Mysterious Harvey D. Sparks – More Insight Needed – Part I
I have been corresponding to several Sparks and Spencer cousins about the apparently, more than even I knew, mysterious Harvey D. Sparks. I would like to put out what I know and what I’ve been told to see if Harvey and family can come into focus a little more. I am interested in Harvey and his wife, Nancy, because they would be my great-great-grandparents through their daughter, America.
Here is what I (believe I) know:
Harvey D. (stands for Dyer?) Sparks was born December 2, 1824, probably in Lee County, Virginia, before immigrating to (Owsley County?) Kentucky.
He married Nancy (conflicting information as to whether she was a Johnson or a Wells, leaning toward Wells at the moment).
Harvey and Nancy Sparks appear on the 1850 Owsley County, Kentucky Census, Kentucky District. Harvey is listed as age 26, occupation is a farmer, and is originally from Virginia. Nancy is 23 and from Kentucky. They have three children: Polly, 5; Jane, 3; and Isaiah, 5 months (5/12).
On the same page of the 1850 Owsley Census appears an Ephraim Sparks, Sr. and his wife, Charlotte, originally from North Carolina. There is also an Ephraim Sparks, Jr. and his wife, Sarah, and their daughters, Ann and Nancy. Ephraim and Sarah are from Virginia as well. In the John D. and Phoebe Spencer household, there lives a Tobias Sparks and his wife, Peggy, from Virginia. They work as farm laborers. It appears that the Sparks family settled near each other when they migrated from Virginia.
Harvey and Nancy Sparks appear again on the 1860 Owsley County, Kentucky Census, Swiftville. Here Harvey is listed as a age 39 and a farmer, Nancy is 34, Mary A., 14; Deborah J., 13; Sarah J., 11; James, 8; America, 6; Caroline, 3; and Margaret, 1/12.
Also mentioned on the same census sheet is a James Sparks and his family. He and his wife, Temperance, are listed as coming to Owsley from Virginia. They have five children, all born in Kentucky, Nancy, Ephraim, Cordilla, Temperance, and Evaline.
On the 1880 Wolfe County, Kentucky Census: Sparks, Harvey 53 farmer; Nancy 50; Emily 15; Hamilton S. 11.
One working theory is that Harvey is a son of Mary Ann Sparks, and possibly, John D. Spencer. They were together and had children, some or all who did not take his name, though I am not clear as to why. I will not speculate here. This is the same John D. Spencer mentioned above as husband to Phoebe. She too was a Sparks – Mary Ann’s sister – and both of whom were daughters to Ephraim, Sr., and Charlotte.
The other working theory is that Harvey is the youngest son of Ephraim Sr. and Charlotte, born after Ephraim, Jr.
Logic, age, and census could support either argument.
Does anyone have any firm information on Harvey’s parentage? And Nancy’s, too, for that matter.