This is a family of great antiquity in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, especially at Gradford and Little Horton, where the earliest records of it exist. In a deed of the fourteenth century they appear as persons of wealth and position. The name was then spelled Scharpe, a form long continued, and was so written by "Robert Scharpe of Scrayingham" about 1553, but other branches at the same period spelled it without the "e," and in many instances without the "c". Sharps came to New England at an early date and became numerous in every state of that section.
The many spellings of the name and the fact that the English family settled in the same localities and at about the same dates as did the descendants of the Dutch family of Sharps (whose ancestors came from Holland when Manhattan Island was a farming district), render it difficult to state whether the Sharps of Albany county (herein recorded) should be credited to the English or Dutch family.
In 1724 the six thousand acres of land (now Germantown, Columbia county, New York) bought by Governor Hunter for the Palatines of Robert Livingston in 1710 were conveyed to Jacob Sharp and others in and for themselves and all the other Palatines willing to remain thereon. The Sharp family had other branches that settled in Columbia, Greene and Schoharie counties, New York. Among the Dutch as well as among the English, the spelling seemed to depend upon the whim of the user. It is found Sharp, Scharp, Schup, Schaap, Sharps and Sharpenstine. Andries Hanse Scharp was in Beverwyck (Albany) as early as 1660. In 1670 he bought a farm "behind Kinderhook." He had sons Johannes, Gysbert and Laurens. The inference is a very natural one that the family in Guilderland descend from this early Albany county Dutch family. The family tradition, however, is that they descend from the New England English family who came into Dutchess and Greene counties prior to the revolution. The first authenticated record is taken from the well-preserved tombstone of Gilbert Sharp that stands in the family burial plot on his homestead farm in Guilderland, Albany county, New York. This plot is surrounded by a strong copper fence deeply implanted in massive rock foundations and has been provided with funds for perpetual care. Here are buried the founder and many of his descendants. From this stone we learn that in 1837 Gilbert Sharp was eighty-six years of age. This then gives his birth at 1751, and if the family belief be correct, his birthplace was Greene county, New York.
(I) Gilbert Sharp, born 1751, died 1837. In 1796 he located near the center of the town of Guilderland, Albany county, New York, his farm bordering on Norman's Kill, near Parker Corners. He was a man of substance and owned two other farms in the neighborhood. He had two wives, one of whom is buried with him in the family plot before described. He married (first) Mary Youngs, who met a tragic and distressing death resulting from the scratch of a pet cat. She bore him one son, Andrew, of whom further. He married (second) Hannah Schoonmaker, who died December 21, 1848, at the age of eighty-six years. It was after his second marriage (in Greene county) that he removed to Albany county. Children of second wife:
- Hezekiah, died May 22, 1841, aged forty-five years, eleven months and twenty-three days;
- Sarah (Van Loon), died February 9, 1875, aged eighty years, eleven months, three days.
(II) Andrew, only son of Gilbert and Mary (Youngs) Sharp, was born at Catskill, Greene county, New York, November 15, 1777, died on his farm, March 18, 1853, from injuries received in Schenectady by being thrown from his buggy. He was a capable horseman, and had such confidence in his ability to control any horse that he undertook more than his many years justified. He succeeded to the homestead farm on Norman's Kill, which he cultivated and further improved. He was a skilled veterinarian and much in demand among his neighbors. The estate he left is still largely in possession of his descendants. Politically he was a Whig, and in religious faith a Lutheran. He married, in Guilderland, Gertrude (on the tombstone "Gitty") Weaver, born 1782, died July 6, 1852, and is buried by her husband in the Sharp family plot. She was a member of the Lutheran church, and like her husband a useful worker. Children:
- Gilbert, born in Guilderland, where he died at the age of eighty years. He married Mary (Polly) Coss and of a large family, the only survivor is Sarah Jane, who married Peter Crounse and lives in Guilderland.
- Andrew, died unmarried at the age of seventy-nine years. He lived with his brother and engaged in farming.
- John, died November 23, 1816, aged five years.
- John W. (known as John, Jr.), died in Guilderland, on his own farm, aged eighty-two years. He married Maria Crounse and left children: Alden J., Julia, Carrie, all married.
- Peter A., of whom further.
- Appalona, married Philip L. Lingston; child, Jesse, married and has issue.
- Nancy D., born September 20, 1826, died March 10, 1888; she married Cornelius Delamont; children:
- Andrew, died 1907;
- Rebecca, died at the age of fifty-two years, married Elias Truax, of Guilderland, and had son
- Cornelius, born 1850, died 1887.
(III) Peter A., fifth child of Andrew and Gertrude (Weaver) Sharp, was born on the old Sharp homestead in Guilderland (now occupied by his son, Arthur P.), October 5, 1820, died August 22, 1902. He was an active and prominent Republican, a frequent delegate to county and state conventions, and a popular and vigorous orator, much in demand during political campaigns. He was a prosperous farmer, and with his wife active in the Reformed church. He married Margaret Elizabeth Vroman, born in Guilderland, May 18, 1840, died December 23, 1906, daughter of John and Anna Eliza (Ball) Vroman. John Vroman, born March 18, 1812, died October 27, 1880. He married Anna E. Ball, born February 15, 1821, died September 1, 1891. They both spent their lives in Guilderland. They had two children:
- Mary A., born March 22, 1846, married Peter Waggoner, now residents of Guilderland; and
- Margaret Elizabeth, married Peter A. Sharp.
Children of Mr. and Mrs. Sharp:
- Arthur P., born June 30, 1857, now occupying a part of the old Sharp homestead in Guilderland; married (first) Almira M. Hart, who bore him Flora May and Walter A., both of whom are married; married (second) Maria Van Auken, who died without issue; married (third) Mrs. Effie (Perry) Sparbuck. Children: Edith and Peter H.
- Andrew, died August 22, 1861, aged eighteen months.
- Ada, born October 25, 1863, married Alden Hart, a merchant and prominent politician, of Gloversville, New York. Child,
- Viola M., a graduate in music.
- Peter A., of whom further.
(IV) Peter A. (2), youngest child of Peter A. (1) and Margaret Elizabeth (Vroman ) Sharp, was born on the Sharp homestead in Guilderland, Albany county, New York, July 3, 1871. He was educated in the public schools, and has followed farming and stock dealing all his life. His farm of one hundred and fifty-seven acres is a part of the original Sharp homestead, first occupied by his great-grandfather, Gilbert Sharp. He is an active, public-spirited man, interested in town affairs, independent in his political views, but in national affairs a Republican. He is an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church with his wife, and a generous supporter of all good causes. He married, in Guilderland, Lillian V. Gordon, born in state of Iowa, May 25, 1871 (but reared and educated in Albany county), a daughter of James and Martha (Southwick) Gordon, of New York state. James Gordon was a veteran in the rebellion, member of Schoharie county volunteer regiment, was in service three years and honorably discharged before Gettysburg. Martha (Southwick) Gordon, daughter of Rev. Southwick, chaplain, who died of fever in the civil war. Children of Peter A. and Lillian V. Sharp:
- Arthur M., born December 13, 1893;
- Myrtle C., September 12, 1898;
- Lester P., February 15, 1900.