Murray Sherman (abt. 1801 - abt. 1879)

Born about 5 Nov 1801 in New York

Husband of Patience Crandall — married 29 Oct 1826 in Muitzekill, Rennselaer Co., NY

Descendants

Died about 8 Mar 1879 at about age 77 in Michigan [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Christia Troyer [send private message]

Biography

Variations of Name and Spelling

Very little is known about Murry Sherman. His name is sometimes spelled "Murray" but for the sake of distinguishing him from his many descendants of the same name, we have chosen to use the spelling "Murry" here, but will use both spellings for search purposes. This is the spelling used in the older compilations and documents that mention him, though evidence supports that he himself spelled his name "Murray".

Some second-hand internet sources and anonymous contributions ^[1] list Murry's name as "Murray Noxen Sherman" but no official or old, first and second hand sources have surfaced to confirm this.

Mysterious Ancestry

Murry's ancestry is not only unknown today, but seems to have been considered a mystery even in the early 1800's.

New York

Murry was born in the Schodack, Rensselaer Co., NY area in 1801. He had at least four siblings: Ichabod, Jeremiah, James, and William and married Patience Crandall in 1826 ^{[2] [3] [4]}.

Alonzo J. Sherman, leading researcher on the Sherman family ancestries, gives Murry's date of birth as November 5, 1801 and date of death as 08 MAR 1879, information which he received from Prof. Richard G. McCoy. It is unclear where the latter got this date and it is yet unconfirmed by any other sources ^[5].

It was in New York that Patience and Murray Sherman had most of their children.

Michigan

Ecorse Township

According to "The History of Detroit and Michgan" by Silas Farmer, Murry (Murray) Sherman served on the city board as an Assessor in 1837 (page 505) ^[6]. He goes on to serve in the same capacity in Sumpter, Michigan.

Van Buren

According to the 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Murray, a farmer, his wife Patience, and children Edward, Mary, Charles and Thomas were living in Van Buren, Wayne Co., Michigan. All were born in New York except the younger two listed, Charles and Thomas, who were born in Michigan. Mary was eighteen in 1850 and Charles was sixteen, so that puts the family's arrival in Michigan at around 1835 ^[7].

Sumpter

Murray was in Sumpter, Wayne Co., Michigan by 1857 and was serving on the city as Justice of the Peace. In 1859, 1860 and 1864 - 1866, he was the city clerk. In 1863, Murry was the supervisor. The last mention of Murry sitting on the city board was in 1866. From the similarity in names, it appears that some or all of Murry's sons served Sumpter in various capacities as well, once they were old enough. James Sherman, presumably Murray's brother James, served as Justice of the Peace in 1849, Highway Commissioner in 1851, Poor director in 1856 and 1861 ^[6].

In 1860, Murry and his family were living in Sumpter, Wayne Co., Michigan. Members of the household were he and Patience, both 58, son Eber, Charles and Thomas. Murry is still a farmer and his sons are laborers during this time ^[8].

in 1870, Patience and Murry are both 68 and living with their son, Charles and his wife Isabelle, and their children Murry and Mary. Murry and Charles are farmers. Murry's son Thomas and family live at the next farm over, and Ichabod, Murry's brother, is a neighbor on the census also ^[9]. This is the last census that Murry is found in and it is presumed that he died before 1880.

Rhode Island

Murry's wife, Patience Crandall, was from the Crandall's of Rhode Island, a descendant of Elder John Crandall. It is noteworthy that there is a Sherman clan that associated closely with the Crandall family as co-founders of the Rhode island settlement, which sprung about as a result of the religious persecution and fallout with the Church at Plymouth in Massachusetts. It is worth exploring the possibility that Murry Sherman descended from these Shermans.

Questions and Research Notes

1. The possibility exists that Murry had a different formal or official name. All mentions of his name are casual sources where his associates and family would have referred to him by a nickname, rather than a legal name. We should try to rule out this idea.

2. There are several instances of a Murry and Patience Sherman, each with parents named Murry and Patience Sherman in the LDS and Ancestry.com collections. The records tend to have the same birth and death information. We know that Patience's parents were Eber and Patience Crandall, yet there are no official or formal sources that contain the name Murry at all. Why would they have listed themselves as their parents? Maybe someone a long time ago was using the "father" and "mother" fields to indicate which was the father and which was the mother but not naming the father and mother of Murry himself.

Sources

1. ↑ Find-A-Grave Index, [1], contributed anonymously on 26 NOV 2011
2. ↑ Woodcraft, Leona. (1971). Family Record of Murry Sherman of 1801 and Descendants. Unpublished, family document
3. ↑ Elder John Crandall of RI. and des. By John Cortland Crandall. New Woodstock, NY, 1949. (20,797p.): 31
4. ↑ Marriages at Dutch Reformed Church at Schodack, 1788-1846. The USGenWeb Project; [2]
5. ↑ Sherman, Alonzo J. (2001) Pioneer Shermans in Michigan. Unpublished compilation. [3]
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Farmer, Silas. (1890). History of Detroit and Michigan. Munsell and Co.: New York [4]
7. ↑ 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Van Buren, Wayne Co., Michigan. Roll: M432_366; Page: 415B; Image: 328
8. ↑ 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Sumpter, Wayne Co., Michigan; Roll: M653_564; Page: 891; Image: 708; Family History Library Film: 803564
9. ↑ 1870 U.S. Federal Census: Sumpter, Wayne Co., Michigan; Roll: M593_710; Page: 426B; Image: 383; Family History Library Film: 552209