Rachel Sharp

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=84455012

Daughter of Rev. Conrad Stoner, Jr. Paternal granddaughter of Rev. Conrad Stoner, Sr. Her mother and remaining grandparents are unidentified at this time. She is believed to have been the youngest and perhaps the posthumous child of Conrad Stoner. The family name has been variously listed in records as Stoner, Stiner and Steiner.

Rachel was the first wife of William Henry "Station Bill" Sharp, a son of Henry "Pioneer" Sharp and Barbara Graves.

She is believed to have been born in Botetourt Co. VA, and to have married William Sharp circa 1803, probably in Sharp's Chapel, TN. Information about her life and family is still being researched. Her elder sister Philopena was married to Jacob Sharp, an elder brother of William Henry Sharp. And it is likely that following the death of Rachel's father, her mother relocated to Virginia with the Sharp family. Of her known brothers, Peter Stoner died in Indiana in 1851, and Conrad Stoner died in Arkansas in 1857. At this time, no one knows if Rev. Conrad Stoner had more than one wife, but given the fact that his son Peter was born circa 1764, it seems likely that he did and Rachel's mother may not have been the same woman that gave birth to Peter.

What is known of Rachel's father is that he was a German immigrant who entered Pennsylvania in 1749, and was ordained a minister in 1772. He was the pastor of the Old First Reformed Church in Philadelphia and the German Reformed Church in Rowan Co. and Orange Co. NC. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States on 22 September 1764 at Salisbury, NC, along with fellow immigrants Martin Loy and George and Lodwick Henry Sharp. The historic Stoner's Church, today in Alamance Co. NC, is believed to have been named for his family. He was an early settler of the Granville District in North Carolina, owning at least 225 acres of land, in the areas which later became Rowan and Orange counties. Other early settlers of this area included the Sharps, Albrights, Graves, Loy and Clapp families, who all became pioneer settlers of Tennessee.

Rachel's grandfather was also a minister, apparently sent to America as a missionary by the Deputies of Holland in 1749. Her father accompanied her grandfather on the trip, and is believed to have died in Orange Co. NC in 1782.

Rachel was the mother of at least eight children with William Sharp. She is thought to have died in childbirth at the age of 40. Her daughter Orleana survived.

Family researchers believe that she was buried at Sharp's Fort, TN, but that her burial place was lost in the flooding of that land for the Norris Lake reservoir. By the early 1930's, none of her children were living, and their descendants either did not know where she was buried, or there was no existing stone to mark the site for removal. So far the research has not turned up her name among the TVA grave removals, although there are several unnamed Sharp family members that were moved. She could have been one of these, but there is no current proof that her burial was relocated.

William Sharp survived his wife by over thirty years and later married Jane Irwin, with whom he also had a large family.

Children of William Sharp and Rachel Stoner:

Jane Sharp Irwin (1804-1843) Lucinda Sharp Miller (1807-1842) Alford Sharp (1809-1876) Louisa Sharp Loy (1811-?) Caswell Sharp (1815-1892) William Hamilton Sharp (1820-1900) Eli Sharp (1821-1915) Orleana Sharp Craig (1823-1900)