Vol IV File 2: The Maternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James

2. Sherman Line

Ref: Booth and Northrup, "Genealogy of One Branch of the Sherman Family, from Samuel Sherman, down to the 9th generation, through Jotham Sherman." and Sherman, W. T., "Memoirs of General William T. Sherman," Vol I. and II.

Ref: LDS (Mormons) Family History Records (computerized).

Ref: Thomas Townsend Sherman, "Sherman Genealogy," (1920)

Ref: Roger Sherman Boardman, "Roger Sherman," U. of Pennsylvania Press (1938)

The Sherman (or Shearmen) family came from England, and as the name denotes, were "shearers" or manufacturers of cloth, which occupation their ancestors had followed for generations, and their posterity still followed in the late 19th century near Dedham, co. Essex, England. According to the parish records of Dedham, we find Edmond Sherman had three sons, John, Edmond, and Samuel, who were at Boston as early as 1630, but that Edmond, the father, and Edmond, the son, returned to Dedham in 1636 or 1637, where their posterity resided in the late 19th century and carry on the same occupation of manufacturers of cloth.

The memoirs of General William T. Sherman, written by himself, says, "According to Cotheran in his `History of Ancient Woodbury, CT, the Sherman family came from Dedham, co. Essex, England. The first recorded name is of Edmond Sherman, with his three sons, Edmond, Samuel, and John, who were in Boston before 1630; and further, it is distinctly recorded that Hon. Samuel Sherman, Rev. John Sherman, his brother, and Capt. John. his first cousin, arrived from Dedham, co. Essex, England, in 1634. Samuel afterwards married Sarah Mitchell, who had come (in the same ship) from England and finally settled in Stratford, CT. The other two Johns located at Watertown, MA. From Capt. John Sherman [the cousin] descended Roger Sherman, the Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Hon. William M. Evarts, the Messrs Hoar of Massachusetts, and many others of national fame. Our own family are descended from the Hon. Samuel Sherman, and his son, the Rev. John Sherman, who was born in 1650-51; then another John Sherman, born in 1687; the Judge Daniel Sherman, born in 1721; then Taylor Sherman, our grandfather, who was born in 1758. Taylor Sherman was a lawyer and judge in Norwalk, CT, where he resided until his death, May 4, 1815; leaving a widow, Betsey Stoddard Sherman, and three children, Charles R. (our father), Daniel, and Betsey." etc. etc. (Memoirs of Gen. William T. Sherman, Chap 1., page 9).

The information shown below from Line 1 to Line 5 was added on August 1993, based on information form the Family History Center at the LDS Church in Flagstaff, AZ.

1. Thomas Sherman(?), married Agnes Fulmer(?). Dates seem to be in error for this generation and the next below. This information is questionable.
2. John Sherman, born in 1445, in Diss, co. Norfolk, England, and died in 1504 in Yaxley, co. Suffolk. He married Agnes Fuller.
3. Thomas Sherman, Gentleman, born in 1490, in Yaxley, co. Suffolk, England, died November 16, 1551, in Yaxley, co. Suffolk. He married Jane Waller, daughter of John Waller and his wife, M. Thoralde. He was described as " a forceful and interesting character and a man of ability and influence," He was a churchwarden in Yaxley Parish, near Diss.
4. Henry Sherman, Sr, born about 1511-1512 (born about 1520, according to Boardman), in Dedham, co. Essex, married in Dedham, in 1541 Agnes Butter(?). He took up residence in Dedham, in Essex, on the River Stour. Dedham is only about six miles from Colchester, formerly known as Delham, a settlement that existed as far back as pre-Roman days. He died July 25, 1590 in Dedham. Henry and Agnes had at least two children as follows:
- 1. Henry Sherman, Jr., a prosperous clothier in the days of Shakespeare.
  He had many children, one of whom was as follows:
  - 1. John Sherman, who died in 1616 in England. He married Grace _______, who in turned married (2) Thomas Rogers, after the death of John Sherman. She came to New England about 1636 with Thomas Rogers and his family But John and Grace had at least two sons as follows:
    - 1. John Sherman, born in the summer of 1612, in Great Horkesley. He was age 24 on arrival in New England with his mother and his step-father in 1636. He was selectmen for 19 years between 1636 and 1682. He was town clerk, 1664-1666; successively sergeant, ensign, lieutenant, and captain of the Watertown train band; steward of Harvard College in 1660, and perhaps for some years thereafter; and deputy to the General Court in 1651, 1653, and 1663. He became a considerable landholder. His "homestall" was on both sides of Common Street, immediately south of Strawberry Hill. He married Martha Palmer, who came to America with her father, William Palmer, from Norfolkshire to New England in or about 1636, the same year that her husband arrived. They settled in Watertown, MA. John Sherman, at the age of fifty-five, became schoolmaster of Watertown, and ran ran his school eight-hours-per-day from May 1 to August 31. He remained at his post for five more years.
      
