Murder & Mayhem

Lexington Observer Oct. 29, 1847

We learn that Joel C. Robinson, principal teacher of the Academy in Sharpsburg, was killed by young Ashby and Crouch on the 19th. Mr. R on the day before had expelled Ashby from school, who vowed his revenge and getting the aid of Crouch, attacked Robinson after school had been dismissed and stabbed him.

Dr. M.Q. Ashby was the 16 year old's father. He lived in the big brick house on Flat Creek, currently owned by Nick Shrout.

During an interview with the late Mr.George Stone I learned that his great grandfather, Enoch Ralls Burns, had purchased the Ashby property. According to Mr.Stone, the Ashby house was built in the 1840s.

"My great grandparents bought the house in 1905. My fathers father died when he was five years old, so they all moved in the house together. My father lived there until he married in 1923. In the wintertime, they would cut ice from Peck Pond, it was close to the house. I recall reading stories in old newspapers how the Robinson Circus Show would keep their elephants and other animals at the pond."

Old places that once said "HOME"

A few weeks before Christmas, my sisters and I visited our hometown to celebrate the holiday with daddy. 

As we slowly drove down Main Street, I noticed many of the older homes were no longer standing and it made my  heart a little sad.

I sure wish I had taken pictures a few years ago of all those lovely houses that I remember so well and can still see only in my mind.

 I thought the big old house where the Williams family lived was such a lovely place. 

The two story gray house where the Haney family lived when I was growing up or the home of Mr.Razor as my daddy recalls in his day, it's been gone for years, but I still look for it when I come through town. 

The blue house on the corner, Ann and Splo Toy's two story house and the home of Sy and Sally Martin are just a few places that stand out in my mind.

Even though some of those houses have been gone for years, and some were torn down just a year of so ago I expect to see them when I visit my hometown.

The photo below is where my best friend, Missy Petitt's grandmother lived and was such a beautiful home in its day.  Missy and I spent many hours relaxing out on that front porch.

Most remember this house as the home of the late Jenny Petitt, she is the only person I know that ever lived there, but this old house has some history and was built a long, long, time ago.

The young man standing in the forefront is David Petitt, the son of Connie Leinberger Petitt and the great grandson of Jenny. Connie took this photo in Jan. 1985 and shared it with our readers on Sharpsburg of Yesteryear.

For the younger folks and new citizens of Sharpsburg, this house is no longer standing. 

A few years ago there was some kind of shop that occupied the building and not long ago it caught fire and was eventually torn down.

It was located on Main Street next to the little red brick(The Mexican Store or home) across the alley from the Citizens Bank.

In the 1880s this house was owned by  Mary Stephens, the widow of Joseph, both pioneers of Sharpsburg.

Mary and her daughter Emma Stephens Elgin and Mary's brother Henry lived in the house according to the 1880 census. 

I remember reading in my research a few years ago that Mary operated a boarding house here. 

Henry is listed in the census as a Grocery Merchant. 

Sealy and Nannie Peck are listed as servants. 

 Emma is widowed with a six year old son William. (Emma was married to Gano Elgin)

Will, as he was called by the towns people in the 1920s, was referred to as the town only recluse because he was said to have only come out of the house after dark. 

In his book "A Time Remembered" Woodson Knight described the house as being old, and was weathered and gray. 

Emma passed away at home on May 1, 1931 at the age of 77. 
Will continued to live in two upstairs rooms of the house until he died there on August 30, 1936. At that time John Flora and his family occupied the house.

Will Elgin was a first cousin to  Waller Sharp.

 

A Journalistic Journey

 Although this column isn't about Sharpsburg, it is written by a Sharpsburg girl. I had lots of fun during my time spent as a journalist, something this small town girl never dreamed she would get to do.

I reckon I should add my first jobs, that will make this column about Sharpsburg for sure.

My very first job was picking peppers for, ugg their names escape me right now! 

They never picked me to go back the next morning so I must have been a terrible worker.

