February 22, 2020
Pages 2023-2024
Whole Number 103
SPARKS FAMILIES LISTED ON THE 1820 CENSUS OF PENNSYLVANIA
In earlier issues of the Quarterly, Sparks entries in Pennsylvania census records have been published which, with the present listing, provide a complete record from the first federal census of 1790 through 1830.
Sparkses listed on the 1790 census appeared in the first issue of the Quarterly (March, 1953).
In the issue for September, 1976 (Whole No. 95, p. 1854), we presented a listing of the Sparkses appearing on the 1800 census of Pennsylvania.
In the Quarterly of September 1977 (Whole No. 99, pp. 1926-27), we published a record of Sparkses listed on the 1810 census of Pennsylvania.
The record of Sparkses appearing on the 1830 census of the state appeared in the Quarterly of March 1977 (Whole No. 97, pp. 1882-83).
Here we fill in the record for 1820.
In all federal census records prior to that of 1850, only the name of the head of each household was recorded, followed by an enumeration of the other members of the household by age category and by sex. In most instances, the head of each household was the oldest male member enumerated, while those represented only by numbers were members of his family. It should be remembered, however, that each entry represented a household rather than a family, and persons employed by the head of the household who were living with him were included in the enumeration, along with guests, roomers, apprentices, relatives, and friends who were living under his roof on the day that the census taker called. It should be remembered also that the age categories of those enumerated, including the person named as head, were often only estimated by whomever it was that talked to the census taker, and errors were, frequent.
The figure in parentheses following each name is the page of the census which is preserved in the National Archives in Washington.
The 1820 census was used by the government at the time to estimate the military strength of the country by providing a special column for able bodied men between the ages of 16 and 18. In the column following this, for males between 16 and 26, census takers were instructed to include only those between 16 and 18 who were unfit for military service. There seems to have been however, considerable confusion on this point, and we cannot be sure that each census taker followed the directions correctly.
| Males | |||| | Females | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <10 | 10 16 |
16 18 |
18 20 |
26 45 |
45+ | |||| | <10 | 10 16 |
16 18 |
16 20 |
26 45 |
45+ | |
| Alleghany County | |||||||||||||
| Elizabeth Township | |||||||||||||
Rachel Sparks (177) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||| | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Plumb Township | |||||||||||||
James Sparks (20) |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||| | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ross Township | |||||||||||||
Henery Sparks (239) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||| | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bedford County | |||||||||||||
| Providence Township | |||||||||||||
Joseph Sparks, Jr. (80) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||| | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
James Sparks (81) |
0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||| | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Solomon Sparks (83) |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |||| | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Chloe Sparks (86) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||| | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Joseph Sparks (86) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||| | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
James Sparks, Jr. (87) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||| | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fayette County | |||||||||||||
| Washington Township | |||||||||||||
Isaac Sparks (114) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||| | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Anna Sparks (115) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||| | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Northumberland County | |||||||||||||
| Augusta Township | |||||||||||||
Widow Sparks (23) |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||| | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Philadelphia County (out-side the City of Philadelphia) | |||||||||||||
| Northern Liberties Dist. | |||||||||||||
Bruno Sparks (83) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||| | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Southwark Dist. |
Jacob F. Sparks (72) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||| | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Samuel Sparks (149) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||| | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Thomas Sparks (153) |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||| | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| City of Philadelphia | |||||||||||||
| Cedar Ward | |||||||||||||
Eliza Sparks (22) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||| | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chestnut & Walnut Ward | |||||||||||||
Hugh Sparks(57) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||| | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dock Ward | |||||||||||||
Sarah Sparks (81) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||| | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Middle Ward | |||||||||||||
Henry Sparks(167) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||| | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Susquehanna County | |||||||||||||
| Gibson Township | |||||||||||||
David Sparks (19) |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |||| | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Washington County | |||||||||||||
| Hopewell Township | |||||||||||||
S. Sparks (4) |
2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||| | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Peters Township | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||| | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Jas Sparks (59) |
|||| | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||| | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Fallowfield Township | |||||||||||||
And. Sparks (65) |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||| | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |