| Notes |
- http://sparksfamilytree.net/family_tree/wga85.html#I19941
Sparks, Joseph (~1751 - 1820) - male
b. ABT. 1751 in Frederick County, MD
d. 1820 in Franklin County, TN
father: Sparks, Solomon (~1725 - <1800)
mother: ???, Sarah (*1728 - <1800)
See THE SPARKS QUARTERLY, June 1987, Whole No. 138, p. 3O57:
"JOSEPH SPARKS (born ca. 1751, died 182O-3O) SON OF SOLOMON AND SARAH SPARKS:
"Joseph Sparks was a son of Solomon (356) and Sarah (358) Sparks, and he was probably born about 1751. His father, Solomon Sparks, had been born about 1727 and had been a resident of Queen Anne's County, Maryland,during his youth. It may have been in Queen Anne's County that Solomon Sparks had married Sarah --- in the late 174O's. By 1749, however,Solomon was in Frederick County Maryland, when his father, Joseph Sparks(344) had died. The Joseph Sparks who is the subject of this sketch was doubtless named for his grandfather.
"In August 175O, the justices of Frederick County, Maryland, approved a memorandum which required Mary Sparks (585) widow of Joseph Sparks(344), to make a distribution of the estate of her late husband among his heirs . The children of Joseph and Mary Sparks were identified in this memorandum as Solomon Sparks (356), Joseph Sparks (428), Charles Sparks(426), Jonas Sparks (354), Jonathan Sparks (357), William Sparks (433),George Sparks (427), Merum Sparks (43O), Mary Sparks (429), Ann Sparks(425), Rebecca Sparks (431), and Sarah Sparks (432). Of the seven sons of Joseph and Mary, three eventually migrated to North Carolina: Solomon, Jonas, and Jonathan.
"In March 175O, Solomon Sparks, son of Joseph and Mary, bought a tract of land in Frederick County, Maryland, called "Cold Friday." (It was the custom in Maryland for the first owner of a tract of land to give it a name which was then usually retained by future owners.) Solomon sold "Cold Friday" in 1753, and shortly thereafter he moved to Rowan County,North Carolina. He settled first, as did his brothers, Jonas andJonathan, in an area called "The Forks of the Yadkin" located less thanten miles from what was then the village of Salisbury. The area is nowpart of Davie County, though Salisbury remains in Rowan County and is theseat of justice for that county.
"Solomon Sparks moved his family from the Forks of the Yadkin in 1772,settling in the part of Surry County that was cut off to form WilkesCounty in 1778. This section of Wilkes county eventually became part ofYadkin County when Yadkin was formed in 185O. Solomon Sparks died theresometime before 18OO. We believe that his widow, Sarah, lived a numberof years longer and that she may have accompanied her son, Abel Sparks,when he moved to Georgia about 18O3.
"In the article on John Sparks (SQ 92, 1371) we noted a record found in the Wilkes County, North Carolina, Court Minutes of August 4, 1 8O1,by which John Sparks, Reuben Sparks, Solomon Sparks, Jr., Mary Jacks,Hannah Denny, Susannah Johnson, and Joseph Sparks gave a power ofattorney to Abel Sparks dated July 31, 18O1. We are quite convinced thatthese were the children of Solomon and Sarah Sparks; it is this courtrecord that constitutes one of our bases for stating that Joseph Sparks,subject of this sketch, was a son of Solomon and Sarah.
"Joseph Sparks was probably born in Fredick County, Maryland, before his parents moved to "The Forks of the Yadkin" and was probably carried as a baby to their new home. The first official record we have of himw as made in 1774 when he and his brother, John Sparks, were listed as"taxable polls " in Surry County, North Carolina, along with their father, Solomon Sparks. (The family had moved from Rowan County to Surry County in 1772, according to a statement made by John Sparks in his pension application.) A white male was subject to paying a poll tax in North Carolina when he reached the age of 21, and he was required tocontinue paying this tax until age 6O. In 18O1, however, the terminalage was lowered to 5O and in 1817 to 45.
