Person:Henry Sherman (1)

Stratton stated in print that he was a landholder in Dedham as early as 1548 and lived in a mansion called "Southfields" or, often "Flemish Houses", which was built just before 1500 and included his residential headquarters, a counting room, and store rooms.

In 1577, he was taxed f22. worth of goods, and from 1559, he was often recorded as taking the chief pledge with homage. On 30 September 1567, he took surrender of a property called Kykell. He was called Henry Sherman, Sr. in the record. This land was held by later generations of the family. In 1568, a Henry Sherman lived in "Woodowse" (Woodhouse Farm) in Langham, just over the parish line from Dedham. In 1573, Henry, Sr. and Henry, Jr. were living next door to each other. In 1575, William Littlebury left money to build a school, and Harry? Sherman, Edmund? Sherman, William? Butter, Piers ? Butter, his son, John Wood and Richard Wood were among the original governors. [see Rev. T.A. Jones' Hist. Dedham ]. 16 Sept. 1575, Henry? Sherman acquired the "third part of the fourth part" of Hykell, and on 12 April 1581, Thomas Cradocke surrendered land (probably an interest in Hykell) to Henry Sherman. Late in life Henry lived in Colchester. His will, dated 20 Jan 1589/90, with a codicil dated 26 Feb 1589/90 was proven 25 July 1590 [P.C.C. Drury5 1]. He was survived by wife Margery.

1. ↑ Henry Sherman, in Boyer, Carl. Ancestral lines: 206 families in England, Wales, the Netherlands, Germany, New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. (Santa Clarita, California: C. Boyer, c1998)
   520-22.

   His parentage is not known. He was not the Henry Sherman who was son of Thomas Sherman (c. 1490-1551) of the Yaxley, Suffolk, England, Shermans. Thomas Sherman (son of Henry, grandson of Thomas) of Diss, a Yaxley Sherman, who is known to have been living in 1586, was not mentioned in the 1590 will of Henry Sherman. Furthermore, Thomas Sherman born about 1490 was not old enough to have been the father of Henry Sherman. Thomas was not sixteen in 1504, and as his eldest son was named Thomas, Thomas born about 1490 would have had to be the father of several children by 1512 in order to be the father of this Henry Sherman [Stratton's New Light, 9-11], who was given as the fourth son in his will [Stratton's Transatlantic Shermans, 48]. Instead, Thomas' son Henry was still an apprentice in 1551, and had a son Thomas, of Diss in Norfolk.

2. ↑ Henry Sherman, in Boyer, Carl. Ancestral lines: 206 families in England, Wales, the Netherlands, Germany, New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. (Santa Clarita, California: C. Boyer, c1998)
   520-22.

   As will be explained below, this Sherman line is probably descended from the Shermans of Yaxley, Suffolk, England, but not as found in the works of T.T. Sherman and R.V. Sherman. Nevertheless, following the advice of the late Bertha Stratton, with whom correspondance was enjoyed as late as 1994, this compiler had previously numbered the first Henry Sherman, below, as a member of the fourth generation to avoid confusion with other Sherman sources. The use of letters in the reverse order was developed to avoid conflict. Mrs. Stratton believed that additional research will reveal Henry's parentage, if centered in Bury St. Edmunds. The ancestry of Henry Sherman, born about 1511, would be of interest to many; several of his descendants were immigrant ancestors of American lines.

3. ↑ Henry Sherman, in Boyer, Carl. Ancestral lines: 206 families in England, Wales, the Netherlands, Germany, New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. (Santa Clarita, California: C. Boyer, c1998)
   521.

   Henry was a shearman and clothier in Dedham, a man of means. A clothier was a middleman who bought lengths of cloth from cottage weavers, dyed them if he had a woadhouse, sorted them for quality, baled them and marked them with his trademark. He was worth about $150,000 in 1950 dollars, an men this rich were rarer than millionaires are now.[Stratton's New Light, 39]

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Henry Sherman, in Wood, Michael Johnson. The Earliest Shermans of Dedham, Essex, and their wives. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historical and Geneaological Register, 2012-14)
   166:256.

   Henry Sherman..died between 26 February 1589/90 and 25 Jul 1590 (dates of codicil and probate), probably in Colchester.