Compiled from his own writings and the memory of his
living children, June 22, 1956,
by Betty Jex Sharp, a granddaughter-in-law
Photos & some editing added by Darline Burke
What was it like in England in the year 1834, and what industry and livelihood did the people follow? In the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty, the Parish of Wallsend, Northumberland, England comprised the townships of Howed-Pans, Wallsend, and Wellington, and was inhabited by 5,103 souls. The village was large and well built, situated near the shields road, and contained many good houses, with a spacious green in the center, crossed by a raised causeway. At its eastern extremity was a school room, with a house and garden for the master, given in 1748 for the education of the children. The Sunday schools were attended by about six hundred boys and girls, the religion being mostly Methodist.
The name of this parish was obviously derived from its location at the extreme end of the wall of Severus, on the east. It was originally a Roman garrison and contained a storehouse for corn, whence other garrisons in the interior were supplied. Beyond this point, the wall does not appear to have been continued. The Tyne River, because it opened into the ocean, formed a great depth and breadth, which made a natural barrier against possible invasion. It was possible the wall was originally erected to protect against potential enemies. The ruins that have been uncovered, give evidence that anciently it was a sizable trading colony inhabited by Romans, who more than a thousand years before, discharged their freight where now are numerous straits, projecting from the northern bank of the Tyne. These straits later find vessels employed in the coal trade and are "Wallsend" for London and the other markets. Also inlets find several ship building industries, extensive lime kilns and manufactories of copper and earthen ware.
Into a setting such as this, Francis Sharp was born. His father Michael Pearson Sharp was the son of John Sharp and Sarah Pickering; his mother Jane Armstrong was the daughter of George Armstrong and Ann Anderson. Because Francis was the first born of this family, his birth was very important and thus began his responsibilities to his family. Other children born to this union were: John Sharp, born April 10, 1836; George Sharp, born January 27, 1838 and died April 22, 1839; Ann Sharp, born March 9, 1841; George and Michael Pearson Sharp, twins, were born May 6, 1843; George died April 24, 1844; Hannah Sharp, born November 5, 1845; Sarah Sharp, born August 15, 1848 and Mary Jane Sharp, born December 26, 1850.
Francis first attended school at Bedlington, when he was about four years of age. After leaving Bedlington, due to circumstances, he lived with his grandparents Armstrong, then sometimes with his parents and other times with his aunt and uncle, John and Hannah Loveless. He attended various schools and was quick to memorize. At one time he committed the Book of James to memory. Francis was religiously inclined and was a regular member at Sunday School. He was registered in the All Saints Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, although he was raised as a Wesleyan Methodist. He was a schoolteacher when only in his teens.
When he was about ten and a half years old, he returned to the home of his parents and was put to work in the coal mine at Quarrington Hilltop. This work he followed until he left England. When a boy, Francis followed his father religiously and politically. Since his father was a great unionist, he was in the foremost ranks. Hearing his father talk and read gave Francis his ideas in regards to government and implanted in him a desire for liberty and freedom.
The year Francis was seventeen years old, a man by the name of Thomas Slater came to work at Marley Hill. He was a Mormon. This was something new to Francis and when he learned there were Elders preaching at the home of Mr. Slater, Francis went to hear, only out of curiosity. The young, alert, keen mind of Francis Sharp listened intently and was soon moved by the message he was hearing. After much prayer and serious, deep thought, he was convinced they were preaching the truth. Now that he knew the Gospel was true, he must go against tradition if he would accept this new truth. Tradition was strong. He struggled with this fact and after nearly a year, he was baptized on Sunday, March 7, 1852, by Elder Robert Gilles, into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was confirmed by Elder Gilles the same day.
While a student in school, he loved penmanship. This saw the beginning of a new way of life for Francis and now his talent as a penman was put to work. He was very busy doing missionary work, and bearing his testimony to all who would listen. This he continued for the rest of his life. He began doing clerical work for the Church and recorded his own ordination as a Deacon on February 19, 1854, by John Dalling. Francis stated in his journal, "While his hands were on my head, he said that if I was faithful, I should be a High Priest in this Church, even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." Francis was ordained an Elder, May 13, 1854, by John Dalling. During all this time, he served as a missionary for the Church, preaching the gospel and teaching classes on the Book of Mormon. He was always active in doing whatever he could for the building up of the Kingdom of God. From January 1, 1854 to December 1855, Francis was Clerk of the Council of the Marley Hill Branch in England.
