Matthew Jefferson Sparks Sr. (abt. 1730 - 1793)

Born about 1730 in Queen Anne's, Province of Maryland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died Nov 1793 at about age 63 in Franklin, Georgia, United States

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Matthew Sparks Sr. was a Civil Servant in the American Revolution.

Matthew Sparks Sr. is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A107888.

Biography

Matthew Jefferson Sparks

The earliest official record pertaining to Matthew Sparks found thus far in Rowan County, North Carolina, is the recorded deed dated April 4, 1761, by which he purchased 372 acres of land from John Carteret, the first Earl Granville. (The Earl was a great-grandson of Sir George Carteret, one of the original Lords Proprietors of the Colony of North Carolina; he owned vast tracts of “vacant land” which he gradually sold to planters for relatively small sums.) Matthew Sparks paid only ten shillings sterling for his 372 acres. The tract was described as follows in the deed (see Rowan County Deed Book 4, page 514): “that tract or Parcel of Vacant Land, Situate Lying and Being in the Parish of St. Luke, in the County of Rowan, in the Said Province, Lying in the forks of Yadkin River, Running up the South Yadkin N.20 x W.20 Chain to a hickery, then N.38.W.lO ch: to a Gum, then N.42.W.20 Ch: to a hickery, thence Due North, 90 chain to a black Oak, then Et. 40 Ch: to a White Oak on the Bank of the Main River, Then Down River to the beginning, Containing in the Whole Three Hundred and Seventy-two acres of Land.”

This tract of land is easy to locate from the description given in the deed - - it is located in what is now Davie County at the point where the South Yadkin flows into the Yadkin River.

On April 10, 1765, Matthew Sparks and Sarah his wife sold 200 acres of this tract to William Sparks for 50 pounds (see Rowan County Deed Book 6, page 139). The witnesses to this deed were William Frohock, John Huston, and Thomas Frohock. Matthew and Sarah both signed by mark. (William S. Sparks sold this same tract of 200 acres to William Frohock for 150 pounds on January 27, 1773 - - see Rowan County Deed Book 8, page 104.) On September 17, 1767, Matthew and Sarah Sparks sold the remaining 172 acres of their tract to William Haden for 150 pounds (Rowan County Deed Book 6, page 482). The witnesses were Benjamin Taylor and James Whitafeur (or Whitakor?); Matthew and Sarah both signed by mark.

Exactly when Matthew Sparks and his family came to Rowan County is not known, but they must have come about 1758; their son, Matthew, Jr., stated in 1832 that he had been born on January 20, 1759, “in Rowan County, near Salisbury.” The earliest reference to Matthew Sparks in the Rowan County Court Records is dated 1761 (page 335) - - he was listed as being on a jury. The first tax list of Rowan County on which his name appears is that of 1761 - - Matthew Sparks, Jonas Sparks, and Solomon Sparks were all listed in Caleb Osborn’s District. (Jonas Sparks, who died in Rowan County in 1805, may also have been a brother of Matthew.[NOTE: It was later determined that Jonas was a brother of Solomon]) Matthew Sparks was “on Jury” again in 1762 (page 385), in 1765 (page 522), and in 1766 (page 634). An interesting court record dated “Second Tues. in July 1763” (page 469) reads as follows:

On Motion It is Ordered that a Waggon Road the best and nearest and Best way from he Shallow ford upon the Yadkin River to the Town of Salisbury and the following persons are appointed to Lay off and mark the same, to wit Samuel Bryan Morgan Bryan James Bryan Roger Turner Mathew Sparks Edward Roberts Daniel Boon Bernet Stagner David Johnston James MeMahen Robert F’ur bush & Thomas Turner and accordingly they appear upon Notice and be Qualified be fore the nearest Majistrate for their Faithfull discharge of this Office &c.

