William Graves Sharp (March 14, 1859 – November 17, 1922) was an American lawyer, manufacturer, three-term congressman, and diplomat.

Biography

Sharp was born in

Mount Gilead, Ohio Mount Gilead is a village and the county seat of Morrow County, Ohio, United States. It is located 41 miles (66 km) northeast of Columbus. The population was 3,660 at the 2010 census. It is the center of population of Ohio. The village was esta ...

on March 14, 1859. He moved to Elyria, Ohio with his mother and her parents, occupying the Starr-Worthington home on Washington Avenue.

Education and early career

He graduated

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the Law Department of the University of Michigan in 1881 and then practiced law in

Elyria Elyria may refer to: *Elyria, Ohio Elyria ( ) is a city in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan statistical area and the county seat of Lorain County, Ohio, Lorain County, Ohio, United States, located at the forks of the Black River (Ohio), Black ...

. He also engaged in the manufacture of charcoal, pig iron, and

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...

s. From 1885–88 he was

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...

Lorain County, Ohio Lorain County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,964. Its county seat is Elyria. The county was physically established in 1822, becoming judicially independent in 1824 ...

Political career

He was a Democratic

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...

in 1892, a Democratic candidate for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in 1900, and a member of the Sixty-first to the Sixty-third Congresses (1909–15), but resigned in 1914 to become Ambassador to France by appointment of President Wilson. He served until April 14, 1919, then returned to Elyria, Ohio, and engaged in literary pursuits. Sharp was known as the Father of Air Mail due to his vision of using aircraft for postal delivery. He crafted legislation for this goal which was eventually successful in being passed. He was one of two Elyrians to have served in Congress and also one of two Lorain Countians (Myron T. Herrick) to have served as Ambassador to France during the early 20th century.

Death and legacy

He died on November 17, 1922 in

Elyria, Ohio Elyria ( ) is a city in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan statistical area and the county seat of Lorain County, Ohio, Lorain County, Ohio, United States, located at the forks of the Black River (Ohio), Black River in Northeast Ohio 23 miles sou ...

and was interred in Ridgelawn Cemetery. The family's Elyria home was purchased in 1945 by th
Washington Avenue Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
congregation which was relocating at that time from Elyria's Second Street. The Sharp home was incorporated into the church's new building, dedicated in 1951. Many of the mansion’s interior architectural details–including marble fireplaces, decorative ceiling mouldings, plaster reliefs on the parlor walls, and a beautiful grand staircase–remain. Through the efforts of the Elyria Historical Association, Lorain County Historical Society, Ohio History Connection, and Washington Avenue Christian Church, an historical marker (Lorain County's 7th and Lorain County's 35th) was unveiled on the Washington Avenue property on September 3, 2020 with approximately 50 people present. Remarks at the unveiling were presented by the Honorable Frank Whitfield, Mayor of the City of Elyria, Mr. Bill Bird, President of the Elyria Historical Association, Ms. Kerri Broome, Executive Director of the Lorain County Historical Society, and the Rev. Nathan A. Russell, Senior Pastor.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, William Graves Ambassadors of the United States to France People from Mount Gilead, Ohio People from Elyria, Ohio Ohio lawyers University of Michigan Law School alumni County district attorneys in Ohio 1859 births 1922 deaths 1892 United States presidential electors 19th-century American lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio