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Sherman Township, Huron County, Ohio
PictureTownship #3 in Range 24
Early Beginnings

Sherman Township was named in honor of Taylor Sherman, Esq., one of the directors of the Fire Lands Company, and originally a large landholder in the township. The name was given at a meeting of the directors, held at New Haven, Connecticut on 9 Nov 1808.

At the first meeting of the commissioners of Huron County, held 1 Aug 1815, Sherman was attached to Greenfield Township. In Dec. 1815, it was detached, and together with the south half of Oxford Township, was united with Ridgefield Township. About 1820 it was united with Norwich Township, but no record is given of it. On 6 Mar 1827, Norwich was detached, and Sherman thereafter remained a distinct township. The first election, on record, after the separation from Norwich was held 6 Apr 1829 to elect Sherman Township officials.

Early Settlers
​Daniel Sherman (son of Taylor Sherman and uncle of General W. T. Sherman), Burwell Fitch, and Samuel Seymore were the first white settlers of the township. They arrived in Sherman in 1812, and came from Norwalk, Connecticut.

​
Included among the other early settlers, and their dates of arrival in Sherman, were:
(Mr.) Blanchard 1814
Rufus S. Paine c.1816
Edwin Hanford c.1817
Jonathon Fitch c.1817
John Chany c.1817
Nathan Shippy c.1817
Valorous Richardson c.1817
H. Dascomb c.1817

William Frink c.1817
James Lewis 1817
Samuel Rice 1817
Joseph Purdy 1818
Henry M. Read c.1820
Ransom Purdy 1822
Reuben Bloomer 1823
Major Purdy c.1824
Some First Events
  • The first burial, and the second death in Sherman, was that of Abby Guthrie Sherman, wife of Daniel, in 1821.
  • The first frame house was built by Henry M. Read, soon after 1820.
  • Coles Bloomer built the first brick house in Sherman Township.
  • Coles and Albert Bloomer opened the first tavern in 1834.
  • Rufus S. Paine became the first postmaster in the township.
  • The first apple trees were set out by Daniel Sherman in 1817.
  • The first road laid out in Sherman, later vacated, was from Mansfield to the center of Sherman, and from there to Venice.
  • The first school was taught by George Hanford c.1824, with some eight to ten students. The first public school was taught by Sarah Mason c.1828. She had 14-15 students, including the daughters of Burwell Fitch. She received the first public money that came into Sherman for school purposes and was paid off in silver half dollars.
  • Dr. Alva Coe preached the first sermon in Sherman at the house of Daniel Sherman, at an early, but unknown, date.
  • The first steam saw mill was built by Daniel Weaver.
Early Population Indicators
  • 1840 U. S. Census - 692
  • 1880 U. S. Census - 1,223
    ​

Cemetery Locations in Sherman Township
Picture
The numbers of the cemeteries below, correspond
​with the circled numbers on the map above.
  1. St. Sebastian Catholic Cemetery (Section 4)
  2. Jones Cemetery (Section 3)

Information compiled by Ken Shute.
Maps by Bob Kerner.
Transcribed from the old Huron County OHGenWeb site
© 2005-2014
​All Rights Reserved.
Picture

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