In our last post, we discussed the three eldest children of Rebecca Scott (1839-1928) and Edward Sharp (1835–1887) of Winnebago County, Illinois.This week, we'll look at their three younger sons and their descendants.
D. Charles E Sharp (1872–1929)
Charles was born on 5 June 1872 in Burritt, Illinois. He was 15 when his father died on 11 August 1887 at the age of 51, and since his older brother, William, had already married and moved to Iowa by that time, Charles and his younger brothers likely began working the farm under Rebecca's direction.
Charles married Minnie Maud Champion (1876–1976) in 1895. She was the daughter of Abraham Champion (1846–1915) and Ida F Dobson (1856–1927). They had three children over the next 10 years and raised them in Shirland.
After Charles died on 21 January 1929, at the age of 56, he was buried in Shirland Cemetery. His surviving son, Everett, remained working the family farm, and Minnie moved into town, where she was a long-standing member of the National Grange and the local Sugar River Grange. Minnie died on 7 March 1976, less than a week before her hundredth birthday, and was buried with Charles in the Shirland Cemetery.
1. Leigh Abram Sharp (1896–1916) was born in February 1896 in Owen and moved to Shirland with his parents when he was two years old. He went to Rockford high school for two years before being attacked by a bull in 1914. He was severely injured and he never fully recovered. He died on 1 July 1916 and is buried in the Shirland cemetery.
2. Everett Edward Sharp (1898–1974) was born on 10 August 1898, in Winnebago, Illinois, and grew up working the family farm. He married Margaret Muryl Forbes (1897–1978) on August 20, 1919. She was the daughter of John Forbes (1870–1942) and Amelia Johnson (b. 1873).
Everett was a farmer and he and Muryl seem to have been happy to tend their farm and enjoy the company of their close relatives. They had no children of their own. He died in May 1974 in Shirland, Illinois, and Muryl just a few years later on 11 January 1978.
3. Frances Edna Sharp (1906–2002) was born 8 June 1906. She married Walter M Cole (1901–1975) around 1925, and they farmed and ran a cleaning and dying business in Rockford for many years. Walter was the son of Frank W Cole (1872–1943) and Ollie O Reed (1877–1935).
Like her brother, Frances and Walter did not have any children. After Walter's death, Frances auctioned a large amount of farming equipment and likely moved into town where she remained for nearly thirty years, until her death on 15 May 2002.
E. Fred Edward Sharp (1878–1951)
Fred was born on 10 August 1878 in Burritt, Illinois. He was only nine when his father died, and he likely grew up running the family farm with his brothers. He married Lillie May Taylor (1881–1946) on October 4, 1899, in Winnebago, Illinois. She was born on 22 January 1881 to Joseph S Taylor (1852–1946) and Amelia D Starin (1856–1924) of Darien, Walworth County, Wisconsin.
Fred and Lillie had four children in 10 years and lived in Rockford, where Fred worked as a landscaper and gardener for many years. He died in 1951 at the age of 73 and was buried in Winnebago, Illinois.
1. Edward J Sharp (1900–1986) was born on 13 July 1900, in Winnebago County, Illinois, and he supported himself with a number of different jobs over the years.
In 1917 he worked in the Schumann Piano plant, as did his brother, Joseph. The Schumann Piano Company was established in 1847 and when their business proved to be very popular, they moved to larger factories in Rockford in 1903.In 1918, he was working in the Hotel Nelson, a Rockford landmark. Eventually, he settled into working as a steamfitter before working with his father as a landscaper.
In about 1923 Edward married Marilla Lavergne "Bea" Spafford (1900–2001), daughter of Elmer Livingstone Spafford (1861–1943) and Mildred K Kramer (1870–1966). Bea was born 25 September 1900 in Bowling Green, Wood County, Ohio; her family was living in Toledo when she married Edward and had their daughter, Helen.
Edward and Bea soon moved their small family back to Rockford, where they spent the rest of their lives. He died in April 1986 in Shirland, Illinois, at the age of 85, and Bea survived until her death on 4 April 2001. They are buried in North Burritt Cemetery.
a. Helen J Sharp (1924–1945) was born in Toledo, Ohio, on 23 August 1924. She grew up in Rockford and graduated Hononegah High School in Rockton. She married Willard Swan Conklin (1919–1965) on 10 March 1945 and graduated from the St. Anthony School of Nursing that spring.
But she collapsed in the water during a pool party on 1 August of that same year and was pronounced dead at the hospital. She was 20 years old.
b. Edward Spafford Sharp (1930–2004) was born on 13 October 1930 and grew up in Rockford. He married Dolores A Bunn (1932-1979), a recent graduate of Beloit College in nearby Beloit, Rock County, Wisconsin, on 28 December 1953.
They moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1957. That is where Dolores died 22 years later on 28 March 1979. Her family requested that memorials be made to the American Cancer Society. Edward remained in Albuquerque, and at some point, brought his mother, Bea, out to live nearer to him. He died just three years after she did, on 29 July 2004.
According to Dolores's obituary, she was cremated, and in the absence of a burial record for Edward, I assume he might have been, as well. They left behind no children.
2. Joseph A Sharp (1902–1980) was born 23 March 1902 and grew up in Rockford. He worked in a number of jobs before establishing his cleaning business.
