SHARPE William

Family/Spouse: SHARPE Elizabeth --LNU--. Elizabeth was born about 1602 in England; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: BRADSON Margaret. Margaret was born about 1640; died in 1721. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: HARRIS Ann. Ann died in 1710. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Spouse & Children
     Comfort Fitchett
     1683 - 1710
     William Sharpe
     1708 - 1742
     Elizabeth Sharpe
     1710 - 1765
Other Spouse & Children
     Elizabeth Fitchett
     1690 - 1739
     Comfort Sharpe
     Mary Sharpe
     Sarah Sharpe
     Jacob Sharpe
     1714 -
     Francis Sharpe
     1718 - 1762
     John I Sharpe
     1725 - 1759

Francis Sharp
In 1702, Francis Sharp purchased 100 acres of land in Bruton Parish, York county, adjoining the land of Richard Page and James Whaley. (York County Records, Deeds, Bonds, 11, 41.) In 1707 he purchased 50 additional acres from Mary Whaley, "bounding to the southward of said Francis Sharp's plantation". (Ibid., 11, 284.) In 1714, Sharp purchased a lot (#7) at Queen Mary's Port and evidently erected something upon it; for in 1726, Francis Sharp "Planter" and his wife Elizabeth sold the lot and building to Samuel Cobbs for f8. (Ibid.,Deeds,Bonds 111, 464.)
Francis Sharp was granted lots #57 and #58 in the city of Williamsburg in 1713, but evidently failed to comply with the building clause in the deed (Ibid., 111 p.1); for the lots were again granted him 1717, with the building clause included. (Ibid., 111, 168.) As he owned the two lots until his death in 1740, he evidently erected buildings thereon, within the required twenty four months after the date of the second deed. In 1718, Sharp obtained a license to keep an ordinary in Williamsburg, and he probably kept it in his house on lot #57. At the time he wrote his will, August 14, 1739, Sharp owned houses on both lots, which were leased. (See reports on Burdetts's Ordinary, Block 17, Lot 58, and RED LION, block 17, lot 57.) By that time he had established himself in Surry County at a plantation known as "Young Thomas Smith's". Francis Sharp died in 1749, leaving his house and lots in Williamsburg, his plantation in Surry County, land in Surry and Isle of Wight Counties, and slaves and other personal estate to his children: Francis Sharp, John Sharp, Jacob Sharp, William Sharp, Sarah Sharp, Mary Sharp, Elizabeth Sharp Garris and Comfort Sharp King.
In 1717, while still living in York County, Sharp had difficulty with the law on two occasions, although, apparently in both instances, he was acquitted. At a court held June 17, 1717, for the County of York, Sharp was tried and found not guilty of a charge "presented by the Grand Jury for living in fornication with his late wife's sister." (York County Records, Wills, Orders, XV, 126.) On November 18, 1717, he was again tried by the York County Court "on suspicion of his having murdered John Marott." That court found that there was "just cause for trying the said prisoner at the Court of Oyer and Terminer for the murder whereof he is accused." He was therefore ordered... remanded to the prison of the County under the Custody of the Sheriff and from thence to be conveyed to the publick Goal at Williamsburg as the law in such cases directed. (Ibid., XV, 169.) The records of the Court of Oyer and Terminer are not extant, but the fact that Sharp continued to acquire property, and obtained an ordinary license in 1718, is sufficient evidence that he was again found "not guilty".

Family/Spouse: FITCHETT Elizabeth. Elizabeth was born about 1690 in Virginia; died before 1739 in Virginia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Will: 21 Apr 1759, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States

Notes:

