Display Patriot - P-294528

John SPARKS

SAR Patriot #: P-294528

The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.

State of Service: NC Qualifying Service: Private / Patriotic Service

DAR #: A107878

Birth: 25 Feb 1753 / Anson / NC
Death: bef Mar 1841 Trap Hill / Wilkes / NC

Qualifying Service Description:

Private, Minite Man and Indian Spy, Capt Jesse Walton
At Fort Defiance and against Lord Cornwallis

Additional References:

Pension Number S7580
Burial data from Patriot Index. Draft manuscript. Florida Society SAR (FLSSAR). 1995-6
"Early Families of Eastern and Southern Kentucky and their Descendents" by William C Kozee, printed by Shenandoah Publishing House, Starsburg, VA, pg 667 and 668

Spouse: Sarah Shores
Children: Levi; Robert; Mary; Sarah; Jonathan; George; Reuben;

Members Who Share This Ancestor

Date Approved	Society	ACN	SAR Member Info	Lineage via Child
1958-11-20	OH	Unassigned	Aubrey Leighton Sparks (84228)	Levi
1989-07-25	FL	221693	James Byron Young (132006)	Levi
1996-03-12	OH	204174	J B Whitt (146111)	Levi
2004-03-05	GA	16942	Terry Edward Pyatt Manning (156614)	Levi
2012-11-04	KY	50535	Charles Arthur Barker (185311)	Levi
2016-09-23	KY	71337	James William Clark Jr. (200004)	Levi
2016-09-23	KY	71338	James William Clark III (200005)	Levi
2023-01-27	MI	105346	Kevin Arthur Whitworth Sheard (225100)	Robert
2023-01-27	MI	105347	Jonathan Burr Whitworth Sheard (225101)	Robert

Burial:

Roaring River Baptist (aka Old Roaring River Baptist) Church Cemetery_(C-0373948)

Location:

Traphill / Wilkes / NC / USA

Find A Grave Cemetery #:

174072

Grave Plot #:

Grave GPS Coordinates:

n/a

Find A Grave Memorial #:

127930423

Marker Type:

Military Marker

SAR Grave Dedication Date:

Comments:

Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:

No GPS data for grave site on findagrave.com - Feb 2023

Photo: 1 of 1

Author: Terry Manning
Birth and Early Youth

John Sparks was born 25 February 1753 in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina (or was brought there as an infant later that year from Frederick County, Maryland). His father was Solomon Sparks and his mother was probably Sarah.

Military Service

John Sparks filed a pension application for his Revolutionary War service, appearing at court in Wilkes County, North Carolina, on 30 October 1832. He volunteered for service from Wilkes County about 1775 or 1776 in Captain Jesse Walton’s company of minute men who had volunteered for 2 years.

John was in charge of a scouting party to scour the country around Surry and Wilkes Counties to suppress Tories for about 2 to three weeks. A few months later under Colonel Martin Armstrong at the head of the Yadkin he met with others to prepare to march against the Cherokee Indians. They built Fort Defiance where John Sparks had command of the company because Captain Walton had been appointed a Major. At the completion of the fort his company was ordered back home to join General Rutherford.

John’s company went for 3 months against the Cherokee towns of Watauga, Cowee, Oconoluftee, Hiwassee, Tuckaseegie, Big Chota, and others, on occasion acting as spies. On the Hiwassee they killed 10 Indians and took 3 prisoners.

Following other short expeditions against Tories, about the time Lord Cornwallis was approaching North Carolina from the South, John marched under Colonel Benjamin Herndon for about a month in pursuit of Cornwallis enroute to Guilford Courthouse.

John estimated his service as 8 months and 21 days as a Private.

Marriage

John married Sarah Shores about 1777 in Surry County, North Carolina.

Residences

In and around the Surry County and adjoining Wilkes County areas of North Carolina there are many recorded land transactions and tax records for “John Sparks”, “John Sparks, Esquire”, and “John Sparks, Junior.”

John Sparks was active in the community of Trap Hill (about 20 miles northeast of Wilkesboro) in Wilkes County. On the 1800 tax list of Wilkes County, North Carolina, he is listed as John Sparks, Esquire, with 260 acres and 1 poll.

He is in Wilkes County census records from 1790 through 1840. They had no slaves enumerated. John was in the home of his son, Reuben, in the 1840 census of Wilkes County and was listed as a pensioner of the Revolutionary War.

Occupation, Education, and Other Notes

He was a justice of the peace and listed taxes. He was an active member of the Old Roaring River Baptist Church, joining on 12 January 1789.

Death and Burial

John died after September 1840 when he received his last pension payment and prior to March 1841 when his next payment would have been given, and died in Wilkes County, North Carolina. His grave near Trap Hill is marked with a Revolutionary War Soldier marker.

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