4TH JULY CELEBRATION KILLS PATRIOT! LAST INDIAN ATTACK IN PA!

This heroic Revolutionary War Patriot earned a promotion from one the most famous people in American history. Later he got caught up in the last Native American attack in the State of Pennsylvania and soon died due to a 4th of July Celebration! You may be asking; how do you die from a 4th of July Celebration? In this article I’ll tell you his story and how this brave patriot, met his unique and tragic end.

 Recently I was  building a family tree for a client and I found this wild story about her 5th Great-Grandfather Captain Andrew Sharp. The more that I discovered about him, the more I knew that I wanted to share his story with all of you. 

Like many of our ancestors the exact facts of his beginnings are a little unclear. It has been stated that he was born between 1750-1755, in Northern Ireland, but some reports state that he was born, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, to Scottish immigrants Thomas Sharp and Margaret Elder. Now during this time, Cumberland County was in the back country, and he would have lived among Scots-Irish and German families on America’s first frontier. 

Andrew spent his mid-twenties fighting as a patriot in the Revolutionary War and he served three separate enlistments. He first enlisted in March 1776, as a Private in Captain William Pebble’s Company, in Colonel Samuel Miles’ Pennsylvania Rifles. He fought with his unit under General George Washington during the Battles of Long Island, Princeton, and Germantown. His first enlistment expired on 31 December 1776. 

His second enlistment was from 1 March, through 1 May 1777, with the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foote. His third enlistment started on an unknown date, and he was mustered out of service on 13 November 1783. During this enlistment he fought at the Battle of Trenton Ferry and after the battle he was cited for heroism. Family lore states that before the Battle of Brandywine, his reputation for bravery caused him to be given a promotion to the rank of Captain by General Washington! Now let me interject her for a second, how cool is it to have an ancestor that was such a hero in the American Revolution that they were given a promotion from George Washington himself? His DAR number is #221638.

After the war Captain Sharp returned to Cumberland County, where in 1783, he married Ann Woods. They had seven children. Like most of our ancestors they moved further west and lived in what is now known as Indiana County, Pennsylvania. This brings us to 1794, the Sharps decided to be one of the thousands of families to migrate to Kentucky. Friends of theirs had gone ahead of them and sent word about the golden opportunities that awaited them there, especially since there hadn’t been any Indian attacks for a few years. 

Now what happened next we are blessed to know from a letter written by Captain Sharp’s daughter Hannah Sharp-Leason, who was ten years old when her family decided to go on the adventure. She wrote this letter to her grand-nephew William Moorhead, in 1875, when she was about ninety-one years old. You can find this letter in it’s entirety at the end of this article.

It was early summer when Captain Sharp along with his family and three families of neighbors totaling twenty in all, began their adventure. They loaded a large flat boat and started down the Kishkiminitas River. Just before they reached the Allegheny River the party banked their boat, and the four men began to set up camp.

Earlier that day a band of twelve Native Americans had gone to Pittsburg to trade. The people would not trade with them which threw them into a rage. They shot and killed two men in canoes before coming upon Captain Sharp’s party. 

As the men were starting to set up camp the natives opened fire on them. Two of the men scattered into the trees and Sharp and his friend frantically pushed the boat back adrift into the river. Sharp’s friend was shot dead, and Sharp was severely wounded, but once the boat was adrift he climbed back on it to defend the women and children. Luckily there were four rifles on the boat and with the women reloading the rifles he was able to fire back at the attackers almost continuously. The boat got caught in a whirlpool and each time the boat got close to the attackers they opened fire. 

Eventually the boat broke loose, and the natives followed them along the river for twelve miles, shouting all the way for them to give themselves up. Mrs. Conner and her son wanted to give themselves up because the men were either dead or wounded. Captain Sharp told them to back down or he would shoot them himself. At that moment Mrs. Conner’s son was shot dead from one of the attackers. 

Eventually the Natives disappeared into the woods. Once again, Captain Sharp’s bravery had saved the ones that he loved. This attack became known as the last Native American attack in the State of Pennsylvania.

The next morning the party arrived at Fort Pitt where they reported the attack and regrouped. Sadly, in addition to the man who was killed trying to assist getting the boat back afloat, two of the neighbor children were killed. Most were amazed that Captain Sharp was still alive because he had shot in four different places. He had one of his eyebrows shot off, was shot once in each side of his abdomen, and once in his back. He was taken to doctors in Pittsburg to recuperate from his wounds. He was treated and was on the mend making progress every day. 

Captain Sharp knew that the family would not be able to continue the journey to Kentucky, so he sold the boat and made arrangements to buy back their home in Cumberland County. His family became optimistic that he would make a full recovery, but they had no way to prepare for what happened next. 

Thirty-six days after the attack was the morning of 4 July 1794, America’s 18th Independence Day. The day began with the patriotic citizens of Pittsburg firing off a barrage of cannons to get the celebrations started. This blast startled Captain Sharp, and he leapt from his bed, and while doing so, ripped open his main wound. The doctors were not able to stop his flow of blood and he sadly died four days later. His youngest child was only 11 days old. Captain Sharp was the last person in Pennsylvania killed by Indians.

It was raining during his funeral that was held at First Presbyterian Church, which at that time was made of logs. Captain Sharp’s favorite scripture the 124th Psalm was read. He was buried in the church cemetery with honors of war. When the present-day church was built, his bones were among the many that were unidentified and were placed in a crypt under the northwest corner of the church.

