Hi Gloria. I saw your note to Carol. I have SPARKS, if you don't mind checking your records for me. John Stephen Sparks b. ca 1822, Shelby Co. Ky. About 7 Apr 1862, wounded at battle of Shiloh and died soon after. Burial place unknown. married Elizabeth Jane Levy, Allen County KY 3 June 1843 Note: John Stephen was a Private, Company F, 9th Regiment, Kentucky Vol. Union Army Children Amanda E. b. 23 Oct 1845, Indiana Robert Thomas b. 14 Sept 1848 Orange Co. Indiana d. 15 Apr 1925, Denton, Texas, married 1) Amanda Caroline Collins 19 Nov 1876, Bakersfield, Howell Co., MO 2) Ruth Isabel Collins 27 Jan 1889 John Solomon b. 13 Jul 1851 Allen County KY d. 31 Jan 1941. buried Bakersfield, Howell Co. MO. married Mary Elizabeth Smith 26 Nov 1876 William W. b. 20 April 1854, Barren County, KY married Udorah Horsman [?] Louisa Margaret Catherine b. 25 Nov 1857, Barren County, KY d. 1937 M. Samuel M. Smith Mary Virginia Elizabeth b. 26 June 1860 Monroe County, KY d. p. 1940 married ........Westmoreland Robert Thomas Sparks wrote down some of his memories and in them he says they moved to Barren County Kentucky about 1854 and he mentions "Great Grandmother Merrit" who lived nearby. He also said, "Father had an uncle who lived near us (Barren Co., KY), he owned a lot of slaves before the Civil War." In another place he mentions fishing the Barren River with his father and one of his father's cousins "by the name of Holder". A little later on he mentions "one of my uncles". In 1859 they moved to Monroe County, Kentucky. Again, "Uncle Will Chandler had moved his family to Madison, Indiana." Sometime around 1864 his mother sold the Kentucky farm and the family moved to Indiana - I assume from the context that it was Madison. In 1866 they moved to Missouri, Crawford Co. They stayed there two years and in 1868 went to Howell Co. MO, where they homesteaded 160 acres of land "and rock" In an affidavit for a pension for Elizabeth, William and Amanda Chandler say they "lived near neighbors..." Most of the above information is from a booklet compiled by Elsie J. Sparks Jamieson I hope you can make a connection so that we can discover the parents of John Stephen Sparks and Elizabeth Jane Levy. Best regards Sara Deatherage sara.d@townsqr.com