The winter of 1855 was very cold and the snow was knee deep, which made walking hard. Francis had recently turned twenty years old and was devoting all his time and energies to living and teaching the gospel. Into his life on the cold, snowy morning of February 13, 1855, came a young girl who was baptized by Joseph Hunter. The very same evening, lovely Dorothy Gill was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by Francis Sharp. This started a friendship and courtship of two fine people.
Dorothy suffered no ill effects from being baptized in the cold water and attended church functions with Francis from that day forth. On October 20, 1855, Francis Sharp and Dorothy Gill were married at All Saints Church, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. In the evening they were married again by Elder Benjamin Ashby at the home of her father, William Gill. Afterwards they were given a little party and thus began a new life together.Francis was clerk of the Lead Gate Branch of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from the time it was organized, August 1, 1856. Because of the long hours and years in the dust of the mines, he contacted what is called miner's consumption. For the rest of his life, he was plagued with a terrible cough, which affected his complete health to a great extent.
The union of Francis and Dorothy brought forth twelve children to bless their home, seven girls and five boys. Their first born was Mary Jane, born September 5, 1856 and died the following year on November 22, 1857 and buried in England; next was Ann Sharp, born July 20, 1858; then came Elizabeth, born December 16, 1860; Jane was born September 24, 1863 and John Gill Sharp was born February 10, 1866; Francis was born February 17, 1868; then Michael Pearson Sharp was born May 7, 1870; William Thomas Sharp was born April 10, 1872; Isaac Gill Sharp was born March 30, 1874; Mary was born February 6, 1876; Dora Clarissa, born March 29, 1878; and Sarah, born November 24, 1880.
Each year that began found Francis and Dorothy still striving to find a way to go to Zion. They had a burning testimony of the gospel and hoped constantly to see their dream fulfilled. Their prayers were answered the morning of April 23, 1862, when they said their goodbyes to their home and loved ones and, with what few belongings they could bring, with their daughters, Ann and Elizabeth, left England to join the Saints in America. They sailed from Liverpool, England, on the JOHN J. BOYD and arrived on June 12, 1862 at New York, after a pleasant and almost uneventful trip. They stayed in New York overnight and left the next day by train for Florence, Nebraska, the outfitting place for the Saints. They arrived there on June 12, 1862, and remained there until August 8, 1862, and because they had little with which to help, they were sustained all the time by the Church. Then began another great event in their lives, their trek across the plains. For the account of the trip, I quote the following letter, written by Francis Sharp to his parents in England:
Farmington, Davis Co.
Utah Territory, U.S.A.
Sunday, Nov. 23, 1862
Dear Parents, Brothers and Sisters:
I received your letter on the second and was glad to hear that you were all well. We arrived in Salt Lake City on Sunday, October 19, after a tedious journey of 10 weeks and 3 days. I did not enjoy the best of health on the plains. I was very often sick, but I managed to walk the entire distance, about 1050 miles. Dorothy enjoyed good health all the way, but had sore feet; she used to ride sometimes. Annie and Libby were quite well all the time.
There were about 450 people in our train. We had 28 deaths in the camp and I think 8 or 10 oxen died. We experience all kinds of weather on the plains, hot warm, cold, mild, rain, snow, and frost. It is a hard road to travel and no mistake, but we are here and I for one am thankful.
The first 200 miles of our journey lay through a plain country, and had houses on the side of the road, at distances of from 5 to 10 miles, from each other. After that we had a sort of barren country for 300 miles, many large sand ridges to go over. We did not get much wood on this part, but cooked our food with dried cow dung, but then we generally had fine weather. After passing Fort Laramie, 535 miles on our journey, we got into a more mountainous country, wood became more plentiful and the weather became colder, especially on Sweetwater River, just in crossing the South Pass, we had a slight snow storm, the only one on the road. This is the highest place on the route being over 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. We then began a descent, as Salt Lake City is only a little over 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. From the South Pass, the weather gradually became warmer all the way during the day, the nights cold and frost. After coming to and passing Fort Bridger, we got into the canyons, which are narrow passes in the mountains and are natural defenses to Utah. I think a few men acquainted with them might hold them against a large army, but as I don't understand much about military matters, I shall not say much on the subject.
I like the scenery very well; we had a few accidents, but not very serious ones. The most serious was one night when necessity or want of water compelled us to travel 'till near midnight, we had a wagon tip over. The wagon was broke to pieces and a girl had her thigh broke. We had another two tip over on other occasions but without doing much damage or hurting anyone. We generally had plenty of water but not always the cleanest or of the best quality.