Red Lion Inn
A BRIEF RESUME OF NOTES ON FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE RED LION INN.(Note: This resume is confined to source data contained in the Research Department files.)
AUGUST, 1932.
RED LION INN ^{Block 17 Bldg 3B}
One of the things that set Williamsburg apart from other Tidewater Virginia towns was the fact that by its very nature it had to be supplied with an unusually large number of taverns. Four times each year the general courts convened, twice each year the House of Burgesses sat, and on all of these occasions the officials, planters, lawyers, merchants and traders, frequently accompanied by their families, arrived at the little Capital city. Some few of the notables had town houses for the accommodation of themselves and their families, but the greater majority were dependent on public houses and the strain upon the housing facilities of the town was great.
One Frenchman travelling through pre-Revolutionary Williamsburg said that as many as five or six thousand people were in town on court days. ⁽¹⁾ Another traveller, in 1736, was amazed at the number of coaches thronging the streets bringing the planters, Councillors, Burgesses and others to their Capital. He wrote, "Williamsburgh is the most wretch'd contriv'd Affair for the Capitol of a Country, being near three Miles from the Sea, is a bad Situation. There is nothing considerable in it, but the College, the Governor's house, and one or two more, which are no bad Piles; and the Prodiguous Number of Coaches that crowd the deep, sandy Streets of this little City." ⁽²⁾
There were great taverns in those days, The Raleigh, Wetherburn's, Ayscough's, Mrs. Campbell's, The English Coffee House and the Sign of the King's Arms, to mention a few of those which accommodated the gentry, but where did the hundreds of others stay?
There was the Red Lion Inn practically adjacent to the Capitol, the Sign of Edinburgh Castle, the Rose and Crown, the Blue Bell, the Market Square and the Brick House, in addition to innumerable others named for their keepers. In fact, in a very literal sense, every house became a public house in "public times" as they were called. There were few, if any, that did not at one time in their history serve as inns, or at least as lodging houses.
Even with the town so liberally supplied with taverns, inns and ordinaries, and with private houses accommodating their share of lodgers, there was still tremendous pressure on housing facilities. There was one other solution to the problem, and if disgruntled travellers from abroad are to be believed, it was a frequent one.
"In private houses as well as inns several people are crowded together in the same room", wrote one European, "and in the latter it very commonly happens that after you have been some time in bed, a stranger of any condition comes into the room, pulls off his clothes, and places himself without ceremony between your sheets." ⁽¹⁾
Another commentator speaking of the crowding in Virginia houses says, "... and they make no ceremony of putting three or four persons into the same room, nor do these make any objections to being thus heaped together." ⁽²⁾
3
The Red Lion Inn was probably typical of a large class of taverns and had the distinction of being one of Williamsburg's earliest public houses. It was built by Francis Sharp between 1718 and 1719. ⁽¹⁾ On May 19, 1718 Sharp was granted his first license to keep an ordinary. ⁽²⁾
For this purpose he and two bondsmen pledged 10,000 pounds of tobacco to "Our Sovereign Lord the King" to "constantly find and provide in his said ordinary good, wholesome and cleanly lodging and diet for travellers and stableage, fodder and provender for their horses." He was further pledged not to "suffer any unlawful gaming in his house, nor on the Sabbath day suffer any person to tipple or drink more than is necessary."
Sharp owned also the tavern to the east of the Red Lion called the Sign of Edinburgh Castle. After his death he bequeathed a tavern to each of his sons, Jacob and John, John inherited the Red Lion Inn. ⁽³⁾
In 1742 Thomas Penman, by trade a carpenter and joiner, became also an inn keeper. He rented Sharp's inn and agreed to repair and add to the buildings instead of paying rent. This agreement was to build a brick chimney to the "Billyard House" or to build a new kitchen. Sharp was to rebuild the "shed" to the "Mansion house" as the inn was called, and put it in repair. ⁽⁴⁾
Penman sub-let the inn to Seth Seekright who became involved in a law suit in 1743 with John Burdette, keeper of the ordinary next door, claiming that the latter's building encroached on his lot.
4
The York county court ordered an exact survey made of the disputed lot line, and Joseph Davenport, surveyor of the city of Williamsburg, made a plat. He drew on the plat a small scale elevation of each tavern, and this was entered in the court order books, thereby preserving the significant architectural features of two early taverns which were destined to disappear more than one hundred years later. ⁽¹⁾
Penman won the suit and was awarded damages. Penman belongs rightly in the great oligarchy of Williamsburg innkeepers who were connected not only through their common business, but through ties of kinship and marriage. Penman's daughter, Elizabeth married Anthony Hay, keeper of the celebrated Raleigh. ⁽²⁾
While Penman was still leasing the Red Lion Inn, John Sharp sold it to Henry Wetherburn in October, 1772 for£80. ⁽³⁾
Henry Wetherburn was one of Williamsburg's most enterprising innkeepers, who at one time held a large amount of good tavern property. He also married two wealthy widows who had extensive holdings of this sort, too. At one time he had been keeper of the Raleigh, but soon moved into a tavern of his own.
His first wife, Mary, was the widow of Henry Bowcock, an innkeeper, who at one time owned a building on the Raleigh tavern site.
John Blair in his diary wrote on July 3, 1751, "Very rainy while at Mrs. Wetherburn's funer^l. He has found her hoard they say".
