Solomon Sparks, Jr

Other Events and Attributes:

• Will: 28 Dec 1817, Wilkes Co, North Carolina

Notes:

Will:
In the nuncupative will of his father dated December 28, 1817, Joseph and his brother, Jonathan, were referred to as Solomon's two youngest sons, and because each of his four oldest sons had received certain gifts either when they had come of age or had been married, Solomon directed that Jonathan and Joseph each receive the following: "One horse, bridle and saddle, one cow and calf, one sow and pigs, and one feather bed and furniture." ("Furniture" in this sense meant the bedding, etc. to go with a feather bed.) As noted earlier, Solomon died within a few days of his making his will.

http://www.sparksfamilytree.net/ghtout/npr445.html
SQ p 5311-5314

Solomon married Charity Snider in 1785 in Wilkes Co, North Carolina. Charity was born in 1759 in North Carolina; died in 1828 in Wilkes Co, North Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1830, Wilkes Co, North Carolina
• Census: 1860, Huntington Co, Indiana

Notes:

SQ 386-7 for information on Joseph and his wife Sabry (Sabra) Demmit and children:

"JOSEPH SPARKS. Joseph Sparks, sixth son of Solomon and Charity Sparks, was born betmen 1802 and 1804. In all likelihood, he was the Joseph Sparks who married Babry (or Sabra) Demmit in Wilkes County in 1822 (the marriage bond is dated February 4. 1822; Joseph Brown, bondsman). He and his wife were in Wells County in 1838 for on February 19, 1838, "Joseph Sparks, and wife, Sabary, of Wells County, Indiana" sold 40 acres of land to Albert Draper; Solomon Sparks witnessed the deed. "In October, 1838, Joseph and "Sabra" Sparks sold 80 acres of land in Wells County to Thomas T. Smith. By 1850 Joseph Sparks was living in Adams County, Indiana. His wife's name was given as "Sarae on the 1850 census, but on the 1860 census it was given as "Sabra." The age of Joseph Sparks was given as 47 on the 1850 census of Adams County, -which means that he was born about 1803. His birthplace was given as North Carolina; he was a farmer by occupation, and owned real estate valued at $600. Sabra's age was given as 49 in 1850, her birthplace as North Carolina. Living with Joseph Sparks in 1850 were: Ransom Sparks., 26 years old, born in North Carolina; Hampton Sparks, 24 years old, also born in North Carolina; and Mary Sparks, 14 years old, born in Indiana. Also living with the family in 1850 was an 18-year-old laborer named Benjamin Blue, born in Ohio.

"Joseph Sparks apparently died between 1850 and 1860, because on the 1860 census of Adams County, Sabra Sparks was listed as the head of the household [JS: No, they were divorced (see below) and he was living in Huntington County with his sister Rachael and her family in 1860]. Ransom Sparks, aged 36 in 1860, was still living with his mother, his occupation being given as "farmer." Mary Sparks was also still at home. A Ransom Sparks, probably the above son of Joseph and Sabra, died in Wells County, Indiana, on December 18, 1876. He did not leave a will; Warren McBride was appointed as his administrator. He died insolvent; no heirs were named in the settlement. A search of Adams County records would doubtless produce further data on Joseph Sparks and his descendants.

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See SQ p. 5311-5314:

Joseph Sparks, the youngest son of Solomon, Jr. and Charity Sparks, was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina, in or about 1803.

In the nuncupative will of his father dated December 28, 1817, Joseph and his brother, Jonathan, were referred to as Solomon's two youngest sons, and because each of his four oldest sons had received certain gifts either when they had come of age or had been married, Solomon directed that Jonathan and Joseph each receive the following: "One horse, bridle and saddle, one cow and calf, one sow and pigs, and one feather bed and furniture." ("Furniture" in this sense meant the bedding, etc. to go with a feather bed.) As noted earlier, Solomon died within a few days of his making his will.

On February 4, 1822, Joseph Sparks obtained a bond in Wilkes County, North Carolina, to marry Sabra Demmit; Joseph Brown served as his bondsman. The marriage was probably performed a few days later. Sabra's nickname seems to have been "Sabry." When the 1830 census was taken in Wilkes County, Joseph Sparks was shown in the age category of 20 to 30, and he then headed a household consisting of a female who was surely his wife, also between 20 and 30, with four children, a male between 5 and 10, another male under 5, and two females also under 5 years.