Then there was the time Mrs. Glennie McQuithy hired me and Claudia to wash the basement windows in her and Mr. Stanley's new house.  I remember she brought us a galvanized bucket and some rubbing alcohol and seems like some vinegar to clean the windows.

A few years later, Dwayne would let us help him pull tobacco plants for Omar Ratliff and put in hay. 

In the fall we got to help Dwayne strip Mr. Omar's tobacco, and back then we tied hands and I had a terrible time tying mine, so my hands were always an ugly mess!! 

One time Mrs.Polly, Omar's wife, hired me and Dwayne to put up a swing in one of the back yard trees. We were working along pretty good and about had the job done when Mrs.Polly came to check on us and she decided we needed to pull the rope up a little more. As she was showing us where the rope needed to be we realized she had dog poop on her hands and was getting it all over the rope. Well, me and my brother started cracking up laughing. Low and behold if Mrs. Polly just decided to fire us right then and there.

Sometimes daddy would take us down Flat Creek to gather walnuts and I probably drove him nuts and my siblings too because I spent the entire time singing at the top of my lungs, this tune,  Daddy Frank played the guitar and French Harp, sister played the ringing tambourine, mama couldn't hear our pretty music, but she read our lips and helped the family sing. That's all the words I could remember and I sang those lines over and over and over again. I bet if you listen carefully on a windy day you can still hear my echoes, hahaha.

When April and I were in our teens, Ed Catchings, my sister Claudia's father in-law, hired us to help them work in their tobacco. We sure had a lot of fun working for the Catchings family. I was not very good at following the setter or dropping plants from the setter, matter of fact I was horrible at those two jobs. I also hated to pull plants, and didn't really care much for topping or chopping out the fields. But I loved housing season!! I have many fond memories of being in the stripping room and can almost smell the tobacco leaves and the wood smoke. Those were the good old days I tell ya!

As the years went by I held too many jobs to tell about before Tisha hired me to work for the Messenger.

A Journalistic Journey

Being a journalist allows for some fun and exciting opportunities, most of which would never come my way if I wasn't working for a newspaper.

One event I can recall is when Tisha and I got to take a hot-air balloon ride.

We floated almost 3000 feet up in the air, over the Ewing-Fleming County Fairgrounds while the fair was in full swing.

Afterwards we both admitted that we were scared, but it was an amazing experience.

One year Debbie and I, and my oldest daughter Natalie, went out to watch a country music video being shot at the Goddard Bridge. Mark Brown, lead singer of Sawyer Brown, had written a new song was making video inside the bridge.

It took an entire day to shoot just a few seconds of live video, and if you weren't there you would never know that split second scene in the finished product was from the Goddard bridge.

We were allowed on the singers bus for an interview, and Debbie still laughs at me to this day because, when we sat down to talk, I was at a complete loss for words!

A year or so later, the Messenger Crew met up with the legendary John Anderson at the Poppy Mountain Festival and got to chat with him back stage.

When former President Bill Clinton was on the campaign trail for Hilary, he and their daughter Chelsea were in Maysville. I was granted an interview with the former first daughter at Capronis’ on the River but there were just too many folks rallied around Bill at the Mason County High School for me to talk to him, but i did get some cool pictures that day.

On my drive home, Clinton’s Secret Service men were in a black SUV directly behind me and I saw them turn to the right towards the Flemingsburg McDonald s. We had gotten news that Clinton would make an appearance at our local Dairy Queen so I headed to the DQ, but when I got there a couple other media outlets told me Bill Clinton had decided to make his next stop in Rowan County.

So,with that news I drove back to the office and dropped off some papers and took the back road that runs behind the dairy queen.

Just as I drove passed the little road that turns into the back lot of DQ, I spied two Sheriffs cars blocking the road and low and behold if I didn't spot Bill Clinton himself coming out the back door of the restaurant!

I was ticked off, but should have known competition had played a trick on me and I fell for it.

Tisha and I also attended the special humane society benefit dinner at Caproni’s where Mason County Native Cindy from Survivor was the special guest.

Kentucky Joe was another nice person I had the opportunity to chat with when he was a guest at the Fleming County High School.

