James Sharp
James L. Sharp (1816-1893) was a Civil War veteran of the Union army who served as Scott County’s third sheriff in the 1860s. He was a prominent resident of Winfield, which was known at the time as Chitwood.
See Also: Sheriffs of Scott County
Preceded By: Bailey Buttram • Succeeded By: W. Terry
Early Life
James Sharp was born Nov. 15, 1816, the son of James and Fleming Means Sharp of the Buckeye community in Campbell County — near modern-day Pioneer.
Sharp married and had two children before the death of his first wife, including son Nicholas (1841-1887) and a second son who died in infancy. He remarried to Mary “Polly” Gibson on Jan. 11, 1846, and they had at least 12 more children. Their wedding ceremony took place at the home of Polly’s father.
Civil War
Sharp enlisted in the Union army at Winfield on Sept. 5, 1863. He served in Company A of the East Tennessee National Guard. This coincides with Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s march through Scott County en route to Knoxville to liberate East Tennessee from the Confederacy. Burnside’s army encamped at Chitwood. Another future sheriff, Milton Terry, also enlisted while Burnside was in the area.
Sharp was discharged in Clinton, Tenn. on Dec. 16, 1863.
Sheriff
Sharp was elected the fourth sheriff of Scott County in 1864, succeeding Bailey Buttram. He was re-elected in 1866 and 1868, and left office in 1870.
Latter life
James and Polly Sharp’s last child, son James L. Sharp, was born in 1865, while his father was serving as sheriff of Scott County. Their earlier children included daughter Kissie Chitwood (1846-1901), son Ewell (1848-1927), son John (1852-1907), son George Washington (1852-1913), daughter Elizabeth Dobbs (1855-1930), son Sterling (1856-1916), daughter Sarah Beauchamp (1858-1931), son Calvin (1860-1953), son Reden (1862-1937), and a daughter who died in infancy.
Nicholas Sharp, James Sharp’s oldest son, built the two-story motel in Winfield that came to be known as the Hines Motel.
James Sharp died on May 10, 1893, at the age of 76. He was buried in the Winfield Baptist Church Cemetery.