Articles From Previous Issues - September 2001
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And MORE SHERMANS WHO SERVED

Samuel Sherman (1756 - 1834)
[Philip (imm), Edmund, Nathan, Gershom, (him)]

"He was a soldier of the Revolution. "As a resident of Coventry, Kent Co., R.I., he served as follows: May 1, 1775 eight months in Capt. Edmund Johnson's Co., Colonel Vernum's R.I. Regt.; Jan. 1, 1776 until March 1776 in Capt. Caleb Gibbs' Co in above Regt.; March 1776 to Dec. 17, 1776 in Gen. Washington's Foot Guards; Dec. 17, 1776 to April 1777 in Capt. Lewis' Co., Col. Baylor's Regt. of Light Dragoons. April 1777 in Gen. Washington's Horse Guards, in the battle of Monmouth; Sep. 1778 to Dec. 17, 1779 in Col. Wm. Washington's Regt." [Roy V. Sherman’s – "New England Shermans"]

Delores writes: "My Great-Grandfather, Samuel Benson Sherman served in the Civil War from 19 August 1862 to August 8,1865 as a Private in Company K, 27th Regiment, Iowa Volunteers. He received a pension for "Disease of the Lungs" and was confined to bed following his mustering out.

A fellow Iowan who served with him described extreme hardship on a march from Jackson, Tennessee to Clifton, Tennessee and back again on two occasions. They were pursuing rebels in January of 1863 and were exposed to cold and rain for a period of several days.

From the pension application: "That by reason of our rapid marching our blankets and overcoats had to be abandoned and that we were compelled to sleep on the wet ground without tents, blankets and overcoats and that from said marching and from said exposure Samuel B. Sherman contracted a severe cold which settled on his lungs."

He further stated "that during that winter and the following summer the said Samuel B. Sherman was at no time free from the effects of this cold, and was much of the time unable for duty, and the following December when the said Samuel B. Sherman was sent home on sick furlough I helped him go on board the boat at Memphis Tennessee he being unable to get on board without assistance and all from the sickness which came from said exposure above set forth. That the said Samuel B. Sherman returned to the Regiment and company the following June at the mouth of the Red River and remained with the company from that time until we were mustered out at Clinton Iowa in August 1865"….

Reading all of this made me very proud of my G.Grandfather's courage and determination!!!

Harry enlisted November 1943 as an Aviation Cadet. He entered Officers Candidate School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas in 1946. Died 3 June 1951 in Korea when his C131 was shot down by Allied artillery fire. It was his 21st volunteer mission.

Jethro's grandson, Robert Sherman was in the Air Force in World War II. His plane was shot down in enemy territory. I believe, but I am not 100% sure, that the plane was shot down in Holland. Anyway, a family took Robert in and hid him from the Germans.

Meanwhile, back in NY Robert's parents Lena and Adolphus Sherman were informed that their son was missing in action. Adolphus never gave up hope that his son was alive. When the Allied forces finally liberated Holland, Robert rode out on a bike to meet them.

Robert returned to the United States and lived in Northville, NY until he died (sometime in the mid 1980's). Robert was my uncle.

[Ed: Jethro served as a private with "F"Co. of the 19^th Corps of the 2^nd NY Calv. Jethro’s grandfather was

Solomon was a soldier in the Revolution, enlisting in South Kingstown, RI as a private with Capt. Stephen Babcock. [Roy Sherman’s – "Desc. Of Philip –"]

This country had its quota of men who enlisted in the Union army during the Civil War and endured all the hardships of forced marches, exposure to weather and on the tented field, besides the greater peril of open engagements with the Confederate forces. In this class of patriotic citizens belongs the name of Mr. Sherman, of Glenburn, who enlisted August 14, 1862, for three years, or until the close of the war. Company B, of which he was a member, was incorporated in the One Hundred and Forty-third Regiment of Pennsylvania Infantry. At the close of the Rebellion he was honorably discharged, June 12, 1865, by reason of General Order No. 77, A. G. O., from headquarters. He took part in the various engagements in which his regiment participated and at Gettysburg was made a prisoner, but was paroled while in the field. For three months he was on detached service, and was afterward mustered out in New York harbor. He is justly proud of the history of his regiment and the honorable part it bore in quelling the Rebellion. The nineteen engagements of the regiment were as follows: Pollock’s Mills, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, South Mountain, Funkstown, Centreville, Thoroughfare Gap, Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania, Bull’s Church, North Anna, Pamunkey River, Cold Harbor, siege of Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Petersburg, Weldon raid and Hatchie’s Run. He was with the regiment in all these battles except the last, when, after starting out with his comrades, he was sent back by the adjutant, Charley Campbell, because of sickness.

