In February of 1685 King Charles 11 of England and Scotland died.  This seemed an opportune time for the 9th Earl of Argyll, Archibald Campbell to return to Scotland from exile and raise his clan.  The support from his clan and other men was not great and the miserable army that he raised was wasted by dispute.  Argyll was captured and beheaded in Edinburgh and his followers were imprisoned and. then transported to the Americas.

Raritan River in New Jersey - William Sharp Sr. first settled near the left side of the picture.
The picture is taken from a bridge overlooking  the north branch of the Raritan River in New Jersey. The south branch comes in from the right and the main river flows to the left. William Sharp Sr. first settled near the left side of the picture.

 If our William Sharp was among this group is not known, but he was imported by Lord Neil Campbell.  He sailed from Leith (near Edinburgh) Scotland, September 5, 1685 on the "Henry and Francis" and arrived in New Jersey, probably at Perth Amboy, in December.  At this time William was probably twenty two years old.  In 1686 he settled on the north side of the Raritan River near where the north and south branches meet.  (See the picture to the left).   He lived there for nine years and completed the purchase of' this land from Lord Neil Campbell by 1695. 
He married Mary Smith and they are known to have had two children survive.  In 1700 he bought a 120 acre farm in Woodbridge township NJ from Rev. Archibald Riddell of Kirkaldie, Ffyffe county, Scotland for 24 Pounds.  William and Mary probably lived on this farm until they died, neither leaving a will.

Join the

SHARP / SHARPE

DNA Project
The SHARP / SHARPE Surname Y-chromosome, DNA Project was officially begun on June 2, 2003 when we registered with FamilyTreeDNA.com for our Group and were given the discounted rate for each individual test. Having read many success stories in matches with DNA for genealogical purposes, we decided that it is time to try to advance our research in the many cases where there are no written documents to help to prove our ancestry.

The success of our Project will depend on the number of participants who join our testing group, as well the documentation of the research connected with each line reqarding dates and locations of birth, death, marriage, etc.

Information on this site has come from many sources including:
Sharp Genealogy...The Descendants of William & Mary Sharp of New Jersey By Howard Sharpe   5th. Edition   1993

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