5
A series of three cryptic notes in John Blair's hand in an almanac of that same year refer to Wetherburn's second marriage:
"July 1. M^rs. Wetherburn died
3. now buried in wett
11: H. Wetherburn married to Mrs. Sheilds." ⁽¹⁾
Mrs. Sheilds ⁽²⁾ had been Ann Marot, daughter of Jean Marot, a French Huguenot who kept a tavern across the street from the Red Lion Inn in the early part of the eighteenth century. When her father died in 1717, Francis Sharp, keeper of the Red Lion was arrested on the suspicion of murder, but evidently was acquitted speedily as he took out his first ordinary license a year later. ⁽³⁾
Ann first departed from the innkeeper tradition when she married James Inglis, son of Mungo Inglis the first grammar master of William and Mary College. After his death, she married James Sheilds, owner of a tavern just west of the Red Lion Inn, and in 1750 he died. As a daughter of one innkeeper and widow of another, Ann Marot-Inglis-Sheilds brought with her a large estate when she married her neighbor, Henry Wetherburn a year after her husband's death, and just eleven days after the first Mrs. Wetherburn's demise. She survived him.
As Henry Wetherburn kept a tavern himself in several places chiefly in the so-called "Richard Bland" house across from the Raleigh, he rented the Red Lion Inn to various tenant keepers during the rest of his life.
Little record of these tenants exists. The inn, so convenient to the Capitol continued to receive its usual share of the custom. Men met here to complain of the burden of taxation imposed by the Crown, to game at one-and-thirty and backgammon, to play billiards, to tipple (but not more than was necessary") and to transact business.
The sign which hung before the inn, the sign of the Red Lion, was significant of the desire of the Virginia innkeeper and his patrons to transplant the atmosphere of the English inn to their new environment. In England, in Essex county alone, there were thirty-eight Red Lion Inns at one time, and so in each of the American colonies an echo of this old country popularity could be found.
There are two advertisements in the Virginia Gazette of lessees of Wetherburn which are of interest:
"November 6, 1766. Stephen Buck Tailor from London, Begs leave to inform his Customers, and others, that he has remov'd from the Red Lyon to a house adjoining Mr. Attorney's; where he continues to carry on his business with the greatest expedition... N.B. Ladies Riding Habits neatly Made..." ⁽¹⁾
"March 24, 1768. Walter Lenox, Perukemaker, Begs leave to inform the Publick in General, and his Customers in Particular, that he has moved to the house known by the name of the Red Lion, next door above Mr. Rind's Printing Office, where he carries on his business in all its branches as usual; and as he has good accommodation for private lodgers, he will be much obliged to those Gentlemen who may please to favour him with their Custom, and they may depend upon the best usage for themselves and horses..." ⁽²⁾
7
During the Revolutionary War the council of the state of Virginia ordered that a warrant be issued for one pound eighteen shillings to Walter Lenox, "for boarding sick soldiers". ⁽¹⁾
When Wetherburn died in 1760 he bequeathed the bulk of his large estate to his nephew, Edward Nicholson ⁽²⁾, who in this way acquired the Red Lion Inn, which he too, leased to various keepers.
In the patriotic fervor of the Revolution any name so frankly English as the "Red Lion" savored too much of loyalism so the ancient name was changed to Union Tavern. ⁽³⁾ This was a common phenomenon of the war in all the colonies, and patriotic Williamsburg obliterated all traces of names like Sign of the King's Arms and Red Lion Inn by a deluge of Eagle Taverns and Union Taverns.
Habits of a lifetime were not changed however with the mere repainting of an offending Tory sign - Union Tavern it might have been for the brief period of militant enthusiasm but the old habits reasserted themselves, and as the Red Lion Inn its memory was passed down to the descendants of the patriots.
In 1789 Henry W. Nicholson sold the inn to Samuel Crawley while it was in the tenure of Ebenezer Ewing and Joseph Bryan.⁽⁴⁾ In 1802 the building was tenanted by John Crump who insured it with a Richmond insurance company which drew such careful plats of insured property that they made a valued contribution to the architectural history of Williamsburg. ⁽⁵⁾
8
The removal of the capital to Richmond brought about the decay of many formerly flourishing taverns. Travellers were no longer amazed at the throngs of carriages in the dusty streets or the thousands who attended during court sessions, instead they painted a picture of decay. Isaac Weld wrote that the town was to ruin at the close of the eighteenth century and that a number of houses were uninhabited. ⁽¹⁾
Johann David Schoepf ⁽²⁾ a German traveller, describing the Williamsburg of that day wrote, "Thus like so many older ones in Europe, do cities of this New World lament for the uncertain fate of a past glory."
Without its former patronage the Red Lion was one of those that succumbed to the passage of time. Mrs. Victoria Lee who wrote "Williamsburg in 1861" ⁽³⁾ said that at that time the house was occupied by three families of refugees from the War Between the States. The house at that time called the Red Lion Inn, and Lee recalled a hunting scene painted above the mantel in one of the lower rooms which had doubtless looked down on many scenes of past conviviality. Some years later the house was so dilapidated that it was razed to make room for a new one. ⁽⁴⁾
From a number of contemporaneous drawings, insurance policies and documents it is possible to reconstruct a replica of this inn upon its old foundations, so that not even a relatively obscure inn which flourished in the day of the colonial capital can be said to have passed into oblivion.
Harold R. Shurtleff, Director
Department of Research Record.
History by:
Helen Bullock.

