Isaac J. Sparks

Isaac Sparks. Sparks Family Association.

Isaac Sparks is known for sailing to San Nicolas Island in 1835 and returning to San Pedro with a group of islanders, leaving the Lone Woman behind. A Spanish document notes that Sparks and seven men sailed from Santa Barbara on the schooner Peor es Nada in 1834. A hunter, merchant, and rancher, Sparks arrived in California in 1832 and joined in many sea otter hunting trips on the California coast.

DATE OF BIRTH: About 1803
PLACE OF BIRTH: Maine, USA
DATE OF DEATH: June 16, 1867
PLACE OF BURIAL: Santa Barbara, California, USA


References
Ellison, William H., ed. The Life and Adventures of George Nidever [1802–1883]: Life Story of a Remarkable California Pioneer Told in his Own Words and None Wasted Santa Barbara: McNally & Loftin, 1984: 36–39.

Morris, Susan L., John R. Johnson, Steven J. Schwartz, René L. Vellanoweth, Glenn J. Farris, Sara L. Schwebel. “The Nicoleños in Los Angeles: Documenting the Fate of the Lone Woman’s Community.” Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 36, 1 (2016).

1850 US census, Santa Barbara County, California, population schedule, Santa Barbara, p. 254 (stamped), p. 507 (penned), dwelling 132, family 134, Isaac Sparks; digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 12 December 2014), from National Archives microfilm publication M432, roll 35.

“Provincial State Papers: Benicia, Military 1834–1845,” Internet Archive, digital images, Archive.org (https://www.archive.org/details/168035972_80_2_2: accessed 9 December 2014), LXXIX, p. 134 (stamped) p. 73 (penned).

Findagrave.com, Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8821527&ref=acom: accessed 12 December 2014), photograph, gravestone for Isaac James Sparks (1800–1867), Santa Barbara Cemetery, Santa Barbara, California.