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Benton County, Arkansas
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Family Photos

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Sparks
John A. SPARKS
We do not have a birth place (maybe Texas) or year for John, but he died in 1889 in Siloam Springs and is buried in the Hico Cemetery. There are no dates on his stone. We also do not know what his middle name was, though his estate papers give his middle initial as "A." John married Bedora Evelyn Chesney on 23 Dec 1875 in Hico, Benton County. They were parents of six children. After John's death, Bedora married James E. Crane and later William Parton. This photograph was shared with Linda Ashley by Beverley Wilkerson.
Contributed by: Linda R. Ashley

Crane-Sparks
Bedora (Chesney) CRANE and her SPARKS children in 1909.
Bedora is seated in front. The couple on the left is Ethel Sparks Ashley and her husband, Carl Thomas Ashley holding Thelma. The boy in the middle front is Otha Ashley. The Ashley's lived in Kentucky. The other woman holding a baby is probably Nevada Sparks Neel holding Iva Nell. We would appreciate positive identification of others in the picture.
Contributed by: Linda R. Ashley

Chesney
Some of Bedora CRANE's grandchildren in 1911.
Front L-R, Thelma Ashley, Clarella Ashley, Iva Nell Neel.
Back L-R, Otha Ashley, Clayton Sparks, Robert Neel, and Florine Sparks.
The Ashleys are children of Ethel Sparks Ashley; the Neels are children of Nevada Sparks Neel, and the Sparks are children of James Sparks, all children of Bedora Chesney and her first husband, John Sparks
Submitted by: Linda R. Ashley

Crane
James E. CRANE (1829-1919) and family.
The lady is his second wife, Bedora Chesney SPARKS (1858-1928). The picture was taken about 1915. They lived in Siloam Springs at the time, but the picture could have been taken at the home of one of his children in Kansas, Oklahoma, or Arkansas. Bedora was the mother of the three people on the left, back row. His other children were by his first wife, Emily LEACH. James Crane's biography appears in Goodspeed's History
Contributed by Linda R. Ashley