15.5 Linton Alexander Hamilton was born November 11, 1889; he died onJanuary 5, 1929. He married Hazel Fraze in November 1913. They were the parents of two children:
25.2.4.15.5.1 Juliette Hamilton; she married FNU Steele.
25.2.4.15.3.2 Hazel Hamilton.25.2.4.15.6 Florence Linton Hamilton was born October 5, 1896; she died on January 14, 1957. She married Elmer Parker Grant on November 5, 1927.
25.2.4.16 Charles Sankey Sparks was born July 8 1863, in Clarke County, Arkansas; he died on February 23, 1929, in Rome, Georgia. He married Lee Ella Smith in Rome, Georgia, on October 15, 1891. She had been born in 1862; she died on October 27, 1939. Both were buried in the Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Rome, Georgia. They had no children.
