Andrew I. Sharpe (Ole Andreas Skjerpe) was born to Iver and Helene Grosfield Skjerpe on November 26, 1886, in Heskestad, Norway, the fourth son in a family of seven children. At the age of 16, after his confirmation, he followed the path of three elder brothers and emigrated to America, coming to the home of his father's brother, his uncle Martin Ueland, in Griggs County in 1903.

Here he attended public school and then was graduated from Aaker's Business College in 1907. He first worked as a bookkeeper and stenographer for R. S. Lunde in Cooperstown and then became manager of the Shepard Farmers Elevator, south of town, where he stayed from 1910-1923. He moved to Glenfield in 1923, where he owned and operated the Glenfield Grain Company until 1931. Following that he then managed the Peavey Elevator and Lumber Yard until 1957. Having also dealt in insurance all through his grain-buying days, he started his own Glenfield Insurance Company until 1967. He died in Carrington in January 1968.

He married a native Griggs County girl, Janna Vatne, daughter of Tonnes and Bertha Watne Vatne, at her home southeast of Cooperstown, October 9, 1910. Four children were born to them: Ira, deceased; Bernice Alfson, Binford; Doris Bronaugh, deceased; and Stella Cooley, Anchorage, Alaska. There are 16 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren.

When the family moved to Glenfield, they became members of the then Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mrs. Sharpe was an active member of the Ladies Aid, the Royal Neighbors, and the Glenfield Homemakers. Known for her kindness and warm hospitality, she opened their home to many from the stranded traveler in the early days to the school teacher who needed "a home away from home" for the school term. Mrs. Sharpe passed away in January 1961.

Always a man of vision and civic leader, Andrew Sharpe was instrumental in establishing an early road that passed through Cooperstown and Glenfield as State Highway No. 7 (now 200), during the 1920s. He helped organize the Tri-County Electric Co., in 1937, serving as its president for six years and as director for 25. He was a member of the House of Representatives in the State Legislature from 1939-1945. He served on the township board for 16 years and the school board for 15. He was a member of the American Lutheran Church, of the Masonic Order (Master of the Cooperstown Lodge in 1932), the Shrine, the Elks, and the Modern Woodmen of America.

Source:  Glenfield History 1886 €“ 1987 Page 179