May 19, 2023 3:09 PM

Pages 1732
Whole Number 90

THE FAMILY OF
WILLIAM RILEY AND BARBARA ELIZABETH (CARTER) SPARKS
Photograph taken ca. 1906


A detailed record, to the present day, of the descendants of William Riley and Barbara Elizabeth (Carter) Sparks has been given to the Association by Mrs. E.P. Wallin, Box 345, Grant, Nebraska (69140). Mrs. Wallin has also provided a copy of the family portrait which appears on the cover of this issue of the Quarterly. This photograph was taken ca. 1906. A record of the children of William Riley and Barbara Elizabeth (Carter) Sparks was published in the Quarterly of March 1969 (Whole No. 65), on the cover of which we published a photograph of the parents of William Riley Sparks, Calvin and Mahala (Carmichael) Sparks.


PHOTOGRAPH OF JAMES MONROE SPARKS (1833-1906)
with HIS SECOND WIFE, MELISSA JANE (HELM) SPARKS

1.2.1.2.2.5.1.5.2 William Riley Sparks was born December 27, 1847, in Greene County, Indiana, and died on August 12, 1926. His wife, Barbara Elizabeth Carter, was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Martendale) Carter. She was born February 3, 1851, in Greene County, Indiana, and died on September 2, 1930. They were the parents of nine children, all of whom appear in this family portrait. Only the youngest child is living today, Murrell Sparks, who sat between his parents for the portrait; he is now 82 years old and lives at Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. The nine children of William Riley and Barbara Elizabeth (Carter) Sparks were:

1.2.1.2.2.5.1.5.2.1 William Granvil Sparks, born December 26, 1868;
1.2.1.2.2.5.1.5.2.2 Luala Sparks, born November 11, 1870;
1.2.1.2.2.5.1.5.2.3 John Calvin Sparks, born September 2, 1872;
1.2.1.2.2.5.1.5.2.4 Joseph Wesley Sparks, born July 10, 1876;
1.2.1.2.2.5.1.5.2.5 Steven Douglas Sparks, born September 22, 1880;
1.2.1.2.2.5.1.5.2.6 Charles Sparks, born September 21, 1883;
1.2.1.2.2.5.1.5.2.7 Purmela Sparks, born November 3, 1886;
1.2.1.2.2.5.1.5.2.8 Alvin Sparks, born December 17, 1890; and
1.2.1.2.2.5.1.5.2.9 Murrell Sparks, born September 27, 1892.