Genealogy, History and Love of Family: The Ancestry of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen

Photo credit: pexels.com

by Virginia Turner

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Frederick “Rick” S. Sherman’s book, The Ancestry of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen. Rick was a long-time member and benefactor of The California Genealogy Society. While I did not know Rick personally, as a member of the manuscript committee I felt admiration for his talent as a genealogical researcher and his compassion to his family. This admiration deepened as I assisted in sorting his collection of family history and saw the immense amount of data he was able to gather over his lifetime.

I was struck with the feeling that his book was obviously a labor of love. He uniquely expressed his appreciation for his family by brilliantly illustrating, even though they lived many years apart, how each of his forbearers was a companion in his own life. The fact that he used an easily readable typeface throughout, no need for magnification by the average reader, made me enjoy it even more.

Who was Rick Sherman?

He begins with a modest introduction of himself, leaving the reader wondering whom this “new friend” might be. To find more about “Rick”, the reader should turn to the very last portion of the book, “Appendix D”, just before the index, to see an appreciative memorial message, composed by his friends and co-workers at the University of California, Berkeley. He was a multi-talented person, who spent many hours in research, through many fields of study. This experience enabled him to think thoroughly in every area—genealogy being one area that interested him from early in his life.

His family story begins

Rick begins with the stories of his parents, Samuel S. Sherman and Mary Ware Allen. It was unfortunate that his father died at the age of 35 years, due to a sudden infection. Luckily his mother, Mary, did all she could to teach their three young children about their father. You’ll find family photographs of Mary and Samuel with the children, as well as one portrait of Samuel as a young man. 

Collecting leads to a book

Rick was passionate about saving photographs. They are reproduced in this book in enlarged form, and date from the nineteenth century through the twentieth. Although several of the subjects were born before the beginning of the art of photography, they are pictured in this book from painted portraits and miniatures, and even one as a silhouette. 

Cooperation from Rick’s family members helped both identify and add to the collection of photographs. As he writes of the lives of his ancestors, stories worthy of a fictional storybook are produced, with photographs making them come “alive”. In my opinion, they bring the subjects to life and really enhance the enjoyment of the readers.  

Organization as a guide

To keep track of how each one relates to Rick, and other family members, turn to the several pedigree charts in the Appendix B. If you think you may have mutual ancestors, then these charts will help you find them. Rick’s genealogical talents are on full display here and may help researchers in their genealogical searches.

I particularly appreciate the circular charts, each blank space totally filled out by Rick, using his own pen for the lettering.  While portions of the charts are blank, Rick intended to fill them with the ancestors in Appendix A, his Unfinished Chapter. There are beginnings of some of them, but not enough information to be considered finished.

The lighter side

As you read through the pages, look for the bits of humor interwoven with the factual material, such as the nickname of his grandmother, “Dambo” (aka, Ellen Bradford Copeland Allen). Portions of the complete, written account of her journey are quoted in this book.

Eleanor Allen on Dambo's trip to Baja, California (1906)

For example, Rick writes, “In 1906, she bravely took her sons Morris and Dick, age seventeen and sixteen and daughter Eleanor, age nearly fifteen, and two teenagers, on a tour of Baja, California to the little port of San Quentin, leaving behind the youngest child, our mother, Mary, who was nine years old.  Mary made up for it by going to Baja on her honeymoon in 1924.”

Lemuel Smith Hardin with his military title

Civil War buffs will enjoy the interesting story of great grandfather Lemuel Smith Hardin, who told of being the “only man to serve in both the Confederate and Union armies”. He had to be smuggled (while his mother's voluminous dress covered his Confederate uniform) to Canada to escape arrest by his own brother, a Union General, Martin Hardin, due to visit their mother. The puzzle deepens when in the 1890 census of Union Veterans, his name appears, even though he was known to have served in the Confederate army.

If you’re researching this family’s genealogy

As for using this book by the genealogical researcher, first check out our online manuscript index under "Sherman, Frederick S." (listed in alphabetical order). If you then want to see the actual manuscript files, please come to The California Genealogical Society’s library and ask to view The Sherman Collection.

