Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/533

SHERMAN, Henry, lawyer, b. in Albany, N.Y., 6 March, 1808 ; d. in Washington. I). (' . 28 March, 1879. After graduation at Yale in 1W2!) he. studied theology and then law, returning in 1832 to Al- bany. He soon removed to New York city, and in 1850 to Hartford. Conn., and was employed in the U. S. treasury department in Washington from 1861 till 1868, when he resumed his law-practice in that city. He was a personal friend of PresMi-nt Lincoln, who on the morning before his. assa:-sina- tion offered him the chief justiceship of New Mex- ico. He was afterward commissioned by President Johnson, but soon resigned. Mr. Sherman was the author of " An Analytical Digest of the Law of Marine Insurance to the Present Time " (New York, 1841); "The Governmental History of the United States of America" (1843; enlarged ed., Hartford, 1800) ; and " Slavery in the United States of America" (Hartford, 1858).

SHERMAN, John, clergyman, b. in Dedham, England, 26 Dec., 1613 : d. in Watertown, Mass.. 8 Aug., 1685. He was educated at Cambridge, where he was called a " College Puritan," came to New England in 1634, and preached in Watertown in the open air. After continuing for some time in Connecticut, he was chosen a magistrate of that colony. On 27 May, 1641, and from 1644 until his death', he was pastor of the. Congregational church in Watertown, Mass. He was a fellow of Harvard, delivered lectures there for many years, and was a popular preacher and an eminent mathematician. In 1682 he delivered a discourse before the conven- tion of Congregational ministers in Massachusetts, the first sermon on that occasion that is now upon record. He published several almanacs, to which he appended pious reflections.

SHERMAN, Roger, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. in Newton. Mass., 19 April. 1721 ; d. in New Haven, Conn., 23 July, 1793. His great-grandfather, Capt. John Sherman, came from ngland to Watertown, Mass., about 1635. His grandfather and father were farmers in moderate circumstances. In 1723 the family re- moved to Stoning- ton, Mass., where he spent his boy- hood and youth. He had no formal education except that which was obtained in the ordinary country schools, but by his own unaided exer- tions he acquired respectable attain- ments in various branches of learn-

ing, especially

was early apprenticed to a shoemaker, and continued in 'that occu- pation until he was twenty-two years of age. It is said that while at work on his bench he was accus- tomed to have before him an open book, so that he could devote every spare minute to study. At the age of nineteen he lost his father, and the principal care and support of a large family thus devolved upon him, with the charge of a small farm. In 1743 he removed with his family to New Milford, Conn., performing the journey on foot, and taking his shoemaker's tools with him. Here, in partnership with his brother, he engaged in mercantile business. In 1745 he was appointed surveyor of binds for the county in which he re- sided, a post for which his early attention to math- ematics qualified him. Not long afterward he fur- nished the astronomical calculations for an al- manac that was published in New York, and he continued this service for several years. Mean- while, encouraged to this step by a judicious friend, lie was devoting his leisure hours to the study of the law, and made such progress that he was ad- mitted to the bar in 1754. In 1755 he was elected a representative of New Milford in the general as- sembly of Connecticut, and the same year he was appointed a justice of the peace. In 1759 he was made one of the judges of common pleas in Litch- field county. Two years later he removed to New Haven, where the same appointments were given him. In addition to this, he became treasurer of Yale college, from which, in 1765, he received the honorary degree of M. A. In 1766 he was appointed judge of the superior court of Connecticut, and in the same year was chosen a member of the upper house of the legislature. In the former office he continued twenty-three years; in the latter, nine- teen. When the Revolutionary struggle began Roger Sherman devoted himself unreservedly to the patriot cause. In such a crisis he was obliged to be a leader. In August, 1774, he was elected a delegate to the Continental congress, and was present at its opening on 5 Sept. following. Of this body he was one of the most active members. Without showing gifts of popular speech, he commanded respect for his knowledge, judgment, integrity, and devotion to duty. He served on many important committees, but" the most decisive proof of the high esteem in which he was held is given in the fact that, with Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, and Livingston, he was appointed to prepare a draft of the Declaration of Independence, to which document he subsequently affixed his signature. Though a member of con- gress, he was at, the same time in active service on the Connecticut committee of safety. In 1783 he was associated with Judge Richard Law in revising the statutes of the state, and in 1784 he was elected mayor of New Haven, which office he continued to hold until his death. He was chosen, in conjunction with Dr. Samuel Johnson and Oliver Ellsworth, a delegate to the convention of 1787 that was charged with the duty of framing a constitution for the United States. Documentary proof exists that quite a number of the propositions that he offered were incorporated in that instrument. In the debates of the Constitutional convention he bore a conspicuous part. He was also a member of the State convention of Connecticut that ratified the constitution, and was very influential in securing that result. A series of papers that he wrote under the signature of " Citizen " powerfully contributed to the same end. Immediately after the ratification of the constitution he was made a representative of Connecticut in congress, and took an active part in the discussions of that body. In February, 1790, the Quakers having presented an address to the house on the subject of " the licentious wickedness of the African trade for slaves." Mr. Sherman supported its reference to a committee, and was successful in his efforts, though he was strongly opposed. He was promoted in 1791 to the senate, and died while holding this office. The career of Roger Sherman most happily illustrates the possibilities of American citizenship. Beginning life under the heaviest disadvantages, he rose to a career of ever-increasing usefulness, honor, and success. He was never removed from an office except by promotion or be-