Meredith LYON & Melinda SPARKS & Nancy SPARKS

Table of Contents

Diana, Goddess of the Hunt — for Ancestors!

Every-Name Index

Meredith LYON
Melinda SPARKS
Nancy SPARKS

Note: most secondary sources are showing our subject with one wife, Nancy SPARKS, but there's evidence to support that he married twice: 1) his 1838 marriage record is to Melinda SPARKS, not Nancy SPARKS; 2) his wife in the 1840 census was born before 1820 while Nancy was born after 1820; 3) in the 1860 census, daughter Emily is listed after the other children, indicating she is not Nancy's daughter. I've found no evidence for Nancy's maiden name, but I will go along with secondary sources and accept that it, too, is SPARKS.

Husband: Meredith / Merida LYON
Birth: ca. 1811 or 1814/5, Wilkes Co., NC
Death apparently: 1860, Wilkes Co., NC
Occupation: farmer
Father: Jacob LYON I
Mother: Jane __?__

Marriage-1: 23 Aug 1838, Wilkes Co., NC

Wife-1: Melinda "Linda" SPARKS
Birth: 1810-20
Death said to be: 1842, Wilkes Co., NC
Occupation: homemaker
Father said to be: Joel SPARKS (1784-1850)
Mother said to be: Nancy BLACKBURN

Marriage-2:

Wife-2: Nancy SPARKS
Birth: Nov 1820, NC
Death apparently: 1900-1910, Wilkes Co., NC
Occupation: homemaker

Children with Melinda SPARKS — born in Wilkes Co., NC:

1. Emily LYON, b. 1839
2. William Henry Harrison "Harry" LYON, b. Dec 1840 or 20 Nov 1842; d. 20 Jan 1922
3. Mary LYON, b. 1841/2

Children with Nancy SPARKS — born in Wilkes Co., NC:

4. Nancy LYON, b. 1845/6; d. by 1860
? Ervin LYON, b. 1845/6 — who is this?
5. Thomas N. LYON, b. 1846/7
6. John A. LYON, b. 1847/8
7. Joshua LYON, b. 1848/9; d. by 1860
8. George Washington LYON, b. Sep 1850
9. Frances E. LYON, b. 1852/3
10. James C. LYON, b. 1860/1

The only way James could be Meredith's son is if Meredith died just before enumeration of the 1860 census and Nancy was pregnant at the time.

Keywords for search engines: genealogy; USA, US, United States, North Carolina

Sources:

1. Jordan R. Dodd, ed. 1993. North Carolina Marriages: Early to 1850. Liahona Research, Orem, UT (Broderbund CD-229):

Lion, Merideth Sparks, Melinda Aug 23, 1838 Wilkes Co.

2. 1840 U.S. Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #1 of 19; second page missing at Ancestry.com, picked up at Genealogy.com); official enumeration began 1 Jun 1840; extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

1840 NC Wilkes Co. Capt. Spicer's Dist. Trap Hill Roll 373 pp. 37/81B-82A Ln. 9 Meredith Lyon 000 010 - 100 010 no slaves 0100000

These data indicate:

No. & Sex Age Class Therefore Born Individuals Inferred

1 male 20-29 1810-1820 = Meredith (b. 1811-15)

1 female 4 or under 1835-1840 = Emily (b. 1838/9)

1 female 20-29 1810-1820 = Melinda

1 person employed in agriculture

3. 1850 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #165 of 263): Wilkes Co., NC, Roll M432_649, p. 332A, 1211/1211, enumerated 19 Sep 1850, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1850 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

Meridith Lyon 35 M Farmer 300 Wilkes

Nancy Lyon 25 F Wilkes

Emaly Lyon 13 F Wilkes

Harrison Lyon 11 M Wilkes

Mary Lyon 8 F Wilkes

Thomas Lyon 6 M Wilkes

Nancy Lyon 4 F Wilkes

John Lyon 2 M Wilkes

Joshua Lyon 1 M Wilkes

4. 1860 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #127 of 199): Trap Hill P.O., Lower Division, Wilkes Co., NC, Roll M653_918, p. 64A, PN 127, 906/906, enumerated 11 Sep 1860, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1860 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

Nancy Lyons 38 F Farmer 500 150 N Carolina

Ervin    " 14 M "

Thomas N " 13 M "

John     " 11 M "

George   " 9 M "

Frances " 7 F "

Emily    " 21 F "

Who's Ervin? It ought to be Nancy in this age slot. Emily being listed last supports that she is not Nancy's daughter.