The collection is held in archival boxes and can be used by request when you visit the library. Next, check the index of names found in the book. You may also search the box title names, by checking Appendix C in the book. The boxes contain family letters and some photographs which do not appear in this book, along with other written materials and charts. Members of the society who serve as library volunteers will be happy to give you assistance.

Online Library Catalog and more
Even if the Sherman Collection holds no interest for your family history research, please look at our online Library Catalog. This catalog also has an option to search WorldCat.org that enables you to utilize the OCLC catalog of books, articles, and other materials in libraries worldwide. Not familiar with this?  From OCLC’s website, “The OCLC is a global library cooperative that provides shared technology services, original research and community programs for its membership and the library community at large.” The end result is that you will probably find something that will help you!

What else would be helpful to the genealogy researcher? Many useful maps are catalogued in the library and I recommend spending time with the library’s index of holdings. These can  be useful for searching names and localities, and history. 

The Rick Sherman book can be a source of historical and genealogical interest, plus its information, humor, and enjoyment of the beautiful photographs give it recreational value as well. 

Enjoy!

About the Author

Virginia Turner has for about five years served as a member of the manuscript committee of the California Genealogical Society and Library. She has studied her family's history since 1968, and has used this library as a researcher for many years. 

The genealogical collections there have assisted her with preparing and publishing the book, "Ruffcorn, An All American Family" (1995) with two supplements in 1997 and 2001. She has also written portions of collective genealogy books, and a few magazine articles. Virginia lives in Oakland, but her roots are in Iowa.

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

Dismissed from the Union Army

by Georgia Lupinsky

Personal stories abound in Frederick S. (“Rick”) Sherman’s beautifully narrated genealogy book, The Ancestry of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen.  One such story is that of his maternal great-grandfather, Robert Morris Copeland, an accomplished landscape architect. One of his early projects was the design of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts, where Ralph Waldo Emerson was the principal speaker at its dedication.

A Sign of Things to Come
However, one episode in 1862 marked Copeland and his family deeply.  Was an event twelve years prior, a precursor to this dark time in his life? In 1850, while a student at Harvard, Copeland was “rusticated” (temporarily suspended) for part of his junior year, due to an alleged lack of respect for the faculty.  Though this apparent challenge to authority put Copeland in good company (earlier British students who had been “rusticated” included renowned poets John Milton, John Dryden and Percy Bysshe Shelley), it did not bode well for a future challenge he was to make.

Volunteers for the Union Army
Shortly after the Civil War began, Copeland volunteered for the Union Army and “likely because of his education, family connections and upbringing, immediately secured a lieutenant’s commission. He was then quickly promoted to major, serving as Asst. Adjutant General to Major General Nathaniel Banks, "Commander of the 2nd Massachusetts.” This regiment was sent to Harpers Ferry and on into the Shenandoah Valley, where it was opposed by Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.

In the spring of 1862, Copeland believed that the Union forces under Banks had a wonderful opportunity to combine with those of John C. Fremont and rout Jackson’s forces. However, orders came from Washington for Banks “to fall back and send half his forces to Fredericksburg.” Major General Banks was prepared to follow  orders, but Copeland was so agitated that he persuaded Banks to send him to Washington to explain the situation to Secretary of War Stanton. This stance along with other unwise steps taken by Copeland during this period so enraged Stanton that he dismissed Copeland from the service on 6 August 1862. 

Effort to Clear His Name
Learning of his dismissal by reading of it in a newspaper, Copeland was stunned by this action and spent the next eight years trying to clear his name. He even obtained a personal interview with President Lincoln, who essentially told him “that if he took time to worry about all the grievances of individual officers, he would have none left to run the country.” 

Life After the Army
After his involuntary separation from the Army, Copeland resumed his family life in the beautiful area of West Castleton, Vermont and his career as a landscape architect, completing many worthwhile projects in New England and Pennsylvania. Finally, when Grant became President, he issued a new order in 1870, declaring that Major Copeland was honorably discharged. As the news of Grant’s decision reached Copeland’s neighbors, they celebrated their friend by building bonfires on all the hilltops around West Castleton.