Tracing the genealogy of the Sherman family, we find that Philip Sherman was born in July, 1610, and married Sarah Potter. Their son, Samuel Sherman, was born in February, 1648, and married Martha Tripp, whose birth occurred August 31, 1663. Their descendant, John, born May 25, 1725, had a son, Job Sherman, who was born May 20, 1752, and married Lydia Cundale, born July 7, 1751. Next in line of descent was John Sherman, born May 25, 1786, died September 21, 1870; his wife was Mary Norton of Tiverton, R. I. Their son, John C., was born January 10, 1814, in Rhode Island, and at the age of two years was brought to Pennsylvania, where he married Ruth Phillips, born in this state July 28, 1815. Their children, ten in number, were born as follows: Mary, May 13, 1834, did May 18, 1834; William Norton, born May 13, 1835; Ezra, born December 16, 1837, died May 20, 1840; Jencks, born September 2, 1839, and died June 24, 1840; Christopher Alonzo, born May 17, 1841; Celestia, born May 19, 1843, died July 11, 1879; George, born May 17, 1845; Ruth Ellen, born November 29, 1848, died March 18, 1851; and John C., Jr., born October 5, 1854, died January 10, 1856. The father was a man of energetic and industrious character and great kindness of heart, a consistent believer in the principles of Christianity and the doctrines of the Baptist Church, which he proclaimed from the pulpit. His was a busy and useful life and his death was deeply mourned. He passed away November 27, 1873, at which time he was pastor of Pequa Church in Lancaster County, Pa.

In South Abington Township, this county, Mr. Sherman was born May 17, 1841, a son of J. C. and Ruth (Phillips) Sherman. During his absence in the war, he was cheered by letters from his sweetheart at home, and the year after his returned they were married. She was Miss Amanda Brooks, a native of New Jersey, but from four years of age a resident of Carbondale, where she was reared by an aunt. Their marriage, January 8, 1866, was blessed by five children, namely: Charles, who is married and has one child; Albert, who lives in Scranton; Hurley; Arthur and Amy, twins.

From 1865 until 1868 Mr. Sherman worked for his father, after which he spent two years in Newton Township, then returned to South Abington Township (now Glenburn borough), and afterward went to Tunkhannock, where he was engaged at cabinet work for five years, also gave some attention to wagon-making. From that place he came back to the family homestead, where he has since resided. He has served as burgess, justice of the peace and held the (sic) most of the offices in the borough. While in the army he voted for Abraham Lincoln, on the occasion of his second election to the presidency, and since then he has always supported the ticket of the Republican party. His family are connected with the Baptist Church, in which he has held various official positions. He is a pensioner of the war and an active member of the Grand Army Post in Waverly, of which he was the second commander.

General Sidney Sherman [biography in SOY NL of Sep 1996] was the founder and first president of the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railway Co. During the war for the Republic of Texas, Santa Ana had burned the town of Harrisburg when he attempted to capture the existing Texan government, temporarily located there. Following the war, and a few years of enjoying retired life, Sidney undertook, in 1847, a dream of rebuilding the town.

In an attempt to gain financial support for that effort, he was one of the first Texans to conceive of enlisting Northern financial support to aid in southwestern industry. When he approached a group of Boston financiers, they expressed interest ONLY if the effort included a railroad.
 

Click Images to Enlarge

In the book, "General Sidney Sherman, Texas Soldier, Statesman amd Builder", by W. N. Bate, pub: 1974, this photo (and several others concerning the train) appears with the following caption (edited for use here, and reprinted with permission): "First locomotive to be operated in Texas was the "General Sherman", delivered to the BBB&C in 1852. --- "General Sherman" served the BBB&C from November 1852 to 1870."

"The "General Sherman" pulls a mixed train across the Brazos River Bridge in Texas. Built by the BBB&C in 1856, this bridge was never more than six feet above water level. It's center span rested on a flat boat, which was moved aside to permit boats to pass. With steep inclines on either side, trains had to plunge down one side and dash across the bridge at high speeds to enable them to get up the other side. Passengers usually elected to walk across the bridge!!!!!! Except during flood periods, trains managed to navigate the bridge every week day.

Thus began the BBB&C, the second railroad west of the Mississippi, and the nucleus of the modern Southern Pacific.

I searched through perhaps 150 books in our local library on trains. They have quite a collection, donated by a local train enthusiast. I could not find ANY other reference to the BBB&C, nor to this "General Sherman", named after General Sidney Sherman.

I did, however, locate one brief passage about the "General Sherman" locomotive, which together with the "General McPherson", were used to convey men and construction materials for the construction of the original Union Pacific Railroad line from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California. That brief article includes "The General himself rode in his namesake in November of that year on an inspection trip." That year was 1865, and this one was General W. T. Sherman.