Anderson M. Sharp. Widely known in the financial field of Kansas and prominent in business and public life at Neodesha, is Anderson M. Sharp, president of the Neodesha National Bank, who had been officially identified with this institution since it was organized as the Bank of Neodesha, in the spring of 1899. For thirty-three years Mr. Sharp had been a resident of Wilson County, early proving his stable character as a business man and his public spirit as an earnest citizen. He was born July 28, 1859, in Calloway County, Missouri. His parents were William and Mary (Maupin) Sharp.
The Sharp family is of Scotch and English extraction and it may yet be numerously found in Virginia, to which state, in colonial days, the Sharps came from across the Atlantic Ocean. On down to the present the name had been honorably borne in business, professional and public life. Apparently the first pioneer of the family westward was the grandfather of Anderson M. Sharp, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, who settled very early in Monroe County, Missouri, and his life and labors ended there before his grandson was born.
William Sharp, father of Anderson M. Sharp, was born in 1805, in Albemarle County, Virginia, and died in 1881, in Calloway County, Missouri. As his father for some years was a traveling evangelist, the family home, during his boyhood, was in Kentucky, and from there, in 1826, he moved to Monroe County, Missouri. He followed agricultural pursuits during his entire life and accumulated wealth, but he was more than a farmer and occupied a prominent position in public affairs and was a man of influence in every section in which he lived. All his life a staunch democrat he filled many local offices in the gift of his party and with distinction served one term in the State Legislature, representing Monroe County. He was less active in political life after removing to Calloway County, but he continued a leader in Methodist Church affairs and held every lay office in the local body. During the mustering days he was placed in charge of the state militia and for that reason was subsequently addressed as General Sharp. He was a Knight Templar Mason for many years.
William Sharp was married, first, in early manhood, in Kentucky, and thereby became the father of three children: Jane, who became the wife of John Moore, is now deceased as is her husband; Robert, who was a soldier during the Civil war and lost his life at the siege of Vicksburg; and R. V., who is a farmer residing in Pike County, Missouri. To a second marriage one son was born, James P., who was a retired farmer when his death occurred at Mexico, Missouri, Mr. Sharp’s third wife was survived by one daughter, Mary, who is a resident of Moberly, Missouri, and is the widow of William Barker, an insurance agent, who died at Baltimore, Maryland.
William Sharp’s last marriage was to Mary Maupin, who was born at Staunton, Virginia, in 1818, and died in 1884, in Audrain County, Missouri. Seven children were born to them, as follows: Annie, who died at Moberly, Missouri, in 1914, was the widow of John Furnish, who had been a retired farmer; John T., who was a dental practitioner, died in 1883, at Vandalia, Missouri; Kate, who is the wife of T. N. Furnish, a retired farmer, resided at Shelbina, Missouri; William A., who is in the real estate business at Mexico, Missouri; Anderson M., who is president of the Neodesha National Bank; Fannie, who was the wife of the late W. A. Edmonston, an attorney, died in 1897, at Mexico, Missouri; and J. B., who is a resident of Fulton, Missouri, is assistant cashier of the Southern Bank at that place.
Anderson M. Sharp attended the public schools in Calloway County, and then entered Fayette College, at Fayette, Missouri, where he remained a student until September, 1881, completing his junior year. Impaired health then made it almost a matter of necessity that he should put aside his books for a time, therefore for the next year he traveled, visiting Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona before returning to Calloway County. From there, in the spring of 1883, he came to Neodesha, establishing himself near the city on a farm and becoming interested in the business of handling stock. He also taught school and additionally, for two years, served as clerk of the District Court at Fredonia.
The spring of 1899 found Mr. Sharp with health restored and ready to enter actively into business and accepted the position of assistant cashier of the Bank of Neodesha, in April, 1899, becoming cashier and continuing until 1903, when the bank was reorganized as the Neodesha National Bank, of which he became president on January 1, 1916.
The Neodesha National Bank had a working capital of $50,000, with a surplus of $11,000. The first officers after its organization as a national bank were: C. M. Condon, of Oswego, president; W. H. Condon, of Oswego, vice president, and Anderson M. Sharp, of Neodesha, cashier. The present officers are: Anderson M. Sharp, president; W. H. Condon, vice president; and G. C. Pitney, cashier. The bank is housed in a handsome, modern brick building, erected in 1903, the bank occupying the first floor and the second floor rented as offices. It is located in the business district, on the corner of Main and Fifth streets. As president Mr. Sharp manages the business with a careful conservatism that is reassuring to both the business interests of the city and to the individual depositor, and his name stands for soundness and integrity in every enterprise with which it is connected.
Politically reared in the democratic party, Mr. Sharp still upholds the principles of that organization but had no desire for public office, although he is active as a member of the school board, and, during one term, as mayor, gave the city one of the best business administrations it had ever had. At different times he had served on boards and committees of importance and at present is a member of the board of trustees and is secretary of the Wilson County Hospital. While not always, because of lack of time, accepting official position in the various benevolent organizations of the city, Mr. Sharp is a generous contributor to their maintenance, as he also is to all charitable movements of worth that are brought to his attention.
In 1888, in this city, Mr. Sharp was married to Miss Hattie Kimball, who was born in Indiana and is a daughter of H. H. and Jane (Tanquary) Kimball. The mother of Mrs. Sharp is deceased, but the father, who is a retired farmer and a bank director, resided in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Sharp have three children: Jessie, Frances M. and Lowell. Miss Jessie Sharp is a popular teacher in the Neodesha High School. She was graduated from Lexington College, Lexington, Missouri, with the degree of A. B. Frances M., the second daughter, is a member of the freshman class in the Kansas State University, while Lowell, the only son, is completing the high school course at Neodesha preparatory to entering college. The handsome family residence is situated at No. 222 Main Street, and Mr. Sharp owned also a half interest in a farm of 180 acres, located three miles south of Neodesha.
As a Mason Mr. Sharp is identified with Harmony Lodge No. 94, Free and Accepted Masons; Fort Scott Consistory No. 4, and Mirza Temple, Mystic Shrine, at Pittsburg, Kansas. He is a valued member of the Kansas Bankers’, the American Bankers’ and the Wilson County Bankers’ associations, and is an important factor in the Commercial Club at Neodesha.