ULYSSES B. SHARPLESS.
Ulysses B. Sharpless, treasurer of Atchison county, is one of the most successful citizens and business men of the county. He is the son of pioneer parents. Reared on a pioneer farm, successful as a merchant and public official, he is universally recognized as one of the most influential men of Atchison county today. Mr. Sharpless is a descendant of old American stock, his ancestors having been among the original 100 Quaker families brought over from England by William Penn, and colonized near and within the city of Philadelphia, in 1682. Joseph Sharpless, the direct ancestor of U. B. Sharpless, erected a stone house on the ancestral farm of the family in 1700, near the city of Chester, Pa., which is still standing in an excellent state of preservation. One room of this old and stanch dwelling is still in exactly the same condition as the original builder left it. The timbers and boards of this house were drawn together by means of wooden pins instead of nails.
U. B. Sharpless was born January 18, 1870, in Delaware, a son of Benjamin T. and Susan (Green) Sharpless, the former of whom was a native of Delaware, and the latter a native of Pennsylvania. The family resided in Delaware until 1878 and then migrated to the West, settling on a farm near Pardee in Atchison county, Kansas. Here Benjamin T. lived and reared his family of six children, as follows: Mrs. Cora E. (Burdick), deceased; Mrs. Olivia R. (Pfouts), deceased; Mrs. Susan Ella (Shifflet), of Atchison; Ulysses B., with whom this narrative is directly concerned; Carrie died in infancy; Mrs. Emma M. Hulings, Center township, Atchison county. Benjamin Sharpless died in 1894, and the mother of the foregoing children departed this life in 1908.
C. M. VOELKER,
County Clerk.
U. B. SHARPLESS,
County Treasurer.
S. S. KING,
County Commissioner.
CHAS. T. GUNDY,
City Judge.
He of whom this review is written was eight years of age when the Sharpless family came to Atchison county. He was reared to young manhood on his father’s farm and learned to cultivate the soil under the tutelage of his father, who was a successful farmer. He was educated in the common schools and early learned to apply his education to the best advantage for himself. When twenty-one years of age he obtained his first position as manager of a general store at Monrovia, Kan. This position entailed a number of duties which kept him busily employed for a number of years. From 1891 to 1903 Mr. Sharpless managed the Monrovia store, served as postmaster, and performed the duties of station agent for the railroad company. However, he found time to take an interest in politics and became active in the affairs of the Republican party when yet a young man. In 1903 he removed to Effingham, Kan., and engaged in the hardware and implement and grain business with considerable success. He still retains his interest in this business, although now a resident of Atchison. Mr. Sharpless has also become a land owner in the county and has farm lands near Effingham.
He was married in 1892 to Sadie A. Cook, born and reared in Atchison county, and a daughter of Thomas F. and Margaret Cook, who were pioneer settlers of this county, coming here from Missouri in 1860. To Mr. and Mrs. Sharpless have been born five children: Gladys A., Margaret S., Edith Aubine died at the age of seven years; Lois A., and Alice Marie. All of the living children are attending the Atchison public schools.
The civic and political career of Mr. Sharpless has been an interesting one and he has risen from the rank and file of the Republican party to become one of the recognized leaders of his party in Atchison county and Kansas. His first civic office was as police judge of Effingham. He also served a term as mayor of that city. He was elected a member of the State legislature from legislative district No. 3, in Atchison county in 1910 and again elected to succeed himself in 1912. He was also a member of the Atchison County High School board and served as treasurer of this organization. In the fall election of 1914 he was elected to the office of county treasurer by a large and handsome majority—evidence of his great personal popularity among all classes of citizens. He assumed the duties of the treasurer’s office in October of 1915, and is bestowing the same care and application in the discharge of his public duties in this capacity as he has always taken in the conduct of his personal business affairs.
Mr. Sharpless is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Blue Lodge, No. 48, and is a Knights Templar and Royal Arch Mason. He is past noble grand of Spartan Lodge, No. 250, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Effingham, Kan., and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the latter city. He is also fraternally allied with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and the Fraternal Aid Union of Atchison.