John Lynch Sharp

Notes:

John L. Sharp, 93, of San Augustine died Monday, August 28, 2000, at Memorial Medical Center in San Augustine. Sharp, born Nov 18, 1906, in San Augustine County as a son of the late Mollie (Polk) and Benjamin Franklin Sharp, was a farmer and a U.S. Army Air Force veteran. He was a member of the Memorial Presbyterian Chruch and a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Survivors: wife, Sarah [corrected from Sharon] Sharp of San Augustine; daughters and sons-in-law, Sarah Elizabeth and Walter Garasic of Kilgore and Jeananne and Stan Elkins of Lampasas; sons and daughers-in-law, John and Anna Sharp of San Augustine and Pat and Rhonda Sharp of Killeen; and eight grandchildren. Graveside rites were held Aug. 30 at the Thomas Cemetery in San Augustine County with Bro. Neal Nichols officiating. Wyman Roberts Funeral Chapel of San Augustine, directors.

John married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Living
2. Living
3. Living
4. Living

Benjamin married Mollie Polk. Mollie was born before 1888; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lafayette married Ellen "Ella" W. Garrett on 5 Aug 1873 in San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas. Ellen (daughter of William Garrett and Lucetta Teal) was born about 1853 in Texas; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also shown as Ella.

Notes:

On the 1860 San Augustine County census, he was shown as a planter, with $36,751 in real property and $134,910 in personal property. The Garrett's lived next to the family of Frank and Minta Price, who had three children, John, Mary and William (ages 6,4 and 1). The three Price children, presumably orphaned, were actually living with the Garrett family at the time of the 1870 census. William Price, age 20, was still living with the Garrett family in 1880, and is listed as William Garrett's grandson.

On the same census, brother-in-law Matthew Cartwright had real estate at $500,000 and personal property near $75,000, with only 13 slaves. Henson and Parmelee point out by way of contrast that brother-in-law and "planter" William Garrett estate, included 132 slaves, and that "Farmer-Merchant" Iredell D. Thomas had $166,000 in accumulated wealth, and 52 slaves. (Henson and Parmelee, "The Cartwrights of San Augustine," p. 191).

In 1870, he was shown as a retired farmer, with $20,000 in real property and $5,000 in personal property.

The information below is excerpted from a five part series on William Garrett by Harry Noble, Jr appearing weekly in the SAN AUGUSTINE TRIBUNE begining on April 6, 1995 and continuing through May 4, 1995.

"William Garrett, born in 1808 and a native of Davidson county, Tennessee, was still a youngster when his parents, Jacob and Charity (Taylor) Garrett, moved the family to Arkansas. In 1827, at the age of nineteen, Garrett migrated to Texas, first settling in Nacogdoches. He established a small mercantile business there, but operated it only a short time before moving east to the Ayish Bayou District.

Either Garrett encouraged family members to joing him in Texas, or the family had developed a master migration plan, because his father and several brothers soon followed him to the area. Jacob, his father was the first to arrive, but is wasn't long before his older brother Milton came to the new territory. At some point during this relocation process, another older brother, Clairborn, also migrated south to the Ayish Bayou District....

William Garrett acquired a land grant about a mile west of the Ayish on the Old San Antonio Road. He decided that's where he wanted to live and remained there for the rest of his life. He would eventually develop a profitable plantation and build a large house. The old home has survived and is presently the Cornell and Ruby Dorsey home. While still nineteen, Garrett joined Burrell J. Thompson's militia and participated in the Fredonian Rebellion. The final battle of the insurrection occurred a little over a mile east of the Ayish Bayou. However, the culminating ambush and surrender process, where the Fredonian reinforcements were captured by Stephen Prather's small group, took place on the ridge just east of William Garrett's house.

Even though Garrett now lived in the Ayish Bayou area, he still had many friends in Nacogdoches, including Adolphus Sterne, and continued to interact with the town and its people for several years. For instance, it was during this period that he was ordered to repay a debt of six pesos to Jesus de los Coy, a resident of that district. Also, in August of 1832, Charles S. Taylor, another Nacogdoches resident, sent $30 by Mr. G. Pollett for payment on an account he had had with Garrett. Taylor, in an accompanying letter, asked Garrett for a receipt, plus all of the local news. News was a valuable commodity in pioneer days and was gathered at every opportunity and from whatever source available.