We have found few references to Joseph Sparks in Wilkes County records. He and his brother, Jonathan, served as bondsmen for their brother, Samuel Sparks, when he was appointed to administer the settlement of their father's estate in 1828 following the death of their mother, who had
held the property during her widowhood. We have found no record of Joseph Sparks acquiring land in Wilkes County, although his occupation was that of farmer. We must assume that he rented the land that he tilled.

Sometime after 1830, Joseph followed his brothers, George and Solomon, to Randolph County, Indiana, which was then a huge county, parts of which would later form a dozen other counties. A deed was recorded in Randolph County dated August 19, 1835, by which Joseph and Sabra sold to John Shelinberger for $150 a tract of 80 acres in Section 10, Township 21. (Book E, p.407) Joseph and Sabra (spelled "Sabrey") signed this deed by mark, with William Crouse and John Burroughs as their witnesses. How Joseph Sparks had managed to acqrnre this land, as well as other tracts that he subsequently sold, has not been discovered. He may have bought it from the U.S. Government or, possibly, it came to him through his wife. (A wife's property became that of her husband with marriage in those days.) Two years earlier, on July 25, 1833, Joseph's brother, Solomon Sparks with his wife, Susannah, had also sold land in Randolph County to the same John Shelinberger.

Wells County was created in 1835 from parts of Randolph, Allen, and Delaware Counties. (Delaware had been created from Randolph in 1827, and Allen in part from Randolph in 1824.) Joseph and his brothers probably did not move to Wells County; it is more likely that they simply found themselves in the new county when its boundary lines were established. Our earliest record of Joseph Sparks found in Wells County Court documents is that of his service as a juror in October 1837. In 1838, he and Sabra again sold land: on February 19, 1838, they sold 40 acres to Joseph's brother-in-law, Albert Draper, for $150 (Book A, p.38) and on October 29, 1838, they sold 80 acres to Thomas T. Smith and his wife Catherine (Book A, p.103). We have no record of Joseph Sparks buying this land.

Joseph Sparks appeared on the 1840 census of Wells County, as did his brothers, Solomon and George, all in what would later be named Rock Creek Township. Another daughter had been added to his and Sabra's family by his time.

When the 1850 census was taken, Joseph and his family were in Adams County, Indiana, in Kirkland Township; three of their children were still living at home, their two sons, Ransom and Hampton, and their youngest daughter, Mary. Their two older daughters, Elizabeth and Sarah, had both been married, Elizabeth to Robert Evans on September 3, 1843, and Sarah to Benoni High on February 21, 1847. Both of the marriages had taken place in Adams County.

Kirkland Township in Adams County is separated from Rock Creek Township in Wells County only by the township of Lancaster in Wells County. Adams County adjoins Wells County on the latter's east side and borders Van Wert and Mercer Counties in Ohio on its east side. Like Wells County, Adams had been created from parts of Randolph and Allen Counties. On December 9, 1846, Joseph and Sabra sold to Joseph's nephew, George Sparks, son of George and Delila Sparks, an80-acre tract in Kirkland Township for $150. Again, we have found no record of how Joseph had acquired this land.

The 1850 census was the 7th U.S. census taken, the first having been in 1790, and it was the first to list the name, age, and state or country of birth for every household member. Ransom Sparks was now 26 and Hampton was 24; their sister, Mary, was 14. Joseph's age was given as 47 on this 1850 census, while Sabra's was 49. (The census taker mistakenly recorded her name as "Sarah".)

On September 10, 1851, Joseph and Sabra sold to each of their two sons 40-acre lots in the same section, each for $300. (Adams County Deed Book G, p.322 and p.342.) The sale of this land to their sons appears to have been in anticipation of a permanent separation of Joseph and Sabra.

There must have been a divorce because, according to a document noted below, Joseph was married, second, to a widow named Sarah Brady in November 1852 in Kosciusko County, Indiana. We know that Sabra had not died before Joseph's remarriage because she was listed on the 1860
census of Kirkland Township in Adams County. Her age in 1860 was given as 60; her real estate was valued at $400 and her personal property at $100. Living with her in 1860 was her son, Ransom Sparks, "Farmer," age 36; also her daughter, Mary Sparks, now 24 years old. (Sabra's birthplace was mistakenly recorded as South Carolina rather than North Carolina.)

