Sharp was the LDS Church's representative in negotiations regarding the construction of the First transcontinental railroad through Utah Territory.

He represented the LDS Church and its president, Brigham Young, at the driving of the final golden spike of the railroad on 10 May 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory.

Sharp practiced plural marriage; in 1885, he was prosecuted for unlawful cohabitation under the Edmunds Act.

[5] The New York Times criticized the church's removal of Sharp and suggested that it "reveals again the stubborn character of the Mormons' opposition to the law".

His son James Sharp was the mayor of Salt Lake City and succeeded in his position as director of Union Pacific Railroad.