Amador ledger., 1900-10-26
Death of a Statesman.

washington home, Hon. John Sherman
the famous American statesman and
patriot, passed away.
John Sherman was born at Lancaster
Ohio, May 10, 1882. Nevertheless he
was typical New Englander, and his
tall, angular figure, his plain, simple
tastes, his cool, reasoning temperament
were all New England traits; and we'll
might they have been, for it was from
this soil his ancestry was nurtured.
His father and mother emigrated to
Ohio from Connecticut and settled on
the famous Western Reserve, district
populated for the most part by New
Englanders. The pioneer Sherman
was lawyer of distinguished ability.
His advancement in his profession, in
what was then little more than the
frontier, was rapid, but at 40 years of
age his life went out, he being at the
time one of the Judges OF the Supreme
Court of Ohio. The widow was left
with eleven children to provide for and
educate. The youngest was but few
months old, the eldest barely 18.
Judge Sherman had accumulated no
surplus. He died poor. 1t was an ap-
palling outlook for young, ambitious
woman-such problem as would turn
the head of fin de steele mother.
But Mrs. Sherman was one OF those
brave, determined women who have
made our country great among the
nations. So we'll did she perform the
work left to her hands to do that one
of her sons, William Tecumseh Sher-
man, became with one exception, the
first military hero of the land, and the
other, John Sherman, became one of
the greatest men of his political faith
in the United States Senate, if not the
greatest of any party in that body.
But before Judge Sherman the father
of these two distinguished sons, away
back a century and a half ago, was
young man in Connecticut, whose voca-
tion was that of cobbler. The boots
that he made were better, so runs the
story, than those that came from other
hands, though the men in those days
were less clever at trickery than some
Connecticut Yankees in latter years.
But this young man had soul for
something beyond making strong boots
for the rugged settlers thereabouts,
and so as he pegged away at the leather
he stored his mind with a knowledge
of the law. 1t was in 1850 that this
same cobbler, now 40 years of age and
known as Roger Sherman, became
prominent as Revolutionary leader.
His fame spread throughout the thir-
teen colonies, and when the Conti-
mental Congress was created Roger
Sherman becaWe one of it's leading
members, serving continuously from
1774 to 1888. He was a remark
able man, possessed of strong common
sense, intense feeling and an intuitive
knowledge of the true principles of
government.
HIS EARLY STRUGGLES.
But ancestry and opportunity are not
enough. They must be coupled with
energy and application-that sort of
application that knows no firing.
Men move forward by the power that
is within them-not by that behind
them or about them. John Sherman
began to recognize this fact at the age
of fourteen, when he became self sup
porting. He got place as an assistant
with the engineers of the Muskingum
Improvement, where he remained
about two years, when he was, so the
story goes, discharged for Jealous par
tisanship of the Whig persuasion.
This was at I6, and it is said that he
exhibited the strong party spirit at
that age that characterized his entire
public career. He went from the
Muskingum Improvement into his
brother Charles law Office at Mans
field, and began to read law. There
was no time for idleness-no time to
wait for something to turn up.
In 1855 Mr.. Sherman entered Con-
gress. He had already established
reputation for ability in his profession
and, it is said, was making money very
fast when he left his practice and fol-
lowed the bent of his nature-followed
the example of old Roger Sherman
whose temperament must have been
akin to that of his distinguished de-
scendant, the Senator of Ohio.
Mr.. Sherman was about 81 years of
age when he was elected to the national
House of Representatives in 1854. He
took his seat in December of the fol-
lowing year. He remained in the lower
house eight years, and then he was
elevated to the Senate, where he served
for seventeen years, resigning from
that body to become Secretary of the
Treasury under Hayes.
1t was as the head of the Treasury
Department that Mr.. Sherman did
perhaps the best work of his life. He
was born financier. In 1874, several
years before Mr.. Hayes was even
thought OF in connection with the
Presidency, MIR. Sherman introduced a
bill providing for the resumption of
specie payments on January l, 1879.
He had little thought, no doubt, of be-
ing the man to bring that purpose to
Dractical realization RI1t in 1877 he
was made Secretary of the Treasury,
and the work of preparing for the re-
sumption fell to his hands. He did this
so we'll that when the appointed day
came there was not ripple of disturb
ance in financial circles, though theo-
rists and pessimists generally held that
serious trouble would ensue. But with
John Sherman at the head of the Gov
ernment's finances the people had no
fear. He had their confidence.