The Litchfield County post., 1827-04-05
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.

ROaER SHERMAN was born on the lSth OI April, 172l, at NewtOG in Massachusetts, the residence of his father, farmer ln niOderate circumstances. Roger enjoyed no other eu- ,,cat;on than the very limited one which the common country schools of New-Engiand afforded at that period. In his early boyhood he was apprenticed to shoemaker ana ne followed the same trade for some tune after he was twenty one years of age lie recet- ed from nature a vigorous and Inqn'sitlVe mino' the energies of which were net to be repres- s.d even by the drudgery of his mechanical labour. Books happened to be within his reach. such as tended to enlarge and fcrtify the understanding and with them he contrl- we'd, like Dr. Franklin, to gratify his thirst for knowledge, while he performed his work as an apprentice. Before he had reached his ma iority he became even proficient in geOgTa- phy, the mathematics, and the principles of moral science. Politics and the law equally engaged his attention, and in both he rose, as we shall see in the sequel to great emnence the more honorable as it was marked by su- perior usefulness and uniform public virtue. In no stage of his long career did he ever dis play the least desire to conceal the nature of his first calling, nor any pride in his transition to the most digniied pursuits and stations. During the revolutionary war, he W as placed on a committee of Congress to investigate cer- tain army accounts, among which were some relating to contract for the supply of shoes. He told the committee that the charges were exorbitant, which he prove by specifilng the cost of the different materials and the work manship. Perceiving that the minuteness & confidence with which this was done excited some surprise, he informed the committee that he was by trade shoemaker, and was perfectly acquainted with the cost of the arti- cles.
 At the decease of his father he was only nineteen years of age, and yet the mainte- nance of mother and a numerous family of brothers and sisters devolved chiefly on him :; charge which he bore with success, owing to his regular industry in the cultivation of the paternal acres and his skill as an artisan. In l743, it was deemed advisable for the family to dispose of their property at Newton. and remove to New Milford, Litchfeld County Connecticut.-There relinquishing his trade as a shoemaker. he commenced at once thu business of country merchant; and opened shop in connection with an elder brother. IT l745, two years after his removal into the colony of Connecticut, he was appointed q surveyor of lands for the county in which he resided-an advancement due to his mathe- nautical studies. Astronomical calculations oi SO early date as the year 1748 have been discovered among his papers. He made them for an Almanac then published in NewYork, which he supplied thus for several consecutive years.
 At the age of 28, he married respectable female, who gave him a numerous offspring Before this event, by private application to law books and enquiry into rules of practice. he had rendered himself no mean counsellor for his neighbors, and acquired no small repu- tation for legal learning and capacity. After his elevation to the bench, he often recurred with pleasure to the moment he appeared for the first time in the presence of regular law yer. An acquaintance happening to require the assistance of one, Mir. Sherman, who Was going to the county town, was commissioned to seek out the best. Before he left home he digested the case in writing and as he stated it to the gentleman whom he consulted, he frequently resorted to his manuscript, which wns at length demanded from curiosity. The lawyer, after reading it, remarked. with an air of surprise, that with few alterations in form, it would be equal 10 any petition which he could himself prepare and when he had asked some questions concerning his situation and views in life, advised him to adopt the profession of the law Such encouragement was not without its effect in awakening his ambition and concentrating his attention :-| his friends were as eager as himself that he should be a lawyer; and matters were so soon ripened, that in 1754, he was admitted in the courts to practice. In the following year he was placed in the commission of the peace of New-Milford, and chosen by the freemen to represent them in the colonial assembly. This was the commencement of his public career, at the thirty-third year of his age.
 He continued to practice the law with pro- fit and reputation until 1759, when he was ap- pointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the county. In 1761 he removed from New-Milford to New-Haven, a better sphere of action, in which he quickly attained all that he could desire. The town of New-Ha,en elected him repeatedly to the legislature. In l765, he was appointed one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas. He became treasurer of the College, and receiv ed the hen orary degree of master of arts. He had large share in the legislative proceedings. not only as regarded the concerns of Connecticut, but those of the Colon'rs in general His sound, sagaeious sense, his comprehensive informa- ton, his close reasoning, enforced by plain, manly delivery, and his decision on principal questions, acquired for him an almost unri- vailed authority in the. Connecticut councils. In i766, he was raised to the office of judge of the Superior Court. station which he re- talned 2S years, and filled with an ahfv and