Helen Charlotta Wilcox Sparks
John Henry Stewart Sparks was born 20 February 1870 in Paris, Idaho, the ninth of ten children born to Jane Ann Fowler and Alfred Sparks. These parents were some of the early pioneers of Bear Lake arriving in 1864 at Paris. His father built a home at about 107 east and 2nd north where John was born and lived until 1875 when they moved to Dingle and were pioneers of that town then called Cottonwood.
Aug 31, 1879 John was baptized by G.B. Spencer and confirmed by Thomas Sleight. John also had six half brothers and sisters because his father had a plural wife, Ruth Slater, living in Paris.
John grew to manhood in Dingle working hard with the cattle and the farmland with his father and brothers. He was kind, charitable and always willing to help neighbors in need.
When John was 20 years old, he married Henrietta Dayton 24 Oct 1890 in Paris, Idaho,the fourth daughter of eleven children born to Hannah Cook and Moroni Dayton. They too were great pioneers of the land and of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from Nauvoo to
establishing Cedar Fort then on to Dingle after it was a young settlement.
John and Henrietta had twin boys Marvin Joseph and Melvin Hyrum on 1l September l89l at Dingle. Then on 19 March 1893 Henrietta had another son Henry Edmund. Also Henrietta's orphaned niece "Dot" came to live with them in 1897 at the age of thirteen. But on Jan 21, 1899, Henrietta died at Dingle from complications during pregnancy. John was left to raise his three sons and care for Dot.
"Dot" was born 26 May 1884 in Dingle the third baby to Mary Sophronia Dayton and Boyd Extine Wilcox. Both of her parents had been raised by pioneers of the movement to Zion
with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mary Sophronia Dayton was a sister to Henrietta that was John Sparks' first wife. Mary and Boyd Wilcox's first two babies had died so they were thrilled to get this new baby, naming her Helen Charlotta Wilcox after two of Mary's sisters. Boyd was working in the store as a bookkeeper for William Quayle when Helen Charlotta was born. She was so small that she got the nickname of "Little Dot" which stayed with her all of her life. When the midwife came to the store she arrived in a small boat as so much of Dingle was always under water in May. The midwife was Jane Ann Sparks, the mother of John Sparks.
When Dot was only six weeks old, her parents moved back to Cedar Fort, Utah where a lot of their family was living. This journey took a week traveling in a covered wagon. When Dot was five years old her family moved to Sunny Dell, Idaho where they homesteaded. They had a
large tent, made a petition in it and used it for bedrooms. They had a pretty good cellar. Then they made a kitchen of cottonwood, brush, and canvas to cook in. They broke up some of the land and put in crops. Then they went to the canyon and brought pine logs down to build a house and had that ready to live in by fall. Their home was below a large lava cliff where Dot would climb and play. They also lived in Rexburg a short while.
Her father was her first teacher at the Lyman, ldaho schoolhouse that was just down the road from where they lived at Sunny Dell. At first she thought she could do as she pleased because her father was the teacher. Soon
she found out he must have had eyes in the back of his head for he knew just what trouble she was into and made her stand in the corner for whispering. It taught her a lesson and she never misbehaved in school again.
Her father taught school in Dingle, Lyman, Iona, and Taylorsville, (all in Idaho) and kept books for John Shelly's store where the family lived in the back room at Shelly. It was at this time that nine-year-old Dot learned to chord on the organ and accompany her father on the violin as they played at country dances. This musical talent she had was used and enjoyed by many throughout her life.
3 November 1895 her father died from starvation caused by a tumor growing in his stomach. Her mother was sick with dropsy and died within fifteen months leaving her four
children orphaned. At that time their Grandmother Hannah Dayton took the children back to Dingle with her. They were separated and all four sent to different family members to be raised.
Dot was sent to live with her mother's sister, Henrietta Dayton. (Aunt Net Sparks) This had been understood being her mother's death wish. It was a good home but her Aunt Nettie only lived two years. Dot stayed on there and took care of her Aunt's family and later married Net's husband, John Sparks. Dot raised John's three children and had five sons and then five daughters of her own.
