My Genealogy Hound

Dr. G. A. Sparling, of Kirksville, is of British ancestry, his parents, John and Rachel (English) Sparling, having been born in Ireland and England, respectively. About the year 1845 the father immigrated to Canada, and became one of the first settlers of the town of St. Marys, of which he served as chief magistrate about twenty years. In 1863 the family moved to Guernsey County, Ohio, settling at Washington; but in 1867 they removed to Chillicothe, Mo., where the parents afterward died, the mother on April 12, 1868, and the father August 3, 1871. The immediate subject of this sketch received his youthful education in the common schools and the North Missouri State Normal School, and in 1876 began the study of medicine. Entering the American Medical College at St. Louis, in 1878, he graduated two years later, then located for the practice of his profession at Chillicothe. In 1882 he removed to Kirksville. By close attention to business and skillful treatment of all cases submitted to him, he has won a place among the best physicians of the county. August 24, 1880, he married Miss Mary E. Iles, who was born in Indiana in 1860, and to their union three children have been born: Martha E., John N. and Gerald A. Dr. Sparling is a native of Canada, his birth occurring in St. Marys, January 21, 1856, near the town of London. In politics he is a Republican, and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.