Jared Sparks & the Sparks Farm

Mark A. Palmer, Historian
September 2021

Jared Sparks

Herbert Adams in his 1893 biography of Jared Sparks provides a brief account of Jared's early years in Willington and Tolland. Adams' biography touches on when Jared went to live with his aunt Chloe Eldredge, the Eldredges move, with Jared, to Salem, Washington County New York and his subsequent return to Willington. The biography provides some anecdotes about his childhood and teen years but little is said about his mother Eleanor, Joseph Sparks, Jared's siblings or Jared's maternal grandparents who lived at the south west corner of the Sparks farm.

The following looks at some aspects of Jared's early years in Willington using a variety of records relating to the Sparks farm, members of the Sparks family and Eleanor (Orcutt) Sparks parents and sisters.

Joseph and Eleanor (Orcutt) Sparks of Willington

Joseph Sparks of Willington was born in Tolland Connecticut to Joseph and Mehetable (Johnson) Sparks on Feburary 3, 1761. His mother Mehetable was the daughter of Caleb Johnson of Willington, owner of the mill on the Fenton River later known as Samuel Stiles and then Origin Dimock's mill. The Johnsons were a prominent family of mill owner/operators in Willington from the early settling of Willington well into the 1800s.

Joseph Sparks (Junior) married Eleanor Orcutt on December 24, 1789 in Willington. Eleanor Orcutt was born on October 9, 1767 in Stafford to Caleb and Chloe (Parker) Orcutt of Willington. Caleb was born to Caleb and Mehitabel Orcutt of Stafford in the 1740s. The Orcutts were a prominent family in both Stafford and Willington. Some, like Lemuel and Solomon Orcutt were connected to mill ownership in Willington.

Eleanor's mother Chloe (Parker) Orcutt was the daughter of Nehemiah Parker of Willington, owner of the mill complex later known as Eldredge Mills. Chloe Parker was born in Willington in 1746. The Parkers were a prominent family of mill owners and operators in Willington, spread over several generations much like the Johnsons.

Eleanor's sister Mehetable, was also born in Stafford. The remainder of Caleb and Chloe Orcutt's children, Chloe, Roxsa, Daniel, Bethia and Rebeckah were born in Willington. Eleanor, Chloe, Mehitabel and Rebeckah survived into adulthood.

Nehemiah Parker at one time owned the mill on Conant Brook later owned by Abel Johnson and Abel Johnson Junior, eventually owned and operated by Robert Sharp and known in the mid 1800s as Sharp's Mill. Chloe (Parker) Orcutt's mother, Bethia Parker, Jared Sparks' great grandmother, is noted as a benefactor to Jared in Herbert Adam's 1893 biography.

From the above it's apparent that both Joseph and Eleanor Sparks had connections to some of the notable families of Willington at the time. Many of these families were connected by marriage and buisness.

The Sparks Farm

Herbert Adam's Biography states that Jared was born May 10, 1789, seven month before Joseph and Eleanor were married. There is no record of Jared's birth in Willington, Tolland or Stafford Vital Records.

The Pastor of the Willington Congregational Church, the Reverend Gideon Noble, kept a ledger where he recorded various items relating to church members. The ledger has a Baptism Record entry for Jared, dated July 1789, stating " ...Jared born by Eleanor Orcut" (page 44). The usual formula for Baptisimal entries was the child's name followed by the father's name. For Jared, no father is recorded. Adam's biography is silient on Jared's paternal side.

As noted, Joseph and Eleanor were married on December 24, 1789 in Willington. Joseph and Eleanor's daughter Roxana (Roxany, Roxy etc.) was born, on April 3, 1791. A year later in April 1792 Joseph purchased seventy six and a half acres from Ransom Cutris, another Willington mill owner. The deed to Joseph reads in part,

Willington Records, Book F, Page 296; April 18, 1792

"...one certain piece of land lying in said Willington containing seventy six acres and a half more or less bounded as follows south by lands of Ezekiel Sibley east by lands belonging to the heirs of Capt Joseph Merick and lands of Isaac Holt and Jonathan Weston to the road leading from said Westons to Willington Meeting House and northerly and westerly by said highway"

It's unclear where Joseph, Eleanor and the two children, Jared and Roxana, were living prior to Joseph purchasing the seventy six and a half acres. One could speculate that they might have lived with Eleanor's parents, grandparents, Solomon Orcutt or perhaps one of the Johnsons. Eleanor's father Caleb had purchased land from Solomon Orcutt in the early 1770s and Eleanor's mother Chloe (Parker) Orcutt was given a house and small lot from Nehemiah Parker.

