Allen line: Thomas Sparrow, Immigrant

Thomas Sparrow, immigrant, is another enigma.  He has been reported as born in several different locations with several different sets of parents.  He undoubtedly came from England, and married Elizabeth Marsh, probably in Virginia.  One problem in identifying this immigrant is that he had a son named Thomas, who had a son named Thomas, and they all showed up on records during the same time span. 

It appears that Thomas was born probably around 1600, and was in Lower Norfolk Virginia by 1640. I've seen 1625 and 1635 given as dates for his arrival here, but we do know that in 1640 he was granted 300 acres on the Elizabeth River in payment for paying transportation costs from England for 5 people, plus himself presumably.  Elizabeth Marsh may have already been here, so she may have been one of the persons he transported.  Regardless, this is his ticket to land ownership.

The Sparrows were Puritans, and that was not the correct religion for settlers of Virginia.  Puritans were harassed and eventually forced to attend church services of the Anglican church, and to pay tithes to them.  When court cases were begun, the Sparrows moved to Maryland in order to practice their faith under a government that practiced religious tolerance.  The Sparrows and their servant, John Dennis, moved in 1649. We don't know for sure how many children the Sparrows had, but at least four are attributed to them.  The children's birth dates are sketchy so it is likely that there were some born in Virginia and some born in Maryland. 

About 1650 Thomas acquired 590 acres on the west side of the Rhodes River in the East River Hundred and called the property Sparrow's Rest. The native Americans were still active in the area and it was only after a 1652 treaty with the Susquehannock Indians that more land became available.  Thomas then purchased 600 acres called Sparrow's Rest at the mouth of Broad Creek, and another 200 acres called South Canton.  The size of these purchases indicates that he was likely farming tobacco, and that his original land may already have been depleted by the time he purchased the second and third grants. 

By 1656, Sparrow and most of his neighbors had heard of a woman named Elizabeth Harris, who was known as the first Quaker missionary.  They attended a meeting at the West River Meeting House in 1656 and the whole family converted to the Quaker religion.  Shortly after that, Thomas died, probably in early 1659.

I should note that there is a good deal of controversy about whether or not this couple had a daughter Charity, who married Richard Tydings.  In general, it seems that there is no real evidence one way or the other.  Long, long family traditions have given Charity these parents, but it is still possible that information will be found to disprove the theory that Charity was the child of this couple, or even that she was the child of this couple.  There is no mention of her in her purported father's will, but that is not entirely an obstacle as she could have received her share before the death of her father, perhaps as a wedding gift.  The jury is still out on this, but for now, I'm including Thomas in our family tree.

The line of descent is:

Thomas Sparrow-Elizabeth Marsh
Charity Sparrow-Richard Tydings
Pretitia Tydings-Dutton Lane
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Anne Anderson
Nancy Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants