Sharpe, William, 1742-1818

William "Billy" Sharpe (December 13, 1742 – July 1, 1818) was a lawyer, politician, American Revolution patriot, and a delegate to the Continental Congress from North Carolina.

Born near Rock Church in Cecil County in the Colony of Maryland, Sharpe pursued classical studies, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina and engaging in surveying there. He moved to Rowan County in late 1768 or 1769 in that part of the county that became Iredell County in 1788. Sharpe was a member of the North Carolina Provincial Congress in 1775. Prior to the onset of the American Revolutionary War, he served on the Rowan County Committee of Safety. During the war, he was an aide to General Griffith Rutherford of the Salisbury District Brigade in the Indian campaign in 1776. Sharpe was one of four commissioners appointed by Governor Caswell to form a treaty with the Indians in 1777. He served as Colonel commanding the 2nd Rowan County Regiment of the North Carolina militia from 1776-1777. When the 2nd Rowan County Regiment became the Burke County Regiment of militia, Sharpe served as its commander from 1777 to 1781.

Sharpe served as a delegate to the North Carolina constitutional convention in Halifax in 1776, and helped to frame the first constitution of the State. He was later appointed in 1779 as a delegate to the Continental Congress, ultimately serving from 1779 to 1781, and was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1781 and 1782. Sharpe placed the first bill before the legislature of North Carolina to propose a publicly supported university in the state. It subsequently passed in 1789, creating the University of North Carolina.

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