Tuolumne
County
Biographies
BELTAZA SHARP
There are probably few pioneers
remaining in California who have lived here longer than has the subject of this
sketch or who more richly deserve the honors accorded to those who earliest
subjected themselves to the trials and privations of this then wild and
savage-peopled land of gold and of infinite promise. Beltaza Sharp came
of good old German ancestry and was born in 1821, in that part of France which
is now a part of Germany. His parents
died when he was a small boy and he attended school in his native town until he
was about sixteen years old, and then in 1845, came to America and located at
New York. In 1846 he enlisted as a
marine in the United States service in the war with Mexico. Her served under
Captain Harvey and was present at the taking of Vera Cruz. After that historic engagement he was
transferred to Commodore Perry’s vessel, which went to Tishen
and Elzado and thence to Santa Cruz and back to
Havana, when it went direct to the Brooklyn navy yard, where it was outfitted
for a trip around the Horn to San Francisco.
This vessel, the Ohio, then the largest warship in the United States
Navy, was manned by twelve hundred men and arrived at San Francisco in 1848.
In 1849 Mr. Sharp began mining at
Wood’s Creek. From there he went to
Whisky Hill and thence to Cooper’s Flat. Later he mined on the American and Feather
rivers, taking about an ounce a day.
While working on the Feather River, forty miles above Marysville, he and
others determined to go to Gold Hill.
The winter season had set in and at Independence Bar they were obliged
to turn back because of deep snow, and they sold their provisions, receiving
for their flour one dollar per pound.
Returning to their claim they mined there from 1852 to 1855, when Mr.
Sharp went to Newark, New York, and married Miss Margaret Bare, who was born in
his own native town and after this marriage came out with him to
California. They located at Jamestown
and there Mr. Sharp built a good residence in 1860 on a thirty-acre farm, which
he devotes to the cultivation of fruits and vegetables and on which he has
established a profitable dairy. Mrs.
Sharp lived until July, 1896, and their married life, covering a period of
forty-one years, was a most happy one.
They had thirteen children, of whom nine are living, namely: Eddie, William and Allie, all of whom are
members of their father’s household and the last mentioned of whom is his
housekeeper; Tillie Julia; Elizabeth, who married Joseph Delear;
Maggie who is the wife of William Fitzgerald; Emma, who married James Barry;
Mary, who married C. F. Artley, of Jamestown, and
Katie, who married William Baker. All of
Mr. Sharp’s children live near him in Tuolumne County and he esteems it a
privilege to be able to see them often and is justly proud of the fact that
they are all respected by all who know them.
The family are all faithful members of the
Catholic Church. Mr. Sharp is a
Republican and is a faithful worker for the interests of his party, but he is
not a politician in the sense of desiring to hold public office. His life has been an upright, industrious and
useful one and his large circle of friends rejoice with him in its material
rewards, because all who know him know how richly he deserves them.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 579-580. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.