Will:
Transcription of the will of John Sharpe
Will of John Sharp
In the name of God, Amen, this twenty first day of April, one thousand seven hundred and fifty nine, I John Sharp of the county of Surry, being in a low state of health, but of perfect mind and memory, thanks be to Almighty God, but calling to the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men living once to die. Do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament that is to say, principally and first of all, I recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God that gave it and my body in the ground to be buried in a Christian like manner at the discretion of my executrix, hereafter named. Nothing doubting, but at the general resurrection, I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God. Ye as touching much worldly estate, wherewith it has pleased God to help me within this life, I give and dispose of the same in the following manner and form-
I give and bequeath to my loving wife, Constant Sharp, my desk corner cupbord and falling table during her life, also one feather bed and furniture. Likewise, I give her the labour of my three negroes, James, Charles and V. Jane during her life. Also I give her the labor of three other negroes, Daniel, Frank and McCall until the legatees, hereafter named, comes to the age of twenty one to receive them and further my Will and desire is that my loving wife should have the sole use of all my land and plantation during her natural life and after her death to my son, Burwell Sharp and if he should die before he comes of age, to be sold and the money arising, thereby to be equally divided between my three daughters, Elizabeth, Mary and Cherry. I give and bequeath to my son Burwell Sharp, one feather bed and furniture and also do set him free at the age of eighteen years to act and do for himself, free from under anyone's jurisdiction or command as fully as though her were twenty one years.
I give to my daughter, Elizabeth Sharp, two negroes
I give to my daughter Mary Sharp, two negroes
I give to my daughter Cherry Sharp, two negroes
I desire that the remainder of my estate after legacies and true debt is paid, should after decease of my wife be equally divided among my four children.
I appoint my loving wife, Constant Sharp and my Son, Burwell Sharp.
Signed,
John I Sharp
Probated September 18, 1759

