James Sharp, Sr

BIO: Major Thomas SHARP, Cumberland County, PA

   Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joe Patterson

   OCRed by Judy Banja

Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.

   http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm

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   _____________________________________________________________

>From Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania,

   Chicago: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905, pages 17-21. 

   _____________________________________________________________

NOTE: Use this web address to access other bios:

   http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/zeamer/

MAJOR THOMAS SHARP. Among the early settled families of the upper end of

 Cumberland county were the Sharps, who have been prominent in this part of

 the State for at least three generations. They trace their ancestry back to

 Scotland, where at an unknown date Thomas Sharp married Margaret Elder, a

 daughter of a Scottish laird.

   Thomas and Margaret (Elder) Sharp were Covenanters, and removed from their

 native land to the Province of Ulster in Ireland, where four daughters and

 five sons were born to them. The daughters were: Jane, Martha, Mary and

 Agnes; and the sons were: Robert, Andrew, John, James and Alexander. Robert

 came to America first, and afterward went back to Ireland and brought over

 the rest of the family. They first settled in the forks of the Delaware

 river, in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, but later nearly all of them came

 into the Cumberland Valley. Robert Sharp first appears upon the records of

 Newton township, Cumberland county, in 1775. Andrew settled in that part of

 the State now comprised in Indiana county, and was killed in what was

 probably the last Indian fight that took place in Pennsylvania. Early in the

 summer of 1794, he and three of his neighbors and their wives started down

 the Kishkiminitas in a flat boat on their way to Kentucky. Just before

 reaching the Allegheny river they landed for the night. While the men were

 preparing to camp they were surprised by a band of Indians. Two of the party

 darted into the woods, but Sharp and the other man ran to the protection of

 their families on the boat. While they were pushing the boat into the stream

 the Indians opened fire upon them, severely wounding Sharp and killing his

 comrade. There being four rifles in the boat Sharp kept up a running fight

 with the Indians while his strength held out, the women loading the guns

 while he fired them. The next day what remained of the party reached Fort

 Pitt, where they received all necessary attentions. Andrew Sharp had been

 shot in three different places, but notwithstanding the serious character of

18 CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
the wounds had prospects of recovering, but the heavy concussions of guns,

 fired in celebration of the 4th of July, started hemorrhages from which he

 died. He was buried in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church of

 Pittsburg, with the honors of war, he having been a soldier in the

 Revolution. Many of his descendants are yet living in western Pennsylvania

 and the West, and one, Capt. Alexander McCracken, is commander of the United

 States cruiser "Des Moines."

   Alexander Sharp, the last named of the Sharp brothers, served several short

 enlistments in the early part of the Revolutionary war, and later was engaged

 in the important service of furnishing supplies to the army. He located in

 Newton township shortly after the close of the Revolution, on land entered by

 his father, Thomas Sharp, in May, 1746. He was a man of great energy, and much

 of the improvement and development of his part of the county in his day were

 due to his enterprise. He engaged extensively at farming, milling, tanning

 and distilling, and shipped his surplus products by wagon to Baltimore.

 Captain Sharp, as he was familiarly called, inaugurated the custom of keeping

 wagons continually upon the road, and by intelligent and careful management

 made the traffic pay. His practical mind saw the advantage of having narrow

 tread wheels for mud roads, and broad tread for turnpikes, and when the

 turnpike was completed from Baltimore to Hanover, he kept an extra set of

 wheels for each of his wagons at Hanover, and would change from narrow to

 broad tread on reaching the beginning of the turnpike. He took a paternal

 interest in the young men in his employ, directing their efforts so as to

 give them a good start in life. Among the employes in his tanneries was a

 young man named Robert Garrett, who showed extraordinary capacity for

 business. This young man he advised to go to Baltimore and open a commission

 business, promising him all the patronage he had, and to use his influence to

 secure him that of others. Young Garrett was then only about twenty years of

 age and had never been to Baltimore. He was reluctant to go, but having

 implicit confidence in Captain Sharp's judgment he yielded and subsequently

 became one of Baltimore's most prominent and successful business men. This

 young man Garrett was the father of John W. Garrett, and the founder of the

 famous Garrett family of Baltimore.

   Capt. Alexander Sharp was married to Margaret McDowell, daughter of John

 McDowell, of Kishacoquillas Valley, Mifflin county, and by her had five sons

 and one daughter: John married Jane McCune, and engaged at farming in Newton

 township south of Oakville. William M. graduated from Dickinson College,

 studied medicine and practiced his profession in Newville; he married Jane

 Wilson. Andrew married Rosanna McDowell, of Mifflin county, and engaged at

 farming in Newton; he died when yet in middle life. Thomas died in the

 thirtieth year of his age, unmarried. Eleanor married a Mr. McCune, of near

 Shippensburg. The wife and mother, died Aug. 15, 1810, in her fifty-first

 year, and Capt. Sharp afterward married Isabella Oliver, a daughter of James

 and Mary (Buchanan) Oliver, of the part of the county that is now included in

 Silver Spring township. By his second marriage he had no children.

