| Notes |
- The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 166 (October 2012):245-58 (Part 1), "The Earliest Shermans of Dedham, Essex, and Their Wives," "Part I: Henry Sherman the Elder and His Wives," by Michael Johnson Wood
GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY HENRY SHERMAN[64] was born about 1512,[65] perhaps in Essex. He settled in Dedham, Essex about 1534, and late in life in Colchester, Essex, about 1584. He died between 26 February 1589/90 and 25 July 1590 (dates of codicil and probate), probably in Colchester. His first wife, whom he married about 1539, was perhaps A DAUGHTER OF ROBERT PERPOYNT of Dedham. She was probably identical with AGNES, wife of Henry Sherman the elder, who was buried in Dedham 14 October 1580. He married next in Dedham 5 June 1581, MARION (___) (SMYTHE) WILSON, widow of Thomas Smythe of Dedham, then of Edmund Wilson of St. Leonard’s, Colchester, whom she had married in Dedham 5 April 1563 . She was perhaps "Mrs Sherman" buried at St. James, Colchester, 4 August 1584. Henry married last MARGERY ___, who was living when he made his will. As Henry Shearman the elder, of Colchester, Essex, he left a will dated 20 January 1589/90, with a codicil dated 26 February 1589/90, proved in London 25 July 1590.[66] The will named son Henry Shearman and his children Henry, Samuel, Daniel, John, Ezechiell, Phebe, Nathaniel, and Anne Shearman; son Edmonde Shearman and his children Edmonde, Richard, Bezaliell, Anne, and Sara Shearman (all under age; sons under 22, daughters under 21), son-in-law William Petfield and his children Richard, Susan, and Elizabeth Petfield (all under age); wife Margerye; son Robert; Jane and Anne Shearman, underage daughters of Robert [evidently the testator’s son Robert]; daughter Judith Petfield; son-in-law Nicholas Fynce; the wives of sons Edmond, Henry, and Robert; the poor of All Hallows [i.e., All Saints, Colchester]; and the poor of Dedham and the free school of Dedham (the testator asked to be buried in Dedham). Executors were to be sons Henry and Edmond. Children of Henry Sherman and his first wife (if Agnes was his second wife, she could have been the mother of at least one of the youngest children): i. ALICE SHERMAN, b. say 1540; bur. Dedham 20 Oct. 1580 as Alice, wife of Nicholas Fince; m. ca. 1562, as his first wife, NICHOLAS FINCE, b. after 25 Aug. 1532 (date of his father’s will), bur. Dedham 28 Feb. 1593/4, son of John and Ellen (___) Fince of Ardleigh, Essex.[67] Nicholas and Alice had seven children baptized in Dedham from 1562/3 to 1578. The burials of five in infancy or childhood are recorded there, and the other two children, Judith and Alice, may have died young also as they were not named in their grandfather’s will.[68] ii. JUDITH SHERMAN, b. say 1543, bur. Dedham 1 April 1601 as Judith, wife of William Petfield; m. Dedham 27 June 1566 WILLIAM PETFIELD, clothier, living in 1610,[69] probably the elder son of John Petfield of Earls Colne, Essex, clerk, whose undated will proved 17 June 1572, names also a younger son Matthew.[70] William and Judith had nine children baptized in Dedham from 1567 to 1588, the eldest being named Matthew. iii. HENRY SHERMAN, b. say 1545; m. SUSAN Lawrence. See Part 2. iv. EDMUND SHERMAN, b. say 1548; m. (1) ANN PELLETT; (2) ANN CLERE. See Parts 3 and 4. v. John Sherman, b. say 1551,[71] bur, Dedham 16 Oct. 1576, unmarried. He left an undated nuncupative will, probably proved in 1576.[72] The will mentioned brothers-in-law "William Pettfylld" and "Nycollas Fynce"; brother Robert Sharman; "my mother"; and "my father." vi. Thomas SHERMAN, b. say 1555; bur. Dedham 16 March 1563/4. Probably he was the godson of Thomas Butter, as discussed above. vii. ROBERT SHERMAN,[73] bp. Dedham 6 Feb. 1559/60; bur. St. Stephen Coleman Street, London, 14 Jan. l602/3.[74] He was educated at Cambridge University, and became a Fellow of the College of Physicians in 1599[75] He m. (1) Dedham 9 Dec. 1583 BARBARA BROWNE, bp. Dedham 1 April 1561, daughter of Martin and Katherine (Reynolds) (Warner) Browne;[76] (2) shortly after 4 July 1597 BRIDGET JENNEY, daughter of Francis and Margaret (Peyton) Jenney.