MOGMBSharp
BENJAMIN SHARP 1820-1861
Grand Master, 1856-1857
BIOGRAPHY
From Biographies of Past Grand Masters, 1821-1901, by the Grand Lodge of Missouri:
Most Worshipful Brother Benjamin Sharp is first mentioned in the annals of the Grand Lodge as a representative from Danville Lodge No. 72 in the Grand Lodge session of 1853. At the Annual Communication in May, 1856, he was elected M. W. Grand Master, serving one year, and was succeeded by Brother Samuel H. Saunders.
Brother Sharp was born in Jonesville, Lee County, Virginia, April 12, 1820, and received his schooling in, and graduated from, the Virginia Military Institute. He took up the profession of law and in 1843 removed to Missouri, settling in Danville, where he soon took high rank as an attorney, and socially as well.
His Masonic history cannot be obtained in consequence of its destruction during the war. Danville Lodge No. 72 was burned October 14, 1864; and all the records lost. The Lodge having been originally chartered in 1842, it is safe to believe Brother Sharp became a Mason therein. Inasmuch as he represented Danville Lodge in the Grand Lodge of 1853, as the Master, his membership remained there during his life.
His tragic death occurred July 18, 1861, he being shot while seated in his buggy going to Martinsburg, Missouri. At that date a terrible condition of affairs existed in Missouri, and his death was undoubtedly by "bushwhackers."
His remains were interred in the Gregory Cemetery, one mile west of Danville, Missouri. The Masons of Montgomery County united and erected a monument, suitably inscribed, to his memory.
From the history of Montgomery County we excerpt the following, touching his death: "Benjamin Sharp kneeled down and prayed God to bless and protect his wife and children, to forgive his sins, and to grant that the armies of the Union might be successful and the Union itself preserved to his posterity forever. He died as he had lived, brave as a lion, devoted to the Union cause, kneeling and praying to God alone."
From Missouri Lodge of Research:
Benjamin Sharp was born in Lee County VA April 10, 1820 and attended the Virginia Military Institute. He studied law with his father. In 1844 he came to Missouri with his wife Sarah Rebeck-Sharp. He was admitted to the bar and served in the State Senate
He was the organizer of the Montgomery County and was largely responsible for the securing of the North Missouri (Wabash) Railroad.
Sharp was one of the few Grand Masters advanced to the position of Grand Master without having previously held other Grand Lodge positions. (Riddick, Tucker, McBridge and Brown were elected from the floor) He first appeared in Grand Lodge in 1853 representing Danville Lodge No 72, Danville Mo. He received his first and second degrees in Virginia and this third degree in Danville Lodge No 72 in 1850 or 1851.
Sharp presided in the 1857 communication of Grand Lodge and in his address recommended the closing of the Masonic College. His last attendance in Grand Lodge was May 27, 1861, just two months before his death
The story of Sharp's untimely death is found in the history of St Charles, Montgomery and Warren Counties (1885) "July 18, 1861, the day after the Fulton races, the people of Montgomery County were greatly shocked to learn that Maj. Benj. Sharp, a prominent resident of Danville and Lieut. A. Yager, a Federal officer, had been murdered near Martinsburg by a band of secession bushwackers under Alvin Cobb."
At the town of Mineola, one mile west of Danville, in the Gregory Cemetery stands a monument erected by the Masonic Fraternity of Montgomery County to the memory of this distinguished Grand Master. The monument stands approximately 6 ft. high is of white marble.
