Jonathan Sherman (1763 - 1846)

Born 18 Jul 1763 in Grafton, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 9 Feb 1846 at age 82 in Plainfield, Washington, Vermont, United States

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Biography

Jonathan Sherman was born in Grafton, Massachusetts, on 18 July 1763, a son of Asaph and Lucy Sherman.^[1][2]

He was a Revolutionary War soldier.^[3]

He married Thankful Smith in Hubbardston, Massachusetts, on 20 December 1787.^[4]

Jonathan Sherman was one of the early settlers of Barre, Vermont. In 1793 the town was organized under the name Wildersburgh, but that name proved unpopular with inhabitants, who sought a simpler name. The town's official account of the origins of the name indicates that a town vote decided that the right to choose a name would go to the man who made the largest donation toward building a meeting house, and that Ezekiel Dodge Wheeler became the largest donor and chose the name Barre. However, a local tradition maintains that the choice was made in a boxing match between Jonathan Sherman and Joseph Thompson:^[5]

A town meeting to discuss the name was held at the house of Calvin Smith on September 3, 1793. "The meeting being opened, freedom was given for anyone to present the name he chose, and the choice among the number presented was to be decided by vote of the town. Several names were proposed, such as Paris, Newburn, &c. Two of the voters present, Capt. Joseph Thompson and Mr. Jonathan Sherman, the first from Holden, the other from Barre, Mass., each in their turn strenuously contended for the name of the town from which he came; and as the matter seemed to lie chiefly between these two, it was proposed that it should be decided between them by boxing, to which they readily agreed. The terms were that they should fight across a pole; but if one should knock the other down, they might then choose their own mode of war-fare. The meeting then adjourned to [Calvin Smith's newly built] barn-shed, ... over which a floor of rough hemlock plank had just been laid, and on this the issue was to be decided. ...The combatants advanced upon each other, and soon Thompson, by a well-directed blow, brought his antagonist to the floor, and springing upon him at full length, began to aim his heavy blows at his head and face; but Sherman, being more supple, avoided them, and they generally fell harmless on the floor, except feeling his own knuckles. During this process, Sherman was dexterously plying his ribs from beneath, when Thompson was soon heard to groan, and his blows became palsied and without effect. Sherman then rolled him off, and springing upon his feet, exultingly exclaimed – ‘There, the name is Barre', by God!’ Accordingly, a petition for the name Barre was presented and sanctioned by the legislature the same year."

Jonathan Sherman died in Barre, Vermont, at age 83 on 9 February 1846 and is buried in Wilson Cemetery, Barre, Vermont,^[3] where his mother and some siblings also are buried. His large monument also memorializes both of his wives.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016. Grafton, Vol. 1, page 117.
2. ↑ Note: His death record card mistakenly names his parents as Thankful and Jerusha. These are both women's names; they are the names of his two wives.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008. (From microfilmed records. Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013.) Deaths S to 1871, page 6486.
4. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/i/7710/117/22262679 Hubbardston, Vol. 1, page 164]: SHEERMAN, Jonathan and Thankful Smith, Dec. 20, 1787.
5. ↑ Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer of Washington County (1889), pp. 129-139, quoting from Zadock Thompson's History of Vermont (1833)
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/132221490/jonathan-sherman : accessed 30 August 2021), memorial page for Jonathan Sherman (18 Jul 1763–9 Feb 1846), Find a Grave Memorial ID 132221490, citing Wilson Cemetery, Barre, Washington County, Vermont, USA ; Maintained by kwhitco (contributor 47789798) .

• Child, Hamilton; edited by William Adams. Gazetteer Of Washington County, Vt. 1783-1899. The Syracuse Journal Company, Syracuse, N. Y.; April, 1889. Transcribed by Karima Allison, 2003.