The Circuit Riding Preacher - William C. Sparks

A note from an early Texas preacher stated:  "There are men and women here, with grown children, who have never heard a preaching."  That was one of the many motives that grave strength to the men who braved the climate and everyday dangers of traveling through the Texas frontier. 

After arriving in Texas, William C. Sparks became a Circuit Riding Preacher, who rode horseback to make his rounds, leaving Monday morning and preaching at different ranches each night, coming home on Saturday.   He was found with his family on the 1880 census living in Callahan County, once a part of Brown County.  He and his family lived in Callahan and surrounding counties, and one of his sons, Will, moved west to Midland county.  The county south of Brown, called San Saba, is where a Presbytery was formed which served an area from there westward.  Organized religion did not reach parts of Texas until after the Civil War.  The territory around San Saba was rough and wild. Circuit riders were given $25.00 to buy a pistol and $125.00 to buy a horse. The frontier was tough, churches were few and far between and the bible was scarce. They were strong men often wearing a swallow-tail coat and a black hat.  Once established, however, churches carried out their traditional roles as civilizing forces.

The San Saba Presbytery was formed by order of the Colorado Synod in 1881. According to the directory appearing in the General Assembly minutes of the following year, the ministers composing this presbytery were Revs. Z.T. Blanton, W.C. Sparks, T.A. Ish, F.E. Lawler, S.M. Lewis, J.A. Robinson (State Clerk), J. S Boatright,  and R.D. Wear. This presbytery embraced a large territory extending westward indefinitely. In those days when the presbytery would meet on the extreme western border it would take four or five days for some of the brethren to go to presbytery. Rev. J.A. Robinson was in charge of the Colorado mission, which in 1886 and 1887 reported more than fifty members. Brother Robinson came to Texas in 1878,  joined the Little River Presbytery, acting as State Clerk, and  later assisted in forming the San Saba Texas Presbytery also the Buffalo Gap.

In 1884 the Colorado Synod ordered the formation of a new Presbytery to be known as Buffalo Gap Presbytery, which changed its name to Abilene Presbytery in 1895. Buffalo Gap is situated about fourteen miles southwest of Abilene in a range of hills which at this particular place attain to a height of three or four hundred feet above the surrounding country prairie. This range constitutes the watershed between the Brazos and Colorado Rivers. The location was a very healthful one, the climate being dry and the altitude of the town about 1,900 feet above sea level. 

Source: History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Texas. Centennial Volume. Published by Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House. 117 Eighth Avenue, South Nashville, Tenn. 1936.

William C. Sparks died and is buried in Ryan, now Jefferson County, Oklahoma in 1896 after moving to the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.  His gravestone says: Rev. W. C. Sparks, and is marked with a Mason's Emblem.  He is listed in the Deceased ministers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church 1890 to Present.  Go to the listing at 1898 to see this reference at:   www.cumberland.org/hfcpc/DecMinB.htm.

Sparks, W.C. retired,  Chickasaw, Ryan, Indian Territory September 7, 1897    age 82

The following notes taken from the obituary for Reverend Robinson give us an idea of what the life of a Circuit Rider was like.  In all probability, this description identifies what the life of Rev. William C. Sparks was like as well since they worked together in the same Presbytery.

Rev. James A. Robinson - a fellow preacher.
Rev. James A. Robinson was a "Circuit Rider" of Taylor County and held services in a different community each night of the week to be back home for the weekend at the home church, Lemons Gap, a wooden building which served as a schoolhouse during the weekdays.  He carried the news of deaths, marriages, new babies, etc.,  From his home at the foot of Bald Eagle Mountain, near Ovala, Rev. Robinson traveled a circuit north leaving with his Bible and bedroll on Monday morning. One night was at Buffalo Gap, then almost to Abilene, then westward until it was time to return home across the hills. On the last day on the circuit he would stop for a brief visit with Rev. and Mrs. McKeever at Bluff Creek. He would stop at the same ranch on the same night every week where the family would make him welcome. Some folks would ride all day to hear his sermon and then ride all night to return home. He would arrive at Bald Eagle on Saturday in time to prepare his Sunday sermon which he preached at Lemons Gap. The family always knew they would have scrambled eggs for Saturday night supper. His congregation on the circuit donated eggs and live chickens, possibly other foodstuffs to take home. The chickens were tied by their feet and hung from the saddle, and eggs no matter how well cushioned, were subject to being cracked, if not entirely broken. Kate Sutton Edwards said Rev. Robinson would come by in his buggy and take them to church at Lemons Gap.

Source: A sketch of Rev. J. A. Roberson's Life by W.J. Johnson, Pastor, Buffalo Gap. The Western Presbyter, a Cumberland Presbyterian Weekly, Thursday June 15, 1905, Dallas, Texas.