Hi Charles...... I am not sure if there is a connection or not but I do have a couple John Sharps in my line. I have a John Sharp with a spouse Mary......in England (I believe Horncastle Lincolnshire) born around approx. 1780ish. They had a child James Sharp born in approx 1810 (per one record) and christened 16 February 1812. He married Elizabeth Cole (or possibly Catherine Cole) on 18 June 1883 at St. Peter St Paul, Belchford Lincolnshire England. I know James and Elizabeth had another child named Susan christened 09 April 1840. According to IGI there are possibly two other children born to James and Elizabeth....a Mary Ann christened 27 April 1834 and a Charles christened 01 July 1838. All children were christened in Belchford Lincolnshire England.........most likely, though not confirmed yet......at St. Peter St. Paul. James's son John Sharp came to the US in approx 1851......he came in through NY.........met a Hannah Catherine Murphy while there........then set off for Evanston, IL in 1855 where he settled. Hannah would not marry John until he converted to Catholicism.......he finally did, he sent for her and they married in 1857...she moved to Evanston, IL with John. They had a number of children.........James Charles, Edward Anthony, Elizabeth, Hannah Catherine (was a Catholic nun in NY), John Baptist, Joseph (died 5 days after his birth), and Susan (married name was Sullivan). James Charles had a number of children (probably 8 or so.......one was named John Baptist....I believe there were 5 John Baptists in his line). Edward Anthony is my great grandfather and he had 2 children with wife number one....Katherine Salisbury (died when the house caught on fire).....and 16 children by wife number 2, my great grandmother-Catherine Atkinson. All from my Sharp line started in Evanston/Chicago IL areas and most are still there..........however the later generations seem to have spread everywhere. I believe John Sharp (son of James and Elizabeth) is the only child that came to the US. I have a good amount of information on my Sharp line (with a few holes of course) so if you think there is a connection, please contact me at suzyking@aol.com and I will forward you my full genealogy report on them. Good Luck, Suzy