Roger Sherman

This is about my 8th grandfather’s nephew.  My 9th grandfather's grandson. (Starting on my Bennett side.) When you go back that far, I doubt we share any measurable DNA, but a great heritage. 

I am incredibly proud of all my children and grandchildren.  They come from incredible people - Incredible because of their character, not fame or fortune.  

This article was downloaded from Family Search.   I can't claim credit for a single word.

              Roger Sherman.  

Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an early American lawyer and statesman, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He is the only person to have signed all four great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association , the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

Born in Newton, Massachusetts, Sherman established a legal career in Litchfield County, Connecticut despite a lack of formal education. After a period in the Connecticut House of Representatives, he served as a Justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut from 1766 to 1789. He represented Connecticut at the Continental Congress and signed the Continental Association, which provided for a boycott against Britain following the imposition of the Intolerable Acts. He was also a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and he later signed the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States. In 1784, he was elected as the first mayor of New Haven, Connecticut.

Sherman served as a delegate to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, which produced the United States Constitution. After Benjamin Franklin, he was the second oldest delegate present at the convention. He favored granting the federal government power to raise revenue and regulate commerce, but initially opposed efforts to supplant the Articles of Confederation with a new constitution. He ultimately came to support the establishment of a new constitution, and proposed the Connecticut Compromise, which won the approval of both the larger states and the smaller states.

After the ratification of the Constitution, Sherman represented Connecticut in the United States House of Representatives from 1789 to 1791. He served in the United States Senate from 1791 to his death in 1793.

Sherman was born into a farm family located in Newton, Massachusetts, near Boston. His father was William and mother   Sherman. Mehetabel's father was Benjamin Wellington and her mother was Elizabeth Sweetman, whose christening date was March 4, 1687 (or 1688), and she died on April 12, 1776. William and Mehetabel had seven children, William Jr., Mehetabel, Roger (1721), Elizabeth (married James Buck), Nathaniel (became a Reverend), Josiah (also became a Reverend), and Rebecca (married Joseph Hartwell Jr.). After Elizabeth was born (1723), the Shermans left Newton and settled in the south precinct of Dorchester, that three years later became the township of Stoughton and located 17 miles (27 km) south of Boston, when Roger was two. William married Rebecca Cutler on July 15, 1714. Josiah was Chaplain of the 7th Connecticut from January 1 to December 6, 1777.
The part of Stoughton where Sherman grew up became part of Canton in 1797. Sherman's education did not extend beyond his father's library and grammar school, and his early career was spent as a shoe-maker. However, he had an aptitude for learning, and access to a good library owned by his father, as well as a Harvard-educated parish minister, the Rev. Samuel Dunbar, who took him under his wing.

n 1743, due to his father's death, Sherman moved (on foot) with his mother and siblings to New Milford, Connecticut, where in partnership with his brother William (wife Ruth), he opened the town's first store. He very quickly introduced himself in civil and religious affairs, rapidly becoming one of the town's leading citizens and eventually town clerk of New Milford. Due to his mathematical skill he became county surveyor of New Haven County in 1745, and began providing astronomical calculations for almanacs in 1759.

Sherman was married two times and had a total of fifteen children with thirteen reaching adulthood.
Sherman married Elizabeth on November 17, 1749. She was born August 31, 1726, in Stoughton, her father was Deacon Joseph Hartwell (born August 11, 1698, died February 6, 1786) and her mother was Mary Hartwell (née Tolman), who was born on October 4, 1697, and died on November 10, 1782. They were married by Samuel Dunbar and had seven children. Elizabeth died on October 19, 1760.
Sherman married Rebecca (also spelled Rebekah) Prescott on May 12, 1763. She was born on May 20, 1742, in Danvers, Essex County, Massachusetts. They had eight children, Rebecca; married and then Elizabeth; married same Simeon Baldwin, Roger, Mehitabel (1st), Mehitabel (2nd); married Jeremiah Evarts, Oliver, Martha; married Jeremiah Day, and Sarah; married Samuel Hoar. The first Mehitabel and Oliver both died in infancy. Rebecca died in August 1814.

