Guide to the Edwin Allen Sherman papers, 1872-1971, (bulk 1896-1913)

Processed by Mary-Ellen Jones
The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
© 1998
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Note

History --History, California History --History, North America (excluding USA) --History, Mexico History --Military History

Guide to the Edwin Allen Sherman Papers, 1872-1971, (bulk 1896-1913)

Collection number:

BANC MSS 89/81 c

BANC MSS C-B 719 FILM

BANC MSS C-B 719

The Bancroft Library



University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

Processed by:
Mary-Ellen Jones
Date Completed:
August 1989
Encoded by:
Xiuzhi Zhou
© 1998 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Edwin Allen Sherman Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1872-1971,
Date (bulk): (bulk 1896-1913)
Collection Number: BANC MSS 89/81 c

BANC MSS C-B 719 FILM

BANC MSS C-B 719
Creator: Sherman, Edwin Allen, 1829-1914
Extent: Number of containers: 5 boxes. Linear feet: 2.1.
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Letters, manuscripts of writings, and clippings relating primarily to Edwin Allen Sherman, especially to his service in the Mexican War, his successful efforts to erect a monument in Monterey, California to honor John Drake Sloat, and other activities designed to commemorate historic events in California. His writings include Personal reminiscences of a California pioneer of '49 and The true account of the great Jesuit conspiracy in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln "the martyr president" of the United States, Friday April 14th 1865. Includes also some correspondence and papers of his wife, Adeline A. Dodd Sherman; his son, Edwin Allen Sherman; and his grandson, Allen Banks Sherman.

Four series: 1. Correspondence, 1871-1971; 2. Manuscripts & writings by Edwin Allen Sherman, 1895-1911; 3. Miscellaney, 1882- 1936; 4. Clippings, 1892-1932.
Languages Represented: English

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Edwin Allen Sherman papers, BANC MSS 89/81 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Material Cataloged Separately

  • Newspapers transferred to Microforms Division of The Bancroft Library.
  • Printed material transferred to Acquisition Division of The Bancroft Library.
  • Photographs transferred to Pictorial Colections of The Bancroft Library
    Identifier/Call Number: (BANC PIC 1989.048--PIC)

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Gift of Helen B. Sherman (Mrs. Allen B. Sherman).

Scope and Content

Letters, manuscripts of writings, and clippings relating primarily to Edwin Allen Sherman, especially to his service in the Mexican War, his successful efforts to erect a monument in Monterey, California to honor John Drake Sloat, and other activities designed to commemorate historic events in California. His writings include Personal reminiscences of a California pioneer of '49 and The true account of the great Jesuit conspiracy in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln "the martyr president" of the United States, Friday April 14th 1865. Includes also some correspondence and papers of his wife, Adeline A. Dodd Sherman; his son, Edwin Allen Sherman; and his grandson, Allen Banks Sherman.