[77] Robert’s will, dated 10 Jan. 1602/3, proved 20 Jan. 1602/3,[78] names wife Bridget; children Jane, Mary, Anne, and Robert; son Richard. Brother Henry Sherman was to be executor. Notes: 1. Among his many descendants, living and deceased, are several first-rate genealogists and editors of genealogical publications. 2. Bertha L. Stratton, "New Light on Henry Sherman of Dedham, Essex, England, and Some Notes on His Descendants" (Staten Island, N.Y.: the author, 1954), 1-10. Nevertheless, the Internet is riddled with this false ancestry, which has also been perpetuated in two relatively recent books: Sherrie A. Styx, "The Mumford Families in America, 1600-1992" (Eugene, Ore.: Styx Enterprises, 1992), chart iii on p. 17, and Margaret Sherman Lutzvick, "Going to Palmyra: Sherman Deeds" (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1997), 21-22. 3. John Guillim, "Display of Heraldrie," 4th ed. (London, 1660), 189, quoted in Bertha L. Stratton, "Transatlantic Shermans" (Staten Island, N.Y.: the author, 1969), 22, and Stratton, New Light [note 2], 21. 4. Stratton, "New Light" [note 2], 19-20; Stratton, "Transatlantic Shermans" [note 3], 25-26. 5. All the documents in this file are at The National Archives, DL4/l6/l8. A photostatic copy of only one of them, Henry Sherman’s deposition, was published in Stratton, "Transatlantic Shermans" [note 3], facing 58, and a transcription of his deposition is in Stratton, "New Light" [note 2], 3. 6. "The Victoria History of the County of Essex," vol. 10 (London: University of London Institute of Historical Research, 2001), 165-69. 7. Court rolls of the Manor of Faites & Wades, Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, D/DC14/14- 28, of which only piece 14/14 has been needed for this article. Years 1360-1422, on membranes 2-12, are not entered consecutively, and the proceedings of 31 July 1559 are on an unnumbered membrane stitched at the end of the roll. 8. Ibid., D/DC14/14, membrane 8. 9. Ibid., membrane 5. 10. Ibid., membrane 4. 11. Ibid., membrane 6. 12. Ibid., membranes 12-13. 13. Ibid., membrane 14. 14. Ibid., membranes 16-17, consecutive court dates. 15. Ibid., membrane 17. 16. On 8 June 1500, it was presented at the Dedham Hall court that "John Clerke who lately died upon his deathbed surrendered [land described] to the use of Agnes Clerke his wife for the term of her life"; the previous court was held on 23 May 1599 (court rolls of the Manor of Dedham Hall, Duchy of Lancaster records, The National Archives, DL30/59/734). 17. Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, D/ACR 1/1. 18. Faites & Wades [note 7], DIDC14/14, membranes 18-19, consecutive court dates. 19. Ibid., membrane 23. 20. Court record missing, but information cited on 1 May 1553 (ibid., membrane 25). 21. Dedham Hall [note 16], DL30/60/739, View of Frankpledge on 11 April 1575, in a list of tenants who owed suit of court but made default. 22. Ibid. 23. Faites & Wades [note 7], D/DC14/14, membrane 23. 24. Ibid., membrane 32. 25. Ibid., membrane 31. 26. Court rolls of the Manor of Dedham Campesse, Duchy of Lancaster records, The National Archives, DL30/58/728. 27. Faites & Wades [note 7], D/DC14I14, membrane 2. 28. Ibid., membrane 5. 29. Ibid., membrane 19. 30. Ibid., membrane 20. 31. Ibid., membrane 21. 32. Ibid., membrane 22. 33. Ibid., membrane 23. 34. Ibid., membrane 31. 35. See note 17. 36. Faites & Wades [note 7], D/DC14/14, membranes 21-25. 37. Ibid., not filed between membranes 25 and 26 where it ought to be, but at the end of the roll. 38. Dedham Hall [note 16], DL30/60/737. 39. Faites & Wades [note 7], D/DC14/14, membrane 30, stitched before membrane 31, which covers 1573-1578. The previous court was held on 4 September 1578. 40. The tenement Cranfens was called by Thomas Cranfen in his will dated 17 December 1529 (Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, D/ACR 2/203), "Richards now Thomas Cranfens," a former tenant being Richard Cranfen, so the 1581 description should probably have been written "Perpoynts and Cranfens alias Richard." Neither Laurence Richardson nor any Perpoynt ever held Cranfens. 41. Jennifer C. Ward, ed., "The Medieval Essex Community: The Lay Subsidy of 1327" (Chelmsford, Essex: Essex Record Office, 1983), 18. 42. Gerald H. Rendall, "Dedham in History, Feudal, Industrial and Ecclesiastical" (Colchester, Essex: Benham, 1937), map as frontispiece. 