Dr. George, Hull and Thomas Sparhawk Family from Walpole As It Was and As It Is (1880)

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Surname: SPARHAWK
Source: Walpole As It Was and As It Is by George Aldrich, 
        The Claremont Manufacturing Co., Claremont, N.H., 1880, pages 355-359

SPARHAWK, GEORGE, Dr., was born in 1757, graduated at Harvard in the class of 1777, studied 
medicine, and came to this town some time between 1780 and 1790, and commenced the practice of 
his profession. He built the house where A. H. Bellows now lives, and kept "bachelor’s hall" till 
December, 1802, when he married Polly, the daughter of Aaron Allen, and bought and removed to the 
place now owned by George B. Williams. There he lived till the time of his death, 1847, aged 90. He 
made additions, from time to time, till his first purchase, till his landed estate was one of the largest in 
town. He had no children, but adopted John Black Sparhawk, a son of his cousin Hull, who had a large 
family. John Black married Phoebe Carlisle. (See Hull Sparhawk.) The doctor was a man of superior 
natural and acquired abilities, had an extensive practice, and accumulated a large fortune, for the times, 
always appropriating the "lion’s share" to himself when an opportunity presented itself.
An anecdote has been told of the doctor and one Thomas Messer, who was the son of Timothy, the 
first settler on the Ramsay place. It appears that Thomas Messer was a neighbor of his, living in a house 
just west of Oliver Hall’s. The doctor had a large drove of swine, which gave Messer trouble by 
breaking through Sparhawk’s fence and destroying Messer’s crops. The doctor had been repeatedly 
importuned by Messer to take care of his hogs, but he paid little heed to his importunities. At length 
Messer caught him in the vicinity where the hogs broke through, and pointed out to him the hole. "A hog 
go through that hole?" said the Dr. "No hog can go through so small a hole as that: it is all nonsense!" 
Messer was of Herculean strength and frame, and, being provoked, seized the doctor and thrust him 
through the hole, and exclaimed, "There! I’ll take my oath I saw one hog go through." The doctor’s 
hogs never troubled Messer afterwards.

SPARHAWK, HULL, was the cousin of Dr. George Sparhawk and came to this town about 1785 or 
1786. The Christian name of his wife was Elizabeth. He moved to Barre, Mass., about twenty years 
after he came to town. Ch. 
I. George, b. 1786; d. in infancy.
II. Charlotte, b. Feb. 6, 1789.
III. Mary, b. Jan. 10, 1791.
IV. Elizabeth, b. March 27, 1793.
All the of the girls married and moved to Hadley, Mass. Mary m Harvey Dickinson, but who 
the husbands of the other two were is unknown.
V. Nathaniel, b. March 27, 1795.
VI. John Black, b. April 10, 1798; m. Adeline Carlisle, Sept. 7, 1818. He d. March 31, 1846, 
aged 48; she d. Sept. 2, 1870, aged 70. John B. was adopted by his father’s cousin, Dr. 
George Sparhawk, and lived with him till he died. His heirs inherited the doctor’s property. He 
had a taste for keeping tame animals about his premises, and also for fine horses. It was not an 
uncommon thing for one to see, on visiting his home, a tame bear, two or three monkey s, tame 
coons and foxes, and numerous other anima1s. Ch. 1st, Mary, m. Charles Capen, and resides 
in Dorchester, Mass. 2d, Phoebe, m. Reuben Hatch; resides in Illinois. 3d, George C., m 
Johanna G. Capen and had one son, George. 4th, John, was drowned on his way to California, 
at the breaking up of the steamer Independence, Feb. 15, 1853, off the Gulf of California.
VII. Guy, b. March 3, 1801; d. Aug. 2, 1825. He never married, and lived alone when he 
died, having become estranged from his connections.

