My Descending from Gov. - D. A. Sharpe

Register Report for William Bradford
Generation 9
On the day of my birth, Pam American Airlines made its very first flight across the Atlantic
Ocean to England.
Source:
http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/june_24.html
On my first birthday, June 24, 1940, the Republican National Convention approved a plank
in its platform calling for racial integration of the armed forces: "Discrimination in the civil
service, the army, navy, and all other branches of the Government must cease." For the
next eight years, Democrat Party presidents (and cousins) Franklin Delano Roosevelt and
Harry S. Truman refused. Not until 1948 did President Truman finally comply with the
Republicans' repeated demands for racial justice.
Source:
Michael Zak, "Back to the Basics for the Republican Party."
Theater movies occupied a lot of my interests in much of my younger and mid-life. The year
of my birth, 1939, was a banner year to be produced for what became classic movies. They
included "Gone With TheWind," which won best movie at the Academy Awards; Jimmy
Stewart's "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," the "Wizard of Oz," John Wayne's
"Stagecoach," "Goodbye Mr. Chips," "Wuthering Heights," "The Hunchback of Notre
Dame," "Son of Frankenstein," and "Drums Along the Mohawk." Into what better movie
world could one be born?
Source: http://www.films101.com/y1939r.htm
My first name comes from my father and my great Uncle Dwight Sharpe of Chicago, whom I
never saw. My middle name, Albert, is immediately from my Uncle Herschell Albert Chapman
(my Mother's brother and only sibling), but it also goes back to my great grand father,
William Albert Abney, Sr. The only time I ever saw Uncle Herschell was when my Mother
and I visited him and his wife, Gertrude, in Oakland, California in 1940, the summer of my
first birthday. They all visited the World's Fair of San Francisco that was exhibiting at the
time. Of course I can't remember it, but the photographs Mom kept around a while gave me
memories of the trip and of my Aunt and Uncle.
The boy's name, Dwight, is pronounced as it rhymes with light. It is of Flemish origin, and its
meaning is "white or blond." It is a variant of DeWitt. Possibly it could be a short form of
the surname derived from Dionysius. Dwight was given fame in the United States by two
Yale University presidents, and by President Dwight David Eisenhower.
The boy's name, Albert, is pronounced AL-bert. Its meaning is "noble, bright, famous." It is
from an Old French name, Albert, of Germanic (Frankish) origin. The name was revived in
the 19th century, mainly in honor of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, consort (husband)
of Queen Victoria, who was noted for his enthusiastic support of the application of science
to the modern industrial age. Her many children and grandchildren carried the name to
most of the royal families in Europe, but her eldest son's first move as king was to drop it.
Queen Victoria is my 29th cousin, four times removed. The name Albert was made famous
also by Albert Einstein, who devised the theory of relativity as a young man.
For my growing up years in Texas, I lived in Ballinger, Houston, Sweetwater, Dallas, San
Antonio and Austin.
My birth was in Ballinger, Texas where my father was Pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church. Living there only till about my second birthday did not leave me with any memory of
it, except recollections of my family members talking about it and the people there whom
they loved and served.
The Sharpe's moved to Houston, Harris County, Texas in June, 194, living first in Central
Park at 6916 Sherman, not far from the Houston Ship Yards. D. A. (as I was called to
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