MY SPARKS FAMILY

My 4th Great-grandfather

David and Elizabeth Sparks were original settlers of the Brownsburg, Indiana area. According to the 1850 and 1860 census records in Hendricks County, Indiana, David Sparks said that he was born in Tennessee. Since Tennessee did not become a state until 1796, he could have been born at a place which later became Tennessee. David was born on March 16, 1785. David was married 3 times. Sometime before 1806, he married for the first time. I do not know the name of his first wife, but a son Hugh was born on July 11, 1806 in Pulaski County, Kentucky. The wife died prior to 1810 and Hugh was raised in Madison County, Ohio, maybe by grandparents. Next David Sparks married a girl named Elizabeth Roberts. She was the daughter of Doshea Roberts. David and Elizabeth obtained their marriage license in Wayne County, Kentucky. All five of their children were born in Kentucky. In 1827 David moved his family and settled in Brown Township, Hendricks County, Indiana. According to the History of Hendricks County, Indiana by: John V. Hadley and published by Bowen and Company in 1914, David Sparks was the first white man in this territory. He settled three years before any definite settlement had been made in this portion of the county. David purchased land from the federal government at the Crawfordsville land office. David and other early settlers in 1833 built a log church named the Regular Baptist Church, 3/4 mile east of Pittsboro, Indiana. Elizabeth Sparks died on February 27, 1840. In 1841, David married a widow, Sarah Pinkley on February 12, 1841 in Hendricks County, Indiana. No children were born to this marriage. David Sparks died on August 22, 1861.

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Hugh Sparks, son of David, was born on July 11, 1806, in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

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Children born to David Sparks and Elizabeth Roberts Sparks were
1. Rebecca Sparks, born in 1813. Married John Poynter. Rebecca died in 1838.
2. Nancy Sparks, born on January 3, 1815 in Kentucky. Married Asa Roy in Hendricks County, Indiana on May 20, 1831.
3. Galen Sparks, born on September 12, 1816. Married Lydia Askren in Hendricks County, Indiana on December 26, 1836.
4. Nicyian Sparks, born on October 25, 1818. Married Nathaniel John Helton in 1838.
5. Thomas John Chilton Sparks, born on January 5, 1820. Married Martha Ann Askren in Indiana on March 22, 1840.

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Thomas John Chilton Sparks was born on January 5, 1820 in Kentucky. On March 22, 1840, he married Martha Ann Askren in Indiana. They settled on 40 acres of land given to Thomas by his father, David Sparks. Children born to Thomas J. C. Sparks and Martha Ann Askren Sparks were
1.Dianah Sparks, born in 1841. Died on September 10, 1842.
2.David William Sparks, born on May 15, 1842. Died on March 15, 1903. Married Mary May on October 31, 1861 in Pittsboro, Hendricks County, Indiana.
3.Infant Sparks, born February 12, 1844. Died the same day.
4.Deborah Ann Sparks, born December 1, 1845. Married Lewis Beasley on October 18, 1865.
5.Aaron Othenial Sparks, born November 22, 1848. Married Sarah Elizabeth Smoot on October 26, 1875.
6.Porcepina Sparks, born November 14, 1850.
7.Elizabeth C. Sparks, November 28, 1851. Died in 1857.
8.Mary Alice Sparks, born September 25, 1852. She married John H. Peters in Hendricks County, Indiana on May 25, 1876. She died on November 11, 1930, and is buried at Mts. Run Cemetery in Boone County, Indiana.

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Mary Alice Sparks Peters and John H. Peters had one daughter name Charlottie Ann Peters.
1. Charlottie Ann Peters was born in 1877 in Boone County, Indiana. Charlottie married Harvie E. Neese on May 26, 1895 in Boone County, Indiana. She died in 1946, and is buried at Mts. Run Cemetery, Boone County, Indiana.
Children born to Harvie E. Neese and Charlottie Ann Peters Neese are
1.John Harrison Neese, born March 22, 1896
2.Samuel Ovid Neese, born January 24, 1899
3.Mary Alice Neese, born December 26, 1908

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Sources: Lebanon Public Library
The Village of Brownsburg by Peg Kennedy and Frankie Konovsek

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