| 10. | Solomon* Sparks, Sr was born in 1725 in Queen Anne's Co, Maryland (son of Joseph* Sparks, Sr and Mary (..) Sparks, (2nd wife?)); died in 1790 in Wilkes Co, North Carolina. Other Events and Attributes:
- Residence: Rowan Co, North Carolina
- Property: 20 Mar 1750, "Cold Friday," Linganore Creek, Frederick Co, Maryland; patented
- Residence: 1753, Rowan Co, North Carolina
- Property: 20 Jun 1753, "Cold Creek"; sold to Matthew Howard
Notes:
In Frederick Co, Maryland, on June 20, 1753, a Mathew Howard, son of Gideon Howard, purchased land from Solomon SPARKS of that county, "Cold Friday" on the draft of the Linganore called Beaver Dam Branch. Sarah, wife of Solomon Sparks, cond to the conveyance.
They moved to Rowan Co, NC, where he had obtained a land grant of 250 acres on the west side of the Yadkin River near Salisbury. They moved to what was Surry Co, NC, in 1772--now Swan Creek in Yadkin Co.
http://sparksfamilytree.net/family_tree/wga96.html#I22337
SPARKS QUARTLY, December 1955, Whole No. 12, p. 97:
THE GENEALOGY OF JOHN SPARKS REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSIONER OF WILKES COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
" As John Sparks (359) stated in his pension application (SQ 94), he was born on the 25th of February, 1753, near Salisbury, Rowan County,North Carolina , and removed with his father to what is now Wilkes (then Surry) County, North Carolina about the year 1772. John Sparks did not identify his father in his application, but other records prove that his name was Solomon Sparks (356). Surry County was formed from Rowan County in 1770, and the Surry tax lists for 1771 and 1772 have been preserved. On the 1771 tax list, Solomon Sparks is listed, with 3 polls, and William Sparks (???) with 1 poll; Will Sparks(199) and son Matthew(334), 2 polls; James Sparks, 1 poll; and Solomon Sparks (356), with sons Joseph (365) and John (359), 3 polls.
"Solomon Sparks lived in Maryland before settling in North Carolina and was very probably the son of Joseph Sparks (344) who died intestate in Frederick County, Maryland in 1749.
"On the 20th of March 1750, Solomon Sparks patented 93 acres in Frederick County, Maryland, and gave his land the descriptive name of "Cold Friday". This land was located on Beaver Dam Branch, a tributary of Linganore Creek. On the 20th of June, 1753, Solomon Sparks and his wife , Sarah, sold these 93 acres for 34 Pounds, to Mathew Howard. Solomon is disignated in this deed as a "farmer".
"If Solomon Sparks and his wife Sarah were living in Frederick County, Maryland, as late as June 20, 1753, as this deed would indicate , then their son John, born February 25, 1753, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, rather than in Rowan County, North Carolina, and was carried to North Carolina as a babe in arms. Although we cannot be sure of the exact date, it is reasonably certain that Solomon Sparks removed with his family some time in 1753 to near Salisbury, Rowan County, N.C. (Rowan County was formed April 12, 1753, from Anson County.)
"The following description of Salisbury is found in a letter written on November 24, 1755, by Governor Arthur Dobbs: "The Yadkin here (Trading Ford) is a large beautiful river where is a ferry. It is near 300 yards over, it was at this time fordable scarce coming to the horses bellies. At 6 miles distance I arrived at Salisbury the County town of Rowan, the town is but just laid out, the Court House build and 7 or 8 log houses erected."
"The Sparkses settled in the Forks of the Yadkin, less than ten miles north of Salisbury, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina .Solomon Sparks obtained a land grant in 1761, for 25O acres in Rowan County, on the west side of the Yadkin River, opposite the mouth of Muddy Creek. In 1762 he obtained a grant for 290 acres on the south side of the Yadkin River, which adjoined his other land. In 1763 Solomon sold 130 and 3/4 acres to Jonas Sparks (354), and 159 and 1/ 4 acres to Valentine Vanhouser. According to the statement made by John Sparks in his pension application, Solomon Sparks and his family removed from Rowan County to "what is now Wilkes (then Surry) County, North Carolina, about the year 1772." In 1787, as residents of Surry County, North Carolina,Solomon and Sarah Sparks sold 160 acres in Rowan County to Zephemiah Harris, and in 1788 they sold 170 (?) acres in Rowan County to Jonas Sparks. Solomon and Sarah Sparks disappear from North Carolina records after 1788. Solomon does not appear on the 1790 census, and there is nowill, no intestate record, and no record of Solomon and Sarah Sparks buying or selling land in Surry or Wilkes Counties, although when the Surry-Wilkes County Line wa s surveyed in 1778 it mentioned the plantation of Solomon Sparks. (Here follows a full copy of the description of the dividing line between Surry Co. and Wilkes Co.)
"Thus Solomon Sparks lived just south of the village of Swan Creek in the western part of Surry (now Yadkin) County, North Carolina, with land in Wilkes as well as in Surry. Around 1800 the Sparkses and their connections owned land for several miles along the Surry (now Yadkin)-Wilkes County line and there are still many descendants in that area today.
