Carter Sparks was born on May 28, 1797, in Georgia. His parents were Jeremiah Sparks and Mary Nancy Ragsdale Sparks. Carter was the fourth of the Sparks’ five children and the firstborn son.
As of 1824, Sparks was a resident of Morgan County where he served as a deputy sheriff. One of his duties as a deputy sheriff was the management of tax sales to satisfy court judgments.[1] For one such sale in October of 1824, he was listed as the deputy sheriff in charge of the sale of a 9-10 year old bay horse at the courthouse to satisfy a Fi Fa (short for Writ of Fieri Facias, a document issued for the purpose of placing a lien on the judgment debtor's property) against Gabriel White.[2] In 1825, he oversaw the sale of a 13-year-old slave named Bill and 326 acres of land to satisfy a Fi Fa against Archibold Coleman.[3] That same year, he was also responsible for managing the sale of “six heads of hog” among other property.[4]
Several newspaper notices in 1827 mention Sparks as having letters awaiting pickup at the post office in Morgan County.[5] He was also listed as the recipient of proceeds from a sheriff’s sale in which one lot of land belonging to James Crawford was sold to satisfy “three small executions issued from a justice court in Morgan County in favor of Carter W. Sparks.”[6] Numerous tax sale notices indicate Sparks remained busy in 1827 executing his duties as deputy sheriff in Morgan County.
In 1828, Carter Sparks married Susan Cade Whatley.[7] At this time, Sparks was still serving as deputy sheriff and handling tax sales of land[8] and personal property including slaves.[9] In 1830, Carter and Susan Sparks welcomed the first of their nine children.
While the majority of Sparks’ actions involving legal proceedings appeared to have been in the capacity of the deputy sheriff, his participation as a plaintiff continued after his marriage. An 1830 judgment in his favor in Morgan County Superior Court resulted in the sale of a lot of land in Monroe, Georgia in Walton County to satisfy a Fi Fa against William R. Williams.[10] A 9-year-old female slave named Kizzy was sold In 1832 to satisfy a Fi Fa in favor of Carter W. Sparks and Martin P. Sparks (relationship unconfirmed).[11]
In 1840, Sparks was appointed as the first postmaster in Cave Spring[12]. He was one of the early trustees of the Manual Labor School which was later known as the Hearn Academy[13]. He also served as president of the school.
The following year, in January 1841, Sparks’ father Jeremiah passed away. In his will, he made the following bequest:
“I will and bequeath to my son, Carter W. Sparks, at my death five negroes, to-wit: A man named Dick, a girl named Ann, a boy named Adam, and Nancy and Amelia, both girls. I further give to my son C. W. Sparks, two more negroes. Sall, a woman and Wilson, a yellow boy, the latter being given extra as more than I gave my other children.”[14]
In addition to his other public roles, Sparks was appointed president of the Cave Spring Debating Society in 1845. On July 4, 1845, the group met “at early candle light in the Chapel, where a large and respectable congregation had assembled. On motion, Col. C.W. Sparks was requested to act as President.” At the meeting, the group unanimously adopted a resolution to honor Gen. Andrew Jackson who had recently been “removed by death.” The meeting concluded with Rev. Mr. Cowdry speaking “in his usual impressive style, highly suited to the occasion, in which he urged the necessity of our imitating the illustrious examples left by the deceased as a safeguard for the perpetuation of our liberties and institutions.”[15]
In December of 1847, Carter Sparks purchased the William S. Simmons plantation. He was 50 years old at the time. Less than two years later, in April of 1849, Sparks sold the plantation to James C. Lake.
Though Sparks no longer owned the 240-acre William S. Simmons, he was apparently still involved in farming. In 1851, he was a member of the “Plowing Match” committee of the state fair.[16]
In 1851, Sparks along with other citizens of Cave Spring, started the Baptist Church. The bricks used to build the church were made by the slaves of Sparks, Major Armistead Richardson (father-in-law of William S. Simmons) and Alexander Thorton Harper.[17] Harper married Sparks’ daughter Elizabeth in 1852.[18]
In the years leading up to the Civil War, Sparks was involved in improving the infrastructure in the state. In 1859, he was a delegate to the Internal Improvement Convention in Atlanta.[19] The primary purpose of the convention was to expand and fund railroad infrastructure within Georgia.[20]
In July of 1860, Sparks was listed as serving as foreman of a grand jury in Rome.[21] A few months later, in October 1860, his daughter Tabitha, wife of Alfred Jamison King, died. According to the newspaper account, she was one of “two deaths near Cave Spring” that occurred at about the same time. The other death was a 24-year-old man named William Davis. No cause of death or connection between the two deaths was listed.[22]
By the time the Civil War started, Sparks had amassed a considerable fortune. The 1860 census listed the value of his real estate as $6,000 and valued his personal property at $22,000. He owned a total of 23 slaves.
