Powell and Sparkman Family Papers, 1808-1962, bulk 1808-1919

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Summary

Title:
Powell and Sparkman Family Papers
Dates:
1808-1962, bulk 1808-1919
Creators:
Sparkman, John Stedman, Sparkman, John, Powell, Rodney W., Sparkman Family, Stedman, Philip, Powell, Alice Ann Sparkman, and Sparkman, Philip Stedman
Abstract:
Philip Stedman Sparkman studied and wrote out the vocabulary of the LuiseƱo people of Southern California, and he corresponded with Charles F. Lummis and Frederick Webb Hodge. This collection includes family, financial, and legal papers of John Sparkman, Philip Stedman, Philip Stedman Sparkman, John Stedman Sparkman, Alice Ann Sparkman Powell, and Rodney W. Powell, spanning mostly from 1808-1919. Photographs in this collection range from 1872-1962.
Extent:
1.3 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Powell and Sparkman Family Papers, 1808-1962, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.218; [folder number] [folder title][date].

Background

Scope and content:

This collection includes family, financial, and legal papers of John Sparkman, Philip Stedman, Philip Stedman Sparkman, John Stedman Sparkman, Alice Ann Sparkman Powell, and Rodney W. Powell, spanning mostly from 1808-1919. Papers include correspondence, family papers, financial records, a ledger, and photographs. Loose photographs and a photo album include photos from 1872-1962. The photo album features mostly Powell family members, with some of Alice Sparkman Powell's family photos as well. The photo album also includes photographs from R. W. Powell's military service in Cairo, featuring encampments, landscapes, and Bedouins. The ledger is mostly filled with journal entries from 1880-1901, written by Philip Stedman Sparkman.

Biographical / historical:

Philip Steadman Sparkman, 1855-1907

Sparkman was the seventh child in a farming family, born in Herefordshire, England in 1865. He sailed to the United States in 1875 on the immigrant ship SS Idaho. He slowly made his way west, working odd jobs, and opening a series of short-lived stores starting in 1880 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and then in towns along the Santa Fe Trail. He eventually settled in the small town of Rincon, near Valley Center in San Diego County, California where he ran a successful store and prospered as a local businessman.

Sparkman had taught himself Spanish while in New Mexico, and upon settling in Rincon, became interested in the local LuiseƱo Indian culture and language. Sparkman spent years recording all aspects of LuiseƱo culture, including folklore, religion, and material culture, but his focus was on their language. He published a preliminary sketch of his study of the language in American Anthropologist in 1905. Sparkman was killed at his home on 1907 May 19 at the age of 51. The man suspected of his murder, Francisco Calac, was declared unfit for trial, and spent the next 20 years at the state asylum in San Bernardino, California.

Discovered among Sparkman's papers after his death were a completed, bound and typed manuscript grammar and dictionary of the LuiseƱo language and a written account of LuiseƱo culture. Both works were acquired, along with other Sparkman papers, by the University of California and published post-mortem. Sparkman left no heir behind, so his effects were left to his sister Alice Ann Sparkman Powell, wife of Rodney W. Powell, who served in the British army in Cairo, Egypt during World War I.

References Crawford, Richard. "Rincon slaying claimed life of respected businessman." San Diego Union-Tribune, December 16, 2010, p.CZ.2.

Processing information:

Biographical note prepared by Eloise Nelson, Braun Research Library intern, 2011 June 20. Initial processing completed by Braun Research Library staff. Processing and finding aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Processing Archivist, 2012 August 30, made possible through grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC). Finding aid updated 2019.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Holly Rose Larson
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-02-26 19:02:42 +0000 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives and fill out the Researcher Application Form.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred citation:

Powell and Sparkman Family Papers, 1808-1962, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.218; [folder number] [folder title][date].

Location of this collection:
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA 90027, US
Contact:
(747) 201-8448
rroom@theautry.org
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