Preface
Dear Family and Students of Genealogy:
The published materials
herein represent the gleanings of my inquiry since 1978 in pursuit of the love
of family, genealogy and of history. The
purpose in gathering these works is to leave a heritage for my living relatives
to know of their roots and for future descendants who may desire to know from
whence they came.
It is also a purpose to
arrange for this information to be assessed by anyone interested through the
Internet, and through public and private libraries, chiefly those located in
areas of the country where some of the stories occurred. It is hoped this will place in the public
domain the threads and marvelous colors of humanity that comprise this diverse
family story.
Another purpose is to
create documents, the study of which, for my descendants, will be a combined
exercise in learning about some well known public figures in history as well as
a rather thorough knowledge of our family and its allied families -- those who
married into our family.
And lastly, but perhaps
most importantly, it has been my desire to document elements of Christian
heritage that have been a part of our family lines. It is of interest to note that the first
person for whom there is information here of a Christian life is the occasion
of the baptism in 591 AD of English King Ceawlin.
He is the earliest member of this ancestry that claimed Christianity
over 1,400 years ago. Pope Gregory had
sent a missionary, named Father Columba, to
William the Conqueror is
my sixth cousin, 27 times removed! He is
also is the 17th great grandfather of the first husband of Alice Carpenter, my
eighth great grandmother. He did not
immigrate to
Source:
http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/laws.html
Sir Thomas Abney,
elected Lord Mayor of
The Christian heritage
and strong leadership of Plymouth Colony Gov. William Bradford of the
Mayflower experience is widely known in the colonization of
Statistics are often a
curiosity for some and such has been accumulated here. There are over 7,300 individuals in this
genealogical database. There is
information describing over 2,500 marriages.
The average age of those for whom both birth dates and graduation dates
are known is about 60 years. Obviously,
the earlier generations' shorter life spans affect this average downward, as
many of us in this current century definitely outdistance this average. Certainly I am among those who have passed
that average age, and my father-in-law, Thomas Shelton Boggess, Jr., is 94
years old at this writing. There are 69
generations in these books, with each generation averaging slightly over 28
years. That means that the average
first child was born at the parent average age of 28 years. There are over 2,000 surname spellings, a
number of which are merely variations on the same name.
However, the very
earliest relative who had significance of a King was Cerdic. We do not know when Cerdic was born. It is said that Cerdic and his son, Cynric,
and their following of wandering barbaric Germanic soldiers, established a
presence in
The earliest relative
about who I have recorded anything would be Godwulf, who was born about 80 AD.
Godwulf came about on this earth in the days that the Biblical New Testament were just being completed.
"Revelation was written when Christians were entering a time of
persecution. The two periods most often
mentioned are the latter part of Nero's reign (54-68 AD) and the latter part of
Domitian's reign (81-96 AD). Most scholars date the book about 95 AD. A few suggest a date during the reign of Vespasian: 69-79
AD." Other New Testament writings
were being wrapped up in the era of Godwulf's
birth. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was
beginning to grow across the world.
However, it would be the 17th generation from Godwulf before
Christianity came into this family line.
Of course, one of the most famous Post Biblical events to occur to the Isralite nation was the destruction of the
There are people in my research who connect with well known historical events, but who are not those for
whom we find Christian witness. For
example, we have that ruthless ruler of unfavorable renown, King John of
Lackland, my tenth cousin, 23 times removed, who was forced by the English barons
to agree to issue a Royal Charter in 1215, which became known as the Magna
Carta (Latin name for the Great Charter). It was the document which limited royal
power and made it clear that even the king had to obey the law. It was an early form of democracy, human
rights and civil rights expressed in written form in an official government
document. King John, his son, King Henry
III, and his grandson, King Edward I, all issued editions of the Magna Carta,
seventeen copies of which survive today.
Fifteen of the copies are in
King Edward I, known as
Longshanks, because of his unusual tall height, was the King who defended
against the rebellion of William Wallace of
One English lady, previously
mentioned in our family, provides a very interesting connection in world
history. Alice Carpenter is that lady,
who appears on my father's side of the lineage.
Her first husband was Edward Southworth, the 11th great grandson of King
Edward I, who issued the most famous version of the Magna Carta. On my mother's side, King Edward I is my 12th
cousin, 21 times removed. After Edward
Southworth died in
There is a section here
with the monarchs of
My earliest interest in
the genealogy stemmed from research my brother-in-law, Victor Marcus Ehlers,
Jr., did on the Sharpe family in the early 1970's. His interest was motivated
by the prospect of my father being eligible for delayed share of the estate of
a Sharpe ancestor who was an exceptionally interesting entrepreneur. Receiving a share of the estate never
developed, but a wonderfully entertaining story was learned about Willis Sharpe
Kilmer. Among the interesting facts,
Willis owned Exterminator, the winning horse in the 1918 Kentucky Derby.
Vic received some papers
in the 1970's from Mrs. Maybelle Alberta Sharpe, a
resident of
In 1978, my
father-in-law's first cousin, Edwin Murphey, insisted that the farthermost
anyone could trace back in their Boggess family was their great grandfather,
Bennett Boggess of
We have a remote
connection to the Rockefeller family of American History. My third grand aunt was Catharina Sharp, wife of Johann Philip Rockefeller,
who is the fourth great grand uncle of Vice President of the United States
Nelson Rockefeller. Philip and
Cartharina were married in
Texas History is
important to me. My earliest ancestor in
My grandfather Henry
(Harry) Seth Sharpe came to
For friends interested
in the study of the War Between the States, Confederate President Jefferson
Davis is the uncle of my great, great aunt, Susanna Elizabeth Davis Abney. He also is the son-in-law of United States
President Zachary Taylor.
There are cousin
connections to 20 of the 44 Presidents of the
.
These genealogical documents are the kind
of writing that may not inspire enthusiasm among younger family members, but I
believe many of them will enjoy having access to the information when they are
over 50 years old. This work is like a
reference source and many readers will be consulting only those parts they
think are relevant to them, checking the index to see where their name appears. However, I do hope some will read about other
families and will enjoy the rich complexity and diversity that is our privilege
to be related to such interesting people.
I hope and trust the
younger generation will keep this book accessible until that time of interest,
and that some of them may be inspired to add the subsequent data that occurs as
time marches on for our family, for the world, and as we await the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. After that, we
will not need these writings anymore, as we will know in God's good providence
all that we will need to know in order to praise Him in eternity.
Yours
in Christ, In the year of our Lord, 2012
Dwight
Albert (D. A.) Sharpe
E-mail: dasharpe@aol.com
Personal Web
Site: www.dasharpe.com
Memberships:
Society
of the Sons of the American Revolution,
University
Boggess
Family Association
Chapman
Families of America
Sharp
Families (Palentines) of
Admiral
in the
the Governor of
Member of the
Charter member of the Admiral
Chester W. Nimitz Squadron
Of the