Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Townsend SHARPLESS
The following obituary appeared in the "Village Record," West Chester, Pa. dated 1 mo. 5, 1864:
The well-known dry goods merchant, Townsend Sharpless, diedyesterday morning, aged seventy-one years. He was a member of the Society of friends. He was known to every citizen of Philadelphia and indelibly identified with its business history. For many years he carried on the dry goods business in Second street, where by the experience of industry and economy, he prospered apace. Some years ago he erected spacious premises at the corner of "Eighth and Chestnut streets. The building, substantial and costly, is as severely plain as was the apparel of its builder, and stands in the midst of architectural ornamentation in all its Quaker-like plainess.
Mr. Sharpless, some time previous to his decease, relinquished business to his sons. He devoted much of his time to works of benevolence. The practical working of the Apprentices' Library, and its present prosperity, are in no small degree attributable to his care and energy. When phonography was first introduced in this country Mr. Sharpless appreciated its beauties. He soon rendered himself proficient in its practice, and his private books and memoranda, henceforth, were written in phonetic characters. He was a visitor at the Eastern Penitentiary, and was teaching the art to favorite convicts, by way of pasttime, when, we believe, the Board overruled the idea, fearing that, possessed of such an art, the prisoners might apply it to improper purposes. Among his own society Townsend Sharpless will not soon be forgotten.
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