Joseph Smith Sharp

Joseph Smith Sharp was my great-great grandfather. He was born July 17, 1840 in Calhoun County, Illinois. 

His family was driven west with the exodus from Nauvoo which began in February 1846. They reached Council Bluff, Iowa in June, Joseph was six years old. 

For some reason the family then moved back to Illinois and lived for several years in towns from which they had come.  The family then moved west. Joseph turned sixteen in July of 1856. He was a big help to his father with twelve children, traveling hundreds of miles across the plains to an unknown land. They left the security of home, family, friends, prestige and jobs. Comforts and luxuries of the time were traded for hardships, hunger, sorrow, pain and suffering. Their lives were at risk, daily, in such an undertaking. This they did willingly to hold onto that which they valued most, their testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.


Later that year, five handcart companies were organized to travel West. The first three companies arrived in the Salt Lake Valley by October without serious loss. The Willie Company and the Martin Company left much later and were caught crossing the mountains in deep snow and bitter cold. When Brigham Young learned that two more handcart companies were en-route, he immediately took steps to send supply trains to relieve them. Joseph Smith Sharp was one of those chosen to leave immediately with one of Brigham’s wagons. He was sixteen years old at the time. He was large for his age, knew the trail as he had just come that way himself and he was mature and dependable.  The handcart companies were hundreds of miles away, near the Sweetwater River. They were in desperate conditions when they were finally met. It was the middle of December before all surviving emigrants from those companies were safely in the Salt Lake Valley.

Joseph stayed with his family for several years after they reached Utah. He spent the next few years helping his father prepare a home and farm for the family. He was the older brother who was looked up to by the younger ones. He helped support the family and matured quickly in his responsibilities.

During this time Joseph met Rebecca Jane Higley. She had been born in Yellow Creek, Illinois. They were married March 13, 1862. Joseph was 21 and Rebecca was 16. She was born just one year after the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. Her family were members of the LDS church and came to Utah. Family records indicate that Joseph and Rebecca were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City.   They made their home in Toole.

Joseph and Rebecca had three children born while they lived in Tooele.  The family moved to Richmond, Utah in 1871 where they lived for two years. Two years later they were called by the prophet to move their family to Franklin, Idaho, to farm an area referred to as Poverty Flat. The family then moved to Preston, Idaho. 

The children started school in a private home about one half mile from where they lived in Preston. Joseph was the school teacher. There were about forty students and school was in session only three months of the year. The sessions were opened and closed with prayer. Arithmetic and the alphabet were the main subjects taught.  Most of the students at that time were fortunate to have a slate and slate pencil. There were, however, very few books. The children took turns reading a paragraph as the book was passed down the row. For a number of years there were no regular salaries paid to the teachers. A tuition was paid by each child at the rate of one dollar per month, if the teacher could collect it from the parents. 

About 1885 Rebecca Jane gave her consent for Joseph to marry a second wife. He chose Emily Fellows, a widow, with two boys. Together they had one child, a girl, who they named Emily.  Soon after this marriage, Rebecca Jane decided it was a mistake for Joseph to have two wives and thereafter they were never entirely without domestic problems. That situation may have had something to do with the decision to sell the farm near Preston. Idaho and move to a small farming area near St. Anthony, Idaho. Joseph bought a farm there, Rebecca and her family moved with him, Emily and her children remained in Preston.

Joseph was active in the church all his life. He spent much of his time in positions in the Sunday School. He was Sunday School Superintendent for many years. 

Joseph had dropsy the last part of his life and suffered a great deal before his death. His legs became very bad and he was not able to stand during his last few months. He died in Idaho on November 25, 1899, at the age of 59.