San Joaquin County
Biographies
HENRY WILCOX SHARP
HENRY WILCOX SHARP, joint
proprietor with his brother, C. F., of Yo Semite House, was born in South
Lyndboro, New Hampshire, March 28, 1850, a son of John Wilcox and Susan Bridges
(Cram) Sharp. The father was also born in Boston, January 15, 1823, a son of
John and Harriet (Wilcox) Sharp. Born and married in Yorkshire, England, they
emigrated to America about 1820, and settled in Boston, where John Sharp filled
the position of foreman in a stone-cutting establishment, and died about 1833,
at the age of forty-nine. His widow survived him nearly half a century, dying
in that city in 1879, aged ninety-four; and her mother reached the still more
remarkable age of 108 years, dying in England. John Wilcox Sharp also learned
the trade of stonecutter in his native city and was there married, December 14,
1848, to Miss Susan B. Cram, born in Vermont, January 11, 1829, a daughter of
Solomon and Mary (Sargent) Cram. The father, a native of Roxbury, Vermont, by
trade a blacksmith, was over seventy at his death in South Lyndboro, New
Hampshire. The mother, a native of Hillsboro, New Hampshire and married in
Lyndboro, lived to be over eighty. Her father, a soldier in the war of 1812,
and discharged for disability, returned home to die of the wounds received in
some battle of that war. His widow, by birth a Miss Grant of Greenfield, New
Hampshire, reached the age of ninety. Grandfather David Cram also lived to be
ninety, dying in Roxbury, Vermont, and his wife, by birth a Miss Putnam, of the
same family as General Israel Putnam, died in middle life also in Roxbury,
Vermont. The original emigrant of the name Cram, the grandfather of this David
Cram, came from England in 1739, and the 150th anniversary of the
event was celebrated by his descendants in Lyndboro, New Hampshire, in
September, 1889.
John W. Sharp came to California by way of
Cape Horn, arriving in San Francisco early in 1850. He went to mining in
Tuolumne County and afterward in Calaveras County. His wife, accompanied by the
subject of this sketch, at that time their only child, came out in 1852, by the
Nicaragua route. They left Boston in June, and took ship at New York, but,
delayed by storms and accidents of various kinds on both oceans, they did not
reach San Francisco until August. There they were met by the husband and
father, who went into the laundry business for ten months in that city, to give
them a chance to regain health and strength. He then went to Mokelumne Hill,
where he built a hotel in July, 1853, where he was burnt out in 1855. He then
went to mining at St. Anton for a short time with marked success, accumulating
quite a bit of money. He next built a fine hotel for those times, in
Calaveritas, which also burnt down in 1858 during his absence in Carson valley
in search of a good cattle range. He then started a small store which he
conducted but a short time, when he sold out and moved to San Andreas, where he
built a store of the native rock, quarried, dressed and placed by himself, and
kept a general store until the “silver mountain” excitement arose, when he left
for that region, about 1863. There was a little surface silver found, but that
was all. He remained there nearly a year, running a livery stable about nine
months, the venture proving on the whole a considerable loss. Returning he took
charge of the Metropolitan Hotel in San Andreas, and conducted it until 1868.
He then moved to San Francisco, where he carried on the old Barnum restaurant
near where the Palace Hotel now stands, until again called away by the White
Pine excitement in Nevada, which proved another failure, wasting, however, only
six weeks of time. He then carried on the Revere House in Napa from 1868 to
1873. He then conducted a general store in Darwin, Inyo County, about two
years, when he sold out to his sons, and retired from active business,
continuing, however, to live with them, together with his wife and daughter.
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Sharp have only three children, the two sons, H. W. and C.
F. already referred to, and a daughter, Harriet Sophia, born in Calaveritas,
March 7, 1859, a graduate of Napa Seminary, and now residing in the Yo Semite
House with her parents and brothers.
H. W. Sharp, the subject of this sketch,
went to school in San Andreas to the age of about fifteen, when he went to San
Francisco to learn the art of printing. He afterward worked on the Napa Register
and later on the Yolo Mail, and for a time was owner of that paper.
He was married in Napa on Thanksgiving day, 1873, to Miss Emma Mabes, born in
Campo Seco, Calaveras County, July 4, 1855, a daughter of August and Minnie
(Haas) Mabes. The mother died in May, 1889, aged seventy-two; the father is
still living in 1890, aged about seventy-three. H. W. Sharp and his brother
bought out the father’s store in Darwin about 1876, and carried it on nearly
three years under the style of H. W. and C. F. Sharp. Their next venture was in
running the Ormsby House, in Carson, Nevada, which they conducted about six
years. They conducted the Andrews Hotel in San Luis Obispo only six months,
when it was destroyed by fire. After a retirement of some months in San
Francisco, which has been the home of the family in the intervals of hotel
engagements, they took charge of the Yo Semite House in August, 1886. Mr. and
Mrs. H. W. Sharp have three children: Minnie Susan, born in Darwin, May 14,
1876; Hattie May, born in San Francisco, May 1, 1878; and Harry Mabes, born in
Napa, March 17, 1880.
Charles Franklin Sharp, joint proprietor
with his brother of the Yo Semite House, Stockton, was born at Mokelumne Hill,
January 22, 1854, and after receiving his earlier education in the local
schools attended Lincoln School in San Francisco several years, receiving three
medals for high standing in his classes. When the family moved to Napa, he
studied in the Napa College two years. He learned book-keeping and telegraphing
and filled the position of agent for Wells, Fargo & Company in Darwin, Inyo
County, three years. He conducted the Paso Robles Hotel as manager for the
proprietor, from 1886 to 1889, being still interested with his brother in the
Yo Semite House of this city, and in 1889 returned here, and has since assisted
in the actual management. The Yo Semite House was opened for business July 4,
1869, and was enlarged to double its former capacity in 1885, being now capable
of accommodating 150 guests, containing 107 rooms, well-ventilated and
well-furnished, with well-appointed accessories in parlors, dining-room,
reading-room, billiard-room, commercial travelers’ room and every thing
requisite to constitute a first-class hotel. The building is of brick, three
stories high, and holds rank in every respect as one of the best hotels in
Central California.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 648-650. Lewis Pub.
Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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