Mrs. William Sharper
Known Name(s)
Mrs. William Sharper
Address
242 North St. Burlington, VT
Establishment Type(s)
Tourist Home
Physical Status
Extant
Detailed History
The building at 242 North Street in Burlington, Vermont, was offered in the Green Book by Mrs. William Sharper following her husband’s death. Jennie Woods of North Carolina was an African American married to William Sharper of Connecticut. The 1920 Federal Census shows the Sharpers residing in Burlington, renting rooms at 89 Main Street. In May of 1922, they purchased 242 North Street from the Ellen McGrath estate. It was a single-family dwelling with a rear apartment used as a rental property for extra income. In 1926 the apartment house made the news when one of their tenants, Philip Heed, shot his wife Beatrice three times in the back as she tried to run from him at her place of employment, Green Brothers Store. The Heeds were a white couple. The headline read: “Philip Heed shoots bride of six months three times and then turns the revolver on himself after brooding for three days over quarrel.” They both survived and later divorced. The article quoted Jennie Sharper, who expressed shock at the shooting and needed to find new tenants. It seems Jennie Sharper took care of the rentals while her husband worked as a chef or steward in local clubs and restaurants, such as the New Sherwood, the Van Ness Roof Garden and the Ethan Allen Club. He died in 1945. One of the pallbearers was George Braxton, whose wife, Ellen, was the proprietor of a tourist home listed in the Green Book from 1947 to 1950. Two years after the death of George, Jennie Sharper advertised her home in The Green Book. She was able to support herself by renting rooms to both long-term tenants and to tourists. By 1957, her house was no longer listed.
