My Genealogy Hound

Joseph W. Sharp, farmer and stock dealer, was born in Nicholas County, Ky., in 1844, the eldest of four children of William and Eliza A. (Shannon) Sharp. The father was born in Fayette County, Ky., about 1820, the son of James, also a Kentuckian, who was the son of William, a Virginian and a soldier of the Revolution. The grandfather died when William was quite young. The father was a shoemaker’s apprentice from his thirteenth to his twentieth year. He began for himself, and finally owned an establishment which employed eleven hands. In 1840 he married Eliza A. Shannon, who died in 1863. He then married Ann Wisner, and by her had three children. At the time of his first marriage he was worth but little, and thirteen years later, when he was worth about $15,000, he lost all by security debts. He then came to this county and began again, and acquired 240 acres of land where he now lives. Our subject received but little education, and that before his eleventh year. When seventeen he entered Capt. Kendrick’s company, and served about six months on the Confederate side. He was at Kirksville, Palmyra and other places. He entered the Iowa State Militia, and afterward joined the Federal regiment, Second Iowa Cavalry, fought at Tupelo, Nashville and other places, and was mustered out in 1865 at Selma, Ala. He returned home, and in October, 1867, was married to Anna, the daughter of John R. and Josephine B. Wilson, and a native of Lexington, Ky. Her parents were of Scotland and Kentucky, respectively. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Sharp are Joseph L., Thomas J., John W., Mary and Lula (twins), and an infant. Our subject has since been a resident of his present farm of eighty acres, which, with two other tracts, reaches 380 acres. He is a well-informed and traveled man. He is giving his children collegiate advantages. He is a Democrat and a Mason, while his wife is a member of the Baptist Church.