Our knowledge of Joseph Sparks's second marriage comes from documents preserved among Kosciuska County Court papers, including charges made by the second wife in 1854 when she sought a divorce from Joseph. In this document, she stated that "in November, 1852 she was lawfully married to Joseph Sparks"... and "that she was a widow at the time of her marriage with defendant; that her name was Sarah Brady, that she is about fifty five and said Joseph about fifty years old." She stated that:

they lived together as husband and wife till about the 5th of October 1855 when defendant
without any cause whatever left plaintiff & went to the house of his son, and remained there
some two weeks, when he returned to the house of the plaintiff and packed up all his clothing &
left saying that he was off & never intended to return again. Plaintiffs son (Isaac Brady) went to
see defendant shortly after he had left and tried to persuade him to return home again and live
with plaintiff, but defendant said it was no use of wasting words, that he was determined on
leaving never to return again and on about the 8th of December last said defendant left for the
West, to Iowa or Illinois as the plaintiff is informed without Informing her of his intentions.
[Document with Kosciusco Circuit Court, March Term, 1855.]

On March 21, 1855, John Rogers, publisher of the Warsaw Republican, a weekly newspaper, testified that the following notice had been published in his paper on three successive weeks (December 24th and 31st of January and February 7th) in 1855:

IN THE KOSCIUSKO CIRCUIT
COURT-MARCH TERM 1855.
STATE OF INDIANA
Kosciusko County, SS
Sarah Sparks
vs Petition for Divorce.
Joseph Sparks.
Be it remembered on the 16th day of Jan.
1855 the Plaintiff by Frazer & Co. her attorneys
filed in the Clerk's office of the Kosciusko Circuit
Court, her petition in this behalf and also the affi-
davit of a disinterested person that the defendant
Joseph Sparks is not a resident of the state of In-
diana.
The said defendant is therefore hereby notified
of the pendancy of said suit and unless he appear
and answer said petition at the next term of the
Kosciusko Circuit Court, to be held at this Court
House in the town of Warsaw, on the 3d Monday
in March next the same will be taken as confess-
ed. Attest S. H. Chipman Clerk.
By T. WOODS, Deputy.
Frazer Power & Frazier Plffs atty
jan 17, 1855 n22 3w

Apparently the whereabouts of Joseph Sparks was found and an attorney named George W. Frasier represented him in the Kosciusko County Court proceedings. The divorce was granted with the following agreement, signed by Frasier and by A. J. Power who represented Sarah, dated
Warsaw, March 21, 1855:

It is agreed by the parties in this case as follows Said Joseph is not to oppose the
granting of a divorce by said Court, said Joseph is to deliver to said Sarah 50
bushels of wheat now growing on the premises heretofore occupied by said
parties, said Sarah also agrees not to ask the Court for any alimony.

Our last record of Joseph Sparks is found on the 1860 census of Rock Creek Township in Huntington County, Indiana. He was then living in the home of his sister and brother-in-law, Rachel and Albert Draper. His age was given as 55, a native of North Carolina. No occupation was given
for him, and he owned no property. Sabra (Demmit) Sparks, Joseph's first wife and the mother of his children, appears to have died in Adams County, Indiana, in 1864. Joseph and Sabra (Demmit) Sparks were the parents of the following children:

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Census:
Joseph and wife, age 20-30
male bet 5 and 10 Ransom
male < 5 Hampton
2 females <5

Census:
apparently divorced. Living with sister Rachel and her family.

Joseph married Sabra Demmitt on 4 Feb 1822 in Wilkes Co, North Carolina, and was divorced before 1860 in Adams Co, Indiana. Sabra (daughter of William Demmitt and Stacy Walker) was born in 1801 in North Carolina; died after 1860 in of, Adams Co, Indiana. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
"A Ransom Sparks, probably the above son of Joseph and Sabra, died in Wells County, Indiana, on December 18, 1876. He did not leave a will; Warren McBride was appointed as his administrator. He died insolvent; no heirs were named in the settlement."
http://www.sparksfamilytree.net/ghtout/npr445.html
SQ 386-7

Family/Spouse: Benoni Dare High. Benoni was born about 1830; died after 1851. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Mary Elizabeth Yardley. Mary was born about 1850; died after 1900. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]