Now, what is sad, is we didn't get to attend the special screening of George Clooney’s movie Leatherheads and George along with Renee Zellweger were the guest of honor.

But, that was probably a blessing in disguise since I would have been so star struck that I would have not been able to utter a word.

As a journalist, I have had the chance to be in the same room with a few celebrities, and it is exciting to see and watch famous people, but what makes the journey more interesting, is all the stories told to us by local folks.  March 24, 2016

A news worthy home

 

                    If I could choose any house along main street as my own, this would be the one!

Still beautifully maintained, this lovely place was once the home of William Barker. 

Mr. Barker was the father in-law of the towns newspaper owner, James Clyde Nelson. 

J.Clyde was just 27 years old when he started his publication, The Bath County World, which he published and edited from May 1892 until 1914 in this very house.

After he ceased the  papers operation, he wrote a correspondence column, Sharpsburg of Long Ago, for the Owingsville Outlook.

James Clyde was married to Medda Barker. Medda's mother Joanne, was the granddaughter of Moses Sharp.

In his book A time Remembered, Woodson Knight said he could always tell it was getting near Christmas time when Medda was seen around town wearing her Christmas pin on her hat!!

I have updated this post to add the following information written by Woodson Knight

On the other side of Dr. Conway’s house lived Judge Nelson, his wife, Miss Meddie, her sister Miss Nettie and their elderly father, Mr. Barker.

Judge Nelson, who presided over “City Court”, was a former country newspaper editor and lawyer of sorts.He was a highly intelligent man and with his velvet, resonant voice, a superb speaker.

An avid student of the Bible, he led Sunday School at the Baptist Church and taught class for adults.

Miss Meddie was an immaculate little woman, friendly, ever-busy and a leader in the church too.

Miss Nettie was my Sunday School teacher and was, in the terminology of the day, an old maid.Mr. Barker stayed indoors most of the time and smoked his pipe incessantly.Mother used to say she disliked going to the Nelson’s home because the air was so heavy and pungent, made that way by the tobacco smoke. I think I remember correctly that Mr. Barker, who never had to wear glasses and attributed his good eyesight to the fact that he never rubbed his eyes, gave up smoking at the age of 90!

Sharpsburgs Restaurant, Beer Joint and Gas Station!!

Elbert Webb's Gas Station, Restaurant & Beer Joint was housed in a log cabin and was located on Sharpsburg's Main Street. Sometime in the 1930s or very early 40s.

The men shown inside are left to right, Carter Dobson, Elbert Webb, Lee Owens Calvert, Sy Johnson, Bo Wood, Mark Thomas, Marcus Wilson, and Charles Wilton. 

The first settler and the towns namesake

 Many years ago, Ken Metz, editor of the Bath County Outlook, interviewed  Ben Allen Sharp and wrote the following feature article.

Roberts Grocery

 Roberts Grocery got its start in 1946 when Mr. Eli Roberts purchased the store from Allie Peed. The store everyone knew and loved sold to new owners in 2009. The beloved Roberts Grocery served the community of Sharpsburg for 63 years. 

During a chat with Rob Lane, the grandson of Eli and Mary McClure Roberts, I learned how the small town grocery came to be.

Eli Roberts began his life long career in the grocery business when he was 14 years old. He started out as a clerk for Mr. Ollie Knight, he also worked as a clerk for Mr. R.L. Brown and later Mr. Allie Peed.

After Eli and Mary were married in 1925, the couple moved to Indianapolis where he took a job working for the Standard Grocery Company. Although his mother and her sister were living in Indianapolis at the time, Eli and Mary became homesick and moved back to Sharpsburg. After his return home he went to work for his father in-law, Mr. Johnny McClure at Sherburne. 

While working at the Sherburne store, Allie Peed told him he could come back to work for him anytime he wished, but Eli said he would only come back to work at his store when he could own it. 

In 1946 he did just that. 

Eli and Mary Roberts are shown above inside Roberts Grocery, taken in the early 1950s.

Left to right are Mary Bell Hardin, Mary Roberts, Grace Grimes, Eli Roberts , unknown young man, and Eli's son, Mr. Billy Roberts. Mid 1950s.