"Joseph Sparks was probably married about 1775; however, the name of his wife has not been discovered. When the 179O census was taken of Surry County, the enumeration of his family indicates that he and his wife were the parents of four boys and three girls. Assuming a normal pattern of births of these seven children, we can speculate that they were probably born in about the following sequence: 1777, 1779, 1781,1783, 1785, 1787, and 1789. When the 18OO census was taken of Surry County, three more children had been added, two more males and one more female. On that census, Joseph was enumerated as having been born prior to 1755; his wife was born between 1755 and 1774.
"Early records of the collection of taxes, property as well as poll,are scant in this section of North Carolina. In addition to being listed as a "taxable poll" in 1774 in Surry County, Joseph Sparks paid taxes there in 1775 according to an extant tax list. A record has also been found of a tax payment by Joseph Sparks in Surry County in 1784. He paid taxes there regularly from 179O to 18OO, but no tax records have been found for Surry County between 18OO and 18O5.
"Joseph Sparks apparently lived near the home of his parents, which was located quite close to the dividing line between Wilkes and Sur yCounties. On October 23, 1782, he purchased 1OO acres of land on the"headwaters of Swan Creek" from the state of North Carolina. The deedwas recorded in Wilkes County, but the land was probably located on theboundary line. In 1785, Benjamin and Elizabeth Johnson of Surry Countysold land described in the deed as being adjacent to the land of JosephSparks in Wilkes County. In 1787, Joseph Sparks of Surry sold 3O acresof land on the North Fork of Hunting Creek on the Wilkes-Surry line toWilliam Jackson for 12 pounds. This deed was recorded in Wilkes County.
"On May 3, 1788, Joseph Sparks witnessed the signatures of hisparents, Solomon and Sarah Sparks, when they sold their remainingproperty in Rowan County (now Davie County), North Carolina, to JonasSparks, a brother of Solomon. The land was located on the south side ofthe Yadkin River near the mouth of Muddy Creek. Solomon and Sarah weredescribed as "of Surry, " while Jonas Sparks was described as "of RowanCounty."
"When the 18OO census was taken of Surry County, the household ofJoseph Sparks was enumerated as including two males born between 1774 and1784. One of these was probably his son Abel, and it is our belief thatAbel continued to live in his father's household until 18O4.
"Joseph Sparks again purchased land from the state of North Carolinaon September 29, 18O6. He paid 5O shillings per 1OO acres for a total of2OO acres of land on the Wilke-Surry boundary line, apparently on thewaters of Hunting Creek.
"Joseph Sparks was listed on the 18O2 tax list of Capt. Wilburn' sDistrict in Surry County, North Carolina. He was excused from paying apoll tax that year...He was taxed for 1OO acres of land, however. Taxedin the same district in 18O2 were Abel Sparks (1 poll, no land); ThomasSparks (1 poll, 7OO acres); and George Sparks (1 poll, 3OO acres).
"Joseph Sparks did not appear on the 181O census of Surry County , nor have we found any record of the disposition of his property, but, priorto 182O, probably about 1812, he moved to Franklin County, Tennessee,where he appeared on the 182O census. With him was his wife and a male,probably a son, who had been born between 1775 and 1794. Both Joseph andhis wife were enumerated as having been born prior to 1775. We havefound no record of Joseph Sparks as heading a household on any 183Ocensus. He and his wife probably died between 182O and 183O.
"Joseph Sparks left no will, nor have we found any record of theadministration of his estate. In spite of this lack of documentation ,however, we believe that we can name his six sons, all of whom appear onsome record of Franklin County, Tennessee.
See also SQ pg 3355 for statement that he died in Franklin County , TN.
----------child: Sparks, Abel (1778 - 1872)
----------child: Sparks, Robert (~1780 - ~1815)
----------child: Sparks, Mary (~1782 - <1860)
----------child: Sparks, William (~1785 - )
----------child: Sparks, Jonathan (~1792 - >1850)
|
1753 - 1820 (67 years)