"It is believed that Solomon and Sarah Sparks were both deceased by 1800, or possibly by 1790. Since neither of them left a will, and no family Bible or other record has been located, it has been difficult to ascertain the names of the children of this couple. However, a power of attorney recorded in Wilkes County, North Carolina, Court Minutes, on Tuesday, August 4, 18O1, gives what we feel certain is a listing of at least eight of the children of Solomon and Sarah Sparks. (Here follows a copy of the power of attorney. The article continues as to Solomon and Sarah's son John Sparks, for which see his notes.)"
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THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1959, Whole No. 26; DESCENDANTS OF SOLOMON SPARKS, JR. (DIED 1817) & AND HIS WIFE CHARITY OF WILKES COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, Page 382:
"In an article by William Perry Johnson entitled "The Genealogy of John Sparks, Revolutionary War Pensioner of Wilkes County, North Carolina," which appeared in the QUARTERLY of December, 1955 (Vol. III,No. 4, p p. 97-104), the data were summarized which have been gleaned thus far on the life of Solomon Sparks, early settler in Wilkes County, North Carolina. In his article, Mr. Johnson pointed out that Solomon Sparks was probably born in Frederick County, Maryland, and that he was probably a son of Joseph Sparks who died in Frederick County, Maryland,in 1749. Solomon Sparks, with his wife Sarah, and family moved fromFrederick County, Maryland, to near Salisbury, Rowan County (now DavieCounty), North Carolina, sometime during the year 1753. They settled in the forks of the Yadkin River where Solomon obtained a land grant of 250 acres in 1761 near the mouth of Muddy Creek. About 1772 they moved from Rowan County to what is now Wilkes (then a part of Surry) County, North Carolina.
"The last record we have of Solomon and Sarah Sparks is dated 1788 when they sold land which they still owned in Rowan County to Jonas Sparks. (Jonas Sparks was probably a brother of Solomon and accompanied Daniel Boone to Kentucky in 1773...")
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THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, September, 1967, Whole No. 59, p 1082,
DESCENDANTS OF SOLOMON AND SARAH SPARKS, OF MARYLAND AND NORTH CAROLINA
THROUGH THEIR SON, REUBEN SPARKS (ca. 1755-1840)
"Solomon Sparks was born in Maryland about 1725. It is probable that he was a son of Joseph Sparks who died intestate in Frederick County , Maryland, in 1749. (Solomon named one of his sons Joseph, probably for his father.) Sometime before 1750, Solomon Sparks married Sarah -----.
"On March 20, 1750, Solomon Sparks patented 93 acres of land in Frederick County, Maryland, and gave this tract the descriptive name of Cold Friday. This land was located on Beaver Dam Branch, a tributary of Linganore Creek. On June 20, 1753, Solomon Sparks and his wife Sarah, sold this tract of 93 acres for 35 pounds to Mathew Howard. Solomon is designated in this deed as a "farmer."
"Sometime in 1753, probably soon after selling this tract of land , Solomon Sparks moved from Frederick County, Maryland, to near Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina. (Rowan County was formed on April 12, 1753 from Anson County.) Solomon and Sarah Sparks were among the first settlers in that area of North Carolina. Two years after their arrival, Governor Arthur Dobbs visited Salisbury and wrote the following description on November 24, 1755: "The Yadkin here (Trading Ford ) is a large beautiful river where there is a ferry. It is near 300 yards over, it was at this time fordable scarce coming to the horses' bellies. At 6 miles distance I arrived at Salisbury the County town of Rowan, the town is but just laid out, the Court House built and 7 or 8 log Houses erected." (From THE COLONIAL RECORDS OF NORTH CAROLINA, Vol. 5, page 355.)
"Solomon Sparks settled in the Forks of the Yadkin, less than ten miles north of Salisbury, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina. In 1761, he obtained a land grant for 250 acres in Rowan County, on the west side of the Yadkin River, opposite the mouth of Muddy Creek. In 1762, he obtained a grant for 290 acres on the south side of the Yadkin River, which adjoined his other grant.
"By the early 1760's, Solomon Sparks had been joined in North Carolina by several of his close relatives from Frederick County, Maryland: Matthew Sparks [256], son of William Sample Sparks who was a cousin of Solomon], William Sample Sparks [201], son of William Sparks who was brother of Solomon's father, Joseph and, thus, was Solomon's cousin, Jonas Sparks [354], brother of Solomon, and James Sparks [355], brother of Matthew and another first cousin once removed of Solomon].
"In 1763, Solomon Sparks sold a portion of his land on the Yadkin to Jonas Sparks, who was probably (actually) his brother, and another portion to Valentine Vanhouser. According to a statement made by John Sparks , son of Solomon, when applying for a Revolutionary War pension in 1832, Solomon Sparks and his family moved from the Forks of the Yadkin to what is now Wilkes County (then Surry County), North Carolina, in 1772. When the dividing line between Wilkes and Surry counties was surveyed in 1778, it was found that the like cut through Solomon's plantation, but according to the Court Minutes, his house was on the Surry side. Thus , Solomon Sparks lived just south of the present village of Swan Creek in the western part of what is now Yadkin County, North Carolina.