John married SHARPE Constant --LNU-- about 1750. Constant and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Will: 18 Aug 1799

Notes:

Spouse & Children
     Mary Gibbons
     1748 - 1787
     Wyatt Sharpe
     1774 -
     John Gibbons Sharpe
     1778 - 1822
     Thomas Sharpe
     1780 -
Other Spouse & Children
     Sarah White
     1771 -
     Polly Sharpe
     Thomas Sharpe
     Mary Suzanah Sharpe
     1794 -
     Elizabeth Sorsby Sharpe
     1795 -
     James N. Sharpe

Will:
will written 8/18/1799 and probated on 10/22/1799. See below for transcript of will:

Transcription of the Will of Burwell Sharpe
Will of Burwell Sharp - Written August 18, 1799 and probated on October 22, 1799

In the name of God amen, I Burwell Sharp of this county of Surry being sick and weak but of disposing mind do make and ordain this my last will and testament and first and principally I recommend my soul into the hands of God who gave it and my body I request may be buried in a Christian like manner at the discretion of my executors.
Imprismis, my desire is that my just debts be paid first. Item, I lend unto my wife Sarah Sharp one third part of my land including the house and improvements thereon with one half my apple orchard and the still and its implements, also one third part of my Negroes during her life. At her death my will and desire is that the Negroes lent to her may be equally divided among all my children then alive, to them and to their heirs forever. Item, I give and bequeath unto my said wife one third part of all my personal estate (except the Slaves) to her and to her heirs forever. Item, My will and desire is that all my slaves (except those ? to my wife) may be equally divided among all my children, to them and to their heirs forever.
Item, before any distribution of my personal estate, I desire my son Thomas Sharp may have my dark bay colt, now three years old to him and to his heirs forever.
Item, my will and desire is that the remainder of my personal property may be sold by my executors at twelve months credit and the money arising therefrom to be equally divided among all my children to them and to their heirs forever.
Item, That part of my Estate which may be allotted for those children I have had by my wife Sarah, I desire may remain in her possesion until they shall come of age, or marry and that she may not be accountable for the profits, hoping that she will take care to have them well brought up and educated, provided nevertheless, that should my said wife marry or die in the meantime, in either case I desire that they may have guardinan appointed by the Court.
Item, I give and bequeath unto my son John Gibbons Sharp all my land (reserving unto my said wife the use of that part before mentioned during her natural life) to him and to his heirs forever. My will and desire is that my friends, Archibald Cocke, James L. Lane, Archibald Davis and David Sibell, or any two them (when requested so to do by my executors or by any of the legatees herein mentioned) do log off and ? apart my wife's part of the land and slaves, and make equal distribution of the remainder of the slaves agreable to the preceeding clauses of this will and lastly I do hereby nominate and appoint my friend James Kee and my son Wyatt Sharp my executors, hoping they will see my will performed; In witness whereof I have ? set my hand and seal this eighteenth day of August in the year of Lord Christ, one thousand seven hundred and ninety nine.
Signed, sealed and published and declared before and in the prescence of
Thomas (his mark) Clary
James White
Elizabeth (her mark) White Burwell (his mark) Sharp (Seal)
In a court held for Surry County October 22 1799 -
Burwell Sharp deceased, was presented in Court by James Kee, one of the Executors therein named and the same being proved by the oaths of Thomas Clary and James White two of the witnesses thereto, is by the Court ordered to be recorded and on the motion of the said Executor who made oath agreeable to law and gave bond with Mary Sharp and William Clinsh, Jr. his securities in the penal sum of six thousand dollars conditioned for the due administation of said decedents estate certificate is granted him for obtaining a probate therof in due form. Wyatt Sharp who is nominated executor to the within will personally appeares in Court and fefused to take upon himself the burthen and exception of the same which is also ordered to be recorded

Burwell married GIBBONS Mary on 25 Jan 1773. Mary was born on 10 Oct 1748 in Charles Parrish, York County, VA; died on 21 Jun 1787 in Sussex County, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Burwell married WHITE Sarah on 22 Apr 1792 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. Sarah and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married WHITE Elizabeth on 22 May 1801 in Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States. Elizabeth died after 1830. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1830, Dendron, Surry, Virginia, United States

Notes:

Mussel Forks Plantation and Notes on the Sharpe Family
From the notes of Olive Willie West Jennings (grandaughter of Charles Rufus Sharpe). Olive West Jennings was born in 1907 and died in 1982.
Mussel Fork Plantation

