Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Sherman, Roger

SHERMAN, ROGER, an American statesman; born in Newton, Mass., April 19, 1721; was early apprenticed to a shoemaker, and continued in that trade till 1743, when he removed to New Milford, Conn., and engaged in mercantile business with his brother. In 1745 he was appointed surveyor for his county, and not long afterward furnished the astronomical observations for an almanac published in New York. He was admitted to the bar in 1754; was several times elected to the Colonial Assembly; and in 1759 became judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Having removed to New Haven, Conn., in 1761, he became judge of the Common Pleas there in 1765, and a member of the upper house of the Legislature. He was a member of the Continental and National Congress in 1774–1791; one of the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, of which he was a signer; and in 1787, in conjunction with Dr. Samuel Johnson and Oliver Ellsworth, served as a delegate to the convention charged with the duty of framing the Federal Constitution. He died in New Haven, Conn., July 23, 1793.