43. Faites & Wades [note 7], D/DC14/14, membrane 2. 44. Dedham Hall [note 16], DL30/59/732. 45. Will of John Cranefen, dated 15 March 15 10/1, no probate date (Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, D/ACR 1/182). On 18 May 1513 the death of John Cranefen was presented at Dedham Hall court, he having died since the previous court held 2 June 1512 (Dedham Hall [note 16], DL30/59/735). 46. Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, D/ACR 5/118; F. G. Emmison, ed., "Essex Wills (England),’ vol. 1, Special Publications of the National Genealogical Society No. 51 (Washington, D.C., 1982), 225-26. 47. Thomas and Marion (___) Smythe had three children, all baptized in Dedham: Thomas Smythe, baptized 26 February 1559/60, buried in Dedham 14 April 1562 [his father was buried 20 April 1562]; James Smythe, baptized 10 September 1561, buried as "singleman" in Dedham 22 March 1585/6; and Susan Smythe, baptized 26 December 1562. The record of Susan’s baptism does not describe her father Thomas Smythe as deceased; however, I know of no other Thomas Smythe or Smith of Dedham then. 48. Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 68 Wallop, PROB11/96/235, abstracted in G. Andrews Moriarty, "Genealogical Research in England: Butter," Register 76 (1922):278-95, at 280-81. 49. Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 12 Doughty, PROB11/59/20, abstracted in Henry F. Waters, Genealogical Gleanings in England, 2 vols. (Boston: NEHGS, 1901; repr. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1969), 2:1162. 50. Court rolls of the Manor of Overhall & Netherhall [formerly Dedham Campesse], Duchy of Lancaster records, The National Archives, DL30/61/746, a draft in English entered between proceedings both dated 1589. The heading is mutilated, so the date has had to be obtained by cross-reference from an unconnected entry in the court for 12 April 1581 in DL30/61/744. 51. Dedham Hall [note 16], court of 12 April 1581, which cites the 1553 surrender, the records of which court are missing. 52. Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 5 Ketchyn, PROB11/38/23b, abstracted in Moriarty, "Genealogical Research in England: Butter" [note 48], Register 76:278-79. 53. The National Archives, C2/JasI/S37/53. 54. The National Archives, C33/1 13, ff. 278b, 546. 55. The National Archives, C3311 15, f. 611 and C33/1 16, f. 609 (two copies). 56. The National Archives, C33/1 15, f. 1048. 57. Henry Sherman the younger (c.1545-1610) became "the elder" at the death of his father in 1590, but that does not affect the reasoning in the text. 58. On 22 June 1591 William Butter deposed that he was 70 or thereabouts (The National Archives, DL4/33/42). See also the Genealogical Summary in Moriarty, "Genealogical Research in England: Butter" [note 48J, Register 76:292-95. 59. G. Andrews Moriarty, "Genealogical Research in England: The Gurdon Family," Register 82 (1938):380-87 et seq., including 95 (1941):69-72, at 72. 60. Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, D/ACR 3/10. 61. For Gurdon, see note 59. The Lufkin information is based on the author’s unpublished research. 62. Henry’s 1589/90 will (see below) mentioned the children of his three sons and his daughter Judith, but did not mentioned any children of deceased daughter Alice Fince, who may have had two daughters alive when the will was made (see note 68 below). 63. Victoria History of the County of Essex [note 6], 10:158, 163-64. 64. Henry Sherman has been given no superscript since he had both grandchildren and great-children who immigrated to New England. 65. He was age 62 or thereabouts in 1574 (see note 5). 66. Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 51 Drury, PROB 11/75/34, published in full in Thomas Townsend Sherman, "Sherman Genealogy ..." (New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1920), 53- 57; abstracted in Waters, "Genealogical Gleanings in England" [note 49], 2:1164-65. 67. Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, D/ACR 2/253. Nicholas was named in the will of his brother John Fince dated 24 April 1559, no probate date (Emmison, "Essex Wills" [note 46], 250). 