A son, Roger Sherman Jr. (1768–1856), a 1787 graduate of Yale College served in the Connecticut General Assembly in 1810–1811.
A daughter, Rebeca Sherman, was married to Simeon Baldwin, whose career included service in the United States Congress (1803–1806), as an Associate Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court, 1806–1817, and who became Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, in 1826. Following the death of Rebecca Sherman, Baldwin married another of Roger Sherman's daughters, Elizabeth Sherman Burr. His daughter, Mehitabel Sherman Barnes married Jeremiah Evarts, who served as treasurer and secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. His daughter Martha Sherman married Jeremiah Day, who was President of Yale University from 1817 to 1846. Another daughter, Sarah Sherman, married Samuel Hoar, who was a member of the Massachusetts state legislature and the U.S. Congress.

Grandfathers before Henry Sherman (the older) were Thomas (10th generation), John (9th generation), and Thomas Sherman (8th generation).

Henry Sherman (the older or 1st) born about 1512, married Agnes around 1539 (whose father may have been Thomas Butter) died October 14, 1580, in Dedham, England.
Henry Sherman (the younger or 2nd): great-great-great grandfather
John Sherman: great-great grandfather,
John Sherman Jr.: great-grandfather, whose christening date was September 3, 1612, married Martha Palmer (before 1638), and died January 25, 1690 (or 1691). Referred to as Captain John Sherman (also Shearman)
Joseph Sherman: grandfather, born on May 14, 1650, married Elizabeth Winship on April 12, 1776.

Sherman was instrumental in securing the addition of "or to the people" in the wording of the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and caused the cent to be used in the financial system. In a letter to Oliver Wolcott (May 21, 1777) he wrote, "I think it dangerous to admit citizens not connected to the army to be tried by a Court Martial".

Sherman died in his sleep on July 23, 1793, after a two-month illness diagnosed as typhoid fever. The Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), August 17, 1793, p. 508, reported an alternate diagnosis, "He was taken ill about the middle of May last, and from that time declined till his death. His physician supposed his disorder to be seated in his liver."

He was buried in New Haven Green. In 1821, when that cemetery was relocated, his remains were moved to the Grove Street Cemetery.

Video Games

Parents today are under pressure from their kids to play video games.  The graphics are amazing. The storylines must be magnetic because children and adults are strongly attracted to them.  They can compete with players who live just about anywhere there is a wifi connection.

 I remember how my boys came in contact with their first video game.  It was ..... Well read on.

Christmas was coming fast. I had searched the mall to find the last of our gifts.  Shopping with three boys along "to help" was always interesting.  They wanted to be sure I noticed the latest Star Wars toys.  They had been through the Sears catalog, watched all the tv commercials, and shared ideas with friends to develope long lists for Santa.  Santa had put those items in his bag & they would be coming by sleigh.

This final shopping trip was to Belk's department store.  They had been on their very best behavior.  This was hard because the store was filled with tired parents and tired children.  It helped that Santa was watching to see who was naughty or nice.  The slow moving checkout line seemed endless.

When what should we behold ..... Was it Sants & his reindeer.  No! It was Pac Man.



Yes Belk's had the wonderful idea of entertaining the children of Rock Hill by setting up a Pac Man game near the checkout line.  Near, but not close enough to interfere with its slow progress.  Every parent and every child could hear that unique sound of the game. It was a magnet for my boys.

My older boys pleaded, "Please can we go see. Please! We will stay right there and won't go anywhere else.   Please! We have been good. Please! "

And they had been good.  I knew they wouldn't go anywhere. I would be lucky if I could get them to come home.  What's a mom going to say?

"Ok, if you stay right here and hold Christopher's hand."   (This is something I would not do today.)

I watched them as the line advanced, slowly.  Finally I gathered my packages and made my way past other people's children to collect mine.

Let's go guys."

Matt and Andy wanted to tell me how cool the game was, but where was Chris.  As I looked at other little fellas dressed in similar jackets I could not find my four year old. He always stayed with his brothers.  Most likely another child trying to get close to the game moved between the boys.  If he had been as tall as his brothers, his view of the game might have been better. Plus  at his age, it didn't seem interesting.  Something nearby may have caught his attention or he may have wanted to find me so we could head home.

I began to search nearby. I called his name. No Chris.  I asked for help. We could not find him anywhere in the store.  People continued to look. We walked into the mall looking in nearby stores. It was not a big mall, but big enough.  I began to think of the stores where we had shopped and the ones Chris liked most.

Toys were off the route he might take, but around the corner to the first store on the right.   Yes,  we looked through the door. He was sitting on a seat at Baskin Robbins.  His little feet swinging back and forth.... Waiting for an ice cream.

Lesson: Video games can be dangerous if parents don't supervise properly.