Profile of Henry Clay Sharp (1844-1927)

Henry Clay Sharp planned to write a history of the Sharp family and the area with Bismarck Schull but when Bismark died the project stopped. He had contacted several family members about the project, as well as Benjamin Winborne on publishing the book. Judge Winborne had written a book on the area which extensively mention the Sharp family - Winborne, Benjamin B., The Colonial and State History of Hertford County, North Carolina, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. 1976 (1905). Henry also dealt with Judge Winborne on a number of business issues. I am looking at a number of the papers saved by Henry Clay and will be adding more on him to this site.

Henry Clay Sharp was born on November 17, 1844 in Hertford, NC and he died on April 2, 1927 in Harrellsville, NC at home. He was the son of Jacob Sharp (1814-1882) and Elizabeth Simmons (1819-1881). Henry attended the Union Male Academy in Harrellsville. He was a Sergeant in Company D in the 68th North Carolina Regiment serving from 1863 to the end of the war. After the war he attended the University of Virginia from 1869 to 1870, graduating in civil engineering and achieving the highest grades in math to date at the university. He was the Register of Deeds for Hertford County from 1876 to 1880 and elected clerk of the Superior Court in 1882 but declined to serve. He was also the post master in Harrellsville from 1881 to 1882. In the early 1900s he sold cotton from Harrellsville through Eure, Gregory, & Co. general commission agents in Norfolk, VA. In 1902 the price for middling cotton was around 8 cents a pound. Peanuts were bringing around 3 cents for the best stock. Cotton bales appear to weight around 500 pounds from the many receipts Henry saved from Eure, Gregory.

He was closely associated with Confederates Veterans in Harrellsville, serving as the chapter historian and a Confederate marker is placed on his grave. He attended one of the last major reunions of Civil War veterans at Gettysburg. Henry was also the president and vice president of the Bank of Harrellsville and had the term “H. C. Sharp, Capitalist” on his personal checks. He planned to write a history of the Sharp family and the area with Bismarck Schull but when Bismark died the project stopped. Judge Winborne, in his History of Hertford County, writes that Henry was considered an excellent mathematician and was “a quiet and unoffending man, economical and saving, accurate and square in his dealings with his fellow man.”

Henry married Eulalia Powell on Sept. 9 1889 in Washington. Eulalia was born on May 30, 1858 in Woodville, Bertie Co. NC and died on Oct. 15, 1938 in Harrellsville, NC. She was known as “Miss Lalia” by her neighbors in Harrellsville and was an honorary members of the Harrellsville Heros chapter of the Confederate Veterans. She visited her daughter, Gladys, family in Birmingham on several occasions as indicated by the letters she wrote back to Henry Clay from there in the early 1920s. Eulalia was the widow of Charles L Sharp, cousin of Henry Clay and had four children from her first marriage: Walter Bombrey (1876-1880), Russell Aubrey (1880-), William “Willie” Walter (twin 1884-), Bombrey L. (twin 1884-1946). Henry had helped her with the management of her estate in Harrellsville. Henry Clay Sharp and Eulalia Powell Sharp had six children, all born in Harrellsville:

1. Gladys, born Sept. 10, 1890, died July 1968. She married Sumner Albert Ives on Dec. 30, 1909 in the Sharpe home in Harrellsville, NC. They had three children: Sumner Albert (1911-1984), Eulalia Sharp, Alice Dunbar (1916-).

2. Jessie, twin, born Sept. 29, 1892 and died 1894 in Harrellsvile, buried there.

3. Augustine, twin, born Sept 29, 1892 and died 1893 in Harrellsvile, buried there.

4. Maude, twin, born Feb. 27, 1898 and died June 1898 in Harrellsvile, buried there.

5. Pauline, twin born Feb. 27, 1898 and died June 1898 in Harrellsvile, buried there.

6. Helen, born on Oct. 5, 1900, died April 10, 1964 in Ahoskie, NC and is buried there in the Ahoskie Cemetery. She married Hunter Sharp on Nov. 19, 1919 in Norfolk, VA and they had three children: Myra Broaden (1920-), Hunter (1924-1980), Anna Askew (1926-).

Comments

[Milton Sharp,]

I am an African American Male whose grandfather was Mosscoe Sharp from Harrellsville, NC. I did a web search to find out more information and this site popped up. I believe there may be a connection. Were your predecessor slave owners?

