SPARKS QUARTLY, December 1955, Whole No. 12, p. 97:
THE GENEALOGY OF JOHN SPARKS REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSIONER OF WILKESCOUNTY, 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 (thenSurry) 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 Countyin 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, andWilliam 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 designated 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. (RowanCounty 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 (TradingFord) 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 MuddyCreek. In 1762 he obtained a grant for 290 acres on the south side ofthe Yadkin River, which adjoined his other land. In 1763 Solomon sold130 and 3/4 acres to Jonas Sparks (354), and 159 and 1/ 4 acres toValentine Vanhouser. According to the statement made by John Sparks in his pension application, Solomon Sparks and his family removed from RowanCounty 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 recordsafter 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 thedescription 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 (nowYadkin)-Wilkes County line and there are still many descendants in that area today.
"It is believed that Solomon and Sarah Sparks were both deceased by1800, 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 toascertain the names of the children of this couple. However, a power ofattorney recorded in Wilkes County, N.C., Court Minutes, on Tuesday,August 4, 1801, gives what we feel certain is a listing of at least eight of the children of Solomon and Sarah Sparks. This instrument reads asfollows.- "A Letter of Attorney from John Sparks, Reuben Sparks, Solomon Sparks, Mary Jacks, Hannah Denny, Susannah Johnson, and Joseph Sparks to Abel Sparks, dated 31st July 1801, was proven by Thomas Benge."(Susannah (Sparks) Johnson and her husband, Charles Johnson., are the great-great-great-great-grand- parents of William Perry Johnson " authorof this sketch. We know that John Sparks was born in 1753 and that Abel Sparks was born in 1767, so assuming that the eight persons named in the above power of attorney were listed in their order of birth, which is quite possible, we would have: (1) John., born 1753; (2) Reuben, born about 1755; (3) Solomon., Jr., born about 1757; (4) Mary, born about1759; (5) Harmah., born about 1761; (6) Susannah, born about 1763, married Charles Johnson in Wilkes Co., N.C., in 1784; (7) Joseph, bornabout 1764; and (8) Abel.19 born 1767. There may have been other children of Solomon and Sarah Sparks who were living far removed from this area in 1801, or others may have been deceased. It is known that the eight named in the power of attorney were all living in Surry (nowYadkin) and Wilkes Counties, N.C., at that time. Of course, since then,branches of the family have scattered from coast to coast.