My Genealogy Hound

G. N. Sparks, of the firm of Daltroff, Sparks & Oliver, merchants at Wynne, is one of the most enterprising business men of the place. He owes his nativity to McMinnville, Tenn., where his birth occurred in 1853, and is the youngest of ten children born to the union of Thomas and Mary L. (Boothe) Sparks, both natives of the Old Dominion. The father was a tiller of the soil and followed this occupation in Tennessee until 1859, when he moved to Arkansas, and settled at Jonesboro, Craighead County, where he purchased 320 acres of land, only slightly improved. Mr. Sparks immediately began erecting good buildings, clearing land, and soon bought other tracts in the vicinity. He gave all of his children homes at the time of their majority and was a man whose shrewd business tact is remembered by old settlers. He became one of the best-known men in several counties, and died in 1878. The mother’s death occurred two years later, and both were seventy-four years of age. G. N. Sparks early in life became familiar with the duties of the farm and attended the schools of Craighead County until fifteen years of age. Later he took a commercial course at Leddin’s College at Memphis, and when seventeen years of age he left the parental roof, went to Forrest City, where he engaged as clerk in the dry goods store of N. O. Rhodes & Co., and remained with this firm for two years. Subsequently he began work for his brother, who was a member of the firm of Sparks & Rolloage, and continued with this firm until 1874, when he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Cobbs, a native of Arkansas, and the daughter of C. H. Cobbs, a pioneer of St. Francis County. After his marriage Mr. Sparks removed to the old homestead, where his father had settled on his arrival in Arkansas, and which was given to G. N. Sparks at that time. Here he was engaged in farming and teaching school for four years, and in 1880 he engaged as book-keeper for Killough & Erwin at Wittsburg. After five years he changed to a similar position with Block & Co., who had opened a branch store at Wynne. In January, 1886, that firm was bought out by Daltroff, Sparks & Oliver, who opened a fine large store in Wynne. Mr. Sparks owns a fine residence in that city, is also the owner of real estate in Forrest City and 160 acres of good land in Craighead County. He is a member of the K. of P., Levesque Lodge No. 52, at Wynne, and is also a member of the E. & L. of H., Pearl Lodge. Mrs. Sparks is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Sparks were born two children: Lena May and Annie Blanche. Mr. Sparks is a young man of cordial and generous disposition, is a member of a large firm and is well thought of by all. He remembers distinctly that at their first settlement in Craighead County, there was but one shanty where the city of Jonesboro now stands, and this was used as a saloon and kept by a man by the name of Pollard.