Lt. George P.
Sharp
Compiled by D. A. Sharpe
George P. Sharp (1747 - April 24, 1792) is my
third great grandfather. He was
born the year that John Paul Jones was born, who
later became famous as a naval officer in the American Revolution. That year, English scholar Dr. Samuel Johnson began his eight-year
marathon creation of the "Dictionary of the English Language," which
sealed his place in American history as a truly significant contributor, even
though he did not live here.
Source:
"The Timetables of History" 3rd Revised Edition, Bernard Grun,
Simon & Schuster, New York 1991, page 344.
George Sharp served in the Revolutionary
War. He is cited in the
"Calleudes of Revolutionary Manuscripts" in the office of the
Secretary of State at Albany, New York (according to some private notes written
in 1897 by an unnamed writer).
George served as a 2nd Lieutenant in Captain
Herman Hoffman's Company, Colonel John Van Ness' Regiment of Minute Men. He was also 2nd Lieutenant in Captain
Andrea Herman's Company, Colonel Morris Graham's Regiment of Foot Service of
the U.S. under Command of Brigadier General Clinton. In the National Archives in Washington
DC, I was able to locate a record (M-804, Roll #2158, Pension Applications for
the American Revolutionary War) citing that a Pension was drawn by his
widow. Even though George was only
age 45 at his death, Rebecca, his widow, lived to an age of 93. The Pension record stating when the
pension payments ceased estimated this death date.
George's American Revolutionary service is
documented in files at both the Daughters of the American Revolution offices
and the Sons of the American Revolution offices. He is the ancestor relationship by which
I was certified to become a member of the Texas Society of the Sons of the American
Revolution, Dallas (Texas) Chapter, October 26, 1988. My sponsor was Mr. Peter W. Orlebeke,
President of that Chapter that year.
Pete also is Suzanne's (my wife) seventh cousin, once removed, through
their Wellborn ancestry.
George Sharp's post war experience was as a
hardware merchant in the firm of Sharp & Sahler in the Hudson River village
of Germantown, New
York.
In 1792, the year that George died, Kentucky
became a state. The world's first
chemical society was formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. George P. Sharp died the same month of
George Washington's casting of the first presidential veto on April 5, 1792,
rejecting a congressional measure for apportioning representatives among the
states.
Sources:
http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/first-veto.html
"The Timetables of History," 3rd
Revised Edition, Bernard Grun, Simon& Schuster, New York 1991, pages
368-369.
In 1989, Suzanne and I made a long automobile
trip from Texas through the northeast United States, which included touring
around this part of New York State.
In Germantown, just on the north side of it, we found a street named
Sharp's Landing Road. It ran west
of the main street of town, Highway 9G, down toward the nearby Hudson
River. We imagine that this is a
location where some of George's enterprise endeavors took place. We understand he was a merchant, and it
could well have been that he operated a river ferry service in that vicinity,
which could have been the reason for the road's name.
One thing impressed us as we visited Germantown
and the Hudson River. It is a very
beautiful countryside, and one in which most anyone would consider it a
pleasure to live. Other than that,
we have not been able to discover other information about George's life,
pursuits or events with his family.
Here is a
genealogical chart showing GeorgeÕs relationship to me as 3rd
great grandfather.
Composed by
Dwight Albert (D. A.) Sharpe
805 Derting Road East
Aurora, TX 76078-3712
http://www.dasharpe.com/Sharpe/Sharpe.htm