John E. Sparling Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1418-1419 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	JOHN E. SPARLING, of Gettysburg, Potter county, being a member of 
the general merchandise firm of Clark & Sparling, is a native of "merrie 
old England," having been born in the town of Barwick-in-Elmet, 
Yorkshire, on the 27th of October, 1870, and being a son of George and 
Sarah (Dyson) Sparling, who were born and reared in the same locality. 
The father and the subject came to America in 1883, and reached Spink 
county, South Dakota, in April of the same year, where they remained 
about two years and then removed to Potter county, where the father of 
the subject was engaged in farming until 1889, when he removed to 
Gettysburg and engaged in the hardware business. In 1894 he removed to 
Bowdle, Edmunds county, South Dakota, and in 1899 he took up his abode 
in Marshall, Minnesota, where he has since devoted his attention to the 
implement business. The subject received his early educational training 
in his native town and after coming to the United States continued his 
studies in the public schools of South Dakota, as opportunity permitted. 
He was associated with his father in the general merchandise and 
implement business until the spring of 1899, and thereafter he was 
engaged in the implement business in Bowdle, Edmunds county, this state, 
until the spring of 1903, when he became associated with his father-in-
law, Mr. Clark, in the mercantile business in Gettysburg, as noted in 
the initial paragraph of this article. He is independent in politics and 
has attained the thirty-second degree in Scottish-rite Masonry, being 
identified with the consistory at Aberdeen, and with the temple of the 
Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Sioux Falls, 
while he also holds membership in the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient 
Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. 

	On the 6th of May, 1896, Mr. Sparling wedded Miss Maud C. Clark, 
daughter of James B. Clark, of Gettysburg, and they are prominent in the 
social circles of their home town, enjoying marked popularity in the 
community.