Photo taken by Rob Lane in the early 1970s. Rob started working for his grandfather when he was only nine years old and made 1.50 a day and continued to work until he graduated from high school.

Mt. Olivet Church Cemetery

 These pictures were taken by folks on a history tour and by a local business owner who had been on the farm mowing/fencing, so each person had the permission of the property owner’s to be on site.

The photos of the tombstones were taken by farm owner, Sandye Watkins and sent to me in a private message a few years ago.

The foundation visible is from the old Mt. Olivet Church, the one that replaced the log structure.

William Berry’s daughter Mary Jane married Everett Edwin Peck, making the connection to Elizabeth Ratliff Parker.

Two of the early elders of the Mt. Olivet Church were John Cunningham and James Berry, later William marshall and J.B. Spratt. The first church there was log and built in 1800, situated three quarter mile south of where the foundation can be seen now.

Outlook article from March, 1892- Leona Peck married B. T. Wright, son of A.I. Wright

Evalina Elizabeth Renfro was the daughter of Joseph Renfro, she married Elder Allen Embry, their son James Allen Embry was born 1848 in Bath County. The Renfro family came from Franklin Va.

PMJ could be the daughter of Joseph and Margaret Peggy, Paulina Margaret Renfro Jones, she married Capt. James R. Jones.

It is believed that some slaves are buried in this cemetery, and in the 1880 census there are several African American families with the surnames, Butcher, Sweeney and Jones that lived in this area of Flat Creek.

Capt. James R. Jones first wife was Lydia Beck Ralls, her mother was Susannah Stone and her father was Nathanial William Ralls.

The Country Ham Store!

The building the ham store was located in was originally The Exchange Bank. The Allen Family operated the bank until it merged with The Citizens Bank, which at the time was located across the street. Today The Citizens Bank is on located on this spot. 

Murphy’s Country Ham Store, Sharpsburg. The above picture is part of a larger display on the family business that has been donated to the Bath County History Museum by Mike Murphy. This is where the Citizen's Bank is now located. 

Brent Frizzle shared this nostalgic snap shot  of the Murphy's rolling store!! Circa 1951 Sharpsburg Ky

Remembering “The Country Ham Man”

He became a successful small-town businessman at a young age and was known worldwide for his culinary skills to yield a delicious mealtime favorite.

To this day the late Elgin Murphy is still remembered as “the country ham man”.

Many of the older, local citizens fondly recall Elgin’s Country Ham Store that was located in a large two-story brick building that fronted Main Street. (The current Citizen’s Bank of Sharpsburg is located on the property today)

Sometime around 1925, Buford Murphy, his wife Virgie, daughter Irene and son Elgin moved to Sharpsburg from Ezel, Ky. and opened Murphy’s Grocery on main street.

Buford passed away in December of 1932 from complications of Influenza, but his wife and children continued to operate the store.

In later years Irene and her husband Richard Best took over the family business.

By the time he was early twenties, Elgin had learned firsthand how to cure hams and started a business that became known as the Country Ham Store.

Elgin’s ham store was located in a large brick building built sometime after the Civil War era and housed the towns first banking business.

The Exchange Bank of Sharpsburg was organized around 1860 and was owned by Sanford Allen.

In 1926 the Allen’s retired from the banking business and the assets of the Exchange bank were acquired by the Citizen’s Bank of Sharpsburg and by 1904 the bank had moved to a new building across the street.

A few longtime residents recalled the Sharpsburg Telephone Exchange Company was housed in the old bank building before Elgin opened his store.

Henry Hornsby, a Lexington newspaper correspondent, told the story of how Elgin Murphy became known as “the country ham man” in an article he wrote in the spring of 1951.

The story goes that Elgin built up a trade that provided hams to customers all over the United States and filled orders that were shipped to customers in England and Germany.

It was said that the Golden Horseshoe in Lexington ordered around 15,000 pounds of ham a year and was Elgin’s biggest customers and he was called on regularly to supply cooked hams for special parties.

