CHARLES D. SPARKS, MIDN, USN
Charles Sparks '56
Loss
Charles died of "congestion of the brain" on April 12, 1853, aboard the "sloop Vincennes, at New York." (Information from letters sent by the surgeon and commanding officer of the North Pacific Exploring Expedition, CDR Cadwalader Ringgold, to the Department of the Navy.)
From The Times-Picayune on April 24, 1853:
The telegraph some days ago informed us of the death of Midshipman Charles D. Sparks, of Louisiana, on board the U.S. ship Vincennes, at New York on the 13th inst. We learn that on the same day his remains were taken to the receiving tomb, at the Naval Hospital, escorted by the Marine Guard of the Vincennes, and attended by the commandant and officers of the navy yard, and the officers of the U.S. ships North Carolina, Vincennes, Porpoise and Hancock.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
In April 1851, Charles was on the U. S. sloop-of-war Decatur at Portsmouth Navy Yard ready for sea.
In July 1852, he asked Commander Greene of the US ship Decatur for three months leave. He said his father lived in Port Hudson, Louisiana.
Attached to his letter from Baton Rouge on 7/26/1852 was this newspaper clipping about his father: Col. Sparks of Bayou DeSiard/DeSieard in Ouachita parish was shot and dangerously wounded recently by Peter Fowles, an overseer on John L. Willson's plantation. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Fowles.
On January 11, 1853, a newspaper wrote that Col Sparks, of Bayou de Seard, had his gin house and 90 bales of cotton burned.
Charles was born in, and appointed from, Louisiana.
Career
From the Naval History and Heritage Command:
Midshipman, 18 April, 1850. Died 12 April, 1853.
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
January 1852
January 1853
Memorial Hall Errors
Illness is not a criteria for inclusion in Memorial Hall. Also, There is no evidence his rank was "Master," as is in Memorial Hall; should be Midshipman. He is listed as a Midshipman in the Register of Officers of the US Navy that gave the date of his death, and in three different contemporaneous newspaper reports. The letters above both use Midshipman as his rank.
Note
A special thank you to Kathy Franz, a historian who located Charles' cause of death.
Charles is one of 5 members of the Class of 1856 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
