My Genealogy Hound

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 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 Reformed 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 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 paymaster 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 Presisdio,” 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 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 enlisted 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.