When he was 24, Joe married Ruth M Herbert (1903–1981), daughter of Henry K Herbert (1870–1926) and Minnie M Luhman (1872–1948) on 26 June 1926. Ruth was born 28 February 1903 and grew up in Boone County, Illinois. She taught school in Shirland before marrying Joe.
There is a big gap in records after the 1940 Census. Joe and Ruth seem to have remained in Shirland. They raised one son together there. Joe died in June of 1980, and Ruth followed the next year, on 21 October 1981. According to the Marengo Beacon, she was buried in Shirland, but I have not been able to locate either of them in Find-A Grave's database.
a. Jack Allan Sharp (1930–1988) was the son of Joe and Ruth Sharp, and was their only child, as far as I can tell. He was born on 3 August 1930 and graduated from Hononegah High School in Rockton. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1950.
I know he was married in November 1951, and his wife survived him when he died on 15 June 1988. I do not know whether they had children, or how he died, but he is buried in the Shirland Cemetery.
3. Mildred Mae Sharp (1904–1984) was born on 21 September 1904, grew up in Rockford, and worked there as a bookkeeper and clerk. She remained single her entire life and supported herself until her retirement. She died at the age of 79 in April 1984 and is buried in North Burritt Cemetery.
4. Allie Francis Sharp (1910–1974) was born 17 July 1910 in Rockford. He graduated Rockford High School in 1928 and went to work as a gardener with his father. In 1939 Al's occupation in the city directory was listed as "vocalist," suggesting he also sang professionally.
After 1942, I was unable to find any records to suggest that Al married or had children. He died in Beloit, Rock County, Wisconsin, on 9 September 1974, and is buried in North Burritt Cemetery.
F. Jesse Martin Sharp (1886–1947)
Jesse was born in Burritt township 25 April 1886 and was a lifelong county resident of Winnebago County. After his father died, he remained on the farm with his mother and brothers, until moving into Rockford with his mother in the mid-1900s. He was a salesman in a fruit store, and they lived together on Jilson Avenue.
He married Ellen Amanda Kelley (1890–1945) on 23 September 1908. Her parents were Samuel Henry Kelley (1856–1920) and Della Laura Blackner (1862–1923) of nearby Owen township. They had a daughter together, but their relationship deteriorated to the point that Jesse went to court in 1922 to have Ellen found mentally incompetent. The judge determined that she was sane, and referred their case to divorce court. They were divorced in 1924.
Ellen eventually remarried in 1939 after working in Chicago for a while as a maid. She married an Italian immigrant named John Phillip Rodgers (born Giovanni Filippo Roggero) and died in Chicago on 8 February 1945.
Jesse married Naomi G Lindman (1891–1984) on 18 August 1926 and became the step-father of her three children: Charles Carey (1914–1990), Orville Carey (1915–1974), and Geraldine Mary Carey (1920–2012).
He died on 16 January 1947, in Roscoe, Illinois, at the age of 60, and was buried in Rockton. For the last several years of his life, he was employed as a foreman by W.F. & John Barnes company. He was survived by his widow, Naomi, his daughter and step-daughter, two step-sons, and four grandchildren.
1. June Jeanette Sharp (1914–1987) was born on 3 October 1914 in Shirland Township, Winnebago County, Illinois. She was ten years old when her parents divorced, and twelve when her father remarried. She grew up with her step-siblings and graduated from St. Anthony nursing school in 1937. She worked as a registered nurse at the Rockford Clinic for many years and retired from there.June married Donald Edward Houseweart (1907–1966) on 9 June 1956 at the age of 41, becoming step-mother to his adult son and daughter. Don died ten years later on 19 July 1966. June died on 12 September 1987 and was buried in Rockton Township Cemetery.
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As a genealogist, I'm always sad when I come to the end of a family line that has no more children. In this post, the only person who may have surviving descendants is Jack Sharp; I suspect that he had a son, but I could only find the thinnest evidence of that (it could have been a mistake in an index record).
But as a humanist, I am fascinated by the people who, for whatever reason, remained childless. The records rarely give any glimpse into what their lives were like. We almost never whether they chose to remain single, or if they were lonely; we don't often know whether they were devoted to their career, or if they were hoping for a family. And when they married but remained childless, we don't know whether that was a purposeful choice or the result of biology.
I always hope for the best, and I always assume that, like June Sharp Houseweart, they had a career and found satisfaction in her adult family later. I picture Ed and Dolores enjoying the life I want for myself and Kate in the high desert around Albuquerque, and hope that they weren't childless because of the cancer that might have taken her life.
Whatever the real story might be in each case, I try to fill in the gaps in my knowledge with my best guess, as supported by the evidence I'm able to find. I strive to tell their stories in the most positive and non-judgemental way I can and hope I strike an appropriate tone. I want to do right by everyone, and celebrate them all.
As always, if you're finding this blog during your own family history research, I hope you'll reach out and let me know! Mistakes are inevitable, but can be fixed! I just need your help finding the documents that will let me fix them.
There's a link above, on the right, that will take you to the Callin Family History Facebook group (where you'll be asked how you're related to the family) - or you can email me; my Gmail address is "callintad" at Gmail.com. You can also drop a comment in the box below.
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