He preferred green hickory wood to smoke his hams and would have about 150 curing at one time.

Elgin also operated a store on wheels in which Cleve Fisher drove door to door to the rural areas of Bath, Nicholas, Montgomery and Bourbon counties.

The store on wheels was stocked with all kinds of food and household items offered for purchase to around 500 farmers.
While some paid for their goods with cash, others traded produce, eggs, hams and turtles and catfish for food or farm supplies.

Through the years, Elgin became an expert in the country ham business and to this day is still remembered as “the country ham man”.

For more information the Murphy family business, be sure to stop by for a visit at the Bath County History Museum on the second floor of the old courthouse in Owingsville.

The museum is open on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

 

Sharpsburg's Main street 1910 & 1970's

The Citizens Bank 1904

                                          A fire destroyed the top section of the bank in 1958

Main Street Sharpsburg, Kentucky-1910

                                           Main Street Sharpsburg, Kentucky 1970's
 

Old Sharpsburg Cemetery

 

Old Sharpsburg Cemetery

Old cemeteries are markers of human history and possible links to family we never knew.
They are monuments to the people who once inhabited our communities; they hold valuable resources for historical and genealogical research as well as historical assets that tell about a community’s past.
Yet, these sacred remnants of the past are often abandoned or neglected and are in much need of being restored.
In doing so, we all regain a sense of our own place in time and history.
In my hometown of Sharpsburg is an old abandoned grave yard known as The Old Sharpsburg Cemetery.
As a child in the early 1970s I remember the Carl House and the old Black Smith Shop that occupied the grounds adjacent to the cemetery. Even back then I remember how the cemetery was hidden by thick brush and undergrowth.
Last year I learned that someone had taken an interest in the old cemetery with headstones dating back to the 1700s.
I was thrilled to know such an important piece of our local history was going to be preserved. The goal of this project is to identify, protect, restore and preserve as many graves as possible.
According to history on the 9th day of August in the year 1849 Robert F. Caldwell sold Lot 51 in the City of Sharpsburg for $25 for the purpose of a burying ground to the Trustees of Sharpsburg including J H Camplain, William Peck, J. Allen, Joseph Stephens, William F Matholias, HE Guerrant, DF Tidings and JP Mc Nary. Of these trustees, JH Camplain, JP Mc Nary, and Joseph Stephens along with family members are buried here.
The Old Sharpsburg Cemetery history is found on pages 363-4 in 'History of Bath County' by John A. Richards, Southwest Printers, 1961. According to Richards, the cemetery was established in 1832 during the cholera epidemic.
The first recorded burial was Mrs. Jonathan Camplin with her body interred by her husband in the lot that he then owned. We have found the first burial to be in 1818. Burials continued here until 1958. These burials include prominent citizens of the time and Veterans of the Civil War.
• Dr. Wright is listed as one of the first burials, a victim of cholera.
• Joshua Barnes a Physician born in Bath Co.
• Elijah E Webb first cousin 1x removed of Daniel Boone. James Webb, Elijah’s father, and Daniel Boone were first cousins and neighbors through childhood, with visits between the families documented in Daniel Boone's remembrances.
• Childs Wren, son of Jon Wren, prominent land owner.
• Harvey Ashby a veteran of the Civil War. US Colored Infantry
• James Gray Boyd and wife Elizabeth Perkins Boyd with children William A. (innkeeper) and Mary Jane from KY.
• Joseph and Jane Caldwell, relatives of Robert F Caldwell, owner of the land.
• JP McNary, Esq. A lawyer from PA. His wife Elizabeth C. from KY. Both age 41.
• Benjamin Ogden, tailor from KY and his wife Eliza J from KY. Children: Virgil, William (Willie), Benjamin F, Lucy, and Henry. Willie found in cemetery with no dates is age 5 in 1850.
• William S Sharp a physician from KY and his wife Mary also from KY. Children: Howard age 4, Joshua age 1, and William age 3 mos.
• Sara Sharp age 17 probably daughter of Mariah Sharp.
• Thomas Summers MD, farmer from KY, and his wife Margaret I from KY. Children Mary, Elizabeth, Virginia, Paulina, Thomas and James Eli, also a dau born in 1851 Margaret Ann. Possibly another child Lea Allen born in 1855.
