Solomon P. Sharp

Solomon Porcius Sharp (born August 22, 1787 in Abingdon , Virginia , † November 7, 1825 in Frankfort , Kentucky ) was an American politician . Between 1813 and 1817 he represented the state of Kentucky in the US House of Representatives .

Career

While still a child, Solomon Sharp and his parents came to what would later become the state of Kentucky. There he attended public schools and began working in agriculture. After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1809, he practiced his new profession in Russellville . Politically, Sharp joined President Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic Republican Party . Between 1809 and 1811 he was an MP in the Kentucky House of Representatives .

Sharp was a supporter of the British-American War of 1812 , in which he himself participated as a captain of a unit he set up. He later became a colonel in the militia . In the congressional election of 1812 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the sixth constituency of Kentucky , where he succeeded Joseph Desha on March 4, 1813 . After a re-election in 1814, he was able to complete two terms in Congress until March 3, 1817 . From 1815 he was chairman of the committee for the management of state properties.

After his tenure in the US House of Representatives, Sharp was again a member of the House of Representatives from Kentucky in 1817 and 1818. He also worked as a lawyer. In 1820 he moved to Frankfort. Between 1820 and 1824 he served as Attorney General of his state. During this time there was political turmoil in Kentucky. Sharp made himself unpopular with many of his compatriots by not supporting the domestic candidate Henry Clay in the presidential election of 1824 . First he promoted the candidacy of John C. Calhoun ; when he gave up, Sharp supported Andrew Jackson . In 1825 he was again a member of the state parliament. On November 7th, 1825, he was murdered there. The perpetrator, Jereboam Beauchamp, was arrested and executed on July 7, 1826. At that time there were also - unproven - rumors that the murder was politically motivated. This crime became known as the Beauchamp-Sharp tragedy .

Remarks

^ Date according to John E. Kleber, The Kentucky Encyclopedia, University Press of Kentucky, 1992 in the Google book search; the congress biography mentions 1780 as the year of birth.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Sharp, Solomon P.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Sharp, Solomon Porcius (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	August 22, 1787
PLACE OF BIRTH	Abingdon , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH	November 7, 1825
Place of death	Frankfort , Kentucky

[1] Date according to John E. Kleber, The Kentucky Encyclopedia, University Press of Kentucky, 1992 in the Google book search; the congress biography mentions 1780 as the year of birth.