Thomas SPARLING / Isabella COOPER

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[218] THOMAS SPARLING, a retired farmer of Uttoxeter and one of the best known citizens of Plympton township was born in Rainamore, County Tipperary, Ireland Nov 1, 1830, son of the late Peter Sparling and his wife Elizabeth (Barry) Sparling. William Sparling, a well known resident of Forest, is another son.
Thomas Sparling was educated in the national schools of Ireland and afterward learned the trade of a carpenter and wheelwright. When he was seventeen, in 1847, the family left Ireland and after a passage of six weeks on a sailing vessel landed in New York. Going directly to Toronto the young man followed his trade in that vicinity for seventeen years before moving to Lambton County. There in 1867, he bought 100 acres of land in Lot 27, Concession 9, which were almost wholly wild, and which he was some years in clearing. Putting up a log house he began his pioneer life. As the timber was cut ut was sold as cord wood. During the fifteen years Mr. Sparling lived there he cleared the land brought it under cultivation, made various improvements and put up a fine dwelling. Giving the management of the farm to his son Robert, Mr. Sparling moved to Lot 25, Concession 10, where he bought fifty acres at first and later forty more. He put up a house on this place also and added improvements as he had on the other farm. In 1880 he sold his first fifty acres to Mr Burns and then bought his present farm from his brother William. This he operated for thirteen years, but in 1902 he retired from active life and left his son to take charge.
A strong Conservative in his political views, Mr. Sparling was a great admirer of Sir John A. Macdonald and of the principles he advocated. He is a member of the Loyal Orange Association which he joined at Streetsville, Ont. Religiously, he as well as his family, united with the Zion Methodist Church t Zion in which he has filled the offices of trustee and steward. Industrious and upright, Mr. Sparling is a man whose character is upheld by all who know him, while his domestic taste and temperate habits have contributed to the happiness of the home life.
Mr. Sparling was married Sept 11, 1856 in Streetsville, York County, to Miss Isabella Cooper, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Mr. McGregor, a minister in the Church of England. Miss Copper was born in York, daughter of Robert and Ellen (Watson) Cooper, who were natives of County Tyrone, Ireland , and early settlers in York County. They were members of the Presbyterin Church. To Thomas and Isabella five children were born: (1) Susan, the widow of the late John McLean, resides at Moose Jaw, Northwest Territory: she had two children, John (deceased) and Isabelle (married Alonzo Smith, and has one son, Cecil). (2) Robert, a farmer on the old homestead, married Miss Mary Prout, and has five children, viz: Eliza C., a music teacher; Mary Ellen; Rena Isabelle; Thomas Wesley, and Vida Gladys Lexie. (3) Ellen, who married William Prout, lives in Drinkwater, Northwest Territory, and has had the following children: reginald, deceased; Lizzie Isabelle; Thomas Russell; Mary Ellen; Thomas Wesley; Henry Harold; and John George. (4) Lizzie, died in infancy. (5) Lizzie (2) married Oscar Burns, reside s in Plympton and has one son, Thomas Wesley. There is also a niece of Mrs. Sparling, Miss Nellie B Cooper, who she and her husband have adopted, a young lady of of taste and culture. Mrs. Sparling is a woman of domestic tastes and is devoted to her home and family. She is noted all through that vicinity for the quilts which she knits as they are of real artistic beauty. She has made fifteen for use in her own home, and another is in the possession of Rev Henry Cole, a missionary sent by the Church of England to South Africa. Mrs. Sparling has also trained he adopted niece to make these quilts. She and her husband, while they have retired from many of the responsibilities of life, are still active in Church and social affairs.

Commemorative biographical record of the county of Lambton, Ontario (containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and many of the early settled families),J.H. Beers & Co.,Toronto, Ontario, 1906, Pgs 373,374

[585] Baptized by Rev J Hugill.

[586] Died as an infant

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