An undated entry in the Rowan County Court Records (page 608) for either 1765 or 1766, records that Matthew Sparks and Daniel Lewis were “suretys in £100” for Gatry Willcocks (or Willcox), widow of Isaac Wilcocks, and George Wilcox, administrators of the estate of Isaac Willcocks. The following court record, dated Thursday, February 4, 1773, is of interest (Book 3, 1773-1786, page 10):

Overseers of Roads. Ordered on petition that the following jury lay out & open a Road from the Shallow Ford to William Morrisons Mill Upon Third Creek - Viz: Roger Turner, Patrick Morrison, John Bryan, Andrew Morrison, James Wilison, George Lock, Mathew Sparks, John Reed, John Heren [?], Jas Cooper, Isaac Holman & Moses Potts. Charles Vandever and James Cooper are appointed Overseers of sd Road.Wilkes County was formed in 1777 from Surry County and the District of Washington. The area in which Matthew Sparks settled on New River had been a part of Surry County and is now a part of Ashe County (Ashe County having been formed from Wilkes in 1799). Matthew lived near the present town of Jefferson in Ashe County.

On March 3, 1779, Matthew Sparks obtained a grant of 400 acres in Wilkes County “at the mouth of Little naked Creek.” Following is the description of this land taken from the file in the Land Grant Office, Raleigh, North Carolina:

Wilkes County, North Carolina. File No. 22. Warrant No. 163 -- to Matthew Sparkes -- 400 acres “on the North side of New River Begining on Little Naked Creek Runing Down Including his Impt. [i.e.improvement]” 5 Nov. 1778. Surveyed 21 Dec. 1778. “Beginning at the mouth of little naked Creek Running South Fifty five degrees along the line of Andrew Baker Seventy one pole thence with sd Bakers line South forty one degrees East thirty two pole to a stake thence North Twenty eight degrees< East Eighty four pole to two Chesnuts thence with the line of land of William Sturdie North Seventy four Degrees East fifty two pole to two< white oak Saplins near the bank of the South fork of New River thence down the several Courses of the river to the mouth of a Small Branch thence West Eighty pole to a red oak thence South twelve degrees East to the Beginning.” (signed) Joe. Herndon, C .S. Chain Carriers: James Vaningle Matthew Sparkes, Jur.

By 1797 the above land was in the possession of a man named John Dick. In 1797, Dick petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly to the effect that the land, as described, embraced only about half of the 400 acres. Thus in the foregoing File 22 there is a resurvey of the 400 acres dated November 2, 1797, which reads as follows: “By Order of Court ReSurveyed for Mathew Sparks -- 400 acres now deeded to John Dick: Begining at a Stake at the Mouth of little Naked Creek a branch of the South fork of New River runing South 12° East 71 pole to a Stake then South 55° East 71 pole to a White Oak then South 41° West 32 pole to a Stake then South 28° East 84 pole to Two Chesnuts then North 70° East 52 pole to Two White Oak Saplings on the Point of a Hill on the West side of the South fork of New River then down the Meanders of said River to a Locust at the Mouth of a Small branch then North 100 pole to a Spanish Oak then West 80 pole to a White Oak then to first Station. (signed) Robt. Nall, D.S.for H. Roussau, C.S. This Grant is issued under the authority of a resolution of the General Assembly pass’d. at Raleigh 1797.”

The earliest extant complete tax list of Wilkes County, that of 1782, credits Matthew Sparks with the ownership of 650 acres of land, six horses, and eight cattle--the whole valued for tax purposes at $144.00. He was listed in Capt. Cleveland’s District; his son, John Sparks, was listed in the same district as owning livestock but no land. Likewise, James Sparks was listed as owning livestock but no land. We feel certain that this James Sparks was Matthew’s son, not his brother.