• Margaret Potts Smathers consort of Andrew Smathers and Andrew Smathers. Children: Emma who married Hezekiah Crouch, Amelia Matilda “Mary” who married Nicholas A. Dimmitt. Andrew Smathers is a Freemason.
• Hugh Little from Ireland. Age 50 worked as a clerk for Mr. Ashby.
• Samuel McMichael was a hotel keeper in Sharpsburg. His wife Mary A Boyd is buried here. She is the daughter of J G and Elizabeth Perkins Boyd who are also buried here.
• Harriett McCarty Ashby- dau of George McCarty and Patsy Thompson McCarty. Housewife and Fancy domestic Cooking. Mother of 12! Wife of Harvey Ashby, veteran of the Civil War.
• Mary Polly Moffett sister of the Reverend James Moffett.
• Joseph Darrell veteran of the Civil War. Civil War-US 13th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery
• Joseph Stephens, postmaster and veteran of the Civil War Regiment: 7th Cavalry Regiment KY
and his wife Elizabeth.
• James Johnson member of the Independent Order of the Oddfellows.
There are many others buried here, marked and unmarked, prominent in their own right.
In early April of 2010 John Small and his wife Michelle began the restoration process to clean up what is believed to be the towns original cemetery.
John and his wife’s interest in the old cemetery began with the search for the burial site of John’s great, great, great grandfather, George Small.
“We have been told that it was the original cemetery in Sharpsburg. After the new cemetery was deeded, then this cemetery became primarily a cemetery for African Americans,” John said. “We are in the process of trying to uncover headstones and grave markers. We are documenting the placement and, of course, leaving the stones where they are found. Hopefully, we will eventually restore it to a suitable resting place for those buried there. Maybe George will be here.”
Johns love for family history was passed down to him by his father.
“Our lineage can be traced to George Small and John Caughey, who both fought in the Revolutionary War and, along another branch, to John and Pricilla Alden, who were among the original Pilgrim,” John said. John Caughey settled in Nicholas County as did Lottimore Hayden, an ancestor and descendent of John Alden. George Small, whose father emigrated from Germany (Schmahl) settled in Bath County in what is now Sharpsburg. His son, Moses, and many of his decedents settled in Nicholas County and later moved to Tipton, Indiana and Tipton, Iowa.
Johns father,Herbert William Small was born at Ruddell's Mills in Bourbon County on November 20th, 1918, the eldest of six, reared on the family farms in Needmore and Crayton, Nicholas County, and settled in Carlisle, county seat of Nicholas County. He served in the US Army during WWII, stateside and in the Pacific Theater from 1939 thru 1945. He married Mary June Thompson January 20, 1943 and reared a family of four. Herbert joined his father-in-law, Luther Thompson, in the floral business in 1946, now Small's Florist and Greenhouses, Carlisle, KY. He died at Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington, KY, May 1st, 2008, due to complications following a fall at home two days previously.
He was predeceased by his father and mother, Elva and Nona Small, brother James and Edward, and daughter Susan Lewis, wife of Joe Lewis. He was followed a month later on June 10, 2008, by his wife, Mary June Small. He is survived by two sisters, Robbie Jenkins, Indianapolis, and Peggy Harris, Milford, OH and one brother, David Small, Louisville. He is also survived by one son, John Small, Campton, KY and Arlington, TX and two daughters, June Tincher, Carlisle, KY and Cathy Mathis, Lawrenceburgh, KY.”
In the past year John and Michelle along with Sharpsburg Mayor Dorothy Clemons, Charles Jones, Chairperson of the Old Sharpsburg Cemetery Task Force, Councilwoman Thelma June Gulley, and several volunteers who are residents of Sharpsburg, restoration efforts are well underway.
To date over 700 graves have been staked out, 100 headstones recorded and lots of dense undergrowth has been cleared away.
For a more thorough list and photographs of the restoration in process please go to http://www.pbase.com/jtsmall/old_sharpsburg_cemetery
Family Names found so far at the cemetery are as follows:
ARRASMITH
ASHBY
BARNES
BATTAILLE
BLOUNT
BOYD
BRECKENRIDGE
CALDWELL
CAMPLIN
CLEMONS
DARRELL
DAVIS
DUCKWORTH
EDEN
GOFF
GREEN
HALL
HALL
HAMILTON
HATHAWAY
HAZELRIGG
HORD
HOVERMALE
JACKSON
JOHNSON
JONES
LAINGOR
LANE
LEWIS
LITTLE
MC MICHAEL
MC NARY
MASSIE
MILLER
MOFFETT
NORTHCOTT
OCHGUS
OFFUT
OGDEN
PERKINS
POTTS
REED
ROBY
SANFORD
SCOTT
SHARP
SMATHERS
STEPHENS
SUMMERS
TRUMBO
VICE
WEAVER
WEBB
WEBSTER
WHALEY
WREN
WRIGHT