      They had two sons as follows:
      - 1. John Sherman, who died from wounds received as a soldier in King Philip's War.
      - 2. Joseph Sherman, born 1650 in Watertown, MA. He served in King Philip's Wars (1675-1676). He was a surveyor, a selectman, and also the deputy to the General Court. He died January 1730/31. He married Elizabeth Winship. They has eleven children.
        
        1. William Sherman, the ninth child (the seventh son) was born in 1692. He left Watertown, going first to Charlestown, then in Newton, finally Stoughton (south precinct of Dorchester), where he passed his remaining years. He married in 1714 Rebecca Cutler. She died the following year, leaving a child who died soon after. In 1715 he married (2) Mehetabel Wellington. They had seven children. William was 29 when on April 19, 1721, his wife gave birth in Newton (originally New Town, or New Cambridge, home of Harvard College), to Roger Sherman Roger was a self-taught scholar, eminent judge, member of the Continental Congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. He spent most of his adult years in New Haven, CT. See details of his life in "Roger Sherman," written by Roger Sherman Boardman
        
        2. Edmund Sherman. See below.
5. Edmund Sherman, born in 1548 in Dedham, co. Essex, England., who married Anne Pallette in Cochester on April 25, 1570, and died in 1600 in England. This information was obtained from LDS records. There is a Sherman Building, named for him, across the street from the Dedham Grammar School.
6. Edmond Sherman, a native of Dedham, co. Essex, England. According to the LDS records he was married to a Joan Makin, daughter of Tobias Makin and his wife, K. Makin. Edmond Sherman and Joan had the following children:
- 1. Edmond Sherman, who returned to England with his father.
  2 Samuel Sherman, Sr See below.
7. Samuel Sherman, Sr, baptized in Dedham, co. Essex, England, July 12, 1618, married Sarah Mitchell, who arrived in America at the same time as her husband, daughter of M. Mitchell and his wife, S. Butterfield. M. Mitchell was the son of T. Mitchell and his wife E. Clay. S. Butterfield was the daughter of B. Butterfield and his wife, Ann _______. Samuel Sherman came to America as a boy. He passed most of his life in the New Haven Colony, and was prominent as a laymen in church and state, dying in 1700. Samuel Sherman and Sarah Mitchell had the following children:
- 1. Samuel Sherman, Jr, born June 19, 1641. See below.
- 2. Theophilus Sherman, born October 28, 1643, in Stratford, CT.
- 3. Matthew Sherman, born October 24, 1645, in Stratford, CT., died in 1698.
- 4. Edmond Sherman, born December 4, 1647, in Stratford, CT., died in 1683.
- 5. Rev. John Sherman, born February 8, 1651, in Stratford, CT., died December 13, 1730. Another record (LDS) shows his death date as May 20, 1727. He married on July 22, 1714, Emma Preston, in Woodbury, Litchfield County, CT. They had a son, John, born in 1687, christened June 1687, in Woodbury, Litchfield County, CT. He in turn had a son, Judge Daniel Sherman, born in 1721, who sat in the Connecticut General Assembly for 30 years. He married M. Taylor. They had a son Judge Taylor Sherman, lawyer and judge in Norwalk, CT, born in 1758, who married Elizabeth (Betsey) Stoddard, daughter of Anthony Stoddard, a Harvard graduate, known as a Puritan divine. They had the following three children:
