In the year of 1897, my father Johnnie Sparks, was an 18 year old boy and he helped his brother-in-law, John Holt move some cattle from the drought ridden Fisher County, to a place just east of what is McAdoo now, and he stayed on to help the Holts with their cattle and worked for other ranches for several years. In 1899 he moved his mother and father from Fisher County to a half dug out over by Catfish Creek, their nearest neighbors being the Petersons, I remember my grandmother telling about little Frankie Peterson, the only child of the Petersons, getting sick in the night and my daddy riding horseback all the way across Croton Breaks to where Doctor Burnam lived, to get the doctor, but little Frankie died and grandmother helped make her dress to be buried in and grandpa helped build the coffin, and she was buried in old Espuela Cemetery.Uncle Jimmie Sparks, as my grandfather was called, had been born in Indiana, but had come south before the Civil War and fought with the south during the war and then married Margaret Rash in Hood County, Texas. Many times I have gone to the meetings of the Old Confederate Soldiers, with grandpa when Mrs. Lillian Grace Dickson would take them to all the cemeteries in the county on Decoration Day to put flags at the graves of the soldiers.
The Sparks moved to Tap, Texas, what is called Red Mud Community now, and between farming and raising a few cows, my daddy would go with a group to Rotan, Texas to freight goods and supplies from the railroad. A camping place for these freighters was a place called ABC and Comer Pirkle had a gin there, on one of these trips my daddy met Mary Pirkle and in 1907 they were married. They continued to live at Red Mud Community, and were living there when the railroad was built into Spur, Daddy worked helping build it and Mother said she would go in the buggy and sell milk, eggs, butter and home baked bread and pies to the railroad workers, daddy would ride horseback to and from work and sometimes they would camp for weeks at a time, when they were working to far away to go and come every day.
We lived right by the church and sometimes during a revival meeting whole families would stay the whole week at our house, I can remember beds would be made on the floor and even out in the yard. My mother played the organ for these church services and at night grandpa would keep the children. We could hear the singing from the church and grandpa would sing along too, I don't suppose any one except we kids ever heard him sing but remembering back, I know he could sing real well. I especially remember how he would sing "Brethren we have met to Worship", I like that song very much and always think of grandpa when I hear it.
In 1919 we sold the place at Red Mud, and bought a farm in the Highway Community, at this time there were Lotella, Leona, Loretta, Winnie and Jimmie and grandma and grandpa were still with us, in 1920 Billie was born.
Highway was a new community, it had a small school building, soon after we moved there a new building was built, the men of the community donated their time to work on the building and also some money and some times we would have only seven or eight months of school.
Daddy served on the school board for a number of years.
There was no Baptist Church in Highway Community at the time we moved there, and soon after the new school building was finished, Brother Stokes came at the request of Grandpa Vernon and other interested citizens and the Macidonia Baptist Church was organized. Mother and Daddy were some of the charter members of it, their membership remained there until it disbanded after the school was moved away, and at that time they moved their membership to Spur First Baptist Church.
During the time Handy Cole was sheriff Daddy served as Deputy for some months.
My daddy loved people and always was interested in what was going on in the county, he used to say at one time he knew every man, woman and child in the county by their first names, and even after the county was settled up more and more he still would manage to meet any strangers that moved in and find out where they were from, he really enjoyed people and went to all the pioneer reunions far and near, at the time of his death he was President of Texas Cowboy Reunion that meets each year at Stamford, Texas.
As in all families there were lots of happy times, and trying times, and our family along with so many, many others had the misfortune of the war, when our baby of the family was killed during World War II in a bombing raid on Wadke Island in the Pacific on May 27, 1944.
Source: History of Dickens County; Ranches and Rolling Plains, Fred Arrington, ©1971
Funeral services for Johnny E. Sparks an early day cowboy, wagon freighter who first came to Dickens County in 1900, were held Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the First Baptist Church. Rev. W.L. Kite officiated, assisted by Victor Crabtree, Dumont Baptist Church and Tommy Conaway, Trinity Baptist Church, Dickens.Mr. Sparks was returning to Spur Sunday following a visit with one of his daughters´ in Dickens when he suffered a heart attack. He had been elected president of the Stamford Cowboy Reunion earlier this year. In the early days of the county, he hauled freight from Sweetwater to Spur.
He came to Dickens County in 1900 and 1907 married Mary Pirkle. The couple made their home in the Red Mud community. He was a member of the Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife; four daughters, Mrs. Winnie Hughes, Dell City; Mrs. Loretta Parks, San Leandro, CA; Mrs. Lotella Murchison and Mrs. Leona Koonsman, Dickens; one son, Jimmy Sparks, Dell City; one sister, Mrs. Mamie Holt, Phoenix, AZ; seven grandchildren and three great grandchildren. One son William Sparks was killed in action in World War II.
Interment was in Spur Cemetery.
©The Texas Spur, November 9, 1961
from the records of Lillian Grace Nay
Services for Mary Sparks, 99, were held at the First Baptist Church at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 24, with Rev. Norris Taylor of Stinnett, officiating, assisted by Rev. H.F. Scott of Bacon Heights Baptist Church, Lubbock.
Burial was in the Spur Cemetery under the direction of Franklin-Bartley Funeral Home.
Mrs. Sparks died at 5:15 a.m. in St. Mary´s Hospital in Lubbock, May 21, 1982.
Mary Sparks was a member of the First Baptist Church, Spur, and the Gold Star Mothers VFW Auxiliary.
She was born in Macon, Georgia, November 11, 1882. Her twin sister, Martha Bills, passed away last July.
Mary Sparks married J.E. (Johnny) Sparks at Rotan on September 7, 1907 and immediately moved to Dickens County where she resided for 68 years until 1975 when she moved to Lubbock to stay with her daughter Lotella Murchison.
Survivors include one son, Jimmie Sparks, Deport; four daughters, Lotella Murchison and Winnie Hughes, Lubbock; Mrs. Jim (Leona) Koonsman, Dickens; and Mrs. Martin (Loretta) Parks, San Leandro, California; seven grandchildren; sixteen great grandchildren; and three great great grandchildren; two sisters, Lucy Head, Lawton, Oklahoma; and Lorena Stewart, Cleburne. She was preceded in death by her husband who died in 1961 and a son, Billy Sparks, who lost his life in World War II.
©The Texas Spur, Thursday, May 27, 1982
from the records of Lillian Grace Nay
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