Wow, now we know the epic and tragic story of Captain Andrew Sharp. What are your thoughts? Were you shocked by this story? How would it affect you if you discovered a story like this about one of your ancestors? I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments below. And I wonder what stories like this could be hiding in your family tree.

When we discover stories about our ancestors, especially like this one, history becomes tremendously more real. The events and locations that we read about or drive by, begin to have a different impact on us and we are bestowed with a deeper enlightened understanding. Discovering and preserving stories like this is a passion of ours and we are proud to discover this one, share it with their descendants, and all of you. Be sure to see the video at the link below.

-Col. Russ Carson, Jr., Founder, Family Tree Nuts

Hannah Sharp-Leason’s 1875 letter to her grandnephew William Moorhead, about her families experience. This letter was found on ancestry.com. 

I sit down to write some particulars about my father’s death. He was a militia captain. He served under George Washington in the Revolutionary War. My father, Andrew Sharp, was married to mother Ann Woods in 1783 in their native place in Cumberland County Pa and with a family of one child moved to Crooked Creek, Indiana County, PA. This being a newer county there was no chance for schooling his children. After living there ten years he was determined to have his children schooled. He swapped his place for one in Kentucky. 

We moved to Blacklie River and got into our boat. We started down the river in the evening. The water was low. We had to [row?] night and a day. We started the next day and got two miles below the falls on the Kiskemitis river where we landed. My father had a canoe tied to the side of the boat. It got lost going over the falls. He went back for it. 

While he was gone a man came and said the Indians were coming. When father got back the women and children were in the boat. The men went and tied the horses. The sun was 1 1⁄2 hours high in the evening. They thought it best to go to the falls and stay to morning. When they were tying the horses seven Indians fired. They were hid behind a tree about fifteen steps off. 

The first fire they shot father’s right eyebrow off. When he was cutting one end of the boat loose he got a wound on the left side. When he was cutting the other std: end loose, they shot him through the other side. Father got the boat away before they could get in. He saw an Indian among the trees. Mother gave him his gun. He shot the Indian. 

The boat got in a whirlpool and went around and around for a while. When the open side went towards land they shot in on us. They followed us twelve miles down the river. They called for us to go out to them or they would fire again. Mrs. Conner and her son wanted to go out to them. Her husband was lying at her feet. He died the next morning. He said they would all be killed or wounded. Father told him to desist or he would shoot him. He fell dead at that moment across my mother’s feet, shot by an Indian. There was two dead and two wounded on the boat. One died the next morning. None of the women or children were hurt. In all there were twenty in the boat. The Indians got father’s horses. The rest got theirs [back]. My mother worked the boat all night. We got within nine miles of Pittsburgh by daylight. 

There were men out on the land burning some [people] that were killed the same day my father was wounded. They came in a canoe to the boat to help us along. One man went on before to Pittsburgh to have the doctors ready. In Pittsburgh many kind neighbors came to see us. Father lived forty days after he was wounded. He was willing to die, [but] if it had been God’s will he would be glad to have lived to help raise his children. 

Many times, I covered up and wept when I heard him moaning when his wounds were dressed. He got better and could sit up and talk to people. The firing of the cannon on the 4th of July caused the wound in his back to run. The doctors objected to the cannonading. He died the 8th day of July in the year 1794 in the 48th year of his age. He is buried in Pittsburgh PA. 

There was no relative but a younger sister and myself to follow his remains to the grave. My mother was not able to go as the youngest child was 11 days old. There was plenty of neighbors to go. He was buried with the honors of war. When my mother was well enough I went with her to the grave yard and showed her where he was buried. 

We went down over the mountains to see his father and mother before we went away. He bought school books and Bibles for all who could go to school, but he did not live to see his children sent to school. A brother came to see him while he was on his deathbed. My father sold the boat. He knew we would not go down the river any further. His brother came back but he was dead when he got there. He stayed with us till there were wagons sent for us. We went over the mountains to Cumberland County and stayed there three years. 

When we got there the brother that was with father when he was wounded came to see us. Mother showed the clothes father wore when he was shot. He looked at every bullet hole and cried like a child. We lived in Cumberland County three years and went to school. We were all good common schoolers (scholars?) but Oh, it was at the expense of my father’s life. 

We got our own place back and moved home. We got along wonderful well. We all lived together. We did not hire abroad. Providence was very kind to us. Oh, how thankful we ought to be to God for His preserving our lives through such dangers. It was a party of twelve Indians who went to Pittsburgh. The people would not trade with them. They got angry and killed all they could that day. Three men went down the river in a canoe the same day. One of them was shot dead, the other two were wounded. One of these died and the other got well. It was the last war that was in that part of the country – the year was 1794. I never had a spite at the Indians, they were very bad [badly?] treated. 

There were seven children living at the time of my Father’s death. They are all dead but myself and I am the oldest. My mother lived fifteen years after my Father’s death. I was born in 1784, February 14. Married to Robert Leason in the year 1802. Robert departed this life 1863. 

(signed) Hannah Leason
Copied by her great-niece, Miss Margaret Hosack Nov 16,1906 

P.S. The place they got back was on Crooked Creek, Indiana County PA. Tradition says when great- grandfather was wounded great-grandmother had deeds for several farms in a stocking. A man by the name C. Taylor got possession of them. One was where Sharpsburg was located, the other in Kentucky.