Thomas Sparks

As printed in 1914

THOMAS SPARKS.

Thomas Sparks was one of Boone county's pioneers, settling permanently in Boonesboro in 1852. From that year until his death he continuously resided in this neighborhood, passing away in August, 1909, in his ninety-fourth year. He had taken up his residence in the city of Boone several years before his death, his widow now making her home at No. 116 Benton street.

Mr. Sparks was born in Pennsylvania, near Brownsville, December 2, 181 5, and as a boy of ten years removed with his parents to Tuscarawas county, where his father was engaged in the cultivation of a farm. When about twenty years of age Mr. Sparks of this review returned to his mother's people in Pennsylvania, where he completed his education and also taught school. Later he took up the same profession in Iowa, in Pottawattamie county. He made his first trip to Boone county in 1847 or 184B and entered eighty acres of land but did not remain at that time. In 1852 he married in Pennsylvania and subsequently located six miles south of Boone in Worth township, this farm remaining his home until the fall of 1903. The original homestead comprised eighty acres, and he also owned one hundred and twenty acres of timber, and later bought another eighty acres, his total holdings consisting of two hundred and eighty acres. When Mr. Sparks arrived here his land was raw prairie, but he set himself to its cultivation and as the years passed developed one of the most valuable farms in his neighborhood. He had given considerable attention to surveying and was elected the first county surveyor of Boone county, laying out Boonesboro. From 1903 until his death he resided at No. 621 Tenth street, Boone, and there passed away.

On March 15. 1852, Thomas Sparks married, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, Miss Esther Ann Dunn, a native of that state, who was born November 9, 1828. She accompanied her husband on the trip to Iowa, the journey being

V made by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and by ox teams from Keokuk. Their first home in Worth township was a log cabin, and later Mr. Sparks there built one of the first frame houses, the entire building being constructed of native walnut. In their family were the following children. L. D., of Boone; F. C, a widower and also a resident of this city, his daughter Gladys making her home at Ames; Asenath D., who is the widow of Lewis Fisher, Jr., and has two children; John C, an engineer of the Northwestern Railroad for years and a resident of Boone, who has one son; Mrs. Nettie J. Hitsman, who lives near Luther, Boone county, and has two children; Robert, a railroad employe who makes his headquarters in Kansas City; Playford, of Boone, who has been twice married and has two children by his first union; Frank, who died as a soldier in Manila during the Spanish-American war and left a widow and a child, the former now also deceased: Eugene V., who was a ranchman of Colorado, where he passed away, leaving a widow; and two who died in infancy.

Mr. Sparks was a stanch whig but later voted the democratic and subsequently the republican ticket. He lived to the ripe old age of ninety-three years and in him the city of Boone mourned one of the veteran pioneers of this district.

His widow sold one of the farms after his death and bought a home at No. ii6 Benton street, where she now resides. There her son, F. C. Sparks, also lives. He was born February ii, 1854, and married Miss Anna Likely, who died in 1900, leaving one daughter. Mrs. F. C. Sparks' parents were among the early settlers near Fort Madison, Iowa. Mrs. Thomas Sparks and her son are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, the former having been connected with that organization since she was fifteen years of age. She first attended services at the Brown schoolhouse and later at the Boone schoolhouse near their home. She also was a member of a class at the Gildey school, then attending services at the College Chapel church and later at the Methodist Episcopal church at Luther but now is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Boone. She is now nearing her eighty-sixth birthday, yet she is energetic and agile and still participate in many of the activities of life.

As printed in History of Boone County, Iowa (1914). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.