68. However, it is possible that Judith and Alice were named in the 1625 will of their first cousin, Ann (Sherman) Angier (see Part 3) as Judith Cartwright and "Allse Mase," widow, amongst beneficiaries known to be Ann’s relatives. 69. "Anna Petfield, daughter to William Petfield," was mentioned in the will of [her uncle] Henry Sherman, dated 21 August 1610 (see Part 2 of this article). 70. Episcopal Consistory Court of London, 164 Bullocke, at the London Metropolitan Archives. 71. John Sherman attended the Dedham Hall View of Frankpledge on 9 April 1572, so he had probably attained his majority since the previous View of Frankpledge for that court was on 1 October 1571 (Dedham Hall [note 16], DL30/60/739). 72. Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, D/ABW 34/221, abstracted in Waters, "Genealogical Gleanings in England" [note 49], 2:1162, and F. G. Emmison, ed., "Essex Wills: The Bishop of London’s Commissary Court, 1569-1578" (Chelmsford, Essex: Essex Record Office, 1994), 202. 73. Perhaps Robert Sherman was named after Robert Perpoynt, probably his grandfather. 74. Parish registers of St. Stephen Coleman Street, London. 75. John Venn and J. A. Venn, "Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Offices at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900: Part 1 (From the Earliest Times to 1751)," 4 vols. (Cambridge: University Press, 1922-27), 4:63. 76. Joan Corder, ed., "The Visitations of Suffolk, 1561," 2 parts, Publications of The Harleian Society, new series, vols. 2-3 (London, 1981-84), 2:183 (Reynolds). The will of Katherine’s brother Henry "Reignoldes" of Little Belstead, Suffolk, dated 9 August 1585, proved 13 October 1587 (Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 61 Spencer, PROB 11/71/166b, abstracted in Waters, "Genealogical Gleanings in England" [note 49], 2:1164), mentions "cousin Sherman of Colchester," evidently Robert Sherman, who witnessed the will. 77. Sherman, "Sherman Genealogy" [note 66], 87-89; Corder, "Visitations of Suffolk, 1561" [note 76], 3:299 (Jenney). 78. Commissary Court of London Wills, 19:3 18, abstracted in Waters, "Genealogical Gleanings in England" [note 49], 2:1167."
Henry Sherman
in the UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current
Name: Henry Sherman
Birth Date: 1511
Death Date: 15 Oct 1590
Cemetery: Dedham, St Mary the Virgin
Burial or Cremation Place: Dedham, Colchester Borough, Essex
URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-..
Note: It is not proven that he is the son of Thomas:
Henry was born in Colchester, County Essex, some thirty miles south of Yaxley. As fourth son of Thomas he received a relatively small share of his wealthy father's estate and thus had to abandon the life of landed proprietor and seek a new method of maintaining and increasing what he had. So he became a clothier. He carried on his trade in Dedham which is in County Essex a few miles north of his birthplace. Being on the River Stour only about 15 miles upstream from the important port of Harwich, Dedham may have been a better shipping point for the goods produced by the Sherman enterprise. The business occupied "Sherman Hall" which stands today as do numerous other ancient buildings of the Essex Clothiers. This Hall -still bearing our family name - is just across the street from Dedham's church and like many other old houses in the town, it boasts a charming Eighteenth Century facade added two centuries after the construction of the original Edifice.
Henry had 5 sons and 2 daughters. Their eldest son, Henry was our ancestor. The second son, Edmund, was the ancestor of General William Tecumseh Sherman. When Henry died in Dedham in 1590 at the age of seventy, his will left 1.20 to his son, Henry, and his armor to his sons, Henry and Robert (who was a physician) while Edmund, ancestor to a general, apparently had to go unarmed- or maybe he already had a full suit of his own. In any event, it is probable that all three sons armed themselves as best they could and rode down to the coast in July of 1588 to help repel the expected invasion by the dreaded Spanish Armada. But, thanks to Howard, Drake, Hawkins and the stormy seas, they had no need to unsheath their swords.
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1511 - Bef 1590 (~ 78 years)
