Henry Sparling Biography


	This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated
 	compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography,
	including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and 
	representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle & 
	Co., Chicago, 1899. Pages 537-538

	Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998. 

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HENRY SPARLING. To a well-known pioneer of Spink county, whose home is 
located on section 18, in Jefferson township, this review is devoted. 
The readers of this volume cannot form an idea of the real struggles of 
the days when our subject first went to his western home, and it is 
only those to whom the experiences actually came who can recount with 
any accuracy the anxieties of those times. Mr. Sparling was fortunate 
in his choice of land, and has one of the finest tracts to be found in 
the township, but it was not without the usual struggles that it was 
gained, and held to the settlement of his claim. His fine farm consists 
of three hundred and ninety acres, most of which lies on the west bank 
of the James river, and has about a mile of river front, affording rich 
pasture land and hay meadows. A nice growth of trees affords shelter 
for his stock and fuel for the summer months. 

Our subject is a native of Bruce county, upper province of Canada, and 
was born September 18, 1854. He was the eldest son in a family of eight 
children born to William and Mary J. (Trelford) Sparling, a sketch of 
whom appears on another page of this volume. When our subject was nine 
years of age, the family came to Chicago, and soon after their arrival 
the father secured work in the Michigan lumber camps, and embarked with 
his family in a small vessel bound for Pent Water. A storm arose, and 
they were wrecked, but all escaped uninjured. In Michigan, at an early 
age, our subject began teaming and shingle weaving. At the age of 
twenty years he went to Iowa and engaged in farming, giving two years 
to this pursuit, and then drove to Minneapolis, Minnesota. He resided 
in Pine City, Minnesota, two years, and in company with two of his 
brothers went to Chippewa county, Minnesota, in 1 878. While there they 
heard of the prospects for a bright future in Dakota, and in September 
a party of four, consisting of Frank Caldwell, Charles Thomas, our 
subject and his brother Edward, proceeded to the new country. After 
reaching Dakota they were joined by, F. I. Fisher, and the party of 
five traveled by ox team, via Two Woods lakes, Goodwin village and Lake 
Kampeska, to the James river, arriving at the point now known as 
Skinner's Grove. Three of the party squatted on land, and then returned 
home, thinking they would have several years in which to secure their 
farms, but in the winter they were advised by Mr. Fisher to return in 
the spring if they wished to save the land; and he, in the meantime, 
filed a declaratory statement on all the land his party had selected. 
The claimants hurried to their land in the spring and filed their 
claims. Our subject, in the spring of 1880, obtained work with a 
surveying party, and the following winter went to the Minnesota woods. 
Returning early in the spring, before the snow was gone, he reached 
Montevideo by train, and then started across the country afoot. After 
four days he was forced to stop on account of snow-blindness, and for 
three days stayed near an old Indian church in Codington. He then 
borrowed some veiling, and proceeded on his way, reaching his home 
without further cause for delay. 

Our subject was married January 3, 1883, to Miss Cora E. Latimer, a 
native of Wisconsin, who went to Dakota in 1882, and took government 
land. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sparling, and are 
named as follows: Raymond H., Alice C., Charles M., Chester B., Ralph 
W. and Herbert J. The family are communicants of the Episcopal church 
and Mr. Sparling is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
In political faith he is a Republican, favors high license and equal 
suffrage. He is prominent in his locality, as a citizen of high 
standing, and takes an active interest in matters of local import. He 
was the first chairman of the township board, and has been found always 
on the side of right. 

In the spring of 1897 the waters of the Jim river overflowed its banks 
and flooded many farms along its tributary, among others that of Mr. 
Sparling. The water rose in his residence to the depth of sixteen 
inches, at which time they removed to higher ground taking most of the 
furniture and the family and the stock with them. The water subsided in 
about six weeks, when they returned home and immediately another 
calamity occurred. In trying to dry the house a neighboring stack of 
hay caught fire and Mr. Sparling lost all his buildings excepting the 
residence.