Biography

Sherman Was There

The Recollections of Major Edwin A. Sherman With an Introduction
by Allen B. Sherman
Edwin Allen Sherman was born on August 25, 1829, in North Bridgewater (now Brockton), Plymouth County, Massachusetts. His father was Jacob Sherman and his mother, Mary Ann (Pratt) Sherman. He resided in his place of birth until six years of age when, in 1835, his parents moved to South Boston. Here he attended the Hawes Grammar School until the spring of 1843 when he left home to visit relatives in Brimfield, Peoria County, Illinois. On his return trip he began his journalistic career by reporting for newspapers in Illinois, Wisconsin, and New York; and in Boston he was employed by William Lloyd Garrison on the Emancipator and Free American.
In 1845, with prospect of war with Mexico, he enlisted in the United States Army. As soldier and interpreter he served with Generals William J. Worth, Zachary Taylor, and Winfield Scott, in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, Vera Cruz, Matamoras, and Cerro Gordo. At Monterey and Matamoras he assisted in getting out the American Flag, an army newspaper made up in Mexican Government printing offices. At the siege of Vera Cruz, Sherman was wounded by the windage of a cannon-shot passing between his knees.
With the news of the discovery of gold in California, Sherman assisted in forming the Camargo Company, which sailed from Philadelphia on February 1, 1849, in the Baltimore brig Thomas Walters for Tampico. From there the company traveled on horseback across Mexico by way of San Luis Potosm, Guadalajara, and Tepic, to Mazatlan where the company took passage in the Peruvian bark Fanny, Captain Du Brodt. The vessel arrived in San Francisco on May 24, 1849.
After the dissolution of the company, Sherman proceeded to Sacramento and thence to Rose's Bar on the Yuba River, where he mined until the fall. In January 1850, during the great flood, he went by sea to San Pedro and San Diego, and with others purchased horses and returned to Sacramento where they were disposed of at a large profit. In May 1850 he went to the Merced River to mine, but high waters drove his party out, causing a return to San Francisco. In July he went to Sonoma, and with a large party went to Clear Lake, fought Indians, and recovered large bands of horses and cattle the owners of which had been murdered. In December 1850 he returned to Sonoma, and in 1852 he was elected city clerk of the Common Council under Mayor Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. He also assisted in editing the Sonoma California Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin. In January 1854 he returned to his home in South Boston, Massachusetts.
Later that same year, with John C. Frimont, Sherman returned to California via Panama, and the following year he was elected county surveyor of Sacramento County, which office he held for two years. During this time, and for a few years afterward in connection with a private land office business, he was frequency engaged in the translation of papers relating to land grants, and assisted in the preliminary location and surveys of many of the grants. In 1860 he purchased the printing office of the San Bernardino Herald and published the Patriot, a Union paper, using the Ames Press (now in the Henry Ford Museum at Dearborn, Michigan). Later he moved the press to Aurora, Nevada, and published the Esmeralda Star, also a Union sheet.
In 1863 Sherman was elected state controller of Nevada. In 1862 Govemor Leland Stanford, of California, had commissioned him major of engineers on the staff of Brigadier General Alexander Malcolm Dobbie, and he was made military instructor of the National Guard of California for the state at large, it being placed on a war footing to suppress rebellion. Sherman was in New York City at the time of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, on April 14, 1865, and served as marshal of the Pacific Division of States and Territories in the great funeral procession in that city on April 25.
In 1866 he returned to Austin, Nevada, as superintendent of the New York & Austin Silver Mining Company. In December 1869 he resigned, went to White Pine, and located the site of Shermantown. In 1874 he was appointed town surveyor of Gold Hill, Nevada, and also deputy United States mineral surveyor, which offices he held until 1877 when he resigned and removed to San Francisco. In June 1883 he took up residence in Oakland, California, where he remained for the remainder of his career as mining expert, author, and contributor to San Francisco newspapers and magazines.
Sherman's life was an exemplification of an unrelenting devotion to country and to freedom, even to the neglect and sacrifice of personal interest. The author's passing on March 17, 1914, ushered in a new era of like sacrifice but unprecedented in scope for the cause of freedom.
The original manuscript of Major Sherman's recollections, written in the first part of the present century from notes made earlier, is contained in six tablets of heavy paper, written on one side, in ink. It is divided into five parts: 1. His boyhood around Boston; 2. The Mexican War; 3. His journey in 1849 across Mexico, from Tampico to Mazatlan; 4. California during the Gold Rush period; 5. The author's second visit to California and the conclusion of his career. We are omitting the first and second parts and begin here with Part 3.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of letters, manuscripts of writings, and clippings relating primarily to Edwin A. Sherman, especially to his service in the Mexican War, his successful efforts to erect a monument in Monterey, California to honor John Drake Sloat, and other activities designed to commemorate historic events in California. His writings include Personal Reminiscences of a California Pioneer of '49 and The True Account of the Great Jesuit Conspiracy in the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln "the martyr president" of the United States, Friday April 14th, 1865.
It also includes some correspondence and papers of his wife Adeline A. Dodd Sherman; his son, Edwin Allen Sherman, Jr., and his grandson, Allen Banks Sherman.

 

SERIES 1: Correspondence, 1872-1971.

Box 1, folder 1.

Edwin Allen Sherman Outgoing Correspondence, 1901-1907.

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.
Correspondence primarily concerning The Sloat Monument Association, and other veterans interests.
Box 1, folder 1

A - W, letters from Sherman 1901-1907

Physical Description: 7
Box 1, folder 2-56; Box 2, folder 1-42.

Edwin Allen Sherman Incoming Correspondence, 1872-1913.

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically, and then chronologically.
Correspondence concerns a variety of veterans associations and their interests.
Box 1, folder 2

