Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Parent-Proof notes for 6G/7G GF Thomas Sparks
The Sparks line traces back from Josias Sparks Jr. and Sr. to, by most accounts, Thomas of Anne Arundel County. But this is not universally agreed upon. Moreover, I have seen some opinions about the ancestry of Thomas, but nothing seems proven. So I have taken our Sparks line no further back than Thomas until more evidence emerges.
Dorothy Herrick Reynolds sums it up: ”My hunch is that Josiah descends from either the George Sparks or the Thomas Sparks line. If Thomas, he was in turn the son of Thomas who in turn was the son of Richard.” I believe Dorothy may have thought that Josias was the son of Thomas Jr. who I think actually was Josias’ brother and so she may have one too many Thomases in the line she describes -- but the point is she thinks the line goes from Thomas to Richard. I simply don’t know about that.
Dorothy Herrick Reynolds sums it up: ”My hunch is that Josiah descends from either the George Sparks or the Thomas Sparks line. If Thomas, he was in turn the son of Thomas who in turn was the son of Richard.” I believe Dorothy may have thought that Josias was the son of Thomas Jr. who I think actually was Josias’ brother and so she may have one too many Thomases in the line she describes -- but the point is she thinks the line goes from Thomas to Richard. I simply don’t know about that.
Research notes for 6G/7G GF Thomas Sparks
The Sparks Family Association wrote this to establish the likelihood that Josiah was the son of Thomas of Anne Arundel County.
“Probate records for Anne Arundel County, Maryland, on file in the Maryland Hall of Records, in Annapolis, show that a Thomas Sparks died intestate in that county in or near the year 1727. The inventory of estate for Thomas Sparks is dated 20 April 1727, and the papers show that he had "No Relations." (For some reason, a wife and children apparently did not count as "relations" in these cases.) The account, dated 1732, was made by Leonard Hollyday of Prince George's County, Maryland, as administrator of Thomas Sparks late of Anne Arundel County, deceased. This Thomas Sparks may or may not be the father of the Thomas Sparks who appears on the records of Anne Arundel County a generation later.
Deed books for Anne Arundel County, Maryland, show seven deeds under the name Sparks, all for one Thomas Sparks. He first appears on record in 1748, when he purchased 162 acres, and in 1752 he obtained 430 more acres of land. By 1756, he had sold all of his land in Anne Arundel County and was living in Baltimore County, Maryland, having removed there late in 1755 or early in 1756. The names of no other persons named Sparks appear in Anne Arundel records except Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Sparks, and the Josiah Sparks mentioned below.
The records of St. Anne's Parish, Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, contain two Sparks items, as follows: Josiah Sparks married 15 July 1749 to Penelope Brown, by the Revd. Mr. Andrew Lendrum. Samuel Sparks, son of Thomas Sparks and Elizabeth his wife, was born 29 July 1749. Both Thomas Sparks and Josiah Sparks, with their families, removed to Baltimore County, Maryland, and were members of St. John's & St. George's P. E. Church, Harford (then Baltimore) County, Maryland.
Josiah Sparks was born 1729 and died, intestate, in 1765, Baltimore County, Maryland, with Penelopy Sparks as administratrix.
Records of St. John's & St. George's P. E. Church, afore-mentioned, show that on the 10th of April, 1770, Aquilla Wyle was married to "Pine" Sparks, widow of Josiah, and by 1781 they were living in Shrewsbury Twp., York County, Pennsylvania. No other records for Thomas Sparks have been found in Baltimore County, except that in 1760 he was granted 38 acres in Baltimore County, called the Hawk's Nest. Thomas Sparks was born c.1711, and was either the father (by an earlier wife than Elizabeth) of Josiah (b. ca..1729), or his elder brother--probably the former.
The only other Sparks item on the records of St. John's & St. George's P. E. Church is the marriage, on the 3rd of September 1762, of Phill Lock Ellcott and Sarah Sparks. Sarah was probably a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Sparks.”
“Probate records for Anne Arundel County, Maryland, on file in the Maryland Hall of Records, in Annapolis, show that a Thomas Sparks died intestate in that county in or near the year 1727. The inventory of estate for Thomas Sparks is dated 20 April 1727, and the papers show that he had "No Relations." (For some reason, a wife and children apparently did not count as "relations" in these cases.) The account, dated 1732, was made by Leonard Hollyday of Prince George's County, Maryland, as administrator of Thomas Sparks late of Anne Arundel County, deceased. This Thomas Sparks may or may not be the father of the Thomas Sparks who appears on the records of Anne Arundel County a generation later.
Deed books for Anne Arundel County, Maryland, show seven deeds under the name Sparks, all for one Thomas Sparks. He first appears on record in 1748, when he purchased 162 acres, and in 1752 he obtained 430 more acres of land. By 1756, he had sold all of his land in Anne Arundel County and was living in Baltimore County, Maryland, having removed there late in 1755 or early in 1756. The names of no other persons named Sparks appear in Anne Arundel records except Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Sparks, and the Josiah Sparks mentioned below.
The records of St. Anne's Parish, Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, contain two Sparks items, as follows: Josiah Sparks married 15 July 1749 to Penelope Brown, by the Revd. Mr. Andrew Lendrum. Samuel Sparks, son of Thomas Sparks and Elizabeth his wife, was born 29 July 1749. Both Thomas Sparks and Josiah Sparks, with their families, removed to Baltimore County, Maryland, and were members of St. John's & St. George's P. E. Church, Harford (then Baltimore) County, Maryland.
Josiah Sparks was born 1729 and died, intestate, in 1765, Baltimore County, Maryland, with Penelopy Sparks as administratrix.
Records of St. John's & St. George's P. E. Church, afore-mentioned, show that on the 10th of April, 1770, Aquilla Wyle was married to "Pine" Sparks, widow of Josiah, and by 1781 they were living in Shrewsbury Twp., York County, Pennsylvania. No other records for Thomas Sparks have been found in Baltimore County, except that in 1760 he was granted 38 acres in Baltimore County, called the Hawk's Nest. Thomas Sparks was born c.1711, and was either the father (by an earlier wife than Elizabeth) of Josiah (b. ca..1729), or his elder brother--probably the former.
The only other Sparks item on the records of St. John's & St. George's P. E. Church is the marriage, on the 3rd of September 1762, of Phill Lock Ellcott and Sarah Sparks. Sarah was probably a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Sparks.”
My Comments notes for 6G/7G GF Thomas Sparks
Robert W Barnes, a widely published and oft-quoted Baltimore County genealogist, seems willing to believe that Josiah was indeed the son of Thomas of Anne Arundel County -- but he attributes what he says about Thomas to the work of James B McCurley Jr. Barnes says “Thomas Sparks was born probably by 1691 and died circa 1727 in Anne Arundel County. He had issue: Thomas, Matthew and Josiah.”