Sherwood and Fay returned to the United States in May 1876, where Sherwood began working as a faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music. He began his American concert debut as the soloist with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Throughout the next couple of years, Sherwood and Fay toured together, performing in a variety of American cities. However, their marriage ended in divorce, and Fay even sued Sherwood for child support in April 1886 after he had neglected to pay on an order from November 1885. In 1887, Sherwood married one of his former students, Estelle F. Abrams of Monongahela, Pennsylvania; they had two children together.