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JOHN J. SHARP. 



John J. Sharp was born on Staten Island, Jan. 1, 

 1800. Little is known of the ancestry of the Sharp 

 family beyond his father, William Sharp, who was a 

 merchant on Staten Island for many years. He was 

 married to Elizabeth Johnson, by whom he had thirteen 

 children, five of whom are now living. The family 

 moved to Arkport, this county, in the year 1812, and 

 hence were among the early settlers of the town of Hor- 

 nellsville. Subsequently the parents moved to Pennsyl- 

 vania, where the father died at the age of eighty-four, 

 in the year 1844. The mother died during the same 

 year, at the age of seventy-eight. 



Mr. Sharp^s opportunities for an education from 

 books during his minority were somewhat limited, as 

 he came with his parents to their new home when 

 only twelve years of age, and those of our early set- 

 tlers who still survive remember well the rude log 

 school-house and its meagre appointments. In the 

 year 1824 he married Olive, daughter of William Hyde, 

 Esq., of Arkport. She was born De( 21, 1802. With- 

 out pecuniary assistance this couple began life for them- 

 selves. 



For eleven years they lived on what is known as the 

 Wheeler farm, during which time, by industry and 

 economy, they accumulated sufficient means, and in the 

 year 1835 purchased the farm now owned and occupied 

 by the surviving wife and children. 



Nearly all of this farm, consisting of one hundred 



and five acres, Mr. Sharp cleared of its original forest, 

 where now may be seen cultivated fields and farm im- 

 provements, showing the handiwork of a careful and 

 representative farmer. His children were Edwin Reuben 

 (deceased) ; Ann Eliza (deceased) ; Lucinda (deceased) ; 

 John W., of California; and Mary Elizabeth (Mrs. 

 D. H. Butler), of Elgin, 111. The mother died Aug. 

 17, 1838. 



For his second wife he married, Jan. 24, 1839, Eliz- 

 abeth, widow of the late David Boyd, and daughter of 

 Richard Allen, who emigrated from Ireland, lived in 

 Luzerne Co., Pa., and subsequently moved to Erie Co., 

 Pa., where he died. She was born March 17, 1812. 

 Of this union five children were born, — Sarah ; Martha 

 H. (deceased) ; Milton(deceased) ; Henry W. and Helen 

 H. (twins). 



Mr. Sharp was decided in his political inclinations, 

 and unswervingly identified as a member of the Repub- 

 lican party. 



For many years he was an active member and elder 

 of the Presbyterian Church at Hornellsville, which 

 connection he retained until the organization of the 

 Presbyterian Church at Arkport, when he united with 

 that church, and was elder of the same until his death, 

 Dec. 9, 1875. 



Mr. Sharp was a man of sterling integrity, correct 

 habits, and known for uprightness in all his business 

 relations. 



