My name is Charles A Sharp Jr. , I have 5 siblings from my Father , Charles Melvin Sharp , he passed in Wisconsin 12/20/2011.
My parents divorced @1978. My siblings & I hadn’t seen or known much of our father since the 1980’s & knew even less of his family.
Recently a representative from a firm in Oklahoma contacted my Brother & told him my fathers kids were the beneficiaries for a 640 acre tract in Oklahoma associated with my father. This company has offered roughly a million dollars for a 3 year lease & 3/16 interest in production.
When I was a child my father had told me a few stories of his family history but in my childhood mind I was sure they were fiction based.
He told me his father had inherited 3000 acres from his father that supposedly had 30,000 acres. My grandfather’s land was dispersed to his heirs.
By the 1980’s my father supposedly traded his land rights to family members , in exchange for their mineral rights.
Up until 3 days ago I didn’t know my Paternal Grandparents full names & frankly I’m still not sure if I’m 100% right but it seems my grandfather’s name was John Francis Sharp he died in 1958 , buried in Seminole Oklahoma. He had 3 children with my Grandmother , Geneva Sharp . She was supposedly 1/4 or 1/2 Cherokee & I think her maiden or tribal name was WhiteCloud.
Both had multiple marriages & children from each. Geneva apparently passed in the 1980’s.
If any members have information about my Grandparents identities that would be helpful as it appears there are few surviving descendants.
John Francis had a son by the name of Terry Sharp with Velma Sharp. Velma has passed ( red hair intact I’m sure ) Terry is presumed living in Fresno , Ca.
Geneva gave birth to Loretta , Delores & Charles aka Chuck Sharp.
It appears she re married at least once & had at least one Son.
I’m awaiting copies from my brother of the offer from Oil Co , We didn’t know he owned these rights & are heading to Ok. To file death certificate from Wisconsin & it appears the Sharp family were early arrives on the land sscene.
My initial reaction was fear , taxatation , is it a scam , will they destroy the land , will they leave a mess , will oil company add on a bunch of billables to reduce my revenues??? So any input on those issues would also be helpful.
Unlikely it is a scam. Here is an article that might help get you started, although it is written for Texas mineral owners:
http://www.mineralrightsforum.com/profiles/blogs/i-may-own-minerals-so-now-what
I would want to find out where your minerals are located, and verify if anything is going on with them, or around them. Bottom line, do your homework and look up questions you think of on this forum before you sign anything.
Dear Mr. Caldwell ,
Thank you for the direction , your article was very helpful & I will continue to put the pieces together , last night I discovered more names of direct ancestors. I rang your office as I feel, I will need quality representation fairly soon. My Sincere Thanks to you!
Wade Caldwell said:
Hello & Thank You for taking your time to advise me!
In regards to the 640 acres that we are being offered a lease , I believe it is known as section 36 , Township 7 North , Range 5 West , Grady County. I have yet to receive a copy of the lease offer but will have it tomorrow afternoon. The land mentioned above is my conclusion from family records . It would appear my father was sole owner of the mineral rights , what I have yet to confirm is whether he owned the mineral rights for what was the original family tract of 3000 acres.
I’m hoping that I can find an Oklahoma based professional firm that can help me investigate the full scope of my family’s land & or mineral rights. I will be investing a lot of time reading all the past related info on this site & I look forward to learning as much as possible , my siblings would like to move forward as fast as possible but I want to make sure we make the smoothest & smartest long term decision.
Kitchen said:
I would want to find out where your minerals are located, and verify if anything is going on with them, or around them. Bottom line, do your homework and look up questions you think of on this forum before you sign anything.
Mr. Sharp,
I believe someone misunderstood something from the person that contacted your family. 36 7N 5W was pooled in April. I don't see a Sharp listed on the order linked below. Maybe you have an incorrect description, but I will say it is very rare to find someone that owns 640 of the 640 acres of the mineral rights in a section in that area. He may own a portion of it as well. In this section there are 70-100 owners based on the leases and the respondents listed on the pooling order.
http://imaging.occeweb.com/AP/Orders/occ5100284.pdf
I do see him associated with at least one property in Oklahoma. He was listed here.
http://imaging.occeweb.com/AP/CaseFiles/OCC1007707.pdf
Hello & Thank You for your input.
I’m not sure of many important details but my brother was pretty specific in that it was a 640 acre tract but I’ll be honest until I see the papers tomorrow , I’m unsure of what exact piece land they are making an offer on & I don’t know the name of the company.
If I may be so bold as to explain that I only just received this can of worms.
I knew nothing of my father & his family with the exception of a few childhood memories & meetings. I knew even less about mineral rights a week ago.
It’s a long tragic drama that no one ever talked about & by the time my father was a late teen he had ceased to have contact with his father.
I’m thankful for this forum & the amazing value of connecting with knowledgable individuals.
I’m afraid that I am the awkward black sheep of my generation , as my dad was to his as was his apparently. Apparently the oil co. contacted my brother over 2 years ago but He only contacted me 10 days ago , I guess when they got to the part that Oklahoma required my consent. Odd , certainly which is why I am trying to learn what process will need to be fulfilled to insure that the Great State of Oklahoma is aware of my existence & connection to certain land & mineral interests to which I’m an heir.
The link you provided was shocking & informative , Most of the Sharps listed are known to me as direct relatives. It also appears that my fathers history of using AKA’s was inherited , my aunts Loretta Smither & Delores Christy are on it as well. Delores has passed but I believe Loretta is still alive. The CB Sharp & the CP Sharp are also my father. Velma Sharp is deceased & was my dad’s stepmother & the mother of Terry Sharp , living in Fresno.
I suspect that my father did trade his land for the family mineral rights ( he told me he did it to protect the rights for us from his divorce settlements & his family are associated with several large tracts , I also suspect that various trusts set up seem to stem from my great or great great grandparents. My brother informed me that my great grandfather or great uncle Elmer J Sharp was buried in Madera County , Ca , his father was Elmer J C Sharp married to Minnie Sharp.
When I was 5 or 6 years old , my dads sisters came to visit us in California , for me it was love at first sight & I will never forget meeting these two amazing & completely unique woman. Dolores was tall with fire red hair & the personal warmth of an Angel , Loretta was more petite but had the most glamourous long blond hair in the country. Sadly the family meeting was cut short due to my mothers personality issues & I never saw them again. For years I was obsessed with trying to pry information out of my father about his sisters & our family but he was highly angered by the topic, So I stopped asking questions.
I had been led to believe that my father had passed in 1990 , I only found put he was alive months before his death. Several times in our last conversations he kept making a comment that " all my money was / is buried underground ". I thought he was making a joke about his divorces.
My father apparently willed a family geneaology report he had done in the 1990’s to my brother , I will be reading it tomorrow as well & once I have the names & locations of all my ancestors that bought or homesteaders , then I can put all the info together & correlate it to the various historic family properties.
I will be back from this visit on Monday & have more precise details. Thank you for your time & counsel.
Rick Howell said:
Mr. Sharp,
I believe someone misunderstood something from the person that contacted your family. 36 7N 5W was pooled in April. I don't see a Sharp listed on the order linked below. Maybe you have an incorrect description, but I will say it is very rare to find someone that owns 640 of the 640 acres of the mineral rights in a section in that area. He may own a portion of it as well. In this section there are 70-100 owners based on the leases and the respondents listed on the pooling order.
http://imaging.occeweb.com/AP/Orders/occ5100284.pdf
I do see him associated with at least one property in Oklahoma. He was listed here.
http://imaging.occeweb.com/AP/CaseFiles/OCC1007707.pdf