Misc. A - F, letters to Sherman 1895-1913

Physical Description: 22
folder 3

Misc. G - M, letters to Sherman 1895-1913

Physical Description: 26
folder 4

Misc. N - S, letters to Sherman 1887-1913

Physical Description: 16
folder 5

Misc. T - Z, letters to Sherman 1894-1910

Physical Description: 25
folder 6

Adams, Charles Albert May 18, 1910

folder 7

Adams, Edson Francis Oct. 9, 1911

folder 8

Alger, Russell Alexander March 29, 1897

folder 9

Andrews, Abraham July 27, 1907

folder 10

Associated Veterans of the Mexican War 1902-1904

Physical Description: 2
folder 11

Baird, George Washington April 30, 1913

folder 12

Baird, Thomas Robert 1904

folder 13

Beardsley, Lester Anthony 1896

Physical Description: 3
folder 14

Beatty, William Henly May 1, 1896

folder 15

Biddle, John 1909-1910

Physical Description: 3
folder 16

Bidwell, Annie Ellicott (Kennedy) 1900-1905

Physical Description: 2
folder 17

Bidwell, John Dec. 13, 1899

folder 18

Blue, Victor 1910

Physical Description: 2
folder 19

Boggs, Lilburn W. Dec. 7, 1902

folder 20

Boggs, William Montgomery 1901-1910

Physical Description: 4
folder 21

Bonaparte, Charles Joseph Aug. 3, 1905

folder 22

Bowman, Jacob Nelbert June 13, 1910

folder 23

Buckles, Abraham Jay July 15, 1907

folder 24

Burnett, Wellington C. Aug. 11, 1903

folder 25

California Society of New York 1902

Physical Description: 2
folder 26

Chiniquy, Charles Paschal Aug. 10, 1878

folder 27

Clem, John Lincoln 1907-1909

Physical Description: 4
folder 28

Daniels, Milton John Jan. 20, 1904

folder 29

Du Pont, Thomas Colleman Feb. 12, 1904

folder 30

Eldridge, Zoeth Skinner June 26, 1913

folder 31

Fletcher, Robert Howe 1908-1910

Physical Description: 3
folder 32

Forbes, Harrye R. P. June 4, 1910

folder 33

Forsyth, James W. 1896

Physical Description: 2
folder 34

Fremont Memorial Association Sept. 12, 1907

folder 35

Frisbie, John B. Oct. 30, 1899

folder 36

Funston, Frederick June 4, 1907

folder 37

Garfield, James Abram Nov. 13, 1880

folder 38

Gillett, James Norris Jan. 20, 1904

folder 39

Gillis, James Louis Jan. 22, 1904

folder 40

Goodrich, Caspar Frederick April 4, 1904

folder 41

Graham, William Montrose March 26, 1895

folder 42

Greely, Adolphus Washington May 16, 1907

folder 43

Herbert, Hilary Abner May 4, 1896

folder 44

Howard, Oliver Otis Aug. 17, 1886

folder 45

Howison, Henry Lylurgus 1895-1896

Physical Description: 3
folder 46

Hudson, Millard Fillmore March 27, 1907

folder 47

Ingersoll, Royal Rodney 1896-1908

Physical Description: 3
folder 48

Kahn, Julius May 19, 1910

folder 49

Kimball, Amos Samuel June 11, 1896

folder 50

Knox, Harry June 8, 1896

folder 51

Kutz, George Fink June 8, 1896

folder 52

Lamont, Daniel Scott 1896

Physical Description: 2
folder 53

Lauck, Joseph B. May 11, 1910

folder 54

Lee, James Grafton Carleton June 5, 1896

folder 55

Lewis, Martha Jane "Patty" Reed 1910

Physical Description: 2
folder 56

Lowe, John June 3, 1896

Box 2, folder 1

McAlister, Adam A. 1902-1912

Physical Description: 4
folder 2

MacArthur, Arthur 1903

Physical Description: 2
folder 3

McCalla, Bowman H. 1896-1907

Physical Description: 8
folder 4

McLachlan, James May 27, 1902

folder 5

Mattison, Frank July 21, 1903

folder 6

Meyer, George von Lengerke April 1, 1910

folder 7

Miles, Nelson Appleton 1896-1903

Physical Description: 5
folder 8

Mills, Susan Lincoln Tolman 1888-1904

Physical Description: 3
folder 9

Moody, William Henry 1904

Physical Description: 2
folder 10

Moore, Stephen R. 1882

Physical Description: 2
folder 11

Mott, Frank Kanning 1909

Physical Description: 2
folder 12

Native Daughter of the Golden West 1896-1910

Physical Description: 6
folder 13

Native Sons of the Golden West 1905-1912

Physical Description: 4
folder 14

Needham, James Carson 1904-1910

Physical Description: 2
folder 15

Nevada, Emma Feb. 16, 1900

folder 16

Nichols, William Ford May 20, 1910

folder 17

Osterhaus, Hugo May 25, 1910

folder 18

Pardee, George Cooper 1904-1907

Physical Description: 5
folder 19

Perkins, George Clement 1895-1911

Physical Description: 20
folder 20

Phelan, James Duval 1896-1907

Physical Description: 2
folder 21

Phelps, Thomas Stowell June 6, 1910

folder 22

Pickett, La Salle Carbell 1898-1899

Physical Description: 2
folder 23

Pittsinger, Eliza A. May 25, 1896

folder 24

Power, John Carroll July 23, 1890

folder 25

Rolph, James Nov. 4, 1909

folder 26

Roosevelt, Theodore 1902-1904

Physical Description: 2
folder 27

Rowell, Joseph Cummings March 7, 1904

