Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/341

 SHARPLES

SHARSWOOD

"Wilmington, June 5, 1776, served as aide-de- camp, on the staff of Gen. Griflath Rutherford in the Indian troubles, and was appointed by Gov- ernor Caswell in 1777 to negotiate a treaty of peace with the Indians. He was a delegate to the Continental congress, 1779-83, and a member of the general assembly in the house of commons, 1781-82. He practised law in Lincoln county, subsequently in Rowan and afterwards in Iredell county, N.C., where he died in July, 1818.

SHARPLES, James, portrait painter, was born in Lancashire, England, about 1751. He was educated in a Jesuit college for the priest- hood, but decided to devote himself to the study of art, especially portraiture, and became a pupil of George Romney. He also gave considerable at- tention to mechanics, for which he had a natural aptitude. At the instigation of Robert Gary, a London merchant, he came to America with his wife, son, and daughter Rolinda, in 1794 for the purpose of executing the portraits of General and Martha Washington. The sittings for these portraits were given at Mount Vernon and in Philadelphia, Pa., the canvases finished in New York city (where Mr. Sharpies made his home), and in 1797 sent to England, which country the artist revisited about this time, returning in 1809 to New York city, where he remained until his death. In addition to his oil paintings, for which he charged $250 each, at the suggestion of Alex- ander Hamilton he also made several pastel origi- nals and reproductions, receiving §15 each for profile, and $20 for full face portraits. A number of these crayons, decidedly inferior to his work in oil, are the property of the National museum of Philadelphia, Pa. His oil portraits, all in Eng- land, include a full face and profile of Washing- ton ; the portrait of Martha Washington, and those of Alexander Hamilton, Joseph Priestley, Chief-Justice Marshall, Robert Fulton, DeWitt Clinton, and Presidents Adams, Jefferson, Mon- roe and Madison. Several of these were left unfinished and were subsequenth' completed by Maclise, as were also the " seven ball-room beau- ties" so called, the Mesdames or Misses, Van Ransalaer, Hamilton, Fulton, Field, Jay and Henry (daughter of Patrick Henry). After the death of Mr. Sharpies, his sons, James and Felix, both artists, remained in America, the latter re- siding and dying in North Carolina. His widow returned to England, where many of the un- finished portraits by Sharpies were sold at auction. The Washington portraits, for a brief time dis- persed after passing out of the hands of the Carys, were finally purchased and retained by one family. They were exhibited in New York city in 1854, and again in the principal galleries of the United States in 1882-83 and 1886-87, but despite the strong claims made for their identity,

their authenticity was not absolutely established » and they were allowed to return to England. See : " Memorials of Washington from letters and papers of Robert Gary and James Sharpies," illus- trated with the Sharpies portraits (1887). James Sharpies died in New York city, Feb. 26, 1811.

SHARPLESS, Isaac, educator, was born in Chester county. Pa., Dec. 16, 1848 ; son of Aaron and Susanna (Forsythe) Sharpless ; grandson of Isaac and Sarah (Garrett) Sharpless and of James and Ann (Truman) Forsythe, and a descendant of John Sharpless, born 1624, in Cheshire, England, who landed in Chester, Pa., August, 1682. He was graduated at Lawrence Scientific school. Harvard university, 1873, and was married, Aug. 10, 1876, to Lydia Trimble Cope, daughter of Paschall and Amy A. (Bailey) Cope of West- chester, Pa. He was instructor in mathematics at Haverford college, 1875-79 ; professor of math- ematics and astronomy, 1879-85 ; dean of the faculty, 1885-87, and became president of the college in 1887. He received the degree Sc.D. from the University of Penn- sylvania in 1883 and that of LL.D. from Swarthmore col- lege in 1889, and was elected a member of the American Philosophical society in 1884. He is the author of text books on astronomy and geometry, of English Education in "International Educa- tion Series " and of : A Quaker Experiment in Government (2 vols., 1898); Quakers in the Revo- lution (1898), and Two Centuries of Pennsylvania History (1901). A popular edition of A Quaker Experiment in Government was issued in 1902.

SHARSWOOD, Qeorge, jurist, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 7, 1810; son of George and Hester (Dunn) Sharswood ; grandson of Capt. James and Elizabeth (Brebin) Sharswood, and greaf--grandson of George Sharswood, who sailed from England for Ainerica in the early part of the seventeenth century and settled in New Haven, Conn., where he died. May 1. 1074. Capt. James Sharswood was an officer in the Revolutionary army and became a prominent merchant and citizen of public affairs in Philadelphia, being a representative in the state legislature ; director of the Farmers' and Mechanics' bank, 1807-25, and member of the committee on the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. George Sharswood, senior, died in 1810 before the birth of his son, who was brought up and educated by his grandfather ; was graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania, A.B., 1828, A.M., 1831 ; studied law with Joseph Rawle Ingersoll and was ad- mitted to the bar, Sept. 5, 1831. He was a repre- sentative in the state legislature, 1837-38 and 1842-43 ; judge of the district court of Philadel-