Contributed by: Jonathan Sharpe
at:
sharpejk@yahoo.com
Dayton Sharp (born June 6th, 1818 in Franklin County) and Mariah Hostetler (born May 1830 in Pennsylvania) were wed in LaPorte County, Indiana on 27 September 1848 and had a farm in Wills, La Porte until the late 1870s.
Dayton Sharp's early birth in Indiana, in 1818, makes him one of the original Hoosiers in the state. Dayton’s family originally came from Virginia and it should be noted here that in the 1840 census, there was a William Sharp who appears in the census, living in La Porte, who has a male in his household that appears to match the age of Dayton. William Sharp was also from Virginia where Dayton's family was also purported to have originated, according to his son, John Sharpe. William Sharp is reported to have made his way to Indian via Ohio around the same time as Dayton’s birth, likely dying before 1850 and, due to further clues, seems an ideal candidate as Dayton’s father (although nothing has yet been proven conclusively).
Mariah was a school teacher and was the daughter of Joseph Hostetler and Mary (Miller) Hostetler, who migrated to La Porte in 1842 from Pennsylvania, where their Swiss ancestors had originally founded the first American Amish community in the 1700s, before being disbanded by a native attack that only Jacob Hostetler and two of his sons survived (you can read an account by John E. Sharp, Director of the Mennonite Historical Archives, via this site: http://www.mcusa-archives.org/Resources/gathering--amishorshawnee.html). The later Hostetler’s were reported to be German Baptist.
Dayton and Mariah purchased farm land in Wills, La Porte from Mariah's brother, David Hostetler, in 1854, according to La Porte land records. They farmed the land and raised 8 children. Dayton Sharp died in 1881 and is buried in Sauktown cemetery, Wills, La Porte to the right of Barbara Wiltfong (the marker can no longer be read). Mariah later moved to Chicago with her second son, John Sharp, before moving to Iowa where she died in 1902. Mariah is buried in Plymouth County, Iowa.
They had the following known children:
2nd Generation
1. Sarah (1849), who married Albert Blake. They were wed in LaPorte County 11 Oct 1876 and headed for Miami Co., Indiana.
2. Joseph (1852-1941) – Joseph Sharp, the oldest son, wed Eliza Ann Smith in Dayton area of Berrien County, Michigan on 17 December, 1876. She was born about Jun 1860. He and Sarah moved to South Dakota and then Iowa for a while and then moved back to La Porte, where his family was involved for years, purchasing land directly south of Sauktown cemetery, across the road, in the 1920s. Joseph served as a deacon in the Bretheren church of La Porte. Joseph died in La Porte in 1941 and is likely the ancestor of many Sharp's in the area today. Two of his sons, Harvey and Jeremy Joseph, were prominent doctors in the area. Joseph's dauther Agnes obtained a PhD from the U. of Chicago. There are a lot of La Porte obituaries for this branch of the family.
3. Mary E. (1853-?)
4. John (1856-1934) John Sharp grew up in La Porte and claimed to have seen Abraham Lincoln on a visit to Chicago when he was a very small boy. In the early 1880s John Sharp took his mother, Mariah, and his sister, Ann, and moved to Chicago where he met and married Mary Ramage, the great granddaughter of Scottish immigrant John Cameron of Clunes who, with his father Donald, saved Bonnie Prince Charlie after the Battle of Culloden and were quite proud of their Scottish clan. John Sharp then moved to Iowa where Mariah is buried (she died in 1902), and then to Salena, Kansas where his son Ray Harvey Sharp was born in 1886 (a boxer). John Sharp and son Ray Harvey eventually settled in Washington State where he was one of the earliest pioneers (he worked on the railroad as a brakeman, following it west). He is buried in a pioneer era graveyard in Leavenworth, Washington, and through his grandson Cameron Sharpe (who added the “e”) is the founder of a large Sharp family living in Washington, California and Arizona.
5. Susan Sharp (1857). No info.
6. Anna E (1862) – Moved to Chicago, Cook County, IL with her brother, John Sharp, and mother and then moved to Iowa.
7. Franklin (1865-1941) Franklin Sharp moved to Kansas and died in Chopeka in 1941. 8. Henry Emerson (1870-1944) He moved to Wisconsin where his family stayed for years. Some branches moved to Alabama and include grandson Don Sharpe.
3rd Generation:
#2 in second generation as shown above.
Dayton Sharp’s oldest son, Joseph, has the following known children with his wife Eliza Ann
1. James Allen Sharp (1878-1931) Born in 1878 in LaPorte County, IN. (It should be noted here that Franklin, age 14 appears on this census living in or near the same household as his brother James). Own land in Wills, La Porte in 1920s. Died in La Porte County in 1931.
2. William Horace Sharp (1881-?). Born about 1881 born South Dakota.
3. Agnes E. (1883-?). Born about 1883 in Indiana still at home in 1910
4. David Fremont Sharp (1884-1908). Born about October 1884 in South Dakota.
5. Dr. Harvey Leroy Sharp (1886-1945). Born October 1886 in South Dakota - in Indiana still at home in 1910. Married Ada. Also shows up as “Harry” on some census info.
6. Dr. Jeremy Joseph Sharp (1888-1963). Born 1888 in South Dakota. Died in Wisconsin in 1963. Married Geneva E.
7. Genia Sharp (1889-?).
8. Leila M. (1890-1984). Born July 28, 1890 in South Dakota. She married J. Wesley Norris 25 Dec 1912. She died in March 1984 in Mill Creek, La Porte, Indiana.
9. Elia M. Sharp (1891-?) 8. George C. Sharp (1892-1965). Born about March 25, 1892 in Iowa - in Indiana still at home in 1910, He married Evangaline and they moved to New Carlisle, Indiana. He died in 1965.
9. Leonard E. Sharp (1894-?). Born about October 16, 1894 in Westfield, Iowa - in Indiana still at home in 1910. Married a Eugenie at age 29. Went to Dixon, Lee Co., Illinois where he was coaching and teaching school at Ronald Reagan’s High School at least until 1944 (in 1944 graduation program for Dixon High School, he is listed as Coach, Chemistry, General Science).
10. Iva E. (1896-1984). Born about October 1896 in Iowa. She married Glenn Milton Thompson in LaPorte County, IN 17 June, 1919. Died in Niles, Michigan in 1984.
11. Martha M. (1898-1951). Born about 1898 in Iowa - in Indiana still at home in 1910. Married John Leasman in 1922.
12. Gracie M. (1900-?). Born about January 1900 in Iowa - in Indiana still at home in 1910. Married William Evenburg in 1920.3rd Generation:
#4 child in 2nd generation shown above.
Dayton Sharp’s second son, John Sharp, had the following children with his wife Mary Ramage:
1. Ray Harvey Sharp (1886-1934). Ray was born in Salena, Kansas. He made a living as a boxer and later worked with the railroad. Married Claribell Amos in South Dakota in 1900 where he appeared to be with his father and uncle, Joseph Sharp, and his family. Moved to Washington State. Died in 1934 and is buried in Wenatchee, Wa.
Large Sharpe family in Washington, Arizona and California, numbering in the hundreds comes from Ray Harvey Sharp through his son Cameron A. Sharpe (1913-2007) who added the “e” to the Sharp name. Ray Harvey Sharp is this writer’s great grandfather.
2. Pauline Sharp (1889-1970). Born in Illinois, not far from her family in La Porte, where they were still in touch. Attended Seattle Pacific University. Died in Washington State in 1970.
3. Ruth Sharp (1892-?) Born in Illinois in 1892.