In 1794 Joseph Sparks sold four acres to his father-in-law Caleb Orcutt in the south west corner of the Sparks farm. This was a little more than a quarter mile from the Sparks farmhouse. Caleb purchased a small lot adjacent to this from Ezekiel Sibley. Eleanor's parents, Caleb and Chloe Orcutt, apparently lived there from 1794 to at least 1804 when Caleb passed. The four acres Joseph sold to Caleb was the only part of the farm Joseph ever sold. Eleanor's mother Chloe, then living in Tolland, sold the lots in 1806.

Jared’s early years in Willington

In 1795 Jared was sent to live with Eleanor's sister Chloe who had married Ebenezer Eldredge of Willington on April 11, 1793. The Eldredges were another notable Willington mill family over several generations. Ebenezer purchased a small lot from Elisha Johnson in April 1795 that was added to a small lot Johnson had previously given to Ebenezer. This Elisha is not the Elisha Johnson who later started the Willington Thread Company.

Ebenezer and Chloe Eldredge lived at the intersection of present day Cowles Road and Busse Road about two-and-a-half miles from the Sparks farm. Jared would have turned six in May of 1795, a month after Ebenezer purchased the addition to his lot. After living with his aunt and uncle for five years, when Jared was almost eleven, Ebenezer sold the lot with buildings back to Elisha Johnson in February 1800. Ebenezer, Chloe and Jared then moved to Salem, Washington County, New York according to Adams' biography. Interestingly, there were other Willington natives who moved to Washington County, such as Moses Holmes circa 1787.

Jared moved back to Willington in 1805 and lived on the Sparks farm for two years, according to Adams' biography. In November of 1807 Jared interviewed for a teaching position in Tolland, was accepted and moved to Tolland living with various families in the school district. After the winter school session ended Jared apparently went back to Salem New York and traveled through eastern

New York in an unsuccessful search for another teaching position. He returned to Tolland to another teaching position there in April 1809. In November, Jared left to attend Philips Exeter Academy.

There is no mention of Joseph Sparks or Jared's six siblings, Roxana, Daniel, Origin, Caleb, Solyman and Joseph Junior in Adams biography. It is apparent from Jared's timeline that he would have had some contact with them. There is no mention of his maternal grandparents or paternal grandparents in Tolland. His great grandmother, Bethia Parker is mentioned once. His aunt Chloe is mentioned several times.

Joseph Sparks Estate

The majority of Joseph Sparks' estate was apparently divided between Joseph's six children. Eleanor retained the house and Roxana had a bedroom in the house. Roxana apparently lived with her  mother.  

Following the distribution of Joseph's estate there were a number of transactions involving parts of  the farm between the Sparks siblings. In April 1835 Solyman sold ten acres to his sister Roxana for  $90 and sold twenty eight acres to his mother Eleanor for $290. Eleanor and Solyman together sold  the family stall in the Baptist Meeting House horse shed.  

Roxana was apparently the sole beneficiary of Eleanor's estate and remained on the farm. An R.  Sparks is noted on the Eaton map of Tolland County of 1857. Joseph Sparks Junior was living on  present day Krivanec Road at this time.

In 1866, Solyman Sparks as administrator to Roxana's estate sold her thirty acres with buildings to the New London Northern Railroad Company. The remainder of the farm was apparently retained by Solomon and Joseph Sparks Junior.

There is one interaction recorded between Jared and two of his siblings. In 1830, when Jared was forty one, Origin Sparks sold part of his one-sixth share of the farm to Jared for forty dollars. This is the only part of the farm Jared is on record as having owned. In 1832 Jared deeded that share to Solyman Sparks.

References

Adams, Herbert B; The Life and Writings of Jared Sparks, Cambridge, 1893 Eaton,

W. C., Osborn, H. C. Map of Tolland County from Actual Surveys. Philadelphia, 1857

Reverend Gideon Noble's Ledger for the Willington Eccleasticial Society. Willington Town Clerk The Sparks Quarterly, Vol. IX, No. 1, March, 1961, Whole No. 33a

Willington Maps, Land and Vital Records; Town of Willington GIS