LINKS TO SOME ALLIED WEB SITES
LINKS TO SOME ALLIED WEB SITES
This site contains information on the life of Mary (Corn) Sharp (1789-1864). Information is provided here to communicate Mary's exemplary actions during her lifetime. Far ahead of her time, Mary was an early and true proponent of freedom and equality for all. Known to be the major sponsor of one of the earliest women's college in the United States, Mary may also be credited for having freed many slaves. She began returning their freedom when presented the opportunity more than ten years before the Civil War, and payed for their return journey to Africa.
This web site was created to promote and support a project restoring the previously unmaintained Mary Sharp Cemetery. Joy Gallagher, chairperson of the Winchester Historic Preservation Committee, initiated this project when she learned of the cemetery's state of disrepair.
These pages are provided to share the information learned of her life, and also to request assistance with the ongoing restoration and maintenance activities of her cemetery.
A note regarding meaning and use of underlined colored phrases within the material at this site:
Referred to as "hyperlinks", clicking one of these phrases will cause the
document associated with that phrase to be presented on your screen (display
monitor) for viewing.
February 28, 2008 - Picture of MSC graduate Eliza Ellett
This picture was provided by George Pitt, who is Eliza's great-great-grandson. A hyperlink allowing it to be viewed has been placed within Eliza's entry on the Alumnae page of the College Scrapbook.
February 20, 2008 - Two items were added to the college section of this website:
Another
picture of Mary Sharp College (this one taken about 1910) was found by Joy
Gallagher.
Excerpts from some courtship letters between MSC graduate Eliza Ellett & her
husband to be.
October 8, 2006 - The cemetery driveway has been paved!
Joy Gallagher informed me that the driveway was paved. Our sincere thanks goes to the Winchester City Council for having this task performed.
June 24, 2006 - Pictures for three alumnae and a cemetery update
Jerry W. Cook, Curator of the Shelbyville-Bedford County History Museum provided us with pictures of Mary Ophelia Finney, Mary K. Gill, and Willie Kate Whitaker. He also provided a picture of Willie's husband, William Alexander Frost, and a copy of the 1859 Graduation Program Card. All of the above artifacts are from the Shelbyville-Bedford County History Museum, except for Mary Finney's picture, which is a part of Jerry's private collection. Thank you very much, Jerry, for making these available to us. They can be found in the Mary Sharp College Scrapbook.
Joy Gallagher has given us an update as to the current status of the Mary Sharp Cemetery and several new pictures from the cemetery. Her report and two of the pictures can be seen in the Mary Sharp Cemetery Scrapbook.
November 15th, 2004 - Winchester Herald-Chronicle Newspaper Article
A news story by Shanna Gunn appeared in the November 12th edition of the Winchester Herald-Chronicle. It provided an update on the status of the Mary Sharp Cemetery. A picture accompanying the article showed, from left to right, Dan Sharp (a relative of Mary), and Glen and Pam Grant (owners of the Estill Springs Monument Company).
September 27th, 2004 - Mary (Corn) Sharp now has a new headstone!!
Estill Springs Monument Company installed the replacement stones that they have made for Mary Sharp's grave. Joy Gallagher provided pictures that she took as the new stones were being set. Joy's photos and their associated information can be found in the scrapbook that appears on the Mary Sharp Cemetery web page. Joy also provided an update as to the status of the Mary Sharp Project, which is as follows:
While setting Mary's replacement marker,
two fragments from the upper portion of Mary's original marker were found
near the base of her husband James' monument. The Estill Springs Monument Company again graciously volunteered to assist, and
will
incorporate these newly found
fragments onto Mary's new headstone in a manner similar to the way they attached the previously found
bottom fragment.
The new gravel driveway has been constructed. It has a "T" shape,
allowing vehicles that enter to be able to easily turn around. According
to city officials, the new driveway will be paved before winter.
A total of $425 was contributed by local Winchester
citizens for the entryway.
June 10, 2004 -
A
Winchester newspaper article that appeared on June 3rd regarding the Mary
Sharp Project resulted in donations of $125. These funds, plus previously
pledged donations have put us over
the $400 goal for purchasing the granite for use in making Mary's replacement
markers. Further
contributions are welcomed and will be used for the purchase of a cemetery
entry gate and sign.
May 13, 2004 -
Thanks to the driving force of Joy Gallagher, and help from C. E. Vincent,
the Winchester City Council, and a number of other local citizens, a great deal
of progress has been made in renovating the Mary Sharp Cemetery.
Read about
it here.
April 2, 2004 -
Names of MSC Alumni have been checked for know genealogical data on the
internet, and where found, linkages have been established within the
list of MSC Alumni to that information. Genealogy for about 50% the alumni
can now be accessed using the above list.
March 22, 2004 -
A newspaper article relaying a conversation with 107 year old Abraham
Jackson has been obtained and is discussed in the
Biographical Notes of Mary Sharp. Abraham Jackson was the last living slave
of those freed by Mary Sharp who went to Liberia in 1855. A copy of the text may
be found in the
scrapbook for that section. The article is from a 1931 edition of the
Chattanooga News, and was written by J. E. Sanders. Sharon Doubiago graciously
provided the source for this information. Sharon is a descendant of John
Chitwood, and John was a nephew of Mary Sharp, as well as being her
administrator and the executor of her estate.
Genealogy of James & Mary (Corn) Sharp
Genealogical information for this childless couple can be found under Mary Corn in the Melton-Sharp Genealogy. Additionally, the Jesse Corn web site provides a wealth of detail on Mary's parents, and a good accounting of her sibling's descendants.
Contact & Copyright Information
Please contact me if you have problems accessing information, or if you have any questions or concerns regarding this site or it's information content. I would also especially appreciate hearing from anyone who is a descendant of:
an ancestor of Mary.
a slave that was freed by Mary
anyone who attended Mary Sharp College.
The information that appears on this web site has been collected from a number of different sources, including that provided by the "Project Preservation organization" of Winchester, Tennessee, as well as that researched by others who have permitted it's use on this web site. This information is being made freely available, providing that no fee (however indirect) is charged for its distribution. If this information is to be stored for later distribution to anyone that can be seen as a customer to you or your organization, please contact me for permission. Incorporation of this information onto CD-ROM/DVD's for distribution is also prohibited without permission. When requesting permission, please include a mailing address so that upon approval, written confirmation constituting this fact can be sent.
This copyright notice has been designed to ensure that the time and effort made by those who have contributed information herein is not used for financial gain by others. Information by some contributors include their own copyright statements, and appears with their data. For that information, the associated copyright statements should take precedence over the above specification.
If you are in doubt as to whether this copyright notice applies to your planned use of material obtained on these web pages, then please contact me.
Thank you,
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