Biographical Sketches
JOSEPH SHARP, M. D.
Who is engaged in the practice of medicine in Kansas City, is numbered among the worthy sons of the Buckeye State, his birth having occurred in Chauncey, Ohio, June 26, 1851. He is a representative of one of the old families of that state, his grandfather, Joseph Sharp, having been born in Ohio in 1800. He followed the occupation of farming, served as colonel of the state militia, and was quite prominent in public affairs. He represented Fairfield county in the state legislature in 1843, and was recognized leader in matters of public improvement. Mr. Sharp was a man of fine physique, six feet, two inches in height and weighing 210 pounds. He rounded the Psalmist's span of three-score years and ten, and was well preserved both physicially and mentally at the time of his death. His father was Joseph Sharp, who located in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1798, and served under General Morgan in the Revolutionary war, and was the second in command in the whiskey rebellion. He served in the first 13 sessions of the Ohio legislature, and took an active part in molding the history of the state, with which his name was inseparably connected. He died at the age of 65 years, and the loss of this valued citizen was deeply mourned. The Sharp family is of Scotch-Irish lineage.
The father of our subject was Dr. James Sharp, a physician, who wedded Mary Cutler, and is now living with his wife in Sugar Grove, Ohio. They had 2 children, Joseph and George C. Mrs. Sharp was a daughter of Charles Cutler, a native of the Buckeye state, who for many years followed merchandising in Chauncey. In 1849 he started for California, and on the way was stricken with cholera and died. He was a man of splendid constitution, noted for his even disposition and noble character. To the Puritans who located in this country in the days of its early history, he traced his early ancestry, and he was the possessor of some of the sterling traits of character of that worthy band.
Dr. Joseph Sharp resided at Logan, Ohio, until 18 years of age, and pursued his literary education in the public schools. He early became his father's assistant, and it may be said that from his boyhood he has been connected with the medical profession. After graduating at the William Jewell College, of Liberty, Missouri, in 1871, he took up the study of medicine in the Kansas City College of Physicians and Surgeons, at which he was graduated in March, 1873. He was then appointed house physician of the Kansas City Hospital, where he served for 1 year, and then engaged in practice in Sugar Grove, Ohio, for a term of 6 years. On the expiration of that period he came to Kansas City in 1880, and has since carried on business here, successfully engaged in general practice. He is also professor of the principles and practice of medicine in the Kansas City Medical College, and is a member of the Jackson County Medical Society, the Kansas City District Medical Soceity, Missouri State Medical Society, the Missouri Valley Society, the Tri-State and American Medical Associations, also the American Public Health Association. He was president of the Fairfield County Medical Society of Ohio in 1877, and was secretary of the Kansas City Medical Society from 1882 until 1885, also president of the Jackson County Society in 1887, treasurer of the Kansas City District Medical Society since 1889, and one of the secretaries of the State Medical Society in 1890. In 1893 he was president of the Kansas City Medical College, and is still secretary of the board of directors. Steadily has he worked his way upward, and is today a most able and eminent representative of the medical profession.
On the 5th of June, 1877, was consummated the marriage of Dr. Sharp and Miss Olive Beatty. They had 1 daughter, Nathlie M. On the 22nd of April, 1895, the Doctor married Mrs. Eugenia Boland, widow of Colonel Michael Boland, at one time a prominent attorney of Kansas City, and a daughter of Julius Mendel.
This page was last updated August 2, 2006.