An interesting picture of life in the New River Settlement during the Revolution was given by Matthew’s son, William Sparks, in his pension application. He stated that when he was in his seventeenth year he joined a military unit which conducted a campaign against the Cherokee Indians. Apparently this was in 1778. “Upon my return from this campaign,” William Sparks testified, “the military company, in the bounds of which I resided, was organized into a company of mounted minute men under Andrew Baker as Captain and my Brother John Sparks as Lieutenant. In this company I served till the close of the revolution. We furnished our own horses arms and equipments. Our part of the country was almost constantly infested with robbing and murdering parties of tories, british and Hessians, and I was constantly either out in pursuit of such parties, or, in obedience to the orders of my Captain, held myself in readiness to march at a moment’s warning. Of the many and almost constant scouting parties, pursuits, and expeditions in which I was engaged during this period from my great age and infirmities I can recollect but one, so as to abe. able to state the particulars and that only from the personal interest of my family in it, I will proceed to state it. In less than a year after my return from the campaign against the Cherokees above detailed a party of tories, about 150 in number, robbed my Father, taking a horse saddle and bridle, six guns, all our pewter (we had no delf ware [i.e. delftware] in those days) and whatever else they could carry. My company was immediately called out and others amounting in all to about one hundred and fifty mounted Gun Men under the command of Col.Benjamin Cleaveland. We pursued the above named tories a distance of between 60 and 70 miles and overtook them in Boxe’s settlement near the Virginia line. They were feasting, frolicing and many of them drunk. We killed and wounded 25 or 30 of them in a fight, made prisoners of nearly all the rest, of whom hung five or six, the ballance of the prisoners were discharged by Colo. Cleaveland upon their promise not to molest the patriots for the future. In this expedition I was engaged three weeks.”

The earliest mention of Matthew Sparks in the Wilkes County Court Records is dated June 3, 1778--he was among a group of men appointed to lay out a road. This record reads as follows:

Ordered by the Court that Rowland Judd John Robins Jur John Tyrah William Owen Jur John Shepperd Nethaniel Judd Barnet Owen John Baker Matthew Sparks Andrew Baker Jur Thomas Cailoway Robert Bake Zacariah Wells Abel Penington James Ward and James Lewis or any 12 of them be a Jury to Lay out a Road the best and most Convenient way from the Deep fourd on Reddies River to BenajahPenington’s mill and make Report there of to the next Court.

On September 7, 1778, it was “Order’d that Matthew Sparks Snr. be appointed Overseer of the new marked Road from the Top of the Blue Ridge to the Fourd on the south Fork of the new River, and all the hands Convenient work thereon.” On December 10, 1778, it was Ordered that all hands in Capt. Bakers Company below Benjamin Taylors work on the Road under Matthew Sparks overseer.” On June 7, 1780, it was “Ordered by the Court that Charles Rowland be appointed overseer of the Road in stead of Matthew Sparks and all the hands work thereon.”

Exactly how long Matthew Sparks and his family remained on New River in Wilkes County (now Ashe County) is not known. Matthew’s son, William Sparks, in his pension application, stated that he remained in Wilkes County “till the close of the Revolutionary war when he removed with his father to what was then Franklin County, afterwards Jackson, and now Clarke County in the State of Georgia and settled about four miles from Athens in that State.” Matthew Sparks, Jr., in his pension application, stated that the family remained in Wilkes County “until three or four years after the close of the Revolutionary War.” The fact that on June 7, 1780, Matthew Sparks was replaced as overseer for the new road may indicate the family was making plans to move. They were still in Wilkes County in 1782, however, for on the tax list of Wilkes County for that year Matthew Sparks, Jr., was listed in Capt. Sam Johnson’s District as “single,” without land - - his taxable property consisted of one “horse or mule” valued at six pounds. Matthew Sparks, Sr., was listed in “Capt. Cleveland’s Dist.” with taxable property consisting of 650 acres of land valued at 100 pounds, 6 horses or mules valued at 36 pounds, and 8 cattle valued at 8 pounds, making a total of 144 pounds of taxable property. Listed in the same district, as stated earlier, was James Sparks (with 5 cattle valued at 5 pounds) and John Sparks (with 2 “horses or mules” valued at 12 pounds and 5 cattle valued at 5 pounds).

A deed by which Matthew Sparks sold 400 acres of land to Edward Cross was proven in the Wilkes County Court on October 27, 1784, by James Bunyard. The fact that Matthew Sparks himself did not appear in court to prove the deed may mean that he had left the county by the fall of 1784. Unfortunately, the deed itself was not recorded--we have only the court record of its being proved. Neither Matthew Sparks nor his sons appeared on the 1784 tax list of Wilkes County.

