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Notes for Samuel Jackson Sparks
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My Uncle Sam remembered going with his Dad (Enoch) to bring his grandfather (Jack) back home after being told he was in the hills acting strange. As Uncle Sam told the story, "they went to a cave and Enoch hollered, Come on out, Dad, I know you’re in there.” His Granddaddy came out dressed in an old bear skin. It seems that when the men from the nearby homesteads would go to town to get supplies, Jack would wait until dark and try to scare the women so they would want to move. Then Granddaddy figured he could get their homestead."
Uncle Sam also told the story that during the time that his Grandfather Jack lived with them (Enoch), the government asked everyone to turn in their gold. Enoch asked Jack to give him his. Jack gave him some, but it turned out that it wasn’t all he had. Jack would disappear for a few days and then return, hand Enoch some gold, and say he didn’t want to sponge off of anyone. My Uncle Sam swears the gold came from robbing the Butterfield Express with Sam Bass and that his Granddaddy had hidden the gold in a canyon nearby. My mother remembers hearing the stories about their grandfather riding with Sam Bass but she doesn’t remember hearing about any gold.
Jack enlisted in Confederate Army in Company F, 34th Regiment (Alexander's Regiment) in Palo Pinto (then known as Golconda in Palo Pinto, County), in the winter of 1861 and served until July 1865. He was stationed at Fort Davis, TX, (the strongest fort in the west) for awhile to subdue the Indians. He served in the Indian Territory, AR, and Lousiana.
Jack applied for a pension from the State of Texas. Under the Act of 12 may 1899, TX granted pensions to its Confederate soldiers who had enlisted in Texas and remained in Texas and were indigent. I don't know how much he was awarded. He states he was a farmer and, at the time he applied (5 October 1901), he had real and personal property which consisted of two cows with a total value of $30. He signed the application with an "X." He also stated he believed he had heart trouble, his physical condition was bad, and he was wounded in the leg (I have the cane he used). The physician affidavit (25 July 1914) states, "He has had both legs broken and hip fractured. He is 72 years old and entirely helpless to such an extent as renders him incapacitated for any kind of work."
Jack Sparks married Sarah Ann Braswell about 1867/68. He was 25/26 and she was probably 15/16. I don’t know when or where they were married. Sarah was the daughter of Naomi (Beard) and Richard Braswell. She was probably born about 1842/43 in AR. Sarah was actually Jack’s step-sister. Her mother, Naomi, married Jack’s father (his third wife) after Richard Braswell was killed in the Civil War. Jack and Sarah Sparks has six children--only one boy.
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