Charles Taylor Sherman

Charles Taylor Sherman
Charles Taylor Sherman
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
In office March 9, 1867 – November 25, 1872
Nominated by	Andrew Johnson
Preceded by	Hiram V. Willson
Succeeded by	Martin Welker
Personal details
Born	February 3, 1811 Norwalk, Connecticut
Died	January 1, 1879 (aged 67) Cleveland, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Eliza Jane Williams
Children	seven
Alma mater	Ohio University

Charles Taylor Sherman (February 3, 1811 - January 1, 1879) was a 19th-century Ohio lawyer and judge.

Early life

He was the eldest of eleven children born to Charles Robert Sherman and his wife, Mary (Hoyt) Sherman. He was born in Norwalk, Connecticut

His family emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1634. His great grandfather and grandfather both served on the state courts of Connecticut. When Sherman was young, his family moved to Lancaster, Ohio, where his father established a prominent law practice and later became a member of the Ohio Supreme Court. His two younger brothers were John Sherman, Senator from Ohio, and William Tecumseh Sherman, Major General of the Union Army.^[1]

Education

In 1827, Sherman entered Ohio University and had just completed his junior year when his father died in 1829. With aid from one of his father's friends, he completed his college education. Afterwards he studied law in Dayton, Ohio, in the office of Henry Stoddard and completed his legal studies under Judge Jacob Parker. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1833.

Career

Soon afterwards Sherman began a law practice at Mansfield, Ohio. His brother John later joined the firm.^[2] He continued in active practice in the area until 1861. Active in public and business affairs, Sherman contributed money, labor and personal influence to the location and building of the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad becoming a director of both organizations. When the Civil War broke out he organized and was chairman of the military committee of his county, and was appointed as commandant of the military camp in Mansfield. Later he was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as one of the commissioners to settle war claims in St. Louis. In 1866, he was selected as one of the first government directors of the Union Pacific Railroad.^[3]

On March 2, 1867, President Andrew Johnson appointed Sherman to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to succeed Judge Hiram V. Willson. He served until November 25, 1872 when he resigned and returned to private practice.^[4]

Judge Sherman married Eliza Williams of Dayton, Ohio, on February 2, 1841 and they became the parents of seven children: Mary Hoyt, who became the wife of Gen. Nelson A. Miles, U.S. Army; Henry Stoddard, who became a Cleveland attorney; John J., who became a U. S. Marshal in New Mexico; Charles F. Cook who died in infancy; Anna Wallace, who died at the age of 20 in 1870; Eliza A. Williams, who married Colgate Hoyt of Cleveland; and Elizabeth Bancroft, who married James D. Cameron, a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania.^[5]

After Judge Sherman retired from practicing law, he became interested in the organization of the agricultural society of Richland County, Ohio, and encouraged the "introduction of better modes for the larger production of better quality of fruits."^[6] He died at the age of 67 on January 1, 1879, in Cleveland, Ohio.

References

1. A general overview for this sketch can be found in Harry Phillips, ed. History of the Sixth Circuit (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1977), 189-190.
2. 17 Ohio Arch. & Historical Society Pub. 312 (1908).
3. A. A. Graham, comp. History of Richland County, Ohio: Its Past and Present (Mansfield, Oh.: A. A. Graham & Co., 1807-1880), 733.
4. Bruce A. Ragsdale to Rita Wallace, July 14, 1998. See attached judicial database created by Federal Judicial History Office in 1998. [Located in the Sixth Circuit Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio.]
5. Judges of the United States. 2d ed. (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1983), 449.
6. Graham, History of Richland County, 733.

External links

• History of the US Sixth District, Charles Taylor Sherman
• Sherman Genealogy Including Families of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, England By Thomas Townsend Sherman