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Dr. Isaac H. Miller, Jr. 1105 Gunfight on Innes Street 1106 the Town That Loved the Circus

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Dr. Isaac H. Miller, Jr. 1105 Gunfight on Innes Street 1106 the Town That Loved the Circus Home.She was awarded a Litt.D. by the Universi- THE TOWN THAT ty of N.C. in 1933 and was a leader in establishing Samarcond Manor for deiinouent oirls, LOVED THE CIRCUS Ll 07 This is the story oi a very unique and unusual relationship that developed when Mr. Charley DR. ISAAC H. MILLER, JR. Sparks brought his "Worid Famous Sparks Cir- 1105 cus" to a small southern town back in 1910. Dr. lsaac H. Miller, Jr. the youngest of two sons I say it was a very unusual relationship because born to Professor lsaac H. Miller, Sr. (deceased) being a very o{d and proper town, Salisourians and Hattie Miller. lsaac was born September 26, generally considered anyone whose family had 1920 in Jacksonviile. Florida. His father was the not been a residenr for at least two generations. to chair of education at Livingstone College in 1929. De a newcomer. Moore's Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church, Salisbury But Mr. Chariey Sparks was indeed a very was the family church. He attended Monroe unique and unusual man and his circus had hardly Street Elementary School and Price High School finished unloading rts cargo of wild animals, tents in Saiisbury, He graduated from Livingstone Col- and gilded wagons before the citizens of Salisbury lege in 1938 with a B.S. degree. In 1948 Dr. Miller had opened therr hearts and welcomed the circus was awarded the M.S. degree from the University people as friend and neighbors. of Wisconsin. and ln 1951 he received the Ph,D. You might ask why Mr. Sparks selecied Salis- degree in Biocremrsrry from the University of bury as a home for his circus. The weather was Wisconsin. moderate: boih east, west. north and south lines 0ne-armed bandjt otto Wood was killed in a gunfight by Police Dr. Miller was Presidenr of Bennett College, oi the Southern Failroad crossed here and the Ch ei Robert Lee Rankin on Dec. 31 , 1 930. Greensboro. NC 1 966-86: Associate Professor of large shops at Spencer were availabie to refurbish Biochemistry, Meharry Medical College 1954-56. the circus train each season after its long journey Assistant Professor of Chemistry, NC A & T State heard the rumor that the infamous one-armed across the country. University 1950-54: visiiing scientist, Oak Ridge bandit Otto Wood was in town. They had taken Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sparks became one of our Institute of Nuclear Studies: Panelist, National Chief Rankin s personal car (since ali the parrol most well known and beloved couples. Science Foundation; Program on research partici- cars were on duty) and begun to drive around the Born in Park City, Utah, in 1880. Charies pation for high school teachers; author of 15 heart of downtown Salisbury. On lnnes Street Sparks, at the age of six years, was singing and research 0apers on the metabolism of car- Chief Rankin saw two men. one with his left rienninn nn iho cirpor anrnarq in qrrnnnri hic hand evHywr ! ' "v in hie nnnkoi f.lo trrrnod tha nnr nrnrr^A anogenic chem,cals and related topics. il r ilrJ pvu^gr. I rs rur tou U tc vor dtvul Lu. dp-^n widowed mother and two sisters. Learning thai ' Dr. Miller holds memberships: American Chemi- proached the strangers and asked Otto to show she had T,8,, which was always fatal in those cal Society; Botanical Society of America; Ameri- hls left hand. Wood pulled out a .45 Smith and days, Mrs. Sparks gave her young son, Charles, can Association for the Advancement of Science: Wesson revolver, climbed into the back seat and to Mr. John Wiseman, for adoption. Wiseman not Association of Southeastern Biologists; American ordered the officers to drive him and his compan- only adopted Charles Sparks but adopted the Association of University Professors; Society of ion the the railroad station. Chief Rankin, while name Sparks as weil and became John Sparks, the Sigma Xi; Gamma Alpha and Phi Sigma Honor pretending to fumble with the car keys, opened one of America s besr known circusmen. Societies. the car door, unholstered his pistol and dashed to Charles Sparks and his father toured the coun- Dr. Miller received Lederle Medical Faculty the front of the car. The shoot-out began. Officer try with minstrels, Uncle Tom Cabin shows, and Awards, Meharry Medical College 1957-60; Gold- Kesler subdued Wood's travelling companion. later small circuses. Often they would have to sell en Apple outstanding teacher award, Meharry When the gunfight was over, Otto Wood was dead a cornet or drum io have money for foocj or