Our provisions, flour, bacon and sugar were served out weekly and of them we had always sufficient. Tea and coffee were not so plentiful, nor soap although it served us pretty well. There were 18 people to a wagon but we had only 13 in ours. The wagon was smaller than the others. We are charged $40 each for our passage across the plains, the children $20 each, 50 pounds of luggage to each person, half to children, all above that 20 cents a pound. The Church allowed us, while on the plains, the following cooking utensils: Bake kettle, frying pan, camp kettle, and coffee pot. They had all to be returned when we got across the plains. I think I have now given you an outline of how we got across the plains and have told you the truth of the matter as far as I can. If I had better writing accommodations, I might have copied my journal and sent it to you, but I am writing this over a dim wood fire, sitting on the ground or bottom of the house and my paper laid on my thigh. Therefore I shall quit the plains.
We arrived in Salt Lake City on the afternoon of Sunday, October 19, and you may think me overrating it when I say I thought it the grandest sight I had seen since leaving Marley Hill, but then remember I had been over six months on the road and the sight of home made me feel glad; but it is a well laid out city, not so many grand stone buildings as in the towns of Old England. The houses are mostly built of adobes or sun dried brick and are neat little cottages with a piece of garden ground attached to them; the streets are broad, trees in some of them by the side of the foot paths. The city is laid off in large squares or blocks, there are some good public buildings in them but I had not time to see them. We arrived at Farmington on Monday, the 20th. Farmington is about 18 miles from Salt Lake City and two from the shores of the Salt Lake. It is a very mountainous country, what I have seen of it, but the climate is healthy, at least I have found it so, for my health has improved greatly since I came and Dorothy says she never felt better.
On Monday, the 27th, we went to live at William Mannings. I have had sufficient work for our needs. I work as long as it is light in the daytime and candles we cannot get, as the people make all their own here, so we go to bed soon after dark. Wages are pretty good in this country, on the public work the laboring man gets $1.50, but provisions are high; flour $6.00 per 100 pounds; potatoes $1.50 per bushel.
Dorothy sends word that she has learned a great deal since she came here. She knows how to make butter, soap, starch, candles and other little things that the people have to make for themselves. She also knows what it is to travel and live in a tent, which she never would have done had she remained in Marley Hill. She enjoys the country first rate and is thankful that she is here.
You will want to know a little about polygamy. I have seen one or two cases of it. The women seem to agree very well.
I send a kind remembrance to all my relatives and friends and let them know I like Mormonism better now I have added to my knowledge and experience and still hope to continue adding and improving in good works. It was for to enjoy the free exercise of my religion and to live in peace and unity with the people of God that I left my home in England and traveled both sea and land and now feel thankful that I have realized my fondest expectations. That all would be perfect I did not expect, but I have found all I had anticipated and more, and feel quite happy and comfortable and thankful that I am here. If you and them could just view the state of the world as I view it, you would lose no time in hastening to this retreat for I know the present trouble in the United States is but the beginning of sorrows.
Your loving son and daughter,
Francis and Dorothy
(They traveled in the Amasa M. Lyman Company across the plains. The above letter was quoted directly from the Diary of Francis Sharp.)
Their first winter in Farmington, Francis and Dorothy, with their two daughters, lived in a dugout. They had sufficient food for their needs and although they lacked many comforts, they were happy in their new life. Francis continued his work in the Church and that first winter he taught a Bible class. Jane was born while they lived in Farmington. The two winters they lived in Farmington, Francis taught school and enjoyed it very much. The school term began soon after Christmas and continued for 65 school days. Frequently, he walked the distance to Salt Lake City to hear President Brigham Young and other Church leaders speak. His testimony grew stronger each time he had this opportunity.
Francis and Dorothy left Farmington and moved to Smithfield, Cache County, Utah in April of 1865. This was not an easy thing to do. They were among the first settlers in Smithfield, so they had to plan wisely the things they would take to their new home. The trip was made in an ox drawn wagon, which was very slow. They made fairly good time for the trip took seven days. Francis was a leader among the first settlers in Smithfield. Among them was his father-in-law, William Gill, whose building lot was next to him and near his friend, William Henderson Watson, a family from England. The plans for laying out the city of Smithfield into blocks and lots became the task of Francis and the Smithfield of today is evidence of his vision and exactness of his work. They commenced to plow the ground and plant the garden. Then they were off to the canyon to get logs to build a house and prepare for winter.