Old Buildings

This old house is located just a few miles out on Tunnel Hill Road. Or for us older Sharpsburg folks,  just a few miles out past the old high school, going down Flat Creek!

                                            

W.A.Jones- Dealer in Stables and Fine Groceries. His Saloon was said to have constantly kept a supply of Fine Wines and Liquors!                 

                 The photograph below is the home built for Dr.John Berry around 1809. 

Dr. Berry never married and had no children of his own. He did however, take in his sister and her young children to care for them.

Today this farm is known as Ball Tara Farm and is owned by Brenda Ball. Below is the same house during a different time The little girls standing in front of the house are Joyce Robinson Munday and Dorothy Robinson Matthews. Joyce and Dorothy lived in the house with their grandparents, Floyd and Callie Robinson. Many of us remember this historic home as The Parker Farm. It is located on Peck Pike. Lillian Colliver, the grandmother of Jane Foster Warner also lived in the historic Berry house.

 Colliver children taken when their family lived in the old Berry house.  John Paul Colliver, Lillian  Colliver Foster and Conway Colliver

The same  house when it was The Oscar and Elizabeth Parker Home Place

The Sharpsburg Academy was first thought to have been established around 1880, but old newspaper clippings, especially the one where the principal was murdered by one of his students, shows the school was in operation in 1847.  

That big social Hop with the oyster supper, it was held in 1867!!

                                                  The Academy was a tuition based school.

For several years, Miss Fannie Talbot was the principal. It is said that when the building was torn down, some of the bricks were used in the interior of the new Sharpsburg School.

                             

                                             School children in front of the Sharpsburg Academy

The late Mr. George Stone spent many years researching the history of Sharpsburg. These are his hand written notes that he shared with me during an interview a few years ago. The old log school mentioned in the first paragraph would have stood near the empty lot across from the current day Citizens Bank. The brick school mentioned would have also been located on Main Street. 

In the rural section of Sharpsburg there were two schools, one was the Ormsby Academy, location not exactly known. I have updated information concerning the Ormsby school. According to a  Nov. 24, 1893  Bath County World newspaper clipping, the Ormsby Academy was located just beyond the tollgate on Flat Creek.

The Walker Borne School was located near the Old Springfield Church.

Fassett, a one-room structure, was where the children that lived on the Hamilton Plantation attended school.

                                      

 The Sharpsburg Graded School was built in 1912.The Gym was added in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration. (WPA) The school operated as an independent district until 1953 when it was merged into the Bath County School system. At that time, grades 1-6  were sent to Bethel and grades 7-12 from Bethel came to the Sharpsburg school. The school was closed at the end of the 1962-63 school year. In its 50 year history, over 400 students graduated from SHS!!

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                                                            Construction of the gym

   

  After the building was demolished, the gym began to fall into sad disrepair.

                                                    Photo taken in the summer of 2012

            If you visit Sharpsburg today, you will find the Sharpsburg Community Center in this location.                        The gym has been completely renovated and a library is housed inside the center.

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