folder 28

San Francisco Portola Festival Committee, 1909 & 1913 July 24, 1913

folder 29

Scott, Hugh Lenox July 31, 1907

folder 30

Scott, Irving Murray Feb. 6, 1896

folder 31

Scottish Rite. Masonic Order 1872-1904

Physical Description: 15
folder 32

Sloat, John Drake 1896

Physical Description: 2
folder 33

Society of California Pioneers. San Francisco 1896-1913

Physical Description: 4
folder 34

Soule, Frank 1905-1911

Physical Description: 3
folder 35

Stevenson, Jonathon Drake May 8, 1891

folder 36

Stewart, Charles West 1902-1906

Physical Description: 5
folder 37

Sumner, George Watson June 3, 1896

folder 38

Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe Dec. 18, 1899

folder 39

Wheeler, Benjamin Ide 1907-1910

Physical Description: 2
folder 40

Woodruff, Charles Albert 1907-1910

Physical Description: 2
folder 41

Young, Lucien 1896-1907

Physical Description: 4
folder 42

Young, Samuel Baldwin Marks June 14, 1896

Box 2, folder 43-52.

Adeline A. Dodd Sherman Incoming Correspondence, 1917-1925.

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically, and then chronologically.
Correspondence, primarily expressing sympathy at the death of Edwin Allen Sherman, Sr.
Box 2, folder 43

Misc. A - Z 1906-1924

Physical Description: 39
folder 44

Clem, Joseph Lincoln Aug. 3, 1922

folder 45

Daughters of California Pioneers April 13, 1914

folder 46

Freemasons 1914

Physical Description: 4
folder 47

Lewis, Martha Jane "Patty" Reed March 18, 1914

folder 48

McAlister, Adam A. March 19, 1914

folder 49

Melvin, Henry Alexander Feb. 19, 1916

folder 50

Native Daughters of the Golden West March 25, 1914

folder 51

Waste, William Harrison April 7, 1914

folder 52

Wittenmyer, Clara K. March 18, 1914

Box 2, folder 53-55.

Edwin Allen Sherman, Jr. Correspondence, 1914-1936.

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Letters by, arranged chronologically; letters to, arranged alphabetically. Letters by, relate primarily to family affairs; letters to, other personal interests.
Box 2, folder 53

Misc. A - Z, letters from Sherman 1917-1925

Physical Description: 13
folder 54

Misc. A - Z, letters to Sherman 1918-1919

Physical Description: 7
folder 55

Pershing, John Joseph March 20, 1914

Box 2, folder 56-57.

Allen Banks Sherman Correspondence, 1936-1971.

Scope and Content Note

Letter by, to the Christian Science Monitor transmitting an article by Edwin Allen Sherman, Sr. about Charles Dickens' visit to Boston circa 1839-1842. Letter to, from The Edison Institute, transmits photocopied material concerning the J. Judson Ames printing press.
Box 2, folder 56

Misc. A - Z, letters from Sherman 1971

Physical Description: 1
folder 57

Misc. A - Z, letters to Sherman 1936

Physical Description: 1
Box 3, folder 1-10; Box 4, folder 1-4.

SERIES 2. Manuscripts and Writings, 1895-1911.

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.
Contains holograph and typescript copies of his published works, as well as some unpublished works.
Box 3, folder 1

Misc. (incomplete)

folder 2

Autobiography, holograph n.d.

folder 3

Autobiography, typescript & carbon 1935

folder 4

My Connection With the Public Press ca.1907

folder 5-10

Personal Reminiscences of a California Pioneer of 1849, holograph 1911

Box 4, folder 1

Personal Reminiscences of a California Pioneer of 1849, typescript, with annotations by A. B. Sherman? 1935

folder 2

Personal Reminiscences of a California Pioneer of 1849, carbon 1935

folder 3-4

The True Account of the Great Jesuit Conspiracy in the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln holograph & printed material 1895

Box 5, folder 1-4.

SERIES 3. Miscellany, 1882-1936.

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged by personal name.
Contains items of personal interest to the four Sherman family members such as financial statements, poetry, lists, awards, memorabilia, etc.
Box 5, folder 1-2

Edwin Allen Sherman 1892-1910

folder 3

Adeline A. Sherman 1925

folder 4

Edwin Allen Sherman, Jr. 1882-1918

folder 5

Allen Banks Sherman 1904-1936

Box 5, folder 5-9.

SERIES 4. Clippings, 1892-1932.

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged by subject.
Contains published articles by Edwin Allen Sherman Sr., and information relating to the Sherman family. The remainder primarily concerns veterans and military affairs.
Box 5, folder 6

Articles by Edwin Allen Sherman 1910-1911

folder 7

Sherman family 1892-1932

folder 8

Charles Paschal Telesphore Chiniquy

folder 9-10

Miscellaneous