   Alexander Sharp, third son of Capt. Alexander and Margaret (McDowell)

 Sharp, was born in Newton township June 12, 1796. He graduated from Jefferson

 College in 1820, studied theology and was ordained a minister of the Associate

 Re-

CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 19
formed Presbyterian Church. On June 29, 1824, he was installed as pastor of

 the church of that denomination at Big Spring. About the same time he was

 elected Professor of Theology in the Associate Reformed Seminary at Oxford,

 Ohio, but he declined the professorship and continued as pastor of the Big

 Spring Church up to the time of his death. The Presbytery of Big Spring

 included small congregations at Shippensburg, Chambersburg, Concord,

 Gettysburg, Lower Chanceford, and one in Rockbridge county, Virginia. These

 churches were often without pastors, and at such times it fell to Mr. Sharp

 to minister to them, and being so widely scattered his duties required much

 exposure and a great amount of horseback riding, which impaired his health

 and finally caused his death. Physically Rev. Dr. Sharp was a large and

 commanding person, and his character was so rounded and balanced that it was

 hard to detect in him any prominent traits or angles. He possessed a

 vigorous, comprehensive mind, and a manner that was simple, kind and

 courteous. He was a true and reliable friend, much respected by his

 ministerial associates, and throughout the Synod of Pittsburg, to which the

 Presbytery of Big Spring belonged, was commonly spoken of as "Father Sharp."

 His home at the head of the Green Spring was the regular stopping place for

 the ministers of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church when visiting

 this part of the State. His neighbors, regardless of religious affiliations,

 often applied to him for advice and assistance in material affairs. He had

 rare presence of mind, and in case of emergency was remarkably quick to see

 what was the best thing to be done. As an illustration of this characteristic

 the following incident is related of him: One evening, just before retiring,

 an affrighted neighbor rushed into his house with the information that a

 candle moth had gotten into his daughter's ear, causing her intense

 suffering. Instantly it flashed upon his mind that the rye straws, with which

 the children had been playing in front of the door, might be of use in the

 case. He started off with his anxious neighbor on a run, picking up some of

 the straws as he went. On reaching the patient Mr. Sharp cut a straw to a

 length to suit the purpose, and, inserting one end in the ear, applied his

 mouth to the other and sucked out the fluttering insect to the great relief

 of the young lady.

   Rev. Alexander Sharp married Elizabeth Bryson, a daughter of William and

 Jane (Harkness) Bryson, of Allen township. William Bryson was long a

 prominent citizen of the lower end of Cumberland county, and the progenitor

 of an honorable and distinguished family. His wife, Jane Harkness was a

 daughter of William and Priscilla (Lytle) Harkness. William Harkness was born

 in Ireland. In 1750 he came to America, and about the year 1765 settled in

 Allen township, Cumberland county, where he lived until the time of his

 death. He married Priscilla Lytle, of Donegal, Lancaster county, and died in

 May, 1822, and he and his wife are buried in the cemetery of the Silver

 Spring Church. William Bryson died in October, 1818, and he and many of his

 descendants are also buried at Silver Spring. William Harkness was a soldier

 in the war of the Revolution. He was ensign of Capt. John Mateer's company,

 Col. Chambers' regiment, which was a part of Gen. James Potter's brigade.

 Potter's brigade served with distinction in various engagements about

 Philadelphia: At the battle of the Brandywine it was on the extreme left; at

 Germantown it was on the right, where in driving in the opposing forces it

 advanced

20 CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
farther than the center of the line; at Chestnut Hill, under Gen. Irvine,

 it helped to check the British advance, and, although Gen. James Irvine was

 wounded, and his troops driven back, Howe's attempt to surprise the Americans

 was frustrated. When Washington took up his march from White Marsh to Valley

 Forge, he sent Potter's brigade down the west side of the Schuylkill to guard

 his left flank. In his reconnoitering Potter came upon a detachment of British

 under Cornwallis, who had crossed at Middle Ferry, and in a spirited

 engagement which ensued between them retarded the British sufficiently for

 Sullivan's brigade, which had crossed the river at the Gulph, to recross in

 safety. A day or two afterward Washington crossed the river higher up without

 interference, and after reaching Valley Forge, he issued general orders in

 which he thanked Potter's brigade for the splendid services it had rendered.

 Rev. Alexander Sharp died Jan. 28, 1857, in his sixty-first year. His wife,

 Elizabeth (Bryson) Sharp, died Jan. 27, 1870, in the seventy-third year of

 her age, and the remains of both are buried at Newville. They had the

 following children: Alexander, Jane Elizabeth, William H. B., John Riddle,

 Thomas, Robert Elder and Margaret Ellen.

