Starting October 7, the San Jacinto Monument's Observation Floor will close for renovation, open on weekends, with discounted museum admission during this time.

Part of an old map of the San Jacinto area from the Texas Revolution

Veteran Bio

Texian Location:  Participant

The Kemp Sketch

(What is this?) | Download the original typescript

SHARP, JOHN -- Came to Texas in 1833 and settled at Brazoria. He was First Lieutenant in Captain Robert J. Calder's Company at San Jacinto, having been promoted to that rank March 24, 1836. He was issued Donation Certificate No. 509 for 640 acres of land, August 14, 1838 for having participated in the battle. He was issued Bounty Certificate No. 1201 for 320 acres of land December 30, 1837 for having served in the army from March 10 to June 10, 1836.

A letter from J. F. Perry, Peach Point, Texas, March 28, 1836 was published in the Southern Recorder at Millidgville, Georgia, April 19, 1836 and may be found in the Georgia State Library. The following was extracted from the letter.

"Mr. Sharp has arrived from Houston's camp--he left there on the 24th in the evening--states that there were 800 Mexicans encamped in the prairie just above Houston's camp--and Sharp thinks there has been an engagement. Houston has resolved to attack them, and so sanguine was he of success, that he was about to take measures when Sharp left, to prevent them escaping by sending a body of 300 men beyond the enemy. Prisoners taken by our men states that the enemies force did not exceed 5000 men after leaving Bexar. Houston had with him about 2000, and his force was daily augmenting--nothing certain had been heard from Fannin the reports are that he is retreating. The garrison at San Patricio of 95 men had had an engagement with 1200 of the enemy, killed 150, and wounded as many more, and retreated without loss."

The Telegraph and Texas Register, Columbia, Texas, of November 2, 1836 carried this notice: "Married. On Tuesday 25th, John Sharp and Sarah J. W. Calvit." His bride was Sarah Jane Wharton Calvit, daughter of John Calvit, who was one of the "Old Three Hundred" of Austin's colonists. The wife of Mr. Calvit was Barbara Mackall Wilkinson, a sister of Mrs. Jane Wilkinson Long. Mr. Calvit died in Brazoria County, January 7, 1836, leaving a widow and three daughters. The eldest of them, Mary Ann, was married to Jared D. Groce, Jr., the second, Sarah Jane Wharton, was married to Mr. Sharp and the third, Barbara Mackall, was married to John H. Herndon.

Mr. Sharp died at Velasco, August 17, 1840. The Brazos Courier of September 1, 1840, carried the following item regarding him: "Died at Velasco, 17th ult. John Sharp, Esq. Notary Public and U. S. Consular Agent of the Port. Mr. Sharp emigrated to Texas in 1833 and had since been a resident of this (Brazoria County)..He served with credit in the campaign of 1836, and shared in the perils and honors of the memorable day at San Jacinto. On the year following he was a passenger on board the schooner Julius Caesar when she was captured by the Mexican squadron, and in consequences he was taken to Matamoras where he was for some time the prison companion of the late Wm. H. Wharton. The deceased was well know to the inhabitants of this vicinity, many of whom have witnessed the firm and honorable course he ever pursued through the trials incident both to the early settlement of the country and its struggles for independence; and from the stand he maintained throughout the trials he claims our remembrance as a specimen of the True Texian, a character well know and abounding at home, but never yet duly appreciated abroad."

Sometime after the death of Mr. Sharp his widow was married to Robert S. Herndon, brother of John H. Herndon. Mr. Herndon died in Brazoria County in 1845. Mrs. Sharp-Herndon was alive in 1895.

In the Headright Certificate No. 150 issued to Mr. Sharp in 1838 for one league and one labor of land by the Board of Land Commissioners for Brazoria County it is simply stated that he arrived in Texas prior to May 2, 1835.

Postmaster at Brazoria in April, 1836.

Written by Louis W. Kemp, between 1930 and 1952. Please note that typographical and factual errors have not been corrected from the original sketches. The biographies have been scanned from the original typescripts, a process that sometimes allows for mistakes in the new text. Researchers should verify the accuracy of the texts' contents through other sources before quoting in publications. Additional information on the veteran may be available in the Herzstein Library.


Battle Statistics

  • Died in Battle: No
  • Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Company: Capt. Robert J. Calder

Personal Statistics

  • Alternate Names: Sharper
  • Came to Texas: 1833? 1835?
  • Date of Death: 1840 Aug 17
  • Other Battles: Bexar
  • Bounty Certificate: 1201
  • Donation Certificate: 509
  • Wife: Sarah Jane Wharton Calvit Sharp Herndon