Riding along Route #31 in Surry County, Virginia, just inside the Northern boundary line of the Town of Dendron, one notices to the west (east?) and some distance from the highway, a very handsome two-story fram farmhouse known as Mussel Fork Plantation. The house was clearly built in two stages differing in dates by about sixty years. The smaller northern section is the older part and is believed by some to date back as far as 1731, while the larger part to the south dates from circa 1800. During this time, the land, composed of nearly fifteen hundred acres, was owned by the Sharp family of Surry and Sussex counties. They lost their holdings in 1854 because of an unpaid debt. Other families to own the farm include the Holdsworths, Steeles, a Charles Goodrich, the Surry Lumber Company, nd its present owner, Mrs. J. I. Cuthbert of Suffolk. The name has been spelled at least three different ways: today it is spelled "Mussel Fork", in 1943 (when the Cuthberts purchased it) it was "Muscle Fork" and in 1885 it was Mussle Fork". The middle spelling seems to be the correct one since the house sits between two branches that meet to form what resembles a bulging bicep.
Still in excellent condition, the house has suffered little over the years. All of the original woodwork survives as does an old kitchen to the right of the house. The 1800 section is protected by beaded weatherboarding and is a three bay structure with nine-over-nine sashes on both levels. The older portion's clapboards are not beaded and is likewise a three bay structure with nine-over-nines on the first level and six-over nines above., Both sections are covered with a tin roof greatly reducing the risks of leaks and rotting floors. All of the first floor woodwork is painted a pleasant cream including a beautiful sunburst mantel in the room to the right of the hall in the main part of the house. This mantel also boasts flanking Ionic columns. Most of the doors appear to the original and the stairrisers are painted to simulate wood graining.
The story of the Sharp family decline is noteworthy in that they were at the time of the Revolution, one of the more prosperous families in the county. In 1854, Thomas Sharp, Senior, borrowed money of a William Joynes. A few years later, his son, Thomas, Jr., got even deeper indebted to Joynes. Thus adding to the amount left unpaid by his late father. In deed book 14, page 52, Thomas, Jr., admits he owes Joynes $1,060 to be taken out of lands left to him in his father's will. The deed reads: I Thomas R. Sharp do hereby grant, convey and assign to the said William Joynes, his executors and administrators for the purpose aforesaid, so much of my share and interest of the estate of my late father, real and personal, as shall be equal to the amount as aforesaid, and to so much in addition as may be herafter advanced to me as aforesaid by saif Joynes on the same account....".
So, a bad debt lost one of Surry's most preminent families one of her nicest county homes. The house is still waiting to be saved and loved against the ravages of time. Once restored, it would add greatly to Dendron and to Surry County itself as one of the better pre-revolution homes still standing.
This paper was copied from one that Aunt Lill Bevard's grandson gave her. A close friend of Glenn's worked with A William and Mary College Professor studying old homes in Surry County and knew that it was her ancestral home. Her father Charles Rufus Sharpe had mentioned Mussel Fork Plantation and the town of Dendron being built on it - November 1975 - Olive West Jennings

Who was Thomas Sharp senior??
John Gibbons Sharp born 1778 had a brother, Thomas born 1790
His son, Charles Nicholas Sharp, born 1803, had a brother, Thomas born 1809 (Note added by RJS 8/4/2011 -This is the most likely candidate for the Thomas Sharp, Sr. - more research is necessary)
His son, Charles Rufus Sharp, born 1835 (1840), had a brother, Thomas born 1827
The date 1854, given in the record of the unpaid debt, might be either one. We know absoultely nothing about the one born in 1827; whether he died as a child or what. Our grandfather Rufus never talked of the 3 children apparently older than he, and mentiolned in his own mother, Maria Roger's Bible. He was not in that Bible listing but we know she was his mother. - OWJ

Transcription of Maria Rogers' Family Bible
This transcription was done by Anthier Elizabeth Sharp Holdsworth in 1942.
The Bible was published in 1830 and was left with Mrs. Maria Sharp by the Bible Society of Surry. According to Elizabeth Sharp in a letter dated May 20, 1942 to Olive West Jennings she stated that the Bible had two stamps in it. One (Nicholas Sharp & C) and the other looks like (Christinia White)
The Transcription reads:
Maria Sharp wife of Nicholas Sharp was 28 years old the 14th of October 1832
Nicholas Sharp was born 13th of April 1803
Thomas Sharp son of Nicholas Sharp was born 24th day of December 1827
Indiana Sharp daughter of nicholas Sharp was born 22nd of March 1829
Nicholas M. Sharp son of Nicholas Sharp was born 1st day of March 1831
Jesse B. Riggan was born September 22 1842
Mary A Riggan the wife of Jesse B Riggan was born the 18th day of September 1843
William S. Riggan son of Jesse B. Riggan was born 17th day of November 1870
Mary R. Riggan the daughter of J. B. Riggan was born January 21, 1873
Jesse T. Riggan was born April 23, 1878
Lula Bell Riggan daughter of J. B. and Mary A. Riggan was born December 16th 1880
Sarah E. Riggan the daughter of J. B. and Mary A. Riggan his wife was born January 12, 1883
Lillian Osgood Riggan the daughter of J. B. Riggan and Mary A his wife was born August 20th 1891.
Lillian died on Tues., October 4th 1898
Notes by Rebecca Jennings Somerhalder - August 3, 2011
My grandmother, Olive Wille West, who was the grandaughter of Charles Rufus Sharp, did extensive research in her lifetime on the Sharp family and was unable to find any information on the first three children (Thomas, Indiana and Nicholas) of Charles Nicholas Sharp and Maria Rogers. The fact that Indiana's birth is given as 1829 and Nicholas's birth is given as 1831 leads me to believe that the birth years we have found for Alfred and Charles Rufus are most likely incorrect (The census records for both men show inconsistency in their birth years- I have adjusted their birth years in my tree to reflect what I believe is more likely). I believe I have found the family living in Lower Chesterfield county in the 1850 census with Maria still alive and with 4 children: Alfred, Caroline (previously unknown), Charles R and Mary A. The children are listed as 15, 14, 10 and 6 years of age which make there birth years approximately 1835, 1836, 1840 and 1844. The 1850 Mortality Schedule for Chesterfield lists (Charles) Nicholas Sharp as dying in June of 1850 of consumption. The 1850 census record in which I found Maria and the children lists a Wren family living next door. Maria's mother was a Wren and possibly the family moved there for family support when Charles Nicholas and Maria became ill. My grandmother states in her research that her grandfather Charles Rufus Sharp was known to have relatives in Matoaca, Chesterfield. The other older children listed in the Bible very possibly could have already been living out on their own by that time or died earlier although there is no mention of their deaths in the family Bible which listed the Riggan family at a much later time. The stamps in the Bible could possibly be the Nicholas Sharp born 1831 with a wife Christinia White? More research is needed.

