PHILIP SHERMAN

• Birth Notes
  • Christening
    5 Feb 1610
    Location: Dedham, Co. Essex, England
    Born in Dedham, Co. Essex, England
    5 Feb 1610
    

• Death Notes
  • 1610
    
    
    
    1633
    Age: 23
    
    Marriage to Sarah Odding
    1633
    Location: Roxbury, , Ma.
    
     
    
    
    Died in Portsmouth, , R. I.
    Mar 1681/1687

• General Notes
  • Philip Sherman  ALTERNATE SPELLING  Philip Shearman, 1609-1687, came to Roxbury, MA, in 1633
    ALTERNATE DATES
    Philip Shearman, 1609-1687, came to Roxbury, MA, in 1633
    BOOK
    Some of the First Descendants of Philip Sherman The First Secretary of Rhode Island -- by Roy V. Sherman, privately published, 1968.
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    After immigrating from Germany our Shermans began life in early Diss, Yaxley, and Dedham England. Many sources show that our first ancestors were JOHN SHERMAN (1396-1487) and MARY LANCE (1400-abt 1487) of Yaxley, England. In  the eighth generation of John's descendants many began immigrating to America. Our family descended from the pilgrim, statesman, land baron, and a founder of the State of Rhode Island, PHILLIP SHERMAN (1610-1687) (Samuel, Henry, Henry, Thomas, Thomas, John, Thomas, John) and SARAH ODDING (  -1681).
    
    While Phillip originally immigrated to Roxbury, MA in 1633, he soon moved to Portsmouth, RI after considerable trouble that he got himself into over religious matters. He was an ardent follower of Anne Hutchinson, a religious zealot of their time, who believed in grace over works - not a popular thought in those days. (© 1997)  Phillip and Sarah Sherman lived out their lives in Portsmouth, RI, and it is from there that many of their descendants ever after pushed westward first to NY, and then to many other corners of the United States.
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    SHERMAN. No resident of the State of Rhode Island has a more honorable lineage or can trace his ancestry to an earlier period in American history than the descendents of Hon. Phillip Sherman, whose connection with the Colony began in 1634.
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    Paraphrasing from The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical, by the American Historical Society, the Hon. Philip Sherman was born in Dedham, County Essex, England.  He came to America in 1633, settling in Roxbury, Suffolk Co, MA.  He was made freeman on May 14, 1634, standing next on the list after Governor Haynes.  (A freeman is someone who possesses the rights or privileges of a citizen).
    
    On November 20, 1637, he and others with religious differences were warned to give up arms because they stood accused of having "seduced and led into dangerous errors, many of the people here in New England."  Instead of submitting to their order, the Hon. Phillip traveled to Rhode Island where he had purchased land in 1636.  On the formation of a government there in 1639, he became Rhode Island's first secretary under Governor William Coddington.  His name is listed here on a plaque commemorating the signing of the Portsmouth Compact.
    
    A prominent figure in Rhode Island, the Hon. Phillip Sherman was general recorder from 1648 to 1652, and deputy of the colony from 1665 to 1667.  He was among sixteen persons requested on April 4, 1676 to be present at a meeting of the deputies to advise the Governor in regard to the Narragansett campaign (the decisive battle in King Philip's War).  Early records prepared by him still remain in Portsmouth, and show him to have been a "very neat and expert penman, as well as an educated man."
    
    According to information gathered at web sites on the left, the parental relationship continues in England with Phillip's father Samuel (born abt. 1572), Henry Jr. (1545), Henry Sr. (1524), Thomas (1490), John (abt. 1445) and Thomas of Yaxley, County Suffolk, England (1422).  I have seen one report that names Thomas' father as John (1396), but others have it as unknown.  Very few written records exist prior to 1400, so it will be hard for researchers to go back much further unless they can tie into a royal bloodline.  Rest assured, many people on both sides of the Atlantic are working on it.  Historians are currently debating whether Henry Sr.'s wife, Agnes BUTTER, was a descendent of King Edward III
    
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    History of the surname Sherman
    
    SHERMAN
    Spelling variations include: Sherman, Shearman, Sharman, Shaerman, Shirman and others.
    
    First found in Norfolk where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.
    
    Historical American Settlers
    Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: John Sherman settled in Boston in 1634, along with Phillip, Edmund, Thomas; William Sherman who settled in Virginia in 1652; Thomas Sherman settled in the Barbados in 1634.
    
    From 1633 to 1637 five Sherman brothers and cousins immigrated to New England. They are the ancestors of many English SHERMANS in the United States. Philip and Samuel were brothers and Capt. John was their cousin. (THE FAMOUS CT SIGNER OF DEC OF INDEPENDENCE WAS DESCENDED FROM CPT. JOHN.)All three of these men were second cousins to The Rev. John Sherman and The Hon. Samuel Sherman, who were also brothers. It has not been established whether William Sherman ("The Pilgrim") was related or not.
    
    William Sherman ("The Pilgrim") 1612-1679, came to Plymouth, MA, in 1632
    
    Philip Shearman, 1609-1687, came to Roxbury, MA, in 1633
    
    The Reverend John Sherman 1613-1685, came to Watertown, MA, in 1634
    
    The Honorable Samuel Sherman 1618-1700, came to Wethersfield, CT, in 1636
    
    Samuel Shearman 1610-1643, came to Boston, MA, in 1636.
    
    Captain John Sherman 1612-1690, came to Watertown, MA, in 1637.
    
    Noteworthy Shermans
    Henry Clapp Sherman (1875-1955) American biochemist
    John Sherman (1823-1900) American statesman
    Roger Sherman (1721-1793) American statesman, signer of Declaration of Independence
    John Sherman (c.1897) American secretary of state
    William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) American soldier