From the pension papers of Matthew’s two sons, we know that he, with most of his sons, were among the first settlers in the lands east of the Oconee River in Georgia, which, prior to the close of the Revolution, had belonged to the Creek Indians. This vast area was given to the State of Georgia and in February, 1784, the Georgia Legislature passed an act throwing open to settlement this newly acquired territory. It was designated as Washington and Franklin Counties. (Many squatters had moved into the area, however, prior to February, 1784, and perhaps Matthew Sparks was among them.)

The Creek Indians strongly protested the loss of their land and, under their able leader, Alexander McGillivroy, a half-breed with Scottish ancestry, they kept up for several years, in that irregular, desultory manner so common in Indian war, a series of depredations on the white settlements along the Georgia frontier. Spain also claimed this land and signed a treaty with MoGillivroy in 1784 under which the Spanish gave the Indians aid and encouragement. This struggle, which lasted twelve years, is called the Oconee War.

Matthew Sparks, Jr., in his pension application, stated that soon after coming to Georgia, he, “with his father and other settlers, erected a fort which was then and probably still is called Sparks Fort.” He made this statement in 1832. This was probably the fort to which Bettie Smith referred in her letter.

During the years that Matthew Sparks lived in Georgia (from about 1784 to 1793). the constant Indian depredations and unsettled times resulted in few records being maintained. Fortunately for our research, during the period of many years following the death of Matthew Sparks, his heirs made a number of claims against both the Federal and State government for the losses that the family had suffered. From these claims and the surviving correspondence involving them, we are able to gain some knowledge of Matthew’s closing years. Some of these documents are contained in a file called “Indian Depredations” in the Georgia Department of Archives and History, Atlanta. Others have been preserved by a great-great-grandson of Matthew and Sarah Sparks, J. Kent Sparks of Linden, Tennessee.

The document that provides the most detailed account of Matthew’s troubles with the Creek Indians is a statement sworn to by Nathan Sparks, son of Matthew, in Wilson County, Tennessee, in September, 1828. This document reads as follows:

Matthew Sparks lived in the State of Georgia in the year 1786 untill 1793 and was killed by the Indians in Franklin County near where Atheans [sic] now is and in said date 1766 McGilbrey [i.e. McGillivroy] and his warriors made their first brake on Sparks’s property (To Witt) 2 Spinning Whells one large patch one Garden and other things (too tedious to mention) 30.00 In the year 1787 one Sorrel mare was stolen to the value of 200.00 one large Bell also 2.00 one Eagle Horse 100.00 one Roam Mare 100.00 one Black " 70.00 1 Brown Bay Horse 75.00 In the year 1788 one Fort burnt 3 dwelling Houses one Block House and all the stockading around said Fort to the value of 175.00 Also the fencing around 20 Acres was burnt at the same time to the value of 70.00 Also in the year 1790 one large hewn log house burnt by said Indians to the value of 50.00 Also about 20 large hogs and many small ones of the same gang was stolen about the same time val of 90.00 In the year 1793 one Bay horse Stolen to the value of 100.00 Also one Brown mare 50.00 Also the said Matthew Sparks was in service of the United States in theYear 1792 and his horse died to the value of Dollars while in service. 100.00 State of Tennessee Wilson County County Court Sept. Term 1828 This day Nathan Sparks appeared in open Court, and made Oath that the foregoing is a fair and correct Schedule of the property, which Matthew Sparks was in possession of and was the rightful owner of, and which was destroyed by the Creek Indians, under the command of McGlibry their Cheif & others who first attacked the whites on the frontier settlements of Georgia - in the year 1786: and the Creek Indians continued their depredations from the year 1786 up to the year 1793, and the said Matthew Sparks was killed in the Month November 1793, after the great part of his property was either stolen or destroyed by the Creeks. The sorrel mare mentioned in the foregoing schedule as having been stolen in the year 1787 was an animal of uncommon value in those times, and this affiant knows that a negro boy about fourteen years of age was offered for said mare and refused to be taken by said Matthew Sparks. This affiant also states that the rates at which the several items of property are estimated he believes to be upon a fair and reasonable calculation. Septr. 23rd. 1828 [signed] Nathan Sparks.