SPARHAWK, THOMAS.--The Sparhawk family in Walpole are the descendants of one Nathaniel 
Sparhawk, who came from England, and settled in Cambridge, Mass., early in the settlement of the 
town. The original spelling of the name was Sparrowhawk. Thomas was the ninth child of Thomas of 
the second generation from Nathaniel, and was born in Cambridge, Mass., March 24, 1737, and 
graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1755. He married Rebecca Stearns, 2d, of Lunenburg, 
Mass., July 10, 1758, and came to this town in 1769. Where he first located is unknown, but he was 
not here long before he purchased a large tract of land, comprising in part, what is now the Sparhawk 
homestead, and built for himself a substantial dwelling, on the site of the residence of Mrs. B. B. Grant, 
which was burned a few years since. Here he lived till he died.
In 1760 the people of Walpole bought their necessary store supplies in Northfield, Mass., of Aaron 
Burt, an ancestor of the Burt family in town; but soon after Mr. Sparhawk established a store here, and 
probably was the first merchant in town, and Amasa Allen the second. Barnabas, a negro child 
"belonging to Thomas Sparhawk, Esq.," was baptized, Jan. 20, 1778, and was probably one of the two 
slaves enumerated in the census of 1767. Mr. Sparhawk as the first man to represent the town in the 
N.H. Assembly, held at Exeter, in 1775, and was for many years, Judge of Probate for the County of 
Cheshire, and Clerk of the Court. He was a leading man of the town, holding some responsible office 
yearly till his usefulness was impaired by the infirmities of age. By what information has been obtained, it 
is inferred that he was a man of influence, affluence, and strict integrity. He died Oct. 31, 1803; she died 
May, 1807. Ch:
I. Thomas, jr., b. June, 1761; d. 1848; m. Octavia Frink, by whom he had nine ch: two Henrys d. 
in infancy; the other seven lived beyond middle life, George being the only one who ever 
married. Thomas, jr., was a man of sterling worth, and held an esteemed position with his 
townsmen. He held many town offices from year to year during the active period of his life, and 
was honored with a seat in the General Court in 1795, 1796, 1798, 1801, and 1803. He was 
also a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1783. He lived and died a man of strict 
integrity, piety, and good works. His wife died Dec. 22, 1843. Ch. 1st, Thomas, 2d, b. Feb. 6, 
1791; graduated at Dartmouth and became a lawyer, and practiced in town for a few years, 
and died in 1839. 2d, Rebecca, b. Aug. 28, 1793; d. Aug. 28, 1851. 3d, Octavia, b. Oct. 7, 
1795; d. May 22, 1850. 4th, George, b. April 24, 1797; m. Eliza Parker Hammond, of 
Newton, Mass., March 7, 1822; b. Nov. 25, 1798; d. Aug. 28, 1872. He d. Nov. 10, 1865. 
Ch. (1) Rebecca Eliza, b. Jan. 31, 1823; d. June 1, 1851; m. Chas. Sargent, of Boston, Mass., 
April 24, 1850, and had one son, Charles Edward, who m. Annie E. Lewis, of Watertown, 
Mass., June 7, 1875. (See Ap.) (2) George Henry, b. Feb. 1, 1825; d. Feb., 1851; m. Fanny 
A. Webb, March 26, 1848, and had four sons: [1] Arthur George, b. Jan. 1, 1850; d. Feb. 26, 
1871,--a model young man. [2] Rollin Webb, b. June 15,1852; d. May 6, 1879. He was 
engaged at the time of his death as a schoolteacher in the village; was stricken with pneumonia, 
and lived but a few days. His death was lamented by all who knew him. (See Ap.) (3) and (4) 
Emily Augusta and Mary Octavia, b. May 14, 1880. Emily Augusta m. George R. Jennison. 
(See Ap. and Jennison.) 5th, Charles, b. April 2, 1799; d. April 1, 1859, unm. 6th, John 
Stearns, b. Jan. 7, 1801; d. April 3, 1842. 7th, Mary, b. Oct. 4, 1802; d. May 7,1869, unm
II. Rebecca, b.1797; m. Josiah Bellows, April 13, 1788; d. 1791. (See Bellows.)
III. Oliver Stearns, b. 1771; m. Hannah Stearns Whitney, Nov. 30, 1800. He built the house where 
Harrison G. Barnes now resides, and had a large family of a children, but what became of some 
of them it is difficult to ascertain. He was a thrifty, stirring businessman during his comparatively 
short life, and much respected. He d. July 6, 1824; she d. Aug. 25, 1818. Ch. 1st, Marietta, b. 
Aug. 12, 1801. 2d, Oliver, b. June l6, 1803, and went to Greenfield, Mass., where his widow 
now lives. 3d, Julia Ann, b. Sept 4, 1804. 4th Hannah Stearns, b. July 2, 1806. 5th, William, b. 
May 12, 1808. 6th, Lucius, b. Oct. 11, 1810; d. 1813. 7th, Rebecca Stearns, b. 1811; d. 
1813. 8th, Sarah Whitney, b. Sept. 15, 1812. 9th, Sophia Ann, b. Dec. 4, 1816.
IV. Mary, b. Sept. 30, 1773; m. Josiah Bellows, Oct. 28, 1798; (See Bellows.) d. July 31, 1869.
V. John Stearns, b. Aug. 12, 1775; d. at Andover, Mass., 1799.
VI. Jonathan Hubbard, b. Feb. 7, 1781. He left Walpole early, and married at Windsor, Ct.
VII. Samuel, b. 1787; m. Sophronia Brown, and was a merchant in Keene for a number of 
years, and died Feb. 8, 1838. He is said to have been a man of rare business qualities, and 
much respected as a citizen. Ch. 1st, Samuel, jr., b. Nov. 6, 1805. 2d, Sophronia, b. Sept. 22, 
1810. 3d, Henry, b. Dec. 25, 1812. 4th, Eliza, b. March 24, 1816; m. George Hitchcock, and 
lives in Ashby, Mass. 5th, Harriet, b. May 1, 1818; m. Roger Fenton. 6th, George, b. May 22, 
1820. 7th, John Hubbard, b. May 10, 1822; m. Martha Watkins, and lives in Richmond, N.H. 
8th, Edward, b. Aug. 27, 1827.