Robert and Josephine Copeland with children, undated:
Robert Morris Copeland seated with William, Ella (in back),
Josephine Gannett (Kent) Copeland and Fred

An Early Death
Robert Morris Copeland died of cancer on 28 March 1874 at the age of 44. He was buried next to a pine tree in the Mt. Feake Cemetery in Waltham, Massachusetts, a cemetery he had designed in 1859. 

Copeland’s descendants continued to write in defense of his service, beliefs and actions during the Civil War. Granddaughter Margaret (Copeland) Blatchford produced an article entitled “Out of Step in the Civil War.” And, almost one hundred years after his great-grandfather’s dismissal, great-grandson Frederick W. Copeland’s article “The Righteous Major” appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in 1961.

The Ancestry of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen never disappoints in providing heartfelt stories of those who lived before and also provides insights into historical events that they experienced.  The book may be purchased on our website, CaliforniaAncestors.org, by clicking the Publications tab and selecting the title. The price is $37.95 for non-members and $28.46 for members.

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

by Georgia Lupinsky

A Birthday Photograph
The day of Samuel Sterling Sherman’s 99th birthday found him surrounded by an abundance of flowers (pictured above) as he received numerous wishes for a “Happy Birthday” from those he had known in various parts of the country throughout his life. 

As Frederick S. Sherman relates in The Ancestry of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen, his great-grandfather, born 24 November 1815 in West Rupert, Vermont, told his own life story in an autobiography dictated when he was 95 years old, with an addendum provided four years later.

In that addendum Dr. Sherman even explains the genesis of the birthday photo accompanying this article. Between 1855 and 1859 Samuel Sherman served as President of the Judson Female Institute in Marion, Alabama. Now, over fifty years later, the students, faculty and alumnae of that institution had shipped vines and flowers from the South and he writes that though the “many rare and southern flowers had suffered much from the long journey, they were still interesting to northern eyes.” It occurred to him to decorate the large bay window with these flowers  and to take a photograph of it that would give pleasure to the donors. Thus a “flashlight picture was taken of the window with myself entering upon the ninety-ninth year of my age, and holding the Judson telegram in my hand.”

Years in the South
At the age of 19 Samuel entered Middlebury College, but a bout with typhoid fever in his junior year prompted him to seek a warmer climate. Learning of a position at the University of Alabama as a tutor in Latin and Greek, he made an adventurous trip South via Savannah and Macon, Georgia, Montgomery and Selma, Alabama. After three years at the university, he was asked to undertake the founding of a college in Marion and at the age of twenty-six, became the founding president of what became Howard College, now Samford University outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Other positions in education included leadership of the Brownwood School in LaGrange, Georgia and the presidency of Judson Female Institute in Marion, Alabama. 

Life in the North
By 1859 Mr. Sherman had come to believe that civil war was inevitable and moved his family north to Milwaukee. However, he retained a lifelong affection and concern for his Southern friends. 

In 1867 Sherman and associates established a tea, coffee and spice business which he pursued for the rest of his business career. “The company was profitable, in part due to a novel baking powder formulated by Great-grandfather, who had always been especially interested in chemistry.” After the great Chicago fire, Mr. Sherman moved to Chicago and continued his business there with his sons, Frederick and Henry, as partners. At this point in his long life, Chicago became his most permanent home, as he still had thirty-five years ahead of him. Though dealing with various physical disabilities in his last few years, Mr. Sherman remained mentally bright until the end of his life, dying on 22 November 1914.

Postscript
Great-grandson Frederick S. (“Rick”) Sherman and his wife Pat paid an unannounced visit to Judson Institute in 1956, one hundred years after his Great-grandfather started his work there and wrote that “the enthusiasm and kindness with which we were greeted, we shall never forget. Their memory of their old friend and champion was as fresh as though he had just walked out the door.”

May Rick’s words encourage you to walk in the steps of your ancestors and to find what a satisfying experience that can be.  Those wishing to immerse themselves in the wonderful research and writing of Frederick Sherman may purchase the The Ancestry of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen on our website. Members receive a 25% discount.