Census:
1830 United States Federal Census
about Nicholas Sharpe
Name:Nicholas Sharpe          
Home in 1830:, Surry, Virginia View Map          
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:1          
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:1          
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:1          
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:1          
Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23:1          
Free White Persons - Under 20:2          
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:2          
Total Free White Persons:4          
Total Slaves:1          
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):5          

Died:
Not sure why Charles Nicholas was living in Chesterfield County where he died of consumption. His wife and their children were also living in Chesterfield also. There was a Wren family living nearby. Grandma said that there were relatives in Matoaca.

U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules Index
about Nicholas Sharp
Surname:Nicholas Sharp          
Year:1850          
County:Chesterfield CO.          
State:VA          
Age:46          
Gender:M (Male)          
Month of Death:Jun          
State of Birth:VA          
ID#:MRT46_5911          
Occupation:LABORER          
Cause of Death:CONSUMPTION          

Other Events and Attributes:

• Milit-Beg: 24 May 1861, Sussex County, VA
• Pension: 16 May 1924, Sussex County, VA

Notes:

(Medical):Per pension of wife

Milit-Beg:
Co. A, 41st Regt Va. Infantry, Teamster, Enlisted Sussex C.H.

U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles
about Alfred Stith Sharp
Name:Alfred Stith Sharp          
Enlistment Date:24 May 1861          
Rank at enlistment:Private          
Enlistment Place:Sussex Court House, VA          
State Served:Virginia          
Survived the War?:Yes          
Service Record:Enlisted in Company A, Virginia 41st Infantry Regiment on 24 May 1861.          
Death Date:7 Feb 1914          
Death Place:Waverly, Sussex County, VA          
Sources:The Virginia Regimental          

Pension:
U.S., Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958
about Alfred Stith Sharp
Name:Alfred Stith Sharp          
Application Date:16 May 1924          
Application Place:Sussex, Virginia          
Spouse:Mrs Anthier B Sharp          
Marriage Date:7 Feb 1878          
Marriage Place:Sussex County, Virginia          
Death Date:21 May 1914          
Death Place:Waverly, VA          
Application Type:Widow          

Notes:

Died:
Poss died at Caesley, Va

Mary married RIGGAN Jesse Bennett on 5 Mar 1867. Jesse (son of RIGGAN Samuel and RIGGAN Emily --LNU--) was born on 22 Sep 1842; died in 1926. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Died near Waverly

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 362

Notes:

Social Security Death Index
about Grace Sheffield
Name:Grace Sheffield SSN:229-05-2323 Last Residence:23229 Richmond, Henrico, Virginia, United States of America Born:14 May 1885 Died:Jun 1972 State (Year) SSN issued:Virginia (Before 1951)

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 621

Notes:

living in NC with son

Family/Spouse: SHEFFIELD Martha --unknown--. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 630

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Homemaker & Waitress
• Reference Number: 47
• Census: 1940, Waverly, VA; Census:

Notes:

Funeral at Waverly Baptist Church, Buried in Waverly Cemetary.