"By 1800, Solomon and Sarah sparks had both died. Neither of them left a will, nor has a family Bible record been found listing the names of their children. However, a document recorded in the Wilkes County Court Records reveals the names of those still living in the Wilkes County area in 1801. It is a Letter of Attorney dated July 31, 1801, from John Sparks, Reuben Sparks, Solomon Sparks, Jr., Mary Jacks, Hannah Denny, Susannah Johns on, and Joseph Sparks to Abel Sparks, all being children of Solomon Spark s. We know from his application for a pension that John Sparks, son of Solo mon, was born in 1753; it seems probable that he was the oldest son.
"Assuming that the other children were listed in the Letter of Attorney in the order of their birth, we may speculate on their birth dates as follows: [here is a list of the eight children of Solomon and Sarah Sparks].
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THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1991, Whole No. 154, p. 3777:
WILLIAM SPARKS, ca .1725-1801/02
"We know that Solomon Sparks, older brother of Jonas, and close neighbor of William Sparks in Surry County, remained openly loyal to the British Crown. This is graphically revealed in an application for a Revolutionary War Pension application by one George Parks, dated April 10, 1833. Congress had passed legislation in 1832 providing pensions for all surviving Revolutionary War soldiers whether or not they were in financial need, and Parks was one of those who applied. Like many of his fellow veterans, however, Parks could find no documentary proof of his service, which was required by the War Department before a pension could be issued. What veterans with this problem often did, besides seeking affidavits from others who remembered their service, was to try to recall in as much detail as possible the events during the war in which they had been participants. This George Parks did in his application. He recalled that at the time of the Revolution, he had lived in that part of Surry County, North Carolina, that was cut off to form Wilkes County in 1777 and that in 1779, he thought "in the fall season," he had enlisted in a "Company of Minute Men" for a period of eighteen months . It was the primary mission of this company, which was commanded by Captain William Lenore, to find men in their neighborhood who belonged to Tory military units. Some they would hang when they captured them, while others were whipped "nearly to death." They also punished civilians who were judged to be Loyalists, but less severely.
"One of the incidents recalled by Parks had involved "Old Solomon Sparks," whom he described as "a celebrated Tory." He and several other men from Captain Lenore's Company were determined to punish Solomon for his Tory sentiments, but they knew that he was aware of this danger and was usually armed. In order to entice him out of his house unarmed, Parks reca lled how he and his comrades had "employed a Whig from a distant neighborhood and a stranger to said Old Tory, to decoy him out of his house without his gun under the pretence of being a traveller & inquiring the Road." Parks stated that the stranger "succeeded admirably" and that Solomon had, indeed, stepped outside his house unarmed to point the way for the stranger.
"The soldiers, who had been hiding, then grabbed Solomon. "He fought bravely without arms," Parks admitted with a certain degree of admiration, and in the fracas, Solomon had "considerably injured this applicant by kicking him." The soldiers had succeeded in overpowering Solomon Sparks, however, and "he was sent down the Yadkin in a Canoe...tied hand and foot, on his back. " Although Solomon's plight must have been quite precarious, Parks recalled that "he repeatedly hallowed 'hurra for King George'," as he floated helplessly downstream. (See Park's Revolutionary War Pension File, W27456; BLWt. 53670-150-55 at the National Archives.)
"Who finally rescued Solomon Sparks we do not know, but he did survive his ordeal for he was still living in 1788 when he sold to his brother, Jonas, the last of his land in the Forks of the Yadkin."
In 1749, Solomon Sparks signed a petition, with others, for the establishment of a road from their new church in the Linganore Creek area of Frederick County to "Baltimoretown" and "Annapolistown." See PIONEERS OF OLD MONOCACY, The Early Settlement of Frederick County, Maryland, 1721-1743, Grace L. Tracey & John P. Dern, pg 102-3.
http://www.sparksfamilytree.net/ghtout/npr561.html#H02936
Residence:
"If Solomon Sparks and his wife Sarah were living in Frederick County, Maryland, as late as June 20, 1753, as this deed would indicate , then their son John, born February 25, 1753, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, rather than in Rowan County, North Carolina, and was carried to North Carolina as a babe in arms. Although we cannot be sure of the exact date, it is reasonably certain that Solomon Sparks removed with his family some time in 1753 to near Salisbury, Rowan County, N.C. (Rowan County was formed April 12,1753, from Anson County.)
http://www.sparksfamilytree.net/ghtout/npr561.html#H02936
Solomon* married Sarah* Thompson (?) in 1752 in Frederick Co, Maryland. Sarah* was born in 1730 in Frederick, Frederick Co, Maryland; died on 23 Aug 1831 in Carroll Co, Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1784 - 1854 (69 years)