George W. Sherman
George W. Sherman is numbered among the pioneers in Allamakee
county, his residence here dating from 1857. From that time until
his retirement he was a force in agricultural development, his
individual prosperity constituting an element in the general
advancement. He is honored as a veteran of the Civil war, having
served three years in that conflict, and in all the relations of
life has proved loyal, courageous and straightforward. Mr.
Sherman is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Erie county,
February 8, 1834. He grew to manhood on a farm in that section
and acquired his primary education in the public schools,
supplementing this by a course in Albion Academy. He fitted
himself for teaching and after laying aside his books followed
that occupation for three terms before he was twenty-one years of
age. In the spring of 1855 he left Pennsylvania and came west,
settling first in Monroe county, Wisconsin, where he taught in
the public schools for two years. He there married and came with
his wife to Iowa, making a permanent location in Allamakee county
in 1857. He was one of the pioneer teachers in this section of
the state and for several years after his arrival followed his
profession during the winter months, engaging in farming during
the summers. He purchased forty acres of land near Rossville and
this he improved and developed until August 11, 1862, when he
enlisted in the Union army, joining Company A, Twenty-seventh
Iowa Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was sent to Dubuque, where
it drilled for two or three months, and at the end of that time
was trasferred to Fort Snelling to assist in driving off the
Indians at that point. It was later ordered to Memphis,
Tennessee, and took part in many skirmishes, battles and forced
marches, participatin in the Red River expedition and the battles
at Pleasant Hill, Fair Oaks, Fort DeRussy, Little Rock and
Nashville. During all of this time, however, Mr. Sherman never
carried a gun, having been detailed to hospital duty, serving for
the first two years as nurse and for the remainder of his term of
enlistment as acting hospital steward. With the exception of a
thirty-day furlough he was continuously in the service from the
time of his enlistment until his discharge at the close of the
war, having never lost a day's time, through sickness or from any
other cause.
After the close of hostilities Mr. Sherman returned to his old
home in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and spent a few months
visiting his old friends and neighbors. However, in November of
the same year he returned to Iowa and in 1866 resumed farming,
engaging also in drilling and sinking wells. He has the
reputation of having constructed the first drilled well in
Allamakee county. After a time he sold his farm near Rossville
and purchased one hundred and sixty acres just adjoining the
corporate limits of WAukon and this property he developed and
improved for many years, his practical methods, his knowledge of
farming, his industry, energy and success winning him a place
among the substantial and representative agriculturists of the
county. Eventually, however, he sold his farm, disposing of it in
five acre tracts, and retired from active life, moving into
Waukon, where he purchased the home in which he and his daughter
now reside.
In Monroe county, Wisconsin, Mr. Sherman married Miss Katherine
Round, who was born and reared in that section. She was a
daughter of Zina Rund, a pioneer in Wisconsin, having come to
that state in early times from Vermont. Mrs. sherman passed away
in 1873, leaving four children: J.D., who is engaged in farming
near Waukon; Lida L., who makes her home with her father; Mrs.
Maggie E. Roberts, of Mason City, Iowa; and Lela, the wife of
E.W. Goodykoontz, who is engaged in business in Waukon.
Mr. Sherman keeps in touch with his comrades of the Civil war
through his membership in John J. Stillman Post, No. 194, G.A.R.,
of which he has served as quartermaster for eighteen years.
During the period of his residence in Allamakee county he has
taken an active part in local politics, having served as assessor
and tax collector, as census enumerator and in various other
positions of public trust and honor. He and his daughter are
members of the Baptist church and the latter is activ ein church
and Sunday School work. A resident of this section for 56 years
and continuously identified with its growth and developement, Mr.
Sherman has become widely and favorably known in the locality as
a man enterprising in business, progressive in citizenship and
faithful to all ties and obligations of life -- one of Allamakee
countys most honored pioneers.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913; pg. 8 & 9
-transcribed by Sharyl Ferrall
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