[alex sharp]

i am looking for a connection to family in massachusetts, did u have any realtives there? is there anybody that descended form the above names, that is harold sharp? would appreciate any help

[bill Ives]

I am slow to respond to the two comments above as I just started looking at the this site again. To answer the first question. My Sharp ancestors were slave owners. However, I have not record of the names of any of the slaves. I am going to start publishing more of content and will be happy to provide any information that I have.

To the second question, all the Sharp relatives that I know about are still in North Carolina. Their ancestors all lived in the South. My paternal grandmother was a Sharp and I do not know all of the current generation.

[paulette kelly]

Looking for Nancy Jane Sharp b,around 1750. Married
William Garrison from Stafford co. va.She may have been cherokee.
thanks Paulette kelly

[Carlton Eley]

I am African American, and I am from Bertie County, NC. My great-great grandfather is Daniel Simons. His tombstone indicates he was born Oct. 8, 1836.

According to the oral history of my family, the family name for one of our elder ancestors was Sharp before it was changed to Simons. Apparently, this elder of the family was sold from a land owner in Hertford County to a land owner in Bertie County.

Also, a website that I visited noted family ties between the Sharp Family in Hertford County and a Simons Family in Bertie County.
http://www.sallysfamilyplace.com/Neighbors/PerryJosiah.htm

7. Amilicent Perry 13 Oct 1795 -
married John Simons son of Joshua
a. Elizabeth Millicent Simons 8 Feb 1819 - 1881
married Jacob Sharp of Hertford Co.
b. Lavinia Catherine Simons 1816 - 1872
married J. Benbury Sharp of Hertford Co.
c. Mary Louisa (Nancy) Simons 1821 - 1866
married John Winborne
d. John Simons 1824 - 1866 Magnolia Grove
married Celia Ann Sessoms 27 Feb 1831 -
e. Edward P. Simons 1827 - 1890
married a Miss Wilson

Any information or content would be appreciated.

[joani halstead]

Does anyone have any information on Viola Sharp born 28 Aug. 1920. She married Henry Jackson Cody. She is my grandmother. They were in Kentucky. Thanks.

[tasha]

hey dude your not cool and all your pictures on your screen thing are really fricken gay

[tasha]

hey dude your not cool and all your pictures on your screen thing are really fricken gay

[Tasha]

yuor really gay just kinding

[123]

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[Linda Hillhouse Donelson]

I am trying to find the parentage of a Bethia Sharp Hillhouse b most likely in the 1770s. Married a John Hillhouse from the So. Carolina Hillhouses. Bethia and John had 8 children, one named Starkey Sharp Hillhouse - unfortunately we have no info on him. John and Bethia lived in North Carolina, then Kentucky, and ultimately Giles Co. Tennessee.
Our family book dated 1972 states that she most likely came from the Col. Starkey Sharp family of North Carolina. Any help? Thank you

[gratissaker]

Den fria grejer kan vara nst intill vad som helst.
tylösand spa erbjudande
Gr det mesta av denna flank p din sajt.

[Oscar]

Great stuff! This will be a very valuable rsuceroe for people looking for genealogy software. Since Software Springboard vanished a few years ago and Bill Mumford stopped his wonderful detailed comparison of programs, there is a big void to fill.Feel free to use the info I have at my Software Links page as a rsuceroe. Once you start putting up reviews of programs, I'll be very happy to link to your Permalinks.I do only have info on programs which have websites. If you're looking for some old applications, you can look in the Software Repositories section of my Links page.I really wouldn't mind helping you develop your site, but I do have to devote the majority of my time to the development of my program Behold.All the best!

[brandy sharp]

i am looking for a fred sharp his parents were homer and marie sharp he would be in his 80s now any info would be helpfull ty

[Andre Kearns]

I am African American. My great great grandparents were Jenkins Sharp (1861-1936) of Harrellsville and Martha Hall (1868-1949) of Winton. Harrellsville was where the slave plantations were located. Winton was the epicenter of the free colored community.

While attending the Hall Family Reunion in August, I visited two Sharp family cemeteries - New Harrellsville Chapel Baptist Church in Cofield and Mt Pleasant Baptist Church in Harrellsville. I am sharing my recorded log of Sharp/Sharpe tombstones (and some Sessoms) in case it is of interest or value to any African American Sharps following this blog.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YfhEzybeG3nrDUeq9OrL7MunBRETgIN2raam5jG80ds/edit?usp=sharing