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 1745 - 1781 (36 years)
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| Name |
William Jesse Sparkman |
| Suffix |
Sr. |
| Birth |
9 Feb 1745 |
Beaufort County, North Carolina  [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Military |
Revolutionary War Patriot [1] |
| Death |
13 Aug 1781 |
Bertie County, North Carolina [1] |
| Person ID |
I44522 |
The Hennessee Family |
| Last Modified |
30 Oct 2015 |
| Father |
Captain William Simeon Sparkman, b. ~ 1705, Bertie County, North Carolina d. 10 Jun 1784, Bertie County, North Carolina (Age ~ 79 years) |
| Mother |
Mary Anna Gardner, b. 0___ 1705, Bertie County, North Carolina d. 17 Jun 1775, (Bertie County, North Carolina) (Age ~ 70 years) |
| Marriage |
Y [2, 3] |
| Family ID |
F11499 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Rebeckah Reid |
| Marriage |
0___ 1760 |
Bertie County, North Carolina [1] |
| Children |
| | 1. William Reid Sparkman, b. 9 Feb 1764, Beaufort County, North Carolina d. 15 Mar 1832, Boston, Williamson County, Tennessee (Age 68 years) |
| | 2. William Jesse "Jesse" Sparkman, Jr., b. 9 Feb 1764, Beaufort County, North Carolina d. 7 Jun 1845, Williamson County, Tennessee (Age 81 years) |
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| Family ID |
F16206 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
30 Apr 2023 |
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| Notes |
- Biography
William Jesse (Known as Jesse) Sparkman Sr. was a Revolutionary War Veteran. He served as a Private in the North Carolina Militia, plus, (according to the DAR records) he furnished his own horse -- I hope Jesse got extra credit for that. His DAR Ancestor # is: A107846. On Sept. 30, 1785, Jesse's heirs received 640 acres for Jesse's service during the Revolutionary War.
Jesse was a fairly prominent man in early Bertie County, NC history. He served on many juries along with his brother Edward and his farther, Captain William Sparkman Sr. He also served as overseer in the construction of local roads. William Jesse Sr. must have been rather wealthy as he owned quite a bit of land within the boundaries of the county of Bertie. He was a slave holder, because in 1774 he was ordered to have licenses for one of his "Negro boys" named Andrew to carry a gun and hunt upon his land on his giving security to the court according to the law.
Jesse disappears from the records of the county about 1774, about six years before his death. The Revolutionary War was in full swing during this time, and Jesses' absence from his usual court house activities probably indicates that he was away from his home/county. War records for this time are missing on several thousand of military personnel because of the burning by the British when they took Washington during the War of 1812. Writing materials were scarce and the men were really too busy fighting for the cause to take time to record events of a specifics soldiers' accomplishments. Written records of garrison units are more readily available than other military records of any kind during this time period. Some information on specific Revolutionary War soldiers begin to appear when the Revolutionary War pensions began in 1818. If a man was fortunate enough to survive until 1818, and had served during the Revolution he was entitled to a pension from the U.S. government. Of course, the individual had to prove that he had served, by actual witnesses who knew him or other such evidence.
Jesse only lived to be 36. He was murdered by his brother-in-law, Benjamin Stone.
The Murder Of Jesse Sparkman Sr.
On Monday, March 19, 1781, Jesse Sparkman was in the company of members of his family at his home in Bertie County, peacefully passing the day, when Benjamin Stone, Sparkman’s brother-in-law, stopped by for a visit. Stone was highly intoxicated and went into the house to see Sparkman, who was reposed and seemingly in good humor. Stone wanted Sparkman to accompany him on a short trek, to which Sparkman declined, preferring to stay at his home. Soon a loud verbal confrontation erupted between the two men. A physical altercation loomed as Stone burst out of the house, stripped off his jacket and threateningly warned Sparkman that "he was over his mach [match]." Sparkman retorted that he (Sparkman) "could tare [tear] him [Stone] to peaces [pieces]" and reactively, shed his outer garments. Stone "called" Sparkman out of the house and the two went about fifty yards from the dwelling, all the while Stone cursed and "abused" Sparkman. Both men, overly agitated, were on the verge of fighting as Sarah Sparkman, Jesse’s daughter, begged her dad not to contest Stone. Jesse responded to his daughter’s plea by declaring that he would not fight his brother-in-law, "without grait provication." Sparkman, attempting to avoid fighting his drunken brother-in-law, withdrew away from Stone and returned inside his abode. Sarah and her sister, Winnefred, remained outside. But Stone, highly angered, followed Sparkman into the house. Within a few minutes, the Sparkman daughters heard one of Jesse Sparkman’s slaves scream. The two girls rushed into the house and found their father, lying on the floor, just moments from death. Benjamin Stone had stabbed Sparkman several times and slashed his abdomen so severely that Sparkman’s "guts [were] in a heap" beside him. Benjamin Stone had exited the house and was walking about in the yard when Sarah frantically rushed out and hysterically screamed at her uncle that he had "killed her father" and "Should be hung for it." Stone did not reply, but soon "went away" from the Sparkman residence.
Two days later, the Bertie County coroner, Benjamin Williams, convened an inquest at Jesse Sparkman’s residence. Twelve men, members of the community in which Sparkman lived, comprised the inquisition jury. The men, upon viewing Sparkman’s body, ascertained that he had "received Several stabs on his body, one of which was near Six Inches long on the lower part of his Belly." The jurors also observed another serious stab wound in the left side of Sparkman’s chest, about one inch in length and "depth unknown." The men concluded that Jesse Sparkman met his death from an act of "willful murder."
Records documenting Jesse Sparkman’s murder are found in Bertie County criminal papers at the North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh.
Sources
Revolutionary War Bounty Lands Grants, Page 496, by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck
MURDERS AND TRAGIC DEATHS IN THE BERTIE "BACKWOODS" Author: Gerald W. Thomas
Sparkman Genealogy Forum
Bertie County, North Carolina State Archives
Public DAR Genealogical Website DAR #A107846
U.S. International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [1]
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