Edward Sparrow (1810 - 1882)

Born 1810 in Dublin, Ireland

Ancestors

Husband of Minerva (Parker) Sparrow — married 1837 in Trinity Church, Natchez, Mississippi

Descendants

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Biography

Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America By Henry Putney Beers

Edward Sparrow was born in Dublin, Ireland on December 29, 1810. His father (Samuel Sparrow), a follower of Robert Emmet, had been forced to flee Ireland after the ill-fated uprising of 1803 but had returned for a visit at the time of Edward's birth. Young Edward was brought up from infancy at the family home in Columbus, Ohio. By family tradition he attended Kenyon College with which his brother William (The Reverend William Sparrow) was long associated. (Note: The College has no record of Edward but Mrs. Stephen H. Guenard of Lake Providence, Louisiana provided this information. Mrs. Guenard is the great, great granddaughter of Edward who resides in "Arlington", the last of the great Antebellum homes in the Lake Providence area.) Edward was a well-educated man when, in 1831, he journeyed to Louisiana to seek his fortune. He first located in Vidalia, Louisiana where he studied Law and was admitted to the Bar. He was elected Clerk of Court of Concordia Parish in 1833 and in 1834 he was elected Sheriff, an office he held until 1840. After that, he practiced Law until 1852 when he relocated to Carroll Parish and established a Plantation, "Arlington", on the shore of Lake Providence, which is still a regional showplace.

In January 1861, Sparrow was elected as an Intermediate Secessionist to the Convention, which appointed him to membership in the Provisional Congress. In November 1861 he was chosen, along with T. J. Semmes, as Senator, a position he continued to occupy to the end. During the entire War he served as Chairman of the powerful Committee on Military Affairs, but unlike his House counterpart he was rather self-effacing and noted for his tact and impartiality. Nevertheless, Edward Sparrow had the strong feeling that Congress possessed unlimited war powers and that the Confederacy's salvation lay in a large and aggressive Army headed by a Commander-in-Chief with unlimited authority. His only contradiction of this belief was his feeling that State Exemption Laws should be respected. Even his pre-war conservatism on the tax question had given in, by 1864, to a conviction that high imposts were an economic necessity.

At War's end Sparrow returned to "Arlington" which, fortunately for him, had been spared burning because it had housed some members of U.S. Grant's staff during the Vicksburg Campaign. Edward was in the process of rebuilding his shattered fortunes when he died on July 4th, 1882. He is buried in the family cemetery on his Plantation. At war's end Sparrow returned to Arlington, which, fortunately for him, had been spared burning because it had been seized by Federal troops and used as housing during Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg campaign. Edward Sparrow died July 4, 1882 and is buried in the family cemetery on his plantation.^{[1] [2]}

Hastin M. Childers (died 1834) & Matilda (McGraw) Childers (died 1852) owned Arlington Plantation in 1824; Edward & Minerva (Parker) Sparrow bought it in 1852; Dr. Nathaniel Houghton (Lived and operated an office at Arlington only); C.A., Sr. & Kate (Ashbridge) Voelker; James S. Millikin

As per Hastin M. Childers’ will, his slaves were emancipated and conveyed to Liberia with passage money and clothing for a year; his plantation and fortune were given to his wife Matilda who later married Thomas Robedeau Patten in 1837. Houghton practiced with Balfour, Stacy, Goodrich, Montgomery and Walsworth. Edward Sparrow was the lawyer who drew up the will of Matilda Childers-Patten and was set to purchase Arlington for nearly $50,000 in 1852 which included 80 slaves. That sale was canceled and then was finalized in 1859 for $75,000. Kate (Ashbridge) Voelker was related to Edward Sparrow. ^[3]

The following are some of the Committees on which Edward Sparrow served:

1. Committee on the Permanent Constitution

2. Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs

3. Select Committee on the Cotton Bill (appointed January 28th 1863)

4. Special Committee to Investigate the Recent Violations of the Dignity of the Senate. (formed on February 4th 1863)

Sources

1860 US Census, Carroll, LA

Edward Sparrow M 49 Ireland

Minerva Sparrow F 45 Miss

Anna M Sparrow F 23 La

Fanny Sparrow F 15 La ^[4]

