Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/361

 SHERMAN

SHERMAN

pointed by the general assembly, surveyor of lands for the county of New Haven, in 1745, and of Litchfield county in 1752. In 1752, when the New England colonies were flooded with irre- deemable currency, he issued a pamphlet in which he pointed out the dangers attending this issue of paper money, and subsequently, when a member of the Constitutional convention, he moved the clause that •• no state can make any- thing but gold and silver a legal tender." He was also employed in survej'ing laud for private individuals in New Milford. He became one of the largest investors in real estate in the town ; filled various town offices and was admitted to the Litchfield county bar, in February, 1754. He was married, Nov. 17, 1749, to Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Deacon Joseph Hartwell of Stoughton, and secondly. May 12, 1763, at Danvers, to Rebecca, daughter of Benjamin Prescott of Salem, Mass. He represented New Milford in the general as- sembly in 1755 and 1758-61, was justice of the peace, 1755-59, and a justice of the quorum and of the court of common pleas, 1759-61. He re- moved to New Haven, Conn., in June, 1761, from whence he was a representative in the legislature, 1764-66, a member of the senate, 1766-85, justice of the peace and of the quorum, and judge of the superior court, 1766-89. His activity as a patriot began with the efforts of the crown to enforce the Stamp Act. He was a member of the com- mittee to consider the claims of the settlers near the Susquehanna river in 1774, was a delegate from Connecticut to the Continental congress, 1774-81, and 1783-84, serving on the most im- portant committees, including that of June 11, 1776, to draft the Declaration of Independence, of which he was a signer, that of June 12, 1776, to prepare the Articles of Confederation, that of the Connecticut council of safety, 1777-79 and 1782, and that of the convention of 1787 that reported the Connecticut compromise. In the controversy that arose in the Continental con- gress regarding the rights of states to vote irre- spective of population, Mr. Sherman proposed that the vote should be taken once in proportion to population and once by states, and that every measure should have a majority voting both ways. This principle, eleven years afterward, Mr. Sherman, then a member of the Constitu- tional convention, presented to that body, and it was framed into the Federal constitution, and was known as the Connecticut compromise. It was not until he had made several speeches in its favor that he gained any attention when a long and bitter debate followed and it was finally re- ferred to a committee of which he was made a member. After the adoption of the compromise, he moved the provision that no amendment be made that would deprive any state of its equal

vote without its consent. It is agreed by all his- torians that this compromise, for which Mr. Sherman is solely responsible, saved the constitu- tional convention from breaking up without ac- complishing anything and made possible a union of the states and a national government. Roger Sherman was the only delegate in the Continental congress who signed all four of the great state papers which were signed by all the delegates of all the colonies, namely : the Declaration of 1774, the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Federal Constitution. He revised the statute laws of Connecticut with Judge Richard Law in 1783. He was chosen the first mayor of New Haven in 1784, to prevent a Tory from being chosen, and the legislature then provided that the mayor sliould hold his office during the pleasure of the general assembly and under this act, Mr. Sherman remained mayor un- til his death. He was a delegate from Connecti- cut to the Constitutional convention at Philadel- phia in May, 1787. He was also active in the state convention in procuring the ratification of the constitution, and wrote a series of papers on that subject which materially influenced the pub- lic mind in its favor, signed " A Citizen of New Haven." He was a representative in the 1st con- gress, 1789-91, where he favored an address in- troduced by the Quakers against the slave trade. He was elected to the U.S. senate to fill the va- cancy caused by the resignation of William S. Johnson and served from Oct. 24, 1791, until his death. He was treasurer of Yale college, 1765- 76, and received the honorary degree A.M. from that college in 1768. He furnished the astrono- mical calculations for a series of Almanacs, pub- lished in New York and New England, which bore his name. He died in New Haven, Conn., July 23, 1793.

SHERMAN, Thomas West, soldier, was born in Newport, R. I., March 26, 1813 ; son of Elijah and Martha (West) Sherman. He was graduated from the U.S. Military academy in 1836 and was commissioned 2d lieutenant, 3d infantry, serving in the Florida war and in the Cherokee Nation, 1836-42. He was promoted 1st lieutenant, March 14, 1838 ; was on recruiting and garrison service, 1842-46 ; was promoted captain, May 28, 1846 ; served in the Mexican war, commanding a bat- ery at Buena Vista, Feb. 22-23, 1847, and was brevetted major, Feb. 28, 1847, for conduct there. He was on frontier duty in Minnesota, Kansas and Dakota, 1853-61, and was married in 1865 to Mary, daughter of Gov. Wilson Shannon of Law- rence, Kan. Upon the outbreak of the civil war he was given command of a battery of U.S. ar- tillery and a battalion of Pennsylvania volun- teers ; was promoted major, April, 27, 1861, and detailed on guard duty on the Philadelphia and