November 29, 2020
Pages 3577-3579
Whole Number 149
SPARKS HOUSEHOLDS APPEARING ON
THE 1820 AND 1830 CENSUSES OF MISSISSIPPI
In 1817, Mississippi became the 20th state to enter the Union. Its first federal census was taken in 1820, at which time there were 17 counties. As seen below, households headed by persons named Sparks were found in only one county that year--Lawrence County. by 1830, through the subdivision of a number of the original counties and the acquisition of Indian-held lands, the total number of counties had increased to 27, in four of which Sparks households were enumerated.
A record of Sparkses appearing as heads of households on the 1840 census of Mississippi was published in the Quarterly of March 1977, Whole No. 97, p. 1884. When the 1850 census was taken, all free persons were listed by name, whether or not they headed a household; a record of Sparkses appearing on the 1850 census of Mississippi was published in the Quarterly of March 1968, Whole No. 61, pp. 1126-1133.
William Sparks, shown as heading a household in Lawrence County in 1820, was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, on April 3, 1761, a son of Matthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks. His wife's maiden name was Mary Fielder. He served in the American Revolution in a campaign against the Cherokee Indians. (See the Quarterly of March and June 1954, Nos. 5 and 6, for a record of his service as revealed in his subsequent application for a pension.) At the close of the Revolution, he accompanied his parents to Georgia where his father was killed by Indians in 1793. In 1811, William Sparks moved his family to Mississippi, settling in that part of Marion County which was cut off in 1814 to form Lawrence County. His eldest son, Richard Sparks, born ca.1793, was married there to Elizabeth Cooper in 1812. Both William Sparks and his son, Richard, were shown as heading households in Lawrence County on the 1820 census.
When the 1830 census was taken, William Sparks was still in Lawrence County, but by then his son, Richard, was living in Yazoo County from which he served in the Mississippi State Legislature in 1828, 1829, and 1831. Richard Sparks moved to Texas in 1834 where he was killed by Indians while surveying land in 1838.
The John Sparks shown on the 1830 census of Yazoo County, as well as the James Sparks shown there, were also sons of William and Mary (Fielder) Sparks. In 1836, William Sparks also moved to Yazoo County to be near his sons, settling in that part which became Holmes County in 1833. John Sparks, born ca.1804, was married in Lawrence County to Joanna Parkman in 1825; he died in 1854. James Sparks was born ca.1809, and he was married in Mississippi ca. 1835 to Massy C. Wadlington. He died in 1838.
For a detailed record of the life and family of William Sparks, including the lives of his sons mentioned above, see the Quarterly of June 1985, Whole No. 130; also that for September 1985, Whole No. 131, and that for June 1986, Whole No. 134.
The "Armand Sparks" shown as heading a household in Monroe County, Mississippi, in 1830 was actually Amon Sparks, born ca. 1795 in Union County, South Carolina, where he married Mary Ann Gibson ca. 1818. He and his bride then moved to Blount County, Alabama, and from there to Monroe County, Mississippi. Amon died there ca. 1835. See the Quarterly of September 1965, Whole No. 51, p. 933, for further information regarding him and his family.
The William H. Sparks shown as heading a household in Warren County, Mississippi, on the 1830 census, was born in Elmira, New York, in 1807, and died in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1896. He was married three times. His first marriage to Abitha Rochelle occurred in Warren County, Mississippi, on August 10, 1831. She died in 1832 in a steam boat accident on the Mississippi River on April 9, 1832. A fascinating story was handed down in this family regarding the accident, including an account of how William H. Sparks happened to meet the man many years later who had found Abitha's body along the river and had buried her in his own family plot. He had removed her wedding ring which he returned to William following their chance meeting. (See the Quarterly of September 1964, Whole No. 47, pp. 840-41 for this account and a record of the family of William H. Sparks.) The Hannah Sparks shown as heading a household in Warren County in 1830 was the mother of William H. Sparks. Her maiden name had been Hannah Jones, born in 1779 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. She was a sister of Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic of Texas.
| 1820 CENSUS OF MISSISSIPPI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | Females | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 10 |
10 16 |
16 18 |
16 26 |
26 45 |
45 up |
||| | 0 10 |
10 16 |
16 26 |
26 45 |
45 up |
||||||||||||||||
| Lawrence County | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Richard Sparks (page 147) | 4 | 2 | ||| | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| William Sparks | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||| | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| SPARKS HOUSEHOLDS APPEARING ON THE 1830 CENSUS OF MISSISSIPPI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | Females | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 5 |
5 10 |
10 15 |
15 20 |
20 30 |
30 40 |
40 50 |
50 60 |
60 70 |
70 80 |
80 90 |
90 100 |
+ 100 |
||| | 0 5 |
5 10 |
10 15 |
15 20 |
20 30 |
30 40 |
40 50 |
50 60 |
60 70 |
70 80 |
80 90 |
90 100 |
+ 100 |
|
| Lawrence County | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| William Sparks (p.63) | 2 | 1 | ||| | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monroe County | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Armand Sparks p.137 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||| | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Warren County | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| William H. Sparks p.199 |
2 | ||| | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hannah Sparks " | 1 | ||| | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yazoo County | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| James Sparks p.307 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||| | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| John Sparks " | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||| | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Richard Sparks " | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||| | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
[Note: James Sparks was shown on this census as owning 3 slaves, 2 males and 1 female. Richard Sparks was shown on this census as owning 6 slaves, 4 males and 2 females.]