Tension had been growing for years in Nacogdoches between the civil authorities and Jose de las Piedras....(culminating) in the Battle of Nachogdoches on August 12, 1832....Garrett and Alexander Horton (later) signed a sworn statement that: "...James B. McMahan served as private in Captain Smith's company....(and that they) were in the same battle and in the same expedition at Nacogdoches."

In 1832, Garrett was selected as one of the committee members to select a site for the town. In the following year he bought a large parcel of land from Obediah Hendrick. Perhaps this was purchased in connection with his approaching marriage to Mary "Polly" Cartwright. Their vows were exchanged on October 20, 1833.

Garrett's first land transaction recorded in San Augustine County deed records was for lot 161, sold to Francis Cabler in December 1837 for $50. In March, 1838, he served on the adultry trial of Simpson Brown and Eliza Dalton. The case was dismissed.

In the late 1830's, an economic depression took hold. Adolphus Sterne wrote in his diary "Grog Shops all Shutt no Cash...times have never been so hard." In financial maneuvers to help survive this crisis, Garrett formed a Cotton warehouse partnership in Sabinetown with his father-in-law, John Cartwright. he also entered into several land ventures with his brother-in-law, Matthew Cartwright. Cotton prices had dropped to the point Garrett and the Cartwrights were willing to store cotton in a warehouse and gamble on the prices going back up in future years.

After his father's death (in 1842), William was appointed administrator of his father's estate, and at the same time made administrator de bonis non of (brother) Clairborn's estate. He submitted the final settlement of his brother's estate in January of 1848 and shortly after that was able to close the books on his father's estate--personally receiving a portion of each property.

He was administrator of the esate of his father-in-law, John Cartwright, and Henry J. Lockridge. He transferred a half interest in a third of a league of land located on the Trinity River in Nacogdoches to William D. Ratliff--another brother-in-law. Two months later, Garrett bought the same half interest at public auction with a high bid of $70.

Garrett was obviously a busy man at this point in his life. Married and with three minor children, not only was he overseeing one of the largest plantations in East Texas and part owner of a cotton warehouse venture, he was also the administrator of at least four estates. Even thought the depression was still hanging on in 1843, Garrett was doing well with his plantation. The tax rolls showed substantial income and the family owned two fine carriages--an unusual luxury at that time.

His wife died in July 1846. Garrett enrolled his minor daughters at the Women's Female College, a department of Wesleyan College. The tuition was $10 per session for each girl. Garrett offset some of his expenses, however, by furnishing firewood during the winter. The total tuition charges for 1847, minus the firewood, came to $48. Garrett boarded the girls at the home of Stephen W. Blount for the year for a total of $115. Additionally, he was paying $10 per semester for music lessons. Obviously, he was dedicated to providing the best education available for his daughters.

Earlier, in March 1847, Clementine Holman, widow of Sanford Holman and daughter of William Garrett's brother-in-law Matthew Cartwright had died (sic), leaving her two small children Anna and William. Within days after the marriage of William and Lucetta, William moved his two daughters back from the home they were boarding in to their plantation home, as well as taking in the two Holman children, again helping out relatives in time of need. Considerable credit should go to Lucetta. Married less than a month, she not only had a new husband but four small children. She and William went on to have seven more children of their own.

Due to his numerous business and estate dealings, Garrett was frequently in court. In 1847, Edmund Gaines, the commanding general of Fort Jessup, fifteen miles east of the Sabine River in Louisiana, filed suit against the estate of Jacob Garrett for which William was administrator. District Judge O.M. Roberts ruled in favor of Garrett. However, the case was later retried and the jury subsequently returned a verdict in favor of General Gaines. In 1848, Emory Huston, son of Almanzon, filed a lawsuit against William as well. The jury found in Garrett's favor. Later, he lost a judgement for $25.25 to Iredell Thomas, but a case filed by William and Mary Seawall was found in his favor. Leon Chabert of New Orleans, representing a commodities trading firm, had been pursuing a delinquent payment claim against Matthew Cartwright for years. He eventually sued Garrett and Samuel Burrus as guarantors for Cartwright. The court ruled in favor of the plantiffs (Burrus and Garrett). Additional lawsuits continued into the late 1850's, with verdicts going both for and against Garrett.

