Public Workers: John Sharp

PUBLIC
WORKERS. JOHN
SHARP. It may be said safely that at no time has there been a man in the Church public works possessing more pronounced business ability, and having more practical capacity, than John Sharp. He was foremost among the leaders in business and public enterprise in Utah for years; and, though he was the first Bishop of the Twentieth ward, Salt Lake City, serving in that office for more than three decades, he will always be remembered more as a practical business leader, than as a guide in ecclesiastical affairs. John Sharp was born in Devon Iron Works, Scotland, November 8, 1820, and was twenty-eight years of age when he came to Ameri- ca. In early years, he spent his time in the coal mines of Scot- land, being sent into the earth on mining business, at the age of eight years. When "Mormonism" found him, in 1847, he was still engaged in coal mining in Clackmannanshire, the gospel being pre- sented to him by Elder William Gibson, an able disputant and orator, and one of the first Scottish Elders sent out to preach. He converted the three Sharp brothers who thereupon left their native land and came to America, in 1848. Landing in New Or- leans, they journeyed up the great river to St. Louis, where they remained until 1850, in the spring of which year they took up their march to Utah, arriving in the valley on August 28. For this reason, and further because of the business and ecclesiastical sphere which he filled so early and for so many years, John Sharp properly may be classed as one of the founders of our commonwealth. As if the old employment still held charms for Mm, he went to work in the Church stone quarries immediately upon
his arrival in Utah.
Here he shaped and dug stone for

PUBLIC WORKERS. 281 / the old tabernacle and tithing office. His abilities soon made him superintendent, and it was under his direction that the stone for the massive temple foundation, the great temple wall, and other public works was carved from the hills. With great diffi- culty, and almost insurmountable obstacles to overcome in trans- portation, the huge blocks of granite were nevertheless carried by ox teams, eighteen miles from the quarries to the temple block. Aside from the hauling, it was no indifferent task to control and make advantageous use of the labor, since it was mostly unskilled, and was offered as tithing. It required a master spirit, and such a one was John Sharp. When, in 1864, Superintendent of Public Works Daniel H. Wells was called on a mission to England, Bishop Sharp was ap- . pointed assistant superintendent, and became acting superintendent until the former's return. When the Union Pacific railway was built in 1868-9, he became a sub-contractor, under President Brig- ham Young, in the building of the heavy stone work of the bridge abuttments, and the cutting of the tunnels, on the Weber. They employed five or six hundred men, their contract amounting to about one million dollars. A second contract amounting to $100,- 000, was also completed by Sharp and Young, contractors. In the settlement of these contracts, President Young, through Bishop Sharp's aid, obtained about $600,000 worth of iron and rolling stock, and it was with this beginning that the Utah Central rail- road between Ogden and Salt Lake was constructed. In 1871, Bishop Sharp was made the superintendent of this road, Joseph A. Young and Feramorz Little having held the position before him. He was made both president and superintendent in 1873. When the Utah Southern railway, from Salt Lake City south, was organ- ized, in 1870, he was elected its vice-president, went east as the purchasing agent, and soon became extensively associated with the Union Pacific directors, being finally elected one of them, and holding that office until his death, December 23, 1891. John Sharp was ordained Bishop in 1854, by President Brig- ham Young, and was set apart to preside over the Twentieth ward which, up to that time, had been coupled with the Eighteenth ward under Bishop Lorenzo D. Young. He was, therefore, its first Bishop, and its practical founder; his labors gave it the reputation

282 IMPROVEMENT ERA. of being one of the most
liberal and
intellectual wards in the Church. The portrait which the Era prints of Bishop Sharp clearly advertises the power and the push of the man. The story of his life is a lesson in energy, progress, advancement. From a coal pit, in Scotland, to a president and superintendent of railroads, and a director in the Union Pacific of America, is a long, upward step, showing such brilliant progress as could be made only by energetic action and faithful, fearless work. From a mere miner, in a crowd to be governed, to the office of Bishop to supervise and control the people of a great ward, is a step no whit shorter nor less exalted. It teaches the lesson that to succeed one must struggle with circumstance, and overcome by faith and toil; that change, evolution, and action, secure mental and material progress; while, on the contrary, traveling self-satisfied in ruts, seeking sameness, and courting inaction, are conditions to be avoided. LUCKY TED. That was the nickname they called him by, — The boys at his school, — and this was why: He was bound to win from the start, they said: It was always the way with Lucky Ted! The earliest flowers in his garden grew; The sums on his slate came soonest true; He could sail a boat or throw a ball, Or guess a riddle, the best of all. You wondered what could his secret be, But watch him awhile and you would see. He thought it out till the thing was plain. And then went at it with might and main. Trusting but little to chance or guess, He learned the letters that spell Success. A ready hand and a thoughtful head — So much for the "luck" of Lucky Ted! — Youth! s Companion.