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

The Essence of One Man's Life

Evelyn Johnson Hardin

By Georgia Lupinsky

 “…She has become the essence of my life and I plead with you for her hand as for life and all that makes life dear.”

So wrote Frederick Sterling Sherman (1853-1935) in a beautifully worded letter dated December 17, 1893 to Lemuel S. Hardin, father of Evelyn Johnson Hardin, the woman he hoped to marry.  Mr. Hardin did, indeed, give his consent!

The letter is part of a treasure trove of Sherman material in our Manuscript Collection, much of which was the basis for Frederick S. “Rick” Sherman’s The Ancestry of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen, the latest book published by the California Genealogical Society (CGS).

Writing of his grandparents, Mr. Sherman states that it is believed they met at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, “where Evelyn’s Aunt Nellie (Ellen Hardin Walworth), gave an address that was influential in launching the National Archives of the United States.” She was a favorite niece of her Aunt Nellie who was also one of the founders of the DAR.

Evelyn’s father on one occasion wrote of his daughter, “her peculiar weakness is to be a belle, as her mother was before her, and she is mistress of the feminine arts that make men adore her.” Seventeen years older than his bride-to-be, Fred was “obviously smitten by her charm and beauty” and the two wed some six months after Fred Sherman’s letter, on May 13, 1894 in Fort Hamilton, Long Island, New York, where the Hardin family lived.

Ellen Hardin Walworth

The couple later established roots in California, first moving to La Jolla, and then settling permanently in Coronado. Later generations of the family have also lived in California and have made contributions to their communities. This is exemplified by Frederick “Rick” Sherman’s valuable work for CGS as a Past President, a Chief Researcher and Benefactor as well as a highly respected member of the University of California, Berkeley’s faculty.

Rick’s lasting contribution, his book, illustrates how we as family historians might approach the telling of our family story. Letters, diaries, journals and newspaper articles can unveil previously unknown stories or take us into the thoughts and emotions of a real human being, not just an ancestor listed on a pedigree chart.

Looking for different ways to crack your own family’s genealogy mysteries? Get Rick’s book and discover avenues you might not have explored.  Reading like a great novel, it chronicles one American family’s amazing story. Copies may be purchased on our website and if you’re a CGS member you will receive a 25% discount.

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

Lincoln, Love, and Loss

The "Gettysburg Portrait", A head-on photograph of Abraham Lincoln
taken on November 8, 1863; two weeks before his Gettysburg Address.
Photo By Alexander Gardner via Wikimedia Commons

by Georgia Lupinsky

The California Genealogical Society’s newest publication, The Ancestry of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen, is now available for purchase on our website. Elegantly written and extremely well researched by CGS past president, Frederick S. (Rick) Sherman, the book provides a series of very personal stories of his ancestors. This is possible because many left detailed written records of their existence and these have been preserved at various institutions in the United States.

For example, a large collection of letters (including fifty-nine love letters) written by Mr. Sherman’s second-great-grandfather, John J. Hardin, born Frankfort, Kentucky in 1810, exist today. A dashing, intelligent and handsome man, Mr. Hardin was licensed to practice law in Kentucky at the age of 19 and was later elected to the Illinois General Assembly.

John J. Hardin, 1810-1847

A Whig, he was a close friend and political ally of Abraham Lincoln. In 1843 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Later Daniel Webster sponsored his entry into the group of lawyers authorized to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

A colonel in the Illinois Volunteers during the war with Mexico, he was killed at the Battle of Buena Vista at the age of 37. The memorial ceremony in Jacksonville, Illinois to honor him and others who had died included a parade and speeches that drew an immense crowd, estimated at between 10,000 and 15,000.

The author’s thorough investigation and use of these resources has resulted in a very readable book that illuminates the personal qualities of these individuals and gives us a view into their daily lives.

Copies of the book with its fascinating stories may be purchased on our website at CaliforniaAncestors.org by selecting the Publications tab where CGS members will receive a discount or may be ordered directly from Lulu.com. 

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society