   Alexander Sharp, eldest son of Rev. Alexander, graduated from Jefferson

 Medical College, and removed to St. Louis, Mo., where he married Ellen Dent,

 a sister of Mrs. U. S. Grant. After practicing his profession for a while in

 St. Louis, he removed to Auburn, Mo. This was at the beginning of the Civil

 war and sentiment in that locality was divided, the dominant part favoring

 secession. One day, on his return from a visit to a country patient, he found

 a Confederate flag floating from his house, which was the highest in the

 village, and a crowd standing around awaiting the outcome. In reply to his

 inquiry his wife explained that the boys wanted to put a flag upon their

 house, and as it was the first they had raised she thought it would be nice

 and gave her consent. Dr. Sharp then informed the crowd that as the house was

 his he would take the flag down, and return it to them, which he did in the

 face of threats that his life should pay for the act. In fear and trepidation

 his wife called out: "Boys, the hen coop is mine, you can put it on the hen

 coop." This ludicrous attempt at conciliation brought a shout of laughter

 from the Union element in the crowd, and acted like a shower bath on the

 Secessionists. Their ardor was cooled, and loyalty to the Union began to

 assert itself and crystalize about Auburn.

   The rebel element, however, made it uncomfortable for him and his family at

 Auburn, and he removed to Louisiana, Pike county, where he was permitted to

 practice his profession unmolested. But the war called for his services, and

 for some time he was acting assistant surgeon in the army hospitals at Cairo

 and Mound City. At the close of the war he was made special agent of the Post

 Office Department, and reorganized the mail service in the States of Virginia

 and North Carolina. Afterward he was postmaster of Richmond, Va., and when

 General Grant was elected President he appointed him United States marshal of

 the District of Columbia. At the close of Grant's second term he was appointed

 pay-master in the army, which position he held until 1889, when he was

 relieved on account of the infirmities of old age. He died at "The Presidio,"

 California, of ailments caused by much horseback exercise in early life.

 Marshal Sharp's oldest son, Alexander, is a graduate of Annapolis, and has

 just been

CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 21
assigned to the command of the new cruiser "Chattanooga." His second son,

 Frederick Dent, died in the army. His other sons, Grant and Louis, are in

 business in Montana, the former at Chinook, and the latter at Great Falls.

 His three daughters married respectively, Col. Petit, and Captains Nolan and

 Bennett, of the army.

   Jane Elizabeth Sharp, the second child and oldest daughter of Rev.

 Alexander, died unmarried.

   John Riddle Sharp, the second son, married Martha Woods, of Dickinson

 township, by whom he had two sons, Alexander, who lives at Larned, Kansas.

 and Richard W., who lives in the State of Washington.

   Robert Elder Sharp died without issue.

   Margaret Ellen Sharp, the youngest child, married Thomas Patterson, of

 Fulton county, and has four sons surviving, Thomas A., Robert S., John and

 Ralph.

   Thomas Sharp, the fourth child of Rev. Alexander, and the subject of

 this sketch, was born Dec. 6, 1836, at the head of the Green Spring in Newton

 township. He was reared on the farm and received an academic education, but

 owing to delicate health never engaged actively in any business or avocation.

 At the outbreak of the Civil war he en-listed in Company A, 7th Pennsylvania

 Reserves. While his regiment was in camp in Virginia, he was discharged, and

 shortly afterward appointed a Captain in the 65th Regiment of United States

 Colored Troops, and served in that capacity in the Mississippi Valley until

 the close of the war. He was mustered out of service at Baton Rouge, La., in

 the fall of 1865. In 1866 he was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the United

 States Infantry, and continued in the service of the regular army until he

 reached his retirement, serving in Texas, in the Department of the Lakes,

 Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and the Columbus Barracks, Ohio. At the

 commencement of the Spanish-American War he was stationed at Pittsburg as

 recruiting officer. He was retired in 1898, with the rank of Major.

   Thomas Sharp married Ellen Rice, of Mackinac, Mich., who bore him the

 following children: James, Thomas, John McDowell and Ethel Marie. During the

 Spanish-American War his three sons were in the army. James and Thomas

 belonged to the 17th United States Infantry, and participated in the battles

 which took place about Santiago, Cuba. Both are now members of the Society of

 Santiago. James afterward served in the Philippines, where he contracted

 disease from which he died in 1902, in Pittsburg. After his discharge from

 the army Thomas turned his attention to civil affairs, and is now manager of

 a live stock company in Oregon. John McDowell, the third son, was a sergeant

 in the First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, in the Spanish-American war, but his

 regiment did not get out of the States, and consequently saw no engagements.

 He is a civil engineer, and at this writing is located in Bedford county, Pa.

 Ethel Marie, the daughter, married Ralph Mancill Griswold, United States Navy,

 and is now with her husband at Guantanamo Naval Station, Cuba.

References

• Ancestry.com. Biographical annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: Biographical annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania : containing genealogical records of representative families, including many of the early settlers, and biographical sketches of prominent citizens.. Chicago: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1905. Page 64. < AncestrySharing >