Morris Sharp
The success of men in business or any vocation depends upon character as wel! as upon knowledge, it being a self-evident proposition that honesty and uprightness is held in higher value than the opposite qualities. Business demands confidence, and where that is lacking business ends. In every community some men are known for their upright lives, strong common sense and moral worth rather than for the wealth or political standing they may possess. Their neighbors and acquaintances respect them, the younger generations heed their example, and when they "wrap the drapery of their couches about them and lie down to pleasant dreams" posterity listens with reverence to the story of their quiet and useful lives. Among such men of a past generation in Fayette county was the late Morris Sharp, who was not only a progressive man of affairs, successful in material pursuits, but a man of modest and unassuming demeanor, well educated, a fine type of the reliable, self-made American, a friend to the poor, charitable to the faults of his neighbors and one who always stood ready to unite with them in every good work and active in the support of laudable public enterprises. He was a man who in every respect merited the high esteem in which he was universally held, for he was a man of public spirit, intellectual attainments and exemplary character.
Morris Sharp was born in Aberdeen. Brown county, Ohio. on August 30. 1838, and was the son of Morgan and Frances (Warren) Sharp. These parents were natives, respectively, of Fayette county. Pennsvlvania. and Kentucky, and were the parents of three children, namely: Morris, to whom this memoir is chiefly devoted; Susanna, who married J. H. Baker, of Jamestown. and Samuel, who died in early childhood. In 1851 Morgan Sharp and his wife came to Jamestown, Greene county, Ohio, where they settled and remained some years, eventually removing to Washington C. H., where they made their home with their son Morris until their deaths. Morgan Sharp had passed an active and strenuous life, having served as a pilot on steamboats running from Cincinnati to New Orleans for twenty-two years, during which period he lived at Aberdeen, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. After 1851, for some years, he and his son Morris were engaged in the mercantile business at Jamestown. He was a man of- strong' character and enjoyed universal respect.
Morris Sharp's paternal grandfather, Samuel Sharp, was born in 1780 and died in Jamestown, Ohio, in 1846. He and his wife, whose maiden name had been Susanna Cook, moved from Fayette county, Pennsyhania, to Brown county, Ohio, and thence to Jamestown, which was their last resting place. They were the parents of nine children, Morgan, Eliza, Thomas, Lydia, Henry, Susan, Samuel, Melissa and one who died in infancy. Susanna Cook was, on the maternal side, descended from the Copes, whose history dates back to Oliver Cope, who came from Wilshire, England, and settled near Philadelphia, Pennsyhania, locating with his wife and children, on Naaman's creek in about 1688.
Morris Sharp was about nine years of age when his parents removed from Aberdeen to Covington, Kentucky, whence they went to Jamestown, Ohio, and in the schools of the latter place he received his education. Upon leaving school he became associated with his father in the mercantile business, but a few years later, on account of the failure of his health, he was compelled to change his vocation and for several years he was engaged in the banking business there, serving as cashier of the Farmers' and Traders' Bank from 1867 to 1873. In the year last mentioned Mr. Sharp came to Washington C. H., and became cashier of the Merchants' and Traders' Bank and later president of the Commercial Bank, which he organized. He quickly' became recognized here as a man of unusual business ability and sagacity and was numbered among the foremost citizens of his adopted city. He remained closely and actively identified with banking interests here up to the time of his death, which occurred on February 5, 1905, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Besides his bank holdings, Mr. Sharp had other material interests, being the owner of extensive tracts of farm lands. His career was a long, and useful one, and although he devoted his attention primarily to his individual affairs, as is quite natural and right, he never allowed the pursuit of wealth to warp his kindly nature, but preserved his faculties and the warmth of his heart for the broadening and helpful influences of human life, being to the end a kindly, genial friend and gentleman, with whom it was a pleasure to associate. Through the long- years of his residence in this locality he was ever true to all trusts reposed in him and his reputation in a business way was unassailable. He commanded the respect of all by his upright life and engraved his name indelibly on the pages of Fayette county's history, His career was complete and rounded in its beautiful simplicity; he did his full duty in all the relations of life, and he died beloved bv those near to him and respected and esteemed by his fellow citizens.
Morris Sharp was a big man in other spheres than in the business world. He was a man of strong and honest convictions, his actions being ever the result of careful and conscientious thought, and on the great questions of the day he took a definite stand. The cause of temperance found in him an earnest and eloquent advocate, who gave no thought to self when by his personal effort the cause of temperance or prohibition could be advanced. His ability and active efforts were recognized and he was placed in nomination for the governorship by the Prohibition party. That he was a man of more than ordinary strength is shown by the statement that he polled more votes than any other candidate on the Prohibition ticket has ever received in the state of Ohio.
Religiously. Mr. Sharp was an earnest and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, supportiig the various activities of that society and serving a great many years as superintendent of the Sunday schools in the different towns in which he lived.
On October 15, 1861, Morris Sharp married Madeline Baker, who was born in Jamestown, Ohio, on the 20th of December. 1838. She is the daughter of William G. and Thirza A. fLarkin) Baker, her father being a native of Kentucky and her mother of Ohio. Thev are both deceased, Mr. Baker dying in Jamestown, Ohio, when eighty years old and Mrs. Baker at Washington C. H., at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. Mr. Baker was a man of versatile talents, being successful as saddler, merchant anrl farmer. They were the parents of seven children. Mrs. Sharp's paternal grandparents were William and Mary (Winans) Baker, who were natives of Kentucky and early settlers in Jamestown, Ohio. Their children were Mathias, Elizabeth, William, Lydia, John, Jacob, Douglas, Andrew, Mary, Hillary and George. The maternal grandparents were David and Nancy (Harper) Larkin, who came from Harper's Ferry and settled in Clark county, Ohio. They had five children. Eliza .Ann. Thirza, Synthia, Perry and Oliver.
Mrs. Sharp was married on the 27th of June, 1911, to Prof. William W. Davies, who is referred to specifically elsewhere in this work. .She is a lady of culture and refinement, who, because of her hospitable ways, her cheerful disposition and kindly attitude towards all whom she meets, is popular in the circles in which she moves. She is an earnest supporter of all local movements for the betterment of the community and has been an effectual worker in religious and charitable fields for many years.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)