William Absolum Sparks (1801 - 1859)

Born 1801 in Goshen Creek, Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States

Husband of Sarah Ann (Rose) Sparks — married 19 Mar 1841 in Blount County, Tennessee, USA

Descendants

Died 1859 at about age 58 in Kaufman, Kaufman, Texas, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Carolyn Govan [send private message]

Biography

William was born in 1801. William Sparks ... He passed away in 1859. ^[1]

Sparks Family Asso. No evidence has been found that Absalom Sparks owned land in Blount County. Two deeds of trust are on file, however, involving personal property by which he secured small loans. On October l4, 1839, he "sold" to Harlan Matthews for five dollars both livestock and household goods to secure a debt of $3l.64 which he owed to James H. Donaldson and which was due in six months. According to this agreement, if Absalom Sparks paid the debt, the deed would be void, but if the debt were not paid in six months, Matthews was to sell the property at public auction. The property thus mortgaged included a blind mare, two colts, a black heifer and calf, 12 hogs, two sheep, two beds and furniture, two bedsteads, one chest, one loom, two spinning wheels, one large wash kittle, one man's saddle, one oven, one pot, 32 geese, one dresser and contents, one fire shovel, one ax, one large Bible and "one small lot of books." (See Blount County Deed Book P, pp. 56-7) According to the recorded copy of this deed, he signed his name as "Absalum Sparks" and his witnesses were A. Henry and John Cummings. From a subsequent record, it appears that Absalom was able to pay this debt and retain his property.

A similar deed of trust (Book Q, pp. 28-9) is dated May 15, l840. Here Absalom Sparks "sold" for $10 to John Greffets, Sr., certain personal property to secure another debt to James H. Donaldson, this time in the amount of $31.00, which would be due on May 16, 1841. A similar list of property was mortgaged again, including "one large Bible." A statement in this deed indicates that Absalom Sparks lived in the Clover Hill District of Blount County. He signed this document as "A. Sparks." His witnesses were D. Dold and W. H. Rhea.

After the death of his first wife, Absalom Sparks married (2d) Sarah Ann Rose on March 18, 184l, in Blount County. She was born about 1826 in South Carolina. They had six children, 4 sons and 2 daughters, prior to Absalom's death which probably occurred about 1851. When the 1850 census was taken, the family was in Meigs County, Tenn. On that census, South Carolina was given as the birthplace of both Absalom and his second wife.

We are uncertain whether Absalom Sparks died in Tennessee, after which his widow went to Texas with the family, or whether Absalom took his family to Texas and died soon after arriving in 1851. A grandson, John Marney Sparks of Kingston, Tenn. (son of David Carson Sparks), wrote the following statement to A. B. Sparks of Copan, Okla., in 1925: "My father's father [Absalom Sparks] went to Texas when my father was just a boy, went by flat boat down the Tennessee River and on down the Mississippi. My father [David Carson Sparks] sliped off down about Chattanooga, Tenn., and came back and lived with [Richard Sparks] he called him, Uncle Dickey Sparks, and I suppose he was my grandfather's Brother. My father [David Carson Sparks] died March 19, 1918. He never heard much of his people after they went to Texas." According to a History of Texas and Texans written in l914 by Frank W. Johnson, Sarah Ann Sparks, widow of Absalom, moved her family to Cherokee County, Texas, in 1852 following her husband's death. Then, in 1858, she moved to Kaufman County, Texas. She died there in 1907. According to one uncertain reference, she may have married a man named Brackett as her second husband; ~~ "The Family of Absolom Sparks & Margret Allen," in THE BLOUNT JOURNAL; vol. VI, no. 1 (Spring 1991); p. 35. Absolom Leander SPARKS, born about 1830, son of Absolom & Margret ALLEN. His mother died about 1838/1839, and his father remarried 18 Mar 1841 to Sarah Ann ROSE. Afterward the family moved to Meigs county, TN. In 1851/1852 the family moved to Cherokee county, TX with their six children, plus the three youngest children of the 1st marriage.

This biography is a rough draft. It was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import and needs to be edited.

Sources

1. ↑ Entered by Carolyn Govan, Jun 4, 2013

• Source: S2154715033 Repository: #R3198678162 Title: Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Note: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created. Page: Ancestry Family Trees Note: Data: Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=5513553&pid=519008339 Repository: R3198678162 Name: Ancestry.com Address: http://www.Ancestry.com Note:

• http://sparksfamilyassociation.net/wn102a.html

• 1850 TN Meigs County Census https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DYN7-SFK?i=4&cc=1401638&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMCDR-F3T