5. 1870 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #13 of 25): Trap Hill P.O., Trap Hill Twp., Wilkes Co., NC, Roll M593_1165, p. 396A, PN 13, 99/99, enumerated 29 Aug 1870, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1870 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

Lyon Nancy 51 F W Farmer 400 200 N Carolina

____ Thomas N 24 M W Farm hand "

____ John A 21 M W Farm hand "

____ George W 18 M W Farm hand "

____ Francis E 17 M W Farm hand "

____ James C 9 M W "

Johnson Ned 54 M B Farm hand "

Frances is female.

6. 1880 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #1 of 35): Trap Hill Twp., Wilkes Co., NC, Roll 987, p. 21A, PN 1, SD 4, ED 205, enumerated 4 Jun 1880, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1880 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

1880: for an explanation of the column headings, please see
What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).

1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 13 23 24 25 26

6 6 Lyon Nancy W F 58 Wife / Keeping House / NC NC NC

____ George W W M 24 Son / Farmer NC NC NC

____ Francis E W F 22 Dau / At home / NC NC NC

Women will fib about the ages of their children to support their fib about their own. Listed next to William H.H. LYON (æ 39, b. NC) and his family, who are two households from Thomas N. LYON (æ 32, b. NC) and his family.

7. 1890 U.S. Census: the 1890 Census Population Schedules were destroyed.

8. 1900 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #7 of 25): Traphill Twp., Wilkes Co., NC, Roll 1224, p. 214A, SN 4, SD 6, ED 158, enumerated 6 Jun 1900, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1900 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤(•)

1900: for an explanation of the column headings, please see What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

68 68 Lyon George W Head W M Sep 1850 49 M 19 NC NC NC Farmer 0 Y Y Y O F F 67

____ Cela M Wife W F May 1856 44 M 19 3 3 NC NC NC Y Y Y

____ Steuart A Son W M Apr 1883 17 S NC NC NC 2 Y Y Y

____ Grover W Son W M Jul 1886 13 S NC NC NC 2 Y Y Y

____ Allie Dau W F Mch 1894 6 S NC NC NC

Gentry Mary M Sister W F Jun 1854 45 S NC NC NC Y Y Y

Lyon Nancy Mother W F Nov 1820 79 W 6 2 NC NC NC N N Y

Mary GENTRY is Geoge's sister-in-law, not his sister.

9a. 1910 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com): Nancy not found.

9b. 1910 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #10-11 of 16): Roaring Gap Road / Lyon Road, Traphill Twp., Wilkes Co., NC, Roll T624_1135 (Book 1), pp. 188B-189A, SN 5B-6A, SD 8, ED 178, enumerated 26/27 Apr 1910, official enumeration date 15 Apr 1910 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤(•)

1910: for an explanation of the column headings, please see What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 12 13 14 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

* 97 99 Lyon George W Head M W 57 Wd NC NC NC Eng Farmer general farm Emp N Y Y O F F 88

____ Stewert A Son M W 27 M NC NC NC Eng Farm laborer Home farm W N 0 Y Y

____ Grover W Son M W 23 S NC NC NC Eng Farm laborer Home farm W N 0 Y Y

____ Ila Daughter F W 17 S NC NC NC Eng None Y Y Y

[next page]

** ____ Emily Sister F W 70 S NC NC NC Eng None Y N

Gentry Merrie M Sister-in-law F W 55 S NC NC NC Eng None Y Y

*Roaringgap Road | **Lyon Road

10. Lyon(s) Families Association of America: Database (on CD as of 22 Feb 2010; these are member submissions).

Contact Home
Page Table of
Contents DNA
Hub Biddle
DNA Carrico
DNA Corbin
DNA Cupp
DNA Danish
DNA Ely
DNA Lyon(s)
DNA Rasey
DNA Reason
DNA Rose
DNA Straub
DNA Pedigree
Charts Census
Records Every-Name
Indices

Everything I have is online at this web site. I have no further information, so please don't write asking me if I do.
On the other hand, if you feel I've made an error, please don't hesitate to notify me, but in which case,
please include a link to the page you are referencing.
There are over 18,000 pages on this web site, and I simply don't remember every page, much less every person on every page.

"The Cloud" is double-speak for "dumb terminal on a main frame." Been there; done that. Never again.
You are giving away not only your privacy, but control of your data, your apps, and your computer to a corporation. Is that really where you want to go?
The IT guys on the big iron hated the Personal Computer because it gave users freedom and power; now they've conned you into being back under their control.

Table of Contents

Every-Name Index