[Note: On November 6, 1828, Nathan Sparks and William Sparks, sons of Matthew, appeared in Baldwin County, Georgia, and swore to the above.]

-563-

From this claim, it is apparent that the family suffered most severely in 1788 when what must have been Sparks Fort was burned, along with their “3 dwelling Houses.” Again in 1790 they appear to have been burned out, and finally in November, 1793, Matthew Sparks was killed by the Indians. Bettie Smith, it will be recalled, stated that he “went out to kill a turkey one morning, and was killed by the Indians.” It is not clear, however, to what Bettie Smith referred when she stated that “they got up one morning, horses all gone but one ... they sit Granny, and a bed on her [the horse] and started for the fort, twenty-five miles bare headed; there they stayed seven years.” Perhaps this was in 1786 when the Indians first attacked.

Following the death of Matthew Sparks in 1793, the family continued to live in what is now Clarke County, Georgia, for a number of years. In< 1802, Matthew’s son, Absolom Sparks, still a resident of Georgia, made the following sworn statements:

Daughters of the American Revolution information:

• SPARKS, MATTHEW SR
• Ancestor #: A107888
• Service: NORTH CAROLINA
• Rank(s): CIVIL SERVICE
• Birth: CIRCA 1730
• Death: 11- -1793 FRANKLIN CO GEORGIA
• Service Source: ABSHER, WILKES CO NC COURT MINUTES 1778-1788, VOLS 1 & 2, PP 3, 7
• Service Description: 1) OVERSEER OF ROADS, 1778
• Residence; Created: 2002-03-27 23:23:55.3, Updated: , By: Conversion 1) County: WILKES CO - State: NORTH CAROLINA
• Spouse: SARAH X; Created: 2002-03-27 23:17:13.16, Updated: 2012-12-13 14:09:14.0, By: 1503727 1)
• Child son: JESSE SPARKS, [Spouse #] Spouse: [1] ELIZABETH JONES
• Child son: NATHAN SPARKS, [Spouse #] Spouse: [1] NANCY HANCOCK *Child son: ABSOLOM SPARKS [Spouse #] Spouse: [1] X X;
• Future Applicants Must Prove Correct Lineage (FAMPCL) Child son: ABSOLOM SPARKS, [Spouse #] Spouse: [1] LYDIA ELSBERRY
• Child son: WILLIAM SPARKS, [Spouse #] Spouse: [1] MARY POLLY FIELDER
• Child son: MATTHEW SPARKS JR., [Spouse #] Spouse: [1] X X
• Notice: PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED WITH AT LEAST ONE PREVIOUSLY VERIFIED PAPER - SEE ANCESTOR’S FULL RECORD (WHY?)
• Comments; (Overview): Created: 2013-10-25 08:13:20.0, Updated: 2013-10-25 08:13:20.0, By: 1) FAMPCL - CHILD ABSOLOM'S SPOUSE'S NAME NOT PROVEN. SEE DATACF. 10/2013

Sources

• Ancestry Profile: #1443224120

• Matthew and Sarah (Thompson) Sparks of North Carolina and Georgia had eleven sons and two daughters. Articles about four of the sons have been published in earlier issues of The Sparks Quarterly. An article about their son, 1.2.1.2.2.1 John Sparks, appeared in the issue of March 1966, Whole No. 53; that about 1.2.1.2.2.6 Absalom Sparks was in the Sep 1982 issue, Whole No. 119; that of 1.2.1.2.2.2 Matthew J. Sparks was in the Sep 1984 issue, Whole No. 127; and that of 1.2.1.2.2.3 William Sparks was in the Sep 1985 and June 1986 issues, Whole Nos. 131 and 134, respectively. An article about Matthew and Sarah Sparks was published in the June 1961 issue, Whole No. 34>

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:SB22-74N : accessed 2016-06-13), entry for Mathew Jefferson /Sparks/.

• Lester LeMay genealogical files.

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 13 June 2021), "Record of Matthew Sparks", Ancestor # A107888.0

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Sparks-258 created through the import of Edwards Family Tree.ged on May 29, 2011 by Kennon Edwards.