Joseph was born in that part of Lynn, MA. that is now the Town of Swampscott. His name is listed on the Monument to the dead in Swampscott which is located on Humphrey Street at the intersection of Burrill Ave. Joseph and his company were ambushed by Confederate Troops at the skirmish at Aldie, Virginia where their bodies still lie. The following is from the American Battlefields Website:
"Loudoun County, VA | Jun 17, 1863
Jeb Stuart's cavalry screened the Confederate infantry as it marched north behind the sheltering Blue Ridge Mountains. The pursuing Federals of Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick's brigade, in the advance of Brig. Gen. David Gregg's division, encountered Col. Thomas T. Munford's Virginia troopers near the village of Aldie on June 17, 1863, resulting in four hours of stubborn fighting. Both sides made mounted assaults by regiments and squadrons. Kilpatrick was reinforced in the afternoon, and Munford withdrew toward Middleburg where the battle would continue the next day. The battles at Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville along the Ashby's Gap Turnpike successfully delayed the Union cavalry's thrust across the Loudoun Valley, preventing them from finding Lee's army,"

Joseph's widow Mary A. (nee Jones) Sparks applied for his pension on August 1, 1863. She was of Lynn and had been born in Maine. She and Joseph married in Lynn on Nov. 26, 1846. In the 1860 census they had four daughters (see below)

1860 Federal Census, Lynn, MA:
Name: Joseph H Sparks
Age: 33
Birth Year: abt 1827
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Massachusetts
Home in 1860: Lynn Ward 3, Essex, Massachusetts
Post Office: Lynn
Dwelling Number: 578
Family Number: 700
Occupation: Cordwainer
Personal Estate Value: 200
Household Members Age
Joseph H Sparks 33
Mary A Sparks 35
Louisa E Sparks 13
Josephine F Sparks 11
Harriet A Sparks 8
Latitia Sparks 4 (they later in1860 had a son named George Sparks)

Joseph H Sparks in the U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865
Name: Joseph H Sparks
Enlistment Age: 35
Birth Date: abt 1827
Enlistment Date: 31 Jul 1862
Enlistment Rank: Private
Muster Date: 31 Jul 1862
Muster Place: Massachusetts
Muster Company: A
Muster Regiment: 1st Cavalry
Muster Regiment Type: Cavalry
Muster Information: Enlisted
Rank Change Date: 27 Aug 1862
Rank Change Rank: Colonel
Rank Change Information: 9th NY Heavy Artillery
Muster Out Date: 17 Jun 1863
Muster Out Place: Aldie, Virginia
Muster Out Information: Killed
Side of War: Union
Survived War?: No
Residence Place: Lynn, Massachusetts
Occupation: Shoemaker
Title: Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil War