|
|
Facts and Events
William Sharp was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia
__________________________
- American Revolutionary War Veteran
Revolutionary War Pension Information
Information from “Virginia/West Virginia Genealogical Data from Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Records”, Vol. 5, compiled by Patrick G. Wardell, Lt. Col. U.S. Army Ret. :
- Sharp, William - entered service 1781 near West Augusta (area later Pocahontas County), Virginia, in Virginia regiment; applied for Pension age 92 in Pocahontas County, Virginia, 1832 & Pension Application Rejected, less than 6 months service, per County Justice of the Peace James Sharp (no kinship given) & County Court Clerk Henry M. Moffett; soldier died there 3/12/1833; married 1769 to Mary, who resided 1833 in Pocahontas County, Virginia; widow applied for Pension age 83 there then & Pension Application Rejected; John Bradshaw made affidavit there then that he knew soldier over 52 years, per County Justice of the Peace Joseph Moore; query letter in file from descendant Mr. Ethel Sharp Slaven of South San Antonio, Texas. F-9429, R2158.
Early Land Acquisition in Augusta County, VA
William Sharp's land (Just outside Beverley Manor NE, 115/116 acres, patented on 10 March 1756) as shown on the map meticulously drawn by J.R. Hildebrand, cartographer. This map is copyrighted©, used by permission of John Hildebrand, son of J.R. Hildebrand, April, 2009.
Acquisition of Land from Chalkley's:
- Page 546.-- Patent to William Sharp 10th March, 1766. (Note: based upon other records below, this patent was actually conveyed to William Sharp on 10 March 1756, not 1766).
- William Sharp received a patent for 115/116 acres "on both sides Middle River Shanando, adjoining Robert Craig's land, crossing the Falling Springs; corner John King's land" on 10 March 1756, (as listed in the disposition below). (Note: according to the description of this land, it was located just north of the Beverley Manor line where Falling Springs meets the Middle River of the Shenandoah, most likely just above the land of Robert King and John Anderson).
Disposition of Land from Chalkley's:
- Page 415.--18th September, 1763. William Sharp to John King, £30, 116 acres on both sides Middle River Shanando, patented to William, 10th March, 1756; Robert Craig's land, crossing the Falling Springs; corner said King's land. Teste: John, Robert and Anne Poage.
Records of William Sharp in Augusta County, VA
From Chalkley's Augusta County Records:
- Vol. 2 - Page 59.--28th February, 1750: Orphan Wm. Sharp bound to John Anderson. (Note: William Sharp later acquired land just to the north of John Anderson's tract in Beverley Manor at Falling Springs Branch).
- Page 507.--21st March, 1764. John King, miller, and Mary ( ) to James Allen, Jr., wheelwright, £24, 85 acres, part of 115 acres patented to William Sharp, 10th March, 1756; the river, Hamilton's land. Teste: William ( ) Hamilton, Pat. Hamilton.
- Page 326.--22d August, 1770. William Sharp's bond (with John Poage) as guardian to Jane Meek, orphan of John Meek. (Note: William Sharp married Jane Meek's older sister, Mary Frances Meek).
- Page 143.--19th March, 1771. John King and Mary to John Poage, £335, four tracts on south side Middle River of Shanandore and on both sides of the Falling Spring Branch: A, 44 acres, part of 90 acres patented to Robert King, 1st August, 1745 and by his will devised to his two daughters, Elizabeth and Catharine, and on division this 44 acres became the property of Katharine, wife to James Blair, who conveyed to John King, 18th September, 1763, corner Robert Patterson, now Robert Young's; also B, 30 acres adjoining above, part of 115 acres patented to William Sharp, 10th March, 1756, and coneyed to John, July, 17; also C, 95 acres adjoining, patented to John, 20th July, 1768; D, 148 acres, patented to said John, 20th July, 1768. Teste: Michael Dickey, John King, Robert Young. Delivered: John Poage, devisee of John Poage, deceased, 1st October, 1799.
- Vol. 1 - MAY 18, 1774. - (468) Ephraim Richardson and Wm. Martin--road surveyors from Francis Wier's, on Monongahela River, to Thorny Creek, on waters of Greenbrier. John Warwick, Richard Elliott and Ralph Stewart are exempted from working on above road until it is built. William Hadden is ordered to clear from Thorny Creek to Nap's Creek, with tithables living below him on Nap's Creek, and from Alexr. Dunlap's to William Sharp's on Greenbrier. Jacob Warwick, road overseer, from William Warwick's to Back Creek, with tithables from Thomas Cartmell's up Greenbrier to the head and down Nap's Creek to Moses Moore's.
- Page 410.--Tract first granted to William Sharp. (Note: this record is undated, but appears on near other records dated in 1781 and 1782).
- Page 440.--Patent to William Sharpe. (Note: the preceding two records seem to be related to this record (John Anderson's land was nearby just below Falling Springs):
- Page 436.--15th May, 1781. John ( ) Anderson to his son James Anderson, tract conveyed by Beverley to John, 15th March, 1739; also 135 acres patented to John, on Middle River of Slianandore.
- Page 437.--On head drafts of the Falling Springs, adjoining lines with William Lewis, Lodwick Moura and Eness Jones. Patented to George King, 16th March, 1771.
- Vol. 2 - William Sharp's Declaration, September 4th, 1832: Age 92; was drafted in 1781 in the Company of Capt. William Kinkead; James Trimble was Ensign, Regiment of Col. Sampson Mathews. In 1774 he was drafted in the Company of Capt. Andrew Lockridge in an expedition against the Indians. He and William Mann were sent by Col. Andrew Lewis with a message to Governor Dunmore, then at Fort Pitt, and only returned the day after the battle. In 1764 he volunteered under Capt. Charles Lewis on an expedition against the Indians on Muskingham River. Lieutenant McClenachan belonged to Captain Lewis' Company. Declarant remembers Colonels Field and McNeel. He served also as Indian spy in 1773.
Information on William Sharp
From "William Sharp Sr. = Pocahontas County Pioneer", by Rebecca Ann Sharp:
William Sharp Sr. was born around 1740 at Beverly Manor. He was the son of John & Margery Sharp(e) ( 1714-1749 and 1718-1750.) William's father, John Sharp, was killed by Indians in 1749. It is believed that the following year his mother Margery was also killed by Indians, leaving William and three younger siblings orphaned. It is known that William was bound as an orphan/apprentice to John Anderson, tanner, of Beverly Manor, Augusta Parish in February 1750. His brother John Sharp b. 1742 was bound to Matthew Armstrong, weaver, in Nov. 1750. Sister Jennot b. 1744 was bound to Nicholas Leeper, planter in Nov. 1750, and the youngest orphan Margery b. 1746 was bound to John Archer in
November 1751.
William Sharp Sr. next appears in land records with 115 acres patented to him "on both sides of the Middle River of the Shenandoah" in 1756. Treaty with the Indians following the French & Indian War in 1758 prohibited land acquisition west of the Alleghany Range. However this proclamation was nearly impossible to enforce and settlers frequently continued moving across the Appalachians. Frequent Indian uprisings (such as the Clendenin Massacre in Pocahontas County in 1763) would temporarily send these early settlers back across the Mountains to more established areas. William Sharp Sr. was likely among those who traversed back and forth along this range between 1756-1768, whether for hunting or for scouting expeditions. This territory, including present day Pocahontas County, remained officially off bounds to white settlement until the treaty with the Indians at Fort Stanwix in 1768 opened up the territory, allowing settlers to formalize their "tomahawk" claims. In 1769 William had a land grant of 355 acres on the Greenbrier River.
Source: Source: http://files.usgwarchives.org/wv/pocahontas/bios/wmsharpsr-bio.txt
|
|
