Contributed by Charlene Saunders:
MARK SHARP, one of the honored and respected pioneers of Tippecanoe
County, who is now living a retired life in La Fayette, is a native of
England, born in Yorkshire, near Leeds, June 8, 1821, a son of JOHN and
SARAH (TEAL) SHARP. He was reared at his birthplace, and at a place
called Dovesberry, about eight miles from Leeds, where he began to work
in a woolen mill. He remained at that place, manufacturing for himself
part of the time, until he left England, taking passage from Liverpool
in the fall of 1847, in the sailing vessel Henry Clay, and after a
stormy voyage of seven weeks and three days he landed at New York. From
that city he went to Connecticut, and the following spring he came to La
Fayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where he found employment in
Hoagland's woolen factory, and afterward worked in SILAS WHITE's
factory. About that year he opened a butcher shop in La Fayette in
partnership with JOE EPWORTH, with whom he was associated about a year.
He then carried on the business alone until 1875, and five years later
he practically retired from active business, and has since lived retired
in La Fayette, taking that rest which he has so well earned by a life of
industry. In his political views Mr. Sharp affiliates with the
Republican party.
Biographical Record and Portrait Album of Tippecanoe County, Indiana
p. 576