The Sherman family was among the earliest settlers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. They and their descendants were men of note in their respective Colonies, of strong, practical minds, pure and lofty in moral tone and character.

They were early actors in the settlement and development of Ohio. Taylor Sherman, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a judge of one of the Superior Courts of Connecticut, and was one of the trustees of the Fire Land Company, to whom was granted, by the State of Connecticut, the lands now comprised by the counties of Huron and Erie, in Ohio. As early as 1800, he was in Ohio, and also in subsequent years, attending to the surveying and allotting the lands to the owners, who suffered from fire in the excursions of Arnold and Tryon, in Connecticut, in the Revolutionary war.

His son, Charles R. Sherman, and father of Charles T. Sherman, emigrated to Ohio in 1810, and settled in Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio. He early became distinguished at the Bar, among the strong and able lawyers then practicing in Central Ohio. In 1824, he was elected one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and died in 1830, whilst in the performance of his duties.

Charles T. Sherman, of whose life these notes are made, was born in Lancaster, February 3, 1813, and is Ohio born and reared. He was educated and graduated at the Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, in 1832, and admitted to the Bar in 1835. He settled in Mansfield, Richland county, and continued in the practice of his profession until he was appointed judge of the United States Court for the Northern District of Ohio, in Mardi, 1867.

He never sought to obtain any public office, but rather carefully avoided it. He always esteemed it fortunate that he resided in a county and section in which the majority was opposed to him in political sentiments. He however took a leading part in developing and forwarding public improvements in his county. He contributed liberally by his labors and influence in locating and constructing through his county the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and the Mansfield & Sandusky Railroad. For many years he was a director in both roads, and general soliciter of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and a leading spirit in its management.

He was also appointed by Mr. Lincoln to serve four years as one of the Government Directors of the Pacific Railroad, and largely contributed to its success in its early days.

The Bar of Richland county always ranked among the first in Northern Ohio. Among the oldest members who were in full practice when Judge Sherman went there, were Jacob Parker, afterwards Judge of the Common Pleas, Andrew Coffinberry, one of the most genial and kind hearted men, and, withal, an excellent lawyer, John M. May, who commenced the practice of the law in 1815, and is still living, and James Purdy, Orris Parrish of Columbus, William Stanbery, of Newark, Hosmer and Henry B. Curtis, of Mt. Vernon, and Edward Avery, of Wooster, afterwards Judge of the Supreme Court, all practiced in that county. In later days and cotemporaneous with Judge Sherman, were Thomas W. Bartley, Jacob Brinkerhoof, and Josiah Scott, all of whom occupied the Bench of the Supreme Court of Ohio, James Stewart, Judge of the Common Pleas, S. J. Kirkwood, afterwards Governor of Iowa, and U. S. Senator from that State, together with R. G. Hurd and Columbus Delano, of Mt. Vernon, and C. L. Boalt and J. M. Root, of Norwalk.

Judge Sherman ranked with those later and younger members of the Bar, and enjoyed a practice equal to any, and more lucrative probably, than any of them. He was quiet and unostentatious in his profession, and, seemingly, only sought to do his whole duty to his clients and obtain the good will of his fellow citizens.

A short time after the breaking out of the rebellion, he was appointed Provost Marshal of some twenty counties in Northern Ohio, by the War Department, and organized four regiments that went into the service, and subsequently served on a commission to settle and adjust claims on the Government arising in the West.

Upon his appointment to the Bench he resigned his position on the Railroads, with the intention of devoting his whole time to the duties of his judicial office. For more than two years he has presided with entire satisfaction to the public and the members of the Cleveland Bar, proving himself to be a strong, capable, common-sense, business judge; and by his habitual courteous demeanor has made a host of legal and other friends during his short residence in this city.

[Illustration: Very Respectfully, R. P. Spalding]