Philip Sharer (ca 1811-1889)

Class of 2026 – Business

Philip Sharer, founder of the Sharer family in the old village of Freedom, was a native of Germany.  Born about 1811 and orphaned at age 5, he migrated to America in 1837 at the age of 27.  He landed at New York after a sea voyage of 68 days.  He sought employment for 4 weeks after arrival, but New York was much affected by the Panic of 1837.  He left his trunk as security for a board bill and started on foot for Pittsburgh.  For 6 weeks he begged his way through NJ and PA.  Finally at Adamsburg in Westmoreland County, PA he got carpenter’s work at 37.5 cents per day, working 14 to 16 hours a day.  He worked there 4 years, marrying Mary Magdalene Hoffman in 1841.  Sharer then started out on foot again, this time accompanied by his wife and bringing tools and a few household pieces on a small one horse wagon.  On Oct. 1, 1841, he reached the village of Freedom, now part of the city of Alliance, and he started a cabinet shop.  He continued in that business, adding furniture and undertaking, until 1882 when he retired.  The oldest continuously operating business in the city is now known as Sharer-Stirling-Skivolocke Funeral Home.

Mr. and Mrs. Sharer had ten children: John H. (1842-1908), William Sharer (1844-?), Sophia (1847-?), Elizabeth (1848-1935), Mary (1851-?), Frances (?-?), George (1855-1940), Emma (1858-?), Frank F. (1861-1934), and Hallie (1864-1931).  Sharer died in 1889.

[Sources: Heald, Magrath, newspaper obits, SSS website]