Charles Robert Sherman (c. September 26, 1788 – June 24, 1829) was an American lawyer and public servant. Of his 11 children, four became prominent public figures during and after the civil war.

Life and career

Sherman was born in Norwalk,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, the son of Taylor Sherman, a judge and state representative. He studied law in the office of a Mr. Chapman in Newtown and was admitted to the bar in 1809. He married Mary Hoyt in 1810 and then moved to Lancaster,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, where he was successful as a lawyer in private practice. In the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, he served as a Major of the Ohio Militia. In 1823 he became a judge in the

Ohio Supreme Court The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...

, where he continued to serve until his sudden death in 1829. The Supreme Court rode a circuit in those days, and Sherman died while holding court in

Lebanon, Ohio Lebanon is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,841 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. History Lebanon is in the Symmes Purchase. The first European settler ...

, where he was buried. He was later re-interred in Elmwood Cemetery, Lancaster, Ohio.The Supreme Court of Ohio and The Ohio Judicial System - Charles Robert Sherman
/ref> Judge Sherman left his widow with no means of support and eleven children, the oldest eighteen years of age, the youngest an infant. Among them were US Judge

Charles Taylor Sherman Charles Taylor Sherman (February 3, 1811 – January 1, 1879) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Education and career Born on February 3, 1811, in Norwalk, Connecticut, Sher ...

and

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

, who was sent to live with Judge Sherman's friend

Thomas Ewing Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. He is als ...

and his wife Maria, and who would famously serve as a General in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. Another son was

John Sherman John Sherman (May 10, 1823October 22, 1900) was an American politician from Ohio throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He also served as ...

, who would become a successful Republican Party politician, U.S. Senator, and Cabinet Secretary. His youngest son,

Hoyt Sherman Major Hoyt Sherman (November 21, 1827 – January 25, 1904), a member of the prominent Sherman family, was an American banker. Biography Hoyt Sherman was born in 1827 in Lancaster, Ohio, the son of Charles R. Sherman, Judge of the Ohio S ...

, would also become notable as a military officer, politician, and businessman. The Sherman family were members of the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church in Lancaster. He was a trustee of

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

Notes

References

* Hirshson, Stanley P., ''The White Tecumseh: A Biography of General William T. Sherman'', John Wiley & Sons, 1997, . * William J. Reese, "Sketch of the Life of Judge Charles R. Sherman," William T. Sherman Pamphlets, Ohio Historical Society. (Reese married one of Charles Sherman's daughters.)

External links

The Sherman-Ewing family of Ohio

Sherman Genealogy Including Families of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, England"> Sherman Genealogy Including Families of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, England
By Thomas Townsend Sherman {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Charles Robert 1788 births 1829 deaths Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court Ohio University trustees People from Lancaster, Ohio Politicians from Norwalk, Connecticut American militiamen in the War of 1812 Sherman family (U.S.) U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American judges