(Medical):Mary Jane died in January 1951. Mary Jane died from Schrosis of the liver, even though she never drank alcohol. This was possibly cancer instead as cancer wasn't widely known at that time and the symptoms were the same as Herbert Horne's stomach cancer...Gene
Death Certificate verifies CA of the colon

Census:
Name:      Mary Sheffield
Age:      21
Estimated Birth Year:      abt 1919
Gender:      Female
Race:      White
Birthplace:      Virginia
Marital Status:      Single
Relation to Head of House:      Daughter (Child)
Home in 1940:      Waverly, Sussex, Virginia
Map of Home in 1940:      View Map
Street:      E Main Street
House Number:      1
Inferred Residence in 1935:      Waverly, Sussex, Virginia
Residence in 1935:      Same House
Resident on farm in 1935:      No
Sheet Number:      1A
Occupation:      Waitress
Attended School or College:      No

Highest Grade Completed:      High School, 4th year

Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:      54
Class of Worker:      Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939:      51
Income:      840
Income Other Sources:      No

Household Members:     
Name      Age
Grace Sheffield      54
Graver Sheffield      24
Mary Sheffield      21
Fred Sheffield      17
Cecil Sheffield      13

Mary married HORNE Herbert Calvin, Sr. on 15 Jun 1940 in Waverly, Sussex County, VA (Waverly Baptist Church). Herbert (son of HORNE Herbert Raines and GOODRICH Mary (Pinky) Elizabeth) was born on 8 Jan 1909 in Sussex County, VA (Milton Farm/Rt. 460); died on 25 Mar 1993 in Chesterfield County, VA; was buried on 27 Mar 1993 in Waverly, Sussex County, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 620

Notes:

Living in Northern, Va at death

Family/Spouse: PLANCK Henrietta (Peggy). Henrietta was born on 21 Nov 1922; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: HC
• Reference Number: H48
• Living In: Abt 1962, Thornburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia, USA
• Fraternity: 1966, Hanover County, VA; Demolay
• Living In: 1965-1968, Hanover Courthouse, Hanover County, Virginia, USA
• Military Service: 1968, Howard AFB, Panama
• Occupation: 1968, Howard AFB, Panama; U.S. Air Force
• Funeral: Jan 1968, Wakefield, Sussex, Virginia, USA; Purviance Funeral Home

Notes:

Died on his father's 59th birthday while home on leave from Howard AFB, Panama. It was snowing very heavily and he and his friend (James (Jimmy) Russell Howard from Spottsylvania) crashed head on into a tractor trailer on Rt. 29 in Amherst County. It is unknow which was driving.

Calvin gave Gene HC's Demolay ring after HC's death.

HC was buried with Gene's "original parachute wings" since HC was the one that convinced Gene to go into the Air Force as an Air Traffic Controller (CCT Special Ops)

HC was dating an American dependant while in Panama and it was getting to be a rather serious relationship. Gene met with her while he was in Panama and she was a very pretty girl and very nice.

One time while living in Hanover Courthouse, HC and James (Jimmy) bought an old car in Fredericksburg and drove it all the way back with no brakes, except for the clutch and parking brake. They made it with a few hair raising moments.

Living In:
They had a trailer beside the store. The store is still there. One day Calvin decided that HC needed to lose weight, so he made him dig a 2' ditch around the trailer and then fill it back in. All this was because HC loved his moon pies and cartons of milk (and a lot of other sweets) and put on a lot of weight. HC never went back to a lot sweets again and retained his much lower weight.

Military Service:
Air Traffic Controller

Occupation:
Stationed at Howard AFB, Panama as an Air Traffic Controller

Funeral:
Burial at Waverly Cemetery

Died:
Killed in an automobile crash

Other Events and Attributes:

• SSN: 226-62-5052
• Occupation: Real Estate Appraiser
• Reference Number: H49
• Baptism: Abt 1958, Waverly, Sussex County, VA (Waverly Baptist Church)

Notes:

Thomas Dale H.S. in Chester , Va in 7th & 8th grades and living with Landon & Ginny Horne while Calvin was starting new store in Thornsburg. Then attended Spotsylvania H.S., near Thornsburg for 2 years and then moved to Hanover Courthouse and Graduated from Patrick Henry High School in Ashland in 1966.

Martha married HORNER Arthur Hopkins on 18 Mar 1970 in Richmond, VA (Grove Ave Bapt Ch). Arthur (son of HORNER Charles Arthur and HOPKINS Margaret Sinah) was born on 16 Dec 1948 in Richmond, VA (MCV Hosp); died on 22 Jun 1994 in Chesterfield County, VA; was buried on 24 Jun 1994 in Chesterfield County, VA (Skinquarter Bapt Ch). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 623

Family/Spouse: FLOYD Joan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 626

Family/Spouse: RAWLINGS Bonita. Bonita was born on 11 Apr 1949. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]