  - 1. Charles Robert Sherman, born in 1788 in Norwalk, CT. He married in 1810 Mary Hoyt, born in 1787 in Norwalk, CT. Shortly afterwards they moved to Ohio, first to Zanesville, and later to Lancaster. Charles was a lawyer and a judge and a collector of internal revenue. He received land grants in the Ohio "Western Reserve" because of damage inflicted by the British in the War of 1812. He died in 1829, leaving his family impoverished. They had the following children:
    - 1. Charles Taylor Sherman, born in 1811, in Norwalk, CT.
    - 2. Mary Elizabeth Sherman, born in 1813, in Lancaster, OH. She married ______ Reese.
    - 3. James Sherman, born in 1814, in Lancaster, OH.
    - 4. Amelia Sherman, born in 1816, in Lancaster, OH.
    - 5. Julia Ann Sherman, born in 1818, in Lancaster, OH.
    - 6. General William Tecumseh Sherman, born on February 8, 1820, in Lancaster, OH. He married Ellen Ewing. She was the daughter of his foster parents. He was the famous leader of the Union troops, who eventually made the celebrated march through Georgia. Much information has been written on his life, including his own personal memoirs.
    - 7. John Sherman born in 1823, in Lancaster, OH. He was a Senator and the Secretary of State.
    - 8. Lampson Sherman, born in 1822, in Lancaster, OH.
    - 9. Susan Sherman, born in 1826, in Lancaster, OH.
    - 10. Hoyt Sherman, born in 1827, in Lancaster , OH.
    - 11. Frances (Fanny) Sherman, born in 1829, in Lancaster, OH.
  - 2. Daniel Sherman, a farmer.
  - 3. Betsy Sherman, married Judge ______.
- 6. Sarah Sherman, born February 8, 1653, in Stratford, CT., married John Rossiter, and had 17 children in 22 years.
- 7. Nathaniel Sherman, born March 21, 1656, in Stratford CT., died in 1712.
- 8. Benjamin Sherman, born March 29, 1662, in Stratford, CT., died in 1741.
- 9. David Sherman, born April 15, 1665, in Stratford, CT., had 9 daughters, died in 1753.
8. Samuel Sherman, Jr, born June 19, 1641, died February 26, 1718/1719. He married June 19, 1665, Mary Titherton. She died February 20, 1719. They had the following children:
- 1. Mary Sherman, born May 7, 1666, died young.
- 2. Daniel Sherman, born March 23, 1668, married Rebecca Wheeler. They had a son, Samuel, born December 6, 1769, who married Elizabeth _______. They in turn had a son, Jotham Sherman, born February 27, 1734, and died March 12, 1817. He was married four times. He married (1) Grace Peck, and had five children by her; (2) Amy Beers, daughter of (?), and they had three children as follows: Grace Sherman, married Nathaniel Nichols, Jotham Beers Sherman, and Cyrus Sherman; (3) Cynthia Beers, older sister to Amy, from which there were no children. He married a fourth time and again there were no children. Most of the above people were all buried in Newtown Cemetery, Newtown, CT.
- 3. Susanna Sherman, born July 22, 1670, married Daniel Mitchell.
- 4. Sarah Sherman, born January 26, 1673, died young.
- 5. Grace Sherman, born July 8, 1676, married Daniel St. John.
- 6. Elizabeth Sherman, born January 20, 1679, married Isaac Clark.
- 7. Sarah Sherman, born December 16, 1681, married Samuel Beers. See below.
- 8. Abigail Sherman, born August 4, 1688, married James Beebe.
- 9. Sarah Sherman, born December 16, 1681, married Samuel Beers.
  
  See continuation of this lineage in the Beers Line.

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