In 1869, Sparks was referred to as Judge Carter Sparks in the newspaper announcement regarding the marriage of his daughter, Ella, to Palemon .J. King. The marriage took place in Cave Spring at the home of his son-in-law, Alec (Alexander) T. (Thorton) Harper, with Rev. D.B. Hamilton officiating. The event was described as “one of the nicest and most joyous little occasions it has been our good fortune to participate in lately.” The author extended best wishes to the “gallant groom and lovely bride” writing “May their lives be long and filled with usefulness, and they always be as happy as they seem to be now.”[23]
Though Sparks had once been one of the wealthiest men in the area, his fortune had dwindled to only $700 by the post-war census in 1870.[24]
In February of 1875, Sparks’ wife of 47 years passed away.[25] She was buried in Cave Spring Cemetery.[26]
Sparks died at age 80 on July 7, 1877, at the home of his son-in-law Professor P.J. King and his daughter Ella. His obituary stated, “The Cave Spring Baptist church stands as a monument of brick, in great part, to the wisdom and liberality of the departed Carter Sparks. He was a chivalric and polished gentleman, a devoted husband, a fond father and a faithful Christian.” It also stated “As a citizen, Col. Sparks exerted an extended influence, and had occupied many offices of honor and trust in the State.” Sparks served as a delegate to the Baptist convention and as a church deacon. He and his wife, Susan Whatley Sparks, were among the first members of the Cave Spring Baptist Church.[27]
The obituary, authored by W.C. McCall[28] stated Sparks was resigned in his death, “his last words being in the form of a pathetic prayer committing himself and the fond ones he left behind into the hands of Jesus, his Lord and Redeemer.” McCall continued by saying that even though Sparks’ body was in the grave, his spirit was not confined: “Through the influences that he leaves as a heritage to his family and the Baptists, his memory shall live, and his works follow him to the Glory-land as successive waves they shall lash and kiss the banks of the new Jerusalem.”
Another source described him as a “gentleman of fine culture and sensibilities, easy pleasant manners and fine person.” He is buried in Cave Spring Cemetery.[29]
[1] Southern Recorder, July 27, 1824, Image 4
[2] Southern Recorder, October 19, 1824, Image 4
[3] The Georgia Journal, August 23, 1825, Image 4
[4] The Georgia Journal, July 25, 1829, Image 4
[5] Southern Recorder, October 25, 1828, Image 1
[6] Macon Telegraph, November 06, 1827, Image 1
[7] FamilySearch. (n.d.). Col Carter Walton Sparks (PID: K24H-GF3). FamilySearch.org. Retrieved May 8, 2025, from https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/K24H-GF3
[8] The Georgia Journal, December 09, 1829, Image 3
[9] The Georgia Journal, May 31, 1828, Image 3
[10] The Federal Union, October 30, 1830, Image 4
[11] The Georgia Journal, March 29, 1832, Image 3
[12] The Federal Union, Jan, 28, 1840, image 3.
[13] Daily Chronicle & Sentinel, November 12, 1856, Image 3
[14] Sparks Family Association. (2023, August 20). 70.1.1 Jeremiah Sparks, Sr., ca. 1765–1840 of Franklin and Morgan Counties, Georgia. The Sparks Quarterly, Whole No. 32, pp. 518–525. Retrieved May 8, 2025, from https://sparksfamilyassn.org/php/view_pages.php?article=032-C
[15] Southern Recorder, July 22, 1845, Image 3
[16] Constitutionalist and Republic, October 03, 1851, Image 1
[17] A History of Rome and Floyd County by George MacGruder Battey, Jr., Page 93.
[18] FamilySearch. (n.d.). Alexander Thorton Harper IV (PID: LJ41-DV9). FamilySearch.org. Retrieved May 8, 2025, from https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/LJ41-DV9
[19] Atlanta Weekly Intelligencer, August 18, 1859, Image 1
[20] The Daily Sun, August 16, 1859, Image 2
[21] The Rome Weekly Courier, July 13, 1860, Image 2
[22] Rome Tri-Weekly Courier, November 01, 1860, Image 3
[23] Rome Tri-Weekly Courier, July 24, 1869, Image 3
[24] Sparks Family Association. (2023, August 20). 70.1.1 Jeremiah Sparks, Sr., ca. 1765–1840 of Franklin and Morgan Counties, Georgia. The Sparks Quarterly, Whole No. 32, pp. 518–525. Retrieved May 8, 2025, from https://sparksfamilyassn.org/php/view_pages.php?article=032-C
[25] The Daily Times, February 16, 1875, Image 2
[26] Find a Grave. "Susan Cade Whatley Sparks." Accessed May 8, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6459740/susan_cade-sparks
[27] Cave Spring and Van’s Valley by James Coffee Harris, p. 13
[28] The Christian Index, August 16, 1877, Page 8, Image 8
[29] Find a Grave. "Carter Walton Sparks." Accessed May 8, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6459735/carter-walton-sparks.