Christian Sharps, a member of Meridian Sun Lodge 58 in Philadelphia, was a machinist who invented the famous Sharps breech-loading rifle in 1848. An important part of the Civil War, the iconic rifle was used by Colonel Hiram Berdan's elite regiment. Owing to the weapons they used, these expert riflemen earned the name "Berdan's Sharpshooters," originating the term still in common use to designate a highly skilled marksman: sharpshooter.
