Person:John Sherman (1)

Jacobus on Rev. John Sherman

"Rev. John Sherman, born at Dedham, co. Essex, England, 26 Dec. 1613, died at Watertown, Mass., 8 Aug 1685; married, first, Mary, who died at New Haven, Conn., 8 Sept. 1644, probably MARY GIBBS, sister of John Gibbs of New Haven; married second, Mary Launce, daughter of John and Isabella (Darcy) Launce, of Penneare, co. Cornwall, England.

His ancestry has received extended treatment in several articles in the New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Register, and in the Sherman Genealogy (1920) by Thomas Townsend Sherman. He was a graduate of Cambridge University (A.B. 1629-30, A.M. 1633). He came to New England in the Elizabeth from Ipswich, arriving at Boston in June 1634 [Note that Anderson does not concur and assigns that record to his second cousin John Sherman^[1]]. He was dismissed from the Watertown, Mass., church, 29 May 1635, and came to Wethersfield, Conn., with the early settlers. He represented Wethersfield as Committee (Deputy) in the Connecticut General Court, May 1637. He joined the Milford settlers, probably in 1640, and was the first minister of Branford, 1 Oct. 1644 to Jan. 1646/7. He was Deputy for Milford to the New Haven General Court, Oct. 1643. In 1647 he was called to Watertown, Mass., to fill the pastorate there, and continued in this office until his death. …

The Sherman Genealogy (op. cit. p. 110) makes an obvious blunder as to the maternity of some of the Sherman children [by assigning all of the children to the second wife, when the first four were children of the first wife], and the record given of some of the children is imperfect. …

The will of Rev. John Sherman reads in part:

I John Sherman of Watertowne … do make … this to be only for my last will … unto my deare wife Mary Sherman the whole of all goods and estate for her use benefit & comfort during her life or widow hoods. only those of my children yt are yet unmarryed to have out of my sd Estate (upon marriage) each twenty pounds, which I give unto them of if all or any of them should not enter unto marriage estate, yet to have the sd Twenty pounds a peice besides their part (as further it shall be ordained) with all the rest of my Children, but not; to be payd 'till the distribution of the whole, unless upon the account of marriage, as above: Also one quarter part of the whole of my Estate I give … unto my deare wife Mary (provided she liveth and dyeth a widow) to be disposed of amongst our Children as she shall see good … Also … unto my son Samuel Willard for the children of his first wife my daughter Abigail twelve pounds. To the children of my deced Son Bezaleel ten pounds. To my Son Daniel fifteen pounds. To my son Samuel ten pounds. To my daughter Mary Allen ten pounds. To my daughter Mary Barron also ten pounds. All of which to be payd in four years after my decease by my Executors or sooner if they see good. ffurther the rest of my estate after the decease of my dear wife, excepting the quarter part as the estate shall then be at her decease the other legacyes being payd, as above expressed; my will … is that the other three quarters be equally divided amongst the rest of my Children who have not been named, viz: James John Abiah, Elizabeth, Hester, Grace, Mercy. Also to my Son James (considering his place of Executorship with my deare wife each of whom I constitute … to be my Executors of this my last Will … I give over & above his proportion my Clock … 6 August 1685.

In presence of us       John Sherman & Sele

John Sherman Sr.

Joseph Child sainer

The witnesses attested 6 Oct. 1685. …

The record of the children of Rev. John Sherman is much less complete than could be desired, and some uncertainties remain."^[4]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Edmund Sherman, in Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (Boston, Massachusetts: NEHGS, 1999-2011)
   6:284-85.

   John Sherman, b. Dedham, Essex, 26 December 1613 [Magnalia 511], bp. there 4 January 1613/4. … This John Sherman might be the 1634 passenger to New England, aged 20 on April 30 of that year [Hotten 280]. We have, however, assigned that record to his second cousin, John Sherman {1634, Watertown}.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Rev. John Sherman, in Sherman, Thomas Townsend. Sherman genealogy, including families of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, England: some descendants of the immigrants Captain John Sherman, Reverend John Sherman, Edmund Sherman and Samuel Sherman, and the descendents of Honorable Roger Sherman and Honorable Charles R. Sherman. (New York, New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1920)
   108-111.

   Rev. John Sherman … A.B. Trinity College, Cambridge, 1629. A.M. 1633. Came to Watertown and was dismissed from the Church there to Wethersfield, Conn. … Resided at Wethersfield until after May 7, 1640, when he was "freed from watching." Went to Milford, Conn., and was on the list of free planters there Nov. 20, 1639. Admitted to the Milford Church Nov. 8, 1640. Nov. 24, 1640, one of the five persons chosen by General Court of New Haven Colony, magistrates of the Colony. Dismissed from Milford Church Nov. 8, 1647. Returned about that time to Watertown and became its third minister.

3.   Stratton, Bertha L. (Bertha Mary Ludwig). Transatlantic Shermans. (Staten Island, New York: B.L. Stratton, c1969)
   148-50.

   "7. Rev. John7 Sherman, b. Dedham, 26 Dec. 1613, bap. 4 Jan. 1614 (Reg. 24, p.66); great preacher and controversial fig. of New Eng.; A. B. Trinity, Cambridge, 1629; A.M., 1633. Persecuted as a Puritan, he fled with other Shermans and sailed from England in the ”Elizabeth” (Chas.Pomeroy Sherman, Sherman Genealogy, 1922, Phila. Pa.). From the Watertown ch., Rev. John went to Wethersfield,Conn.; to Milford, Conn., on list of free planters, 20 Nov.1639; Milford ch., 8 Nov.1640; one of 5 magistrates chosen by Gen. Ct., New Haven Colony, 24 Nov.1640; dismissed from Milford ch. 8 Nov.1647; became 3d minister, Watertown, freeman 19 May 1669; d. 8 Aug. 1685, aged 72; bu. East Watertown, Mass.
   
   Epitaph: (Watertown Epitaphs, W. T. and E. D. Harris, 1869)
   
   “Sacred to the memory of John Sherman a man distinguished for his piety, character and truth; a profound theologian; as a preacher a veritable Chrysostom; unsurpassed in his knowledge of the liberal arts, particularly mathematics; a faithful pastor of the Church of Watertown in New England; an Overseer and Fellow of Harvard College. After a life of faithful service to Christ in the Church for upwards of 45 years, in the fullness of time he passed away and received from Christ the palm of victory. In the 72d year of his age, August 8, A.D. 1685.”

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6} Jacobus, Donald Lines. The Family of Rev. John Sherman of Wethersfield, Milford and Branford, Conn., and Watertown, Mass. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (Jan 1944)
   20:129-35.
5. ↑ Rev John Sherman, in Find A Grave.
6. ↑ Rev. John Sherman, in Bond, Henry, M.D. Family Memorials. Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston (1855): To Which Is Appended the Early History of the Town. With Illustrations, Maps and Notes. (Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, 1855)
   1:432; 2:935.
7. ↑ Simonds, J. Rupert. A history of the First Church and Society of Branford, Connecticut, 1644-1919. (New Haven, Conn.: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co., 1919?)
   10,20.
8.   Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   4:79-82.