Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/360

 SHERMAN

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brother at Mansfield. He was a delegate to the Whig national convention at Philadelphia, Pa., June 7, 1848. and served as secretary of the con- vention. He was married. Aug. 30, 1848, to Ce- cilia, daughter of Judge James Stewart of Mans- field, and established a mill for the manu- facture of finisliing lumber, which busi- ness he carried on in connection with his l;iw practice. He was a delegate to the Whig national con- vention at Baltimore, Md., June 16, 1852, where he supported the candidacy of Gen. Winfield Scott for the presiilency. He removed to Cleve- land, Oiiio, in 1853, and was elected a Whig and Republican rep- resentative from the 13th Ohio district in the 34th. 3.5th, 36th and 37th congresses, serving 1S55-61. He was president of the first Ohio Re- publican state convention in 1855 and was fore- in.)st in the organization of the Republican party. He was a member of the committee of three ap- pointed by the house of the 34th congress to investigate the Kansas troubles of 1855, and pre- pare 1 the testimony and wrote the report, Rep- resentative Howard, the chairman, being ill. In 1 ■<") » he supported the nomination of John C. Fremont for President. He was chairman of the committee on ways and means in the 36th con- gress and introduced a resolution providing that a committee of fifteen be appointed to report on the subject of a railroad to the Pacific coast. He secured the passage of a bill authorizing the issue of U". S. Treasury notes, in 1860. He succeeded Silraon P. Chase as U. S. senator from Ohio, in Mirch, 1861, and served by successive re-elections till March 4, 1877. He served as aide-de-camp without pay on the staff of Gen. Robert Patterson, in 1861, and raised largely at his own expense the Slierman brigade, consisting of two regiments of infantry, a cavalry squadron, and an artillery battery. He resumed his seat as U.S. senator, and in 1862, took charge of the national banking bill, and with Secretary Chase, secured its pas- sage. He was chairman of the senate committee on finance and opposed the issue of 6 per cent, bonds; was the author of the refunding act which was passed in 1870. and was chairman of the cf>mmittee that fixed the time for the resumption of sjv^cie payments. He supported the candidacy of Rutherford B. Hayes, for President, in 18.56, and made a notable speech at Marietta, Oiiio.

After the election he was a member of the " visiting committee " sent to Louisiana to watch the counting of votes and on the inauguration of President Hayes, March 4, 1877, he was appointed secretary of the treasury. He secured the sale of $200,000,000 worth of 4 per cent, bonds of which $15,000,000 was used for refunding pur- poses. In less than six montiis he was able to dispose of 4 per cent, bonds at par, and in July, 1878, lie resumed specie payments with a balance of $140,000,000 m gold. He was a candidate for nomination for the presidency in 1880, and in 1881 was returned to the senate, being re-elected in 1887, and serving as chairman of the committee on foreign relations and as a member of the com- mittee on expenditure of public money. He was president of the senate pro tempore, 1885-87, and was a candidate for the nomination for the presidency in 1884, and in 1888. He resigned his seat in the senate in 1897 to become secretary of state under President McKinley, but his health failed and after a short term of service he re- signed, April 23, 1898, and retired to private life, being succeeded by William R. Day, assistant secretary of state. He is the author of: Selected Speeches and Reports on Finance and Taxation, 1859-78 (1879), and Memoirs (2 vols., 1896). H& died in Washington, D.C., Oct. 22, 1900.

SHERMAN, Roger, signer, was born in Newton, Mass., Ajiril 19, 1721; son of William and Mehetabel (Wellington) Sherman; grandson of Joseph and Elizabeth (W^inship) Sherman and of Benjamin and Elizabeth Wellington ^ and great-grandson of Capt. John and Martha (Palmer)

Sherman (or Shear- man ), who emigrated from Dedham, Essex county, England, and settled in Watertown, Mass. , about 1634. Roger's parents re- moved to Stoughton, which is now Canton, Mass., in 1723, and he worked on the farm and learned the shoemaker's trade from his father. He

gained a fair knowledge in various branches of science by studying while at work, doubt- less being assisted by the Rev. Samuel Dun- bar, pastor of the church at Stoughton. His father died in 1741, leaving him the sole sup- port of his mother and the younger children, and in 1743 they removed to New Milford, Conn., where he followed his trade and con- ducted a store with his brothers. He was ap-