Francis started the first Sunday School in Smithfield and was the Superintendent of it. It commenced April 15, 1866, shortly after their son, John Gill Sharp, was born, and the scholars numbered over sixty. Francis was ordained a High Priest on May 13, 1866, and was clerk of the quorum. He also worked in the tithing office for the tithing settlement and was the president of the Mutual Improvement Society. They also organized a Farmers Club and appointed Francis the librarian. He was assessor and collector of taxes, also surveyor, Justice of the Peace, and prosecuting attorney. He was very busy because he was loved and respected and before July 1866, he was postmaster for Smithfield.
At this same time, they had been given orders to prepare to "fort up", so as not to give the Indians any chance against them. Francis was enrolled in the Militia of Cache County, Captain of Fifty of the Silver Greys, Nauvoo Legion. During the winter of 1868, after the birth of Francis, there was a dramatic society organized and Francis was elected as secretary and also took several parts acting in the plays. This kept them busy. In the spring of 1869, the grasshoppers ate their gardens again. This made obtaining the necessities of life doubly hard, but Francis remained cheerful, hard working and ever patient, and a leader among his fellow men.
In a letter to another member of the Church in England, dated February 23, 1867, Francis said, "I am not yet a polygamist in practice, but I am one in faith. I believe the principle is a pure and holy one and that it is an essential principle of the gospel." On May 30, 1870, Francis entered into the practice of plural marriage. He married Mary Jane Watson, daughter of William Henderson Watson and Hannah Story, his close friends from England. They were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah. This union was blessed with a total of ten children, five boys and five girls. Their first born was Hannah Maud, born February 26, 1870 and sealed to her parents May 14, 1885; Robert, born April 7, 1873; George Armstrong, born July 13, 1874; Henry Watson, born December 26, 1876; James William, born March 27, 1879; Margaret Cloa, born May 30, 1881; Frances, born October 19, 1882; Hugh was born December 25, 1884; Estelle Pearl, born April 20, 1887; and Ruby Isabell, born September 15, 1889. (Note: Mary Jane Watson was 20 years younger than Francis & had been seduced by a married neighbor in Smithfield. In the Smithfield Ward records it is noted that when this girl's plight was brought up in a meeting of the ward Bishopric, Francis said he would marry her & care for her & her child. DB)
Francis was in constant demand because of his beautiful penmanship. He wrote constantly for a livelihood and enjoyment since he acted as bookkeeper for businesses and individuals. He never turned anyone down whether they could pay or not. This made obtaining a livelihood harder as he was in constant demand but received little pay for his work.
After Francis and Dorothy had received their endowments, they did the temple work for Francis' mother and father. They traveled to the temple by wagon so the trip was slow and they left the children at home. The night the work was done, Jane received two callers into their home in Smithfield. Jane said they were strangers to her, but she enjoyed visiting with them. When her parents arrived home the next day, Jane told her father of the visitors and upon describing them to him, he realized it was his own parents whom Jane had never seen. The visit with Jane was at the same time their temple work was being done.
Francis loved flowers and spent many happy moments working in his flower gardens. He had a lot of patience with his families and friends and his two wives were the closest of friends. Making his life so much easier, they helped one another in their two separate homes and were company for each other. In the later years, Francis' cough became consistently worse, making anything requiring any exertion almost impossible. This left him with only his writing for his livelihood and it placed more responsibility on his wives and children. Their older boys were working at early ages and enjoyed doing it since the families always held him in the deepest respect and love. He was indeed looked up to as the head of his families.
On July 18, 1882, Dorothy Gill Sharp died, leaving a loving husband and family. At this time the youngest child was just twenty months old. An older daughter, Jane, was married and she took her little sister, Sarah, to raise. The remainder of the family was cared for and raised by their “Aunt” Mary Jane, second wife of their father. She was a blessing to them and a great joy to Francis in the remaining years of his life.
Francis Sharp was ordained a patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on May 5, 1889, at the age of 55 years, by President Wilford Woodruff. He never had too much to do to accept responsibility that would further the work of the Lord. His testimony was his dearest possession, as was his family and this was the heritage of his posterity.
On February 4, 1890, at the age of 56, death came to Francis Sharp, in his beloved Smithfield, Cache County, Utah.
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