The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-12-11
"'ADAM GOD" CAUGHT.
Leader of Religious Fanatics Found
in a Kansas Haystack.

Kansas City. Mo. Dec lit am
no longer Adam Cod I'm just plain
James Sharp
With these words. James Sharp,
IFself-styIed Adam God" and the
leader of a band of religious fanatics,
who on Tuesday afternoon engaged in
bloody battle with the police de-
partment of Kansas City beneath the
very caves of the city hall, has sur
rendered himself. The arrest was
made at Monticello, Kan, a little viii
lage twenty miles southwest of KAN
sas City, where Sharp had tramped
since the day of the battle. He was
discovered in a hay stack. He made
no resistance.
His hands dripping with blood,
caused by ugly wounds in each, his
hat pierced with holes. from the bull
lets which had failed of their purpose
to wound him, his long flowing beard
now but a short stub, Sharp no longer
looked the part of the patriarch who
had but a few days before stirred the
hearts of his followers to bloodshed.
His spirit was broken and he cried for
food. After he had been fed Sharp
said:
"a long time ago 1 followed a man
named Green, who told me he was
Jesus Christ and that I was his son.
We travelled through Oklahoma, to-
gether studying deeply the Bible. The
more 1 studied the more l came to
know that 1 was the son of God.
L
opposed me were enemies of the
Creator. 1 believed this until the first
bullet from the officers gun struck
me in the hand. Then I knew that
my teachings were wrong; the light
suddenly dawned upon me, but it was
too late and 1 fought on. 1 am sorry
for my sins; I am no longer Adam
Cod I'm just plain John Sharp.
When 1 become composed 1 shall
write letter to my followers who
are scattered throughout the entire
country, telling them that our re-
ligiOn is all wrong; it is a mistake"
Sharp's capture came as the re-
suit of his own hunger and want. He
went to the home of J. r. Beaver. a
farmer near Monticello. and asked
for lodgings. He refused to remove
his hands from his pockets saying
they were frozen. Next morning
still wore his overcoat and pleaded
with the farmer to feed him. This
was done. After Sharp had taken
leave, Beaver became suspicious. He
spoke to a number of men about town
and they decided that the mysterious
person was Adam Cod A search
was instituted and about 5 o'clock
yesterday afternoon the party came
upon Sharp sleeping beneath a huge
haystack. He showed no resistance.
officers from Kansas City arrived and
returned with Sharp to Kansas City
on a late train.
Three more names have been added
today to the list of dead as the re-
suit of Tuesdays battle. They are
Louis Pratt, aged As. the foremost
disciple of Sharp. Michael Mullane. a
policeman. who was wounded in the
battle and A. ]. Seller. a bystander
Just before he died, Mullane, who was
in the thickest part of the encounter
said:
Boys. I could have killed the
woman, but 1 wouldn't" He referred
to Mrs. Sharp, wife of Sharp, who at
tackled him with a revolver and who is
believed to have fired the shot from
which he died.
1t has developed that both Pratt
and Sharp assumed the title of adam
God" when preaching in separate
localities, but Sharp as founder held
professed to have the same divine fire,
but in a lesser degree.