1880 US Census, East Carroll Parish

Edmond Spanord Self M 70 Ireland Sparrow

George W Foster Son-in-law M 55 Mississippi, United States

Kate Foster Daughter F 35 Louisiana, United States

Kate Sanderson Granddaughter F 17 Mississippi, United States

Ethel Foster Granddaughter F 6 Louisiana, United States

A M Ashbridge Son-in-law M 45 Kentucky, United States

Fanny Ashbridge Daughter F 30 Louisiana, United States

Edward S Ashbridge Grandson M 16 France

Fanny Ashbridge Granddaughter F 14 France

Kate Ashbridge Granddaughter F 12 Louisiana, United States

Edith Ashbridge Granddaughter F 11 Louisiana, United States

George Ashbridge Grandson M 4 Louisiana, United States

Ashbridge Grandson M 0 Louisiana, United States

Mary Decker Granddaughter F 4 Mississippi, United States

Kate Decker Granddaughter F 4 Mississippi, United States

Jeff Porter Other M 21 Massachusetts, United States ^[5]

http://eastcarrollparishlouisianagenealogy.blogspot.com/2009_06_19_archive.html

1880 Census, East Carroll Parish Succession of Minerva Sparrow, 13 May 1880, East Carroll Parish Probate Book O ), pp.80-99

The Large Slaveholders of Louisiana: 1860, Joseph Karl Menn

A Place to Remember, Georgia Payne Durham Pinkston

Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy, Jon L. Wakelyn Louisiana Commission Books, 8/1865-6/1867

Biographical Sketches of the European Immigrants of Northeast Louisiana, 1880 by William Francis Lawrence and Debra Nance Lawrence

Childers, Hastin M. PLANTATIONS: The founder, and earliest family that occupied Arlington Plantation was Hastin M. Childers and his wife Matilda McGraw Childers. Parish records of the Childers holdings and of the thousands of dollars donated in his will indicated that he replaced the cabin, the 1st hewed log house on the lake, with a fine Classical Revival home. Hastin Childers died a wealthy man in 1834. In his will he left his mother, Dicy Harris of N. C. $500 annually for her life time; to her son, Houston Harris, $4,000; to the parish of Carroll, $2,000; to the new Orleans Female Orphan’s Asylum, $10,000; to Martha Sellers, $5,000; to Narcissa Jane Hewlett, $1,000 “for her name that was given her for my daughter, who is now no more”; the “slaves falling to my lot, in the division of the community property are to be emancipated and conveyed to Liberia, and to be furnished with tools, provisions and good heavy clothing sufficient to last them one year, and passage money.” ^{[6] [7]}

Childers, Matilda (McGraw) Matilda McGraw married Hastin M. Childers. They had a daughter named Narcissa who died at 16 years old. Her husband Hastin died in 1834. On April 25, 1837, the widow Childers became the bride of Thomas Robedeau Patten, scion of a prominent Ouachita family, Judge Felix Bosworth performed the ceremony. In a year or two she entered a suit against her husband for squandering her money and asked for a separation of property. Patten contended that he had made costly improvements of real and permanent value upon the land and had built a house for $15,000., making the property highly productive and capable of yielding a large revenue, sufficient to meet all the debts existing against it.” Patten died in 1850, and Matilda died Feb. 7, 1852. She left her estate to 2 nieces, Florence Adell Browder and Ann Morehouse Pilcher, both daughters of her sister, Ann. Edward Sparrow, of Concordia Parish was the attorney for Matilda McGraw Patten in her suit against her husband, Thomas Patten, and had written out her will. Sparrow knew and loved Arlington and records show that Edward purchased Arlington in 1852 for $49,999.95. “A Place to Remember”, Georgia Pinkston.

Childers, Narcissa Jane Hastin M. & Matilda Childers’ young daughter, Narcissa Jane Childers, fell in love with the handsome young son of the plantation overseer, and of course, marriage with an overseer’s son was out of the question. Narcissa was locked in the attic room (third floor) until she agreed never to see the boy. A large silver tray of food was brought up to her three times a day, and three times a day the food was untouched. She vowed that she would remain true to her one and only love. Day after day, week after week passed and she ate nothing. At last death mercifully ended the romantic struggle. She died at the age of sixteen and today her tombstone lies at the front steps of the house, as a reminder of unrequited love.

http://eastcarrollparishlouisianagenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/08/c-d-surnames_8428.html

Brother Thomas Sparrow was a lawyer in Ohio (Rutherford Hayes studied under him).

https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/64000265.pdf

1. ↑ Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America By Henry Putney Beers
2. ↑ http://www.tqsi.info/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I33464&tree=stedman_main
3. ↑ http://sankofagen.pbworks.com/w/page/14230335/Arlington%20Plantation
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFPQ-2JL : 30 September 2017), Fanny Sparrow in entry for Edward Sparrow, 1860.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD6G-GHM : 15 August 2017), Kate Ashbridge in household of Edmond Spanord, 3rd Ward, East Carroll, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district ED 30, sheet 599A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0453; FHL microfilm 1,254,453.
6. ↑ http://sankofagen.pbworks.com/w/page/14230335/Arlington%20Plantation
7. ↑ http://eastcarrollparishlouisianagenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/08/c-d-surnames_8428.html