In December 1863, Richard Waterhouse, a San Augustine merchant, was murdered and robbed. A number of citizens assemebled and appointed "a committee of Safety...consisting of more than fifty of our most respectable citizens." William Garrett was a primary spokesman. They investigated the murder and arrested three men, immediately sentencing them to be hanged, not waiting for the next session of the district court. Two of the men, Malvin Huston and William M. Everett, were scheduled to be executed on the morning of February 13, 1864, and the committee "ordered (their) examination by a unanimous vote, and directed that both...men should be tortured, if necessary, to procure a disclosure of the circumstances...Everett refused to make any disclosure, (therefore) he was subjected to torture which was slight and he very soon consented to tell all he knew of the matter..." The interrogation committee consisted of William Garrett, Alexander Horton, and Dr. Isaih J. Roberts. Another small group had similarly interrogated Everett, obtaining a statement almost identical in substance and detail. The surprising testimony pointed to one of the town's leading attorneys, Henry M. Kinsey. As in most murder investigations, there were conflicting "facts" and a wide range of opinions. Huston and Everett were executed on February 15, 1864, less than seven weeks after the murder of Richard Waterhouse. They had "retracted the whole of their statements" prior to their executions. Kinsey denied everything. He was never brought to trial. Shortly after the victim's son returned from the Civil War, Kinsey was gunned down (May 10, 1865) by the "Waterhouse Party."

After the war, during the reconstruction period, things were difficult for Garrett. He salvaged as much as he could and continued on. In March 1874, he sold his steam mill, engine saw, and grist mill to W.S. Rhodes. He continued to buy and sell land. In 1875, he purchased 700 acres from his sister Lurena Curl, Thomas Curl's widow, for $1,000. The land was in Ellis County, and had been part of the Clairborn Garrett headright. He sold "for love and $100" a one-fifth interest in a section of land four miles west of San Augustine to Ella and Lafayette Sharp, his daughter and son-in-law. This transaction occurred in February of 1880."

Garrett died on January 12, 1884 at the age of 76. He was buried just a few yards northeast of his plantation home. That cemetery, known today as the William Garrett Cemetery, has twenty-five graves. Garrett was the father of thirteen children by two marriages. Both wives were buried with him, along with eleven of his children, seven daughters and four sons. Also near him are two daughters-in-law.

(Research):

Census Listings:

1850 Census
Texas, San Augustine, San Augustine District
Enumerated 14 Sept 1850
Stampted 336
77-77
Wm. Garrett 38 M Farmer 14700 Tenn
Lucette Garrett 22 F Texas
Clementine Garrett 14 F Tenn
Mary Garrett 12 F Tenn
William Garrett 2 M Tenn
Anna Holman 10 F Tenn
Wm Holman 8 M Tenn

William married Lucetta Teal on 18 Nov 1847 in San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas. Lucetta was born in Oct 1828 in Arkansas; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

William Garrett remarried Lucetta Teal in December 1847, a little more after a year after his first wife died. Earlier, in March 1847, Clementine Holman, widow of Sanford Holman and daughter of William Garrett's brother-in-law Matthew Cartwright had died, leaving her two small children Anna and William. Within days after the marriage of William and Lucetta, William moved his two daughters back from the home they were boarding in to their plantation home, as well as taking in the two Holman children, again helping out relatives in time of need. Considerable credit should go to Lucetta. Married less than a month, she not only had a new husband but four small children. She and William went on to have seven more children of their own. (Noble)

(Research):

Census Listings:

1900 Census
Texas, San Augustine County, San Augustine
Enumerated 26 Jun 1900
SD 267 ED 73 Sheet 1B
226-226
Garrett, Lucetta Head W F Oct 1828 71 E 9/6 Ark Tn Tn Keeper of House
Garrett, Kate Dtr W F Apr 1867 33 S Tx Tn Ark
227-227
Cartwright, Mack Head W M Dec 1870 29 m 6 ZTx Tn Tn Farmer
Cartwright, Minnie Wf W F Mch 1873 27 m 6 1/1 Tx Tx Tx
Cartwright, Infantt Son W M Mch 1900 7/12 S Tx Tx Tx
Storne, Corry Servant B M 1882 18 S Tx Tx Tx Laborer
Sharp, Jane Cook B F 1895 25 W Tx Tx Tx Cook
Sharp, Alfred Son B M 1886 14 S Tx Tx Tx