| Show DEATH OF BISHOP JOHN SHARP THE host boat of friends of bishop john sharp will be pained to learn that he died at his residence in the twentieth ward this cuy avy at twenty minutes past 4 december the cause of death was intestinal trouble his demise removes from the community a man of mark who was possessed of unusual will power and great force of character traits which were exhibited throughout his long and useful career john sharp was born in blackman danshire nana nan hire shire scotland november oth 1820 and was consequently in his bia seventy second year at the time of bits bib death on the last an ary of his birthday he was in unusually good spirits and said to members of his family that he had felt splendidly during the last previous lOuL oua six months he re marked the lord has given me one year over the allotted span and has started to give me a second I 1 shall be thankful for as many more as he may be pleased to give and when he signifies it is enough I 1 shall be grateful for that also y his parents moved in a humble sphere and at an early age he began to himself by working in the coal mines in 1846 being then twenty tour years old he first heard the dospel lo as revealed through the prophet tro phet joseph smith he received ic ia gladly being inducted into the church by baptism and confirmation under tinder the ministration of the late older elder william gibson who was noted as an earnest and eloquent preacher of the latter day message menage soon after his baptism brother sharp was ordained an elder and was appointed to preside over the branch of saints then existing in his bis native town but he was wa s soon imbued with the idea of gathering with the main body of the community with which he had identified himself while he remained in his native land however he showed great deyo devotion tion and xeal seal for his religion and was the means of convincing quite a number of people of its truth I 1 ON not ot being able to accumulate sufficient means to enable him and his family to reach utah at that time they came am far as the states in 1848 ain and d located near st louis where he worked in what are an known an aa the bravoy coal mines he there conti tided his hig labors labore as an elder and presided over a branch of the church organized in that loc locality aliby he was at st louis while the cholera plague made fearful ravages in that city many of the members of the church were stricken with the dreadful malady and at that time brother sharp exhibited a religious faith and person al courage that produced remarkable effects he with other brethren went among the cholera patients administering to them and abd the oases cases of miraculous healing by the power of god that occurred under his bis personal administration were marvellous marcellous marv ellous his experiences at that time were in after years brears a frequent subject of conversation with him so soon as brother sharp accumulated enough money for the purpose he and his fai family tilly came on to this city where they arrived in september 1850 almost immediately after he reached here he be was taken hold of by president brigham young whose confidence he enjoyed to an almost unlimited extent by whom he was engaged in the labor of quarrying and hauling rock for the building of the temple and other public structures he was in those early times also made superintendent in of church public works a position he held for many years in the time of what is designated as the move when the population of northern utah on the approach of buchanann Bucha nans army proceeded southward the subject of this sketch had charge of the removal of all the church effects and when a pacific settlement of the questions existing at that time was reached brought them back again to the places from which they were convey conveyed eJ this was a task of no small proportions at that time but being a man of not only great vigor and energy but of wide mental resource of a practical nature he accomplished it to the satis action of all concerned in 1855 he was ordained a bishop and in that capacity presided over the twentieth ward which position posit ioD he occupied for thirty years he was a natural engineer and a man whose judgment on any practical subject was of great value he was contractor subcontractor sub under brigham young in the construction of the most difficult part of the union pacific railway being that portion of the alln line that runs through the canyon gorges which form the entrance into inco salt lake valley he also did contract work of the same nature on the central pacific road at the promontory from that time he has been connected the former company and nearly the whole of the period until his death a director of it he was in an official capacity associated with the old utah central aue from the time it was wae completed also with the old utah southern Souther ng and finally was wag president of the consolidation formed by a combination of the two pomp companies anies being in that position at the time the latter wait wae merged into the U P system I 1 the deceased was a director of Z C M 1 almost from the initial organization of that mammoth establishment and was active in supporting it in its earlier struggles when financial times were perilous on account of the sear scar city of money he held that position at the time of his demise he was one of the original incorporators of the deseret national bank of which he was one of the most useful farseeing far seeing and sagacious directors the solidity of that institution is doubtless owing in no small proportionate degree ta t his influence financial standing and sturdy support john sharp was in the late fifties and early sixties chief of police of salt lake city a position he filled with ability and courage he was for many years major of the third regiment of infantry of the nauvoo legion and subsequently its colonel in 1872 when the question of the advisability vis of organizing a mutual improvement pro association in his able I 1 ward was being agitated by residents in in the locality he gave the movement move meni his hearty support and encouragement he directed its organization which was given the title of the twentieth ward institute early in january of the year named and he was unanimously elected its honorary president this association had bad a great influence upon the inauguration of the system subsequently estable established abed throughout tho the church bishop sharp and hie hi family lived under a species of communism on a small scale male he and his two eldest sons Jonn Jun and james formed a oo 00 partnership with the families interested and virtually they had all things in common james has haa been the agent of the association which haa baft worked with the greatest harmony an ag a matter of course the death of the senior member of the firm dissolves it the union of his family was a leading consideration with brother sharp they have lost by his death a kind loving and indulgent husband and parent and the community sympathize with them in their bereavement brother sharp was a man of splendid physique being about UX six feet in height built and erect as an arrow in his bin younger day he was waa noted for his bis grea great t physical strength strength while his bia powei power of endurance was remarkable he was noticed everywhere in his associations with all classes as a person possessing mental powers of no common character |
