July 08, 2007

Pages 87 and 90-9
Whole Number 11

SPARKS FAMILIES IN TENNESSEE -- 1820 and 1830

Compiled by William Perry Johnson

The 1790 and 1800 census schedules for the state of Tennessee are lost, as are those for 1810, except for that of Rutherford County. Also, the 1820 census for the following Tennessee counties has been destroyed: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Orainger, Greene, Hawkins, Hamilton, Jefferson, Knox, McMirin, Marion, Monroe, Morgan, Rhea, Roane, Sevier, Sullivan, and Washington. The 1820 census for the following Tennessee countIes has been preserved: Bedford, Davidson, Dickson, Franklin, Giles, Hardin, Hickman, Humphreys, Lawrence, Lincoln, Maury, Montgomery, Overton, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Shelby, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Warren, Wayne, White, Williamson, and Wilson. Sparks familIes were living in eight of the foregoing twenty-five Tennessee counties in 1820 as listed on page 90.

In all federal census records before 1850, only the name of the head of the family is given. The household, including the head, is then enumerated by sex and age. In the 1820 census, the males were enumerated in six different age groups while the females were listed in five. Usually the head of the family  appears as the oldest male, the oldest female is usually his wife, and the younger members are ordinarily his children. One must keep in mind, however, that the parents, nephews and nieces, hired men and women, etc., were living in the household at the time the census was taken, they too would be listed as part of the family. One can never be positive, therefore, of the relationship of the various members of a given household.

Sparks Families Listed on the 1820 Census of Tennessee

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