move I vol-0J. with one of Chief Rankin's bullets in his head and their small show to the next town. He holds membership in the St. Matthews another in his neck. Chief Rankin had only Mrs. Addie Sparks was a very petite lady but United Methodist Church, Greensboro, NC. Board scratches from the broken glass of the car's she assumed a very important part along side her member of the United Fund of Greensboro. and windshield, husband in runnrng the circus. She had charge oi Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. In this early depression year, Otto Wood's excit- the cookhouse. made the costumes, helped with Dr. Miller and his wife, Effe have four sons. ing fate brought many letters of congraiulations to the parade and would often doctor a sick ele- lsaac, Kevin, Eric, and Keith and one daughter, Chief Rankln and Officer Kesler from law officers phant. Kay. around the state. The generous people of Salis- The Sparks made their first fome in Salisoury Sources: Whos Who Anang Black Aneilcans, 1977-1978: bury donated money to pay for Wood's funeral with Mr. and Mrs. D.L. Sayior on West Innes Peerless Laymen in ihe African Methodist Episcapal Zion Church: since his family had none. The body of the outlaw Street. In 1912, when the new Yadkin Hotel was George Alexander Brooks' sr'' was viewed by over 60,00 people at a Salisbury completed, it became headquarters 'ntlnrro,o 0. Robinson and h0me for funeral home. The Salisbury Evening Post sold the Sparks' executives. Later many of the show more than 1 5,000 extra copies of the issue head- performers stayed at the Ford Hotel, lining this e'rent and it contributed a wreath GUNFIGHT ON INNES STREET to A circus consumes vast amounts of food, espe- accompany Wood's body on his last trip home to cially Sparks Circus, which enjoyed the reputation 1106 Coaldale, West Virginia. of being the best fed show in the country. Mr. M.L. 0n the afternoon of December 31, 1 930, one oi This information is taken trom The Sallsbury Jackson, our local butcher, would bring in fresh the country's most notorious criminals, an escape Evening Post, January 31 1940, Volume 104, No. meat by the wagon load for the circus staff and for artist who had escaped from a North Carolina 31 and from The Statenagazine, Volume 38, No, the wild animals. Former Mayor Wiley Lash re- prison as well as several others Drisons in the oast 18, February 15, 1971, and No. 20, March 15, members as a boy being sent by his father to the and had been on the loose for six months. met his 1971. circus grounds-each day to take grocery orders match when he encountered Salisbury's then Rankin Rowland and then to deliver them on his bicycle. Wiley '_ _- - .- -Christina -. :- -- : -_j :-- i- rh^;.\a lhc ri^.il^; ::; a-,, F ^idoai^r\/ \/aa irrsi, anQ 0nty. camer ever Dorn rn Salisoury ar- rived, a thin spindly-legged furry creature. Hundreds of local citizens went to the railroad to bid their friends goodbye and wish them a safe and prosperous journey as they headed north on their annual tour. Mr. Charles Sparks died in 1949 in Hot Springs, Ari(ansas. -Paul Leake Bernhardt ,,THE WRECK OF THE OLD 97'' 1108 Fame has been brought to the town of Spencer because of the lines of a ballad which begins: They gave him his orders in Monroe, Virginia, Saying, "Steve, you re way behind time, This is not 38. but it s old 97 You must put her into Spencer on trme." The fast mailtrain known as the Old 97 was the pride of the Southern Railroad which handled the Washington to Atlanta portion of its run from New York to New Orleans. This hot shot train, which '1918 Family photograph of the Sparks Family - or 1919. First row, left to right: Unknown, Unknown, Clitton Sparks, Jr. (boy), Unknown, ran from 1902 until 1907, was given road priority Unknown, [.4rs. Charles (Addie) Sparks, Charles Sparks (with hat). Second row, left to right: Clifton Sparks, N4rs. Clifton Sparks, Chartes over other trains and brought $140,000 annually Sparks, Unknown. Pholo courtesv of Paul Bernhardt. to the Southern. lf mail was delayed, the Southern was penalized $100-a lot of money in those his travels. The Sparks, the Mayos and other days; thus the crew would strive to make sure the members of the circus staff became well known in train reached its destination on time. Salisbury. Mr. Jack Wallace, Murray Smith and The wreck about which the ballad was written Dave 0estreicher were among the circle of friends occuned on Sunday, September 27, 1903, The they enjoyed. Fritz Brunner, a German, the wild train was an hour late leaving Washington, D.C. animal trainer, was often a guest in the Oestrei- because of a delay in loading mail and express. cher home where German was spoken fluently.
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