USS Wamsutta

The USS Wamsutta was a screw steamer built in 1853 at Hoboken, New Jersey. She was purchased by the US Navy on September 20, 1861 at New York City from H. Haldrege; and commissioned on March 14, 1862. She was used as a gunboat in support of the US Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.

Anderson Sharp was born in Franklin around 1831. He enlisted on March 18, 1862, on the USS Wamsutta in New York City, New York. At the time of his enlistment he was 31 years old and a blacksmith. On January 8, 1863 he transferred to the USS Lackawanna. The first local sailor to enlist, Sharp appears to have escaped from slavery to freedom in New York City. Sharp's brick memorial paver has been sponsored by Jeffrey Davis.