Dot and John's children were all born at Dingle. Elliot-7 Nov 1900; Walter-6 Jan 1903; William-5 July 1905; Emmett-23 Sep 1907; John (Joe)-16 Feb 1910; Mary-l9 Jun 1912; Nellie-27 Mar 1916; Doris-5 Sep l9l8; Fern-30 Oct 1922; Maxine-l0 Mar 1925. Dot was happy with her children and they all married and had fine families.
John always insisted on having potatoes for breakfast. They got their first radio in 1936 and really enjoyed listening to it, shows like Amos and Andy, Lum and Abner, and Fibber McGee and Molly. John owned and operated his own ranch in Dingle and property east of Dingle close to Sugar Loaf Mountain. He rode for the Dingle Cattle Association. He owned a large herd of cattle and loved his animals, especially his horses and breeding stallions. He worked hard providing for his large family doing custom haying and handling a big crew of threshing men. He took care of the Dingle road for the county. And used an old "Fresno" grader pulled by a pair of Clydesdales.
For many years he was the sexton for the Dingle cemetery digging most all the graves at that time. He was a school trustee of District number 8. He was very interested in politics and was Democratic chairman for several years. He had the nickname of "Mr. Democrat'.
ln 1929 his sons took him for a ride in their new car. When John got a turn to drive down "Hunter's Hill" he ran right through the fence taking out ten fence posts. He never tried driving again. He loved to cook outdoors and fish and hunt and was often the first one in Dingle to get a deer for the season.
Dot and John both loved music and enjoyed dancing. She played the piano for dances with her uncles when young and enjoyed playing for old folks' parties, children's dances, and socials. John played the accordion and the French horn in the Dingle Band. Dot loved sports and played catcher for the Dingle baseball team when she was first married. They both enjoyed watching their sons play baseball and basketball.
She loved the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was always active in it. She loved attending church and frequented the Temple. She and John and all of their children went to the Temple together to be sealed 6 October 1926, except Walter who later on went 8 Feb 1962. She was active in Relief Society and a visiting teacher for 47 years. She served as second counselor for ten years and assistant secretary for many years. She served as MIA president for about seven years when her daughters were growing up. Since she never drove a car, that meant a lot of walking downtown Dingle to the church.
She would tear old clothing into long strips and sew them together, then roll that into a ball, and later crochet them into rag rugs. She also made many crocheted doilies and many quilts cherished by her family. Her home was often host to quilting bees and she kept her old sewing machine busy until she finally couldn't see well enough to sew. She always worked hard raising a garden even when she was alone and very old. Her cellar shelves were full of canned fruits, and vegetables. Everyone loved her pickled beets, chili sauce, potato salad, preserved peaches, donuts, baking powder biscuits, and chicken and noodles. With such a large family she had to be frugal all her life and her back porch had a tub of soap chunks that she had made at a younger time in her life.
John Sparks died l8 March 1946 at home in Dingle and was buried in Dingle cemetery next to his first wife Henrietta Dayton Sparks. 15 Jun 1953 Dot married Hiram Esterholdt and
went to live in Pegram at his home. This marriage was short since he died 10 July 1958 at Montpelier, Idaho and is buried at Bloomington.
When Dot was alone she visited among her children in the winter months and stayed at her home in Dingle during the summer. She enjoyed spending her winters in California with her son John (Joe) and family. All her family was very good to her.
27 Feb 1985 Dot died at Montpelier at almost 101 years old, lacking three months. She is buried next to her husband John and his first wife Henrietta in Dingle, Idaho.
Their posterity is many, nearing 500 descendants. December 2002 finds the large family of John Sparks and Helen Charlotta Sparks gone to their reward, except for four living daughters - Nell, Doris, Fern, and Maxine. All are very proud of the heritage these good parents left of
honesty, integrity, self sacrifice, thriftiness, and a firm testimony of the gospel which characterized their lives. May their descendants remember their good points, seek to emulate them and make them proud.