SHERIFF SHERMAN. 



493 



which was to cany him off, showed itself on his 

 return home from a tonr of inspection in the West. 

 In the end of. June, to evade the intense heat of 

 Washington, he emliarked on the U. S. steamer 

 Swutuni. and was by it conveyed to Nonqnit, Mass. 

 Here he died, Aug. 5, 1888, leaving a widow and 

 four children. His remains were brought back to 

 Washington, and, on Aug. 9, interred in the National 

 Cemetery of Arlington, " under the shadow of the 

 home of the Lses," with the solemn ritual of the 

 Catholic Church, of which he was a member, and 

 with every manifestation of public respect. 



Oi Sheridan, almost more than of any general in 

 the war, it may truthfully be said that he was "a 

 born soldier." His aptitudes were all essentially 

 military. He was daring, enterprising, self-reliant, 

 prompt, resourceful, and no man was more highly 

 gifted wiih the faculty of inspiring his men with an 

 on'husiasm akin to his own. The affection with 

 which they regarded him found expression in the 

 sort of pet name by which they spoke of him "Lit- 

 tle Phil." Yet no man could be more stern on occa- 

 sion, and none was more stringent in enforcing dis- 

 cipline. With all his Irish ardor of heart, he never 

 omitted to provide for emergencies, nor ever en- 

 tered into an engagement without looking out for 

 weans for securing a retreat. His tactical ability 

 was evidenced by the high state of efficiency to 

 which he brought every body of troops intrusted to 

 Lim ; and the independent engagements he fought, 

 and especially his conduct of the campaign in the 

 Shenandoah Valley, abundantly testify to his skill 

 and ability as a general. " As a soldier," Grant said 

 of him, " there is no man living greater than Sheri- 

 dan. He belongs to the very first rank of captains, 

 not only of our army but of the world. I rank him 

 with Napoleon and Frederick, and the great com- 

 manders of history." 



Toward the close of his life Sheridan, following 

 the example of his chief, spent much time in pre- 

 paring his Personal Memoirs, which appealed in 

 November, 1888. They are marked in a striking 

 degree with the same characteristics as Grant's Me- 

 moirs straightforward simplicity and terseness of 

 thought and style, entire freedom from vanity or 

 envy, just appreciation of the merits of others, and 

 intense love of his country and its institutions. 



(j. H.) 



SHERIFF. A county officer, representing the 

 executive or administrative power of 



80U I '< XX HOT tlie 8tate wituin "is county. InEng- 

 Am. Rep!). ^ an< ^ tue sheriff W as formerly elected 

 by tin; inhabitants of the county, ex- 

 cept in some counties where the office was heredi- 

 tary, and in Middlesex, where the office is vested in 

 the City of London by charter. Since the statute 

 of 22 and 23 Viet., c. '21, ? 42, the sheriffs are nomi- 

 nated by the Lord Chancellor and judges of tho 

 courts at Westminster, and appointed by the Crown. 

 In tho United States they are usually elected for a 

 term of three years, subject, however, to removal by 

 the governor of the State for cause. Like other 

 officers of the States, they are required to give bonds 

 to the commonwealth conditioned for the faithful 

 performance of their duties, without fraud, deceit, or 

 oppression. The sheriff must preserve the peace of 

 the county, and in so doing may apprehend and 

 commit to prison all persons breaking the peace, 

 or may bind them over to keep the peace ; he must 

 pursue and take all murderers, felons, and rioters ; 

 must keep the county jail, and defend it against 

 rioters. To all these ends he may summon the in- 

 habitants of the county, or posse comitntus, to his 

 assistance ; all |>erson8 over fifteen years of age are 

 bound to answer this summons under pain of fine 

 and imprisonment. He is bound to execute, within 

 his county, all civil process issuing from the courts, 



such as serving of writs', etc. ; should he bo a party 

 to the proceeding, the coroner acts as his substitute; 

 he also summons the jury which tries the cause, ami 

 executes the judgment of the court. In criminul 

 cases, also, he arrests and holds the accused, sum- 

 mons the jury, and executes the sentence imposed 

 by the court. He 1ms power, generally prescribed 

 by statute in the several States, to summon juries 

 for special purposes, such as tho execution of writs 

 of damages, or of partition of lands, etc., referred to 

 him by the courts. 



His authority is confined to his own county, though 

 when commanded by a writ of linbeitx corpus he may 

 convey a prisoner out of his county ; a prisoner who 

 has escaped from his custody may al*o be pursued 

 by him into another county uml retaken there; ho 

 may also perform merely ministerial acts in another 

 county of his S'a'e, e.g., making out a jury panel or 

 assigning a bail bond, e'.o. 



He may appoint deputies to assist him in the per- 

 formance of his duties, and is responsible for their 

 acts in eo doing. They may perform all ministerial 

 duties, such as the service and return of writs, etc., 

 but any quasi-judicial duty, surh as the execution of 

 a writ of inquiry, cannot be performed by deputy. 

 The sheriff is generally the custodian of the county 

 jail, and is responsible for escapes therefrom ; he is 

 bound to have a sufficient force at hand to protect it 

 from attacks by mobs, etc. 



Civil process, writs, etc., are, as a general thing, 

 served by his deputies, though it is not absolutely 

 necessary that they should be, if the deputy is pres- 

 ent. In serving civil process, he may not break iulo 

 a man's house, though in the execution of criminal 

 process he may, after demanding admittance. Pro- 

 cess of nny description may not be served on Sunday, 

 except in cases of treason, felony, or breach of tho 

 peace ; nor may he on that day retake a prisoner who 

 lias escaped. (T. B.) 



SHERMAN, a city of Texas, county seat of Gray- 

 son Co., is on tho Houston and Texas, the Texas Pa- 

 cific, aud the St. Louis, Arkansas aud Texas Railroads, 

 65 miles north of Dallas. It has a fine court-house 

 (costing $85,000), a jail (costing $95,000), a fino 

 opera-honse, and two large hotels. There are 2 

 banks, 2 daily and 3 weekly newspapers, 9 churches, 

 7 schools, some of which have fine buildings. Thero 

 are 2 iron foundries, 4 planing-mills, and some small 

 factories. The buildings are chiefly of brick. Tho 

 city has water-works, and a park, and is lighted 

 with gas and electric light. It was settled in 184G 

 and incorporated in 1853, and ifs prosperity has been 

 increased by the railroads, which transport hence 

 grain and cotton. The population in 1880 was 6093, 

 and it is now estimated at 10,000. 



SHERMAN, JOHN, statesman and financier, was 

 bom, May 10, 1823, at Lancaster, Ohio, being tho 

 eighth child of the Hon. Charles R. Sherman, judgo 

 of the Supreme Court of Ohio, who in 1810 had mar- 

 ried Miss Mary Hoyt, of Norwalk, Conn. When John 

 was but six years old his father died, leaving his wid- 

 ow with eleven children in straitened circumstances. 

 In boyhood John was adopted by a relative of tho 

 same name living at Mount Vernon, Ohio. Here 

 the boy received an education which he himself 

 characterized as "the foundation -training of his 

 life." At the age of 12 a sister took charge of him, 

 and placed him at an excellent school in Lancaster, 

 which he left in 1837, reasonably prepared to enter 

 the sophomore class in college. Circumstances did 

 not permit his carrying out this plan and after 

 serving as a rodman in the corps of engineers en- 

 gaged on the Musidngum and as superintendent of 

 the section of the work at Beverly (whence he was re- 

 moved in 1839 on account of his being a Whig), ha 

 entered the law-office of his brother, the Hon. C. T. 

 Sherman, at Mansfield, who took him, after four 



