SHERMAN, JOHN. 



7'.*:, 



Tecnmseh, and procured his appointment as a 

 cadut at West Point, where he was trained tor 

 his great services in upholding the Union atid 

 bearing its Hag in triumph "from the moun- 

 tains to the- sell." 



John was the eighth child. His recollec- 

 tions arc iif tin- gradual scattering of the fam- 

 ily, till hut three children were left with their 

 iih.tiuT. In 1881 a cousin of his father, named 

 .luliii .sherman, took him to his home in Mount 

 Verncn), where he remained four years attend- 

 ing school. At the age of twelve he returned 

 to Lancaster, and entered the academy to pre- 

 pare himself for college. At the end of two 

 years ho was far enough advanced to enter the 

 sophomore class. Want of means and a strong 

 desire to be self-supporting changed the current 

 of his life. He obtained the position of junior 

 rod-man in the corps of engineers engaged on 

 the Muskingum improvement. In the spring 

 of 1838, when only fifteen, he was placed in 

 charge of the section of that work at Beverly, 

 and so continued till the summer of 1839, 

 when he was removed because he was a Whig. 

 The responsibility attending the measurement 

 of excavations and embankments, the leveling 

 for a lock to the canal, and the construction of 

 a dam, proved a better education than could 

 have been obtained elsewhere in the same time. 

 He studied law in the office of his brother 

 Charles T. Sherman, afterward Judge of the 

 United States District Court. He was admit- 

 ted to the bar in 1844, and at once entered 

 into partnership with this brother at Mansfield, 

 where, during the ten years preceding his en- 

 trance into Congress, his ability and indefati- 

 gable industry gained for him distinction and 

 pecuniary success. 



In 1848 Mr. Sherman was a delegate to the 

 Whig Convention at Philadelphia which nomi- 

 nated General Taylor for President. In August 

 of the same year he married Cecilia, only 

 daughter of Judge Stewart of Mansfield. In 

 1852 he was a Senatorial delegate to the Balti- 

 more Convention, which nominated General 

 Scott. His position as a conservative Whig, in 

 the alarm and excitement consequent upon the 

 attempt to repeal the Missouri Compromise, 

 secured his election to the Thirty-fourth Con- 

 gress, taking his seat December 8, 1855. A 

 ready and forcible speaker, his thorough ac- 

 quaintance with public affairs made him an 

 acknowledged power in the House from the 

 first. He rose rapidly in reputation as a debater 

 on all the great questions agitating the public 

 mind during that eventful period : the repeal 

 of the Missouri Compromise, the Dred Scott 

 decision, the imposition of slavery upon Kan- 

 sas, the fugitive slave law, the national finances, 

 and other measures involving the very existence 

 of the republic. His appointment by Speaker 

 Banks as a member of the committee to inquire 

 into and collect evidence in regard to the u bor- 

 der-ruffian " troubles in Kansas was a turning- 

 point in his political career. On account of 

 the illness of the chairman, Mr. Howard of 



Michigan, the duty of preparing the report de- 

 volved upon Mr. Sherman. Every statement 

 was verified by the clearest testimony, and has 

 never been controverted by any one. This re- 

 port, when presented to the House, created a 

 good deal of feeling, and intensified greatly the 

 antagonisms in Congress, being made the basis 

 of the campaign of 1856. He acted with the 

 Republican party in supporting John C. Fre- 

 mont for the Presidency, because that party 

 resisted the extension of slavery, but did not 

 seek its abolition. In the 'debate on the sub- 

 marine telegraph he showed his opposition to 

 monopolies by saying : " I can not agree that 

 our Government should be bound by any con- 

 tract with any private incorporated company 

 for fifty years; and the amendment I desire to 

 offer will reserve the power to Congress to de- 

 termine the proposed contract after ten years." 

 All bills appropriating money for public ex- 

 penditures were closely scrutinized, and the 

 then prevalent system of making contracts in 

 advance of appropriations was denounced by 

 him as illegal. At the close of his second Con- 

 gressional term he was recognized as the fore- 

 most man in the House of Representatives. 

 He had, from deep and unchanged conviction, 

 adopted the political faith of the Republican 

 party, but without any partisan rancor or ma- 

 lignity toward the South. He was reflected 

 to the Thirty-sixth Congress, which began its 

 first session amid the excitement caused by the 

 bold raid of John Brown. Helper's " Impend- 

 ing Crisis," a book then recently published, 

 was the cause of the protracted struggle which 

 ensued for the Speakership. At the end of 

 eight weeks, Mr. Sherman, who needed but 

 three votes to secure his election, retired from 

 the contest, and Mr. Pennington of New Jer- 

 sey was elected Speaker. He was then made 

 Chairman of the Committee of Ways and 

 Means. He took a decided stand against in- 

 grafting new legislation upon appropriation 

 bills, saying : " This is a practice which has 

 grown up within the last few years, and the 

 Committee of Ways and Means deem it their 

 duty at once to put a stop to it; and we have 

 determined, so far as we can, to resist the adop- 

 tion of all propositions looking to a change in 

 existing law by amendments upon appropria- 

 tion bills. The theory of appropriation bills 

 is that they shall provide money to carry on 

 the government, to execute existing laws, and 

 not to change existing laws or provide new 

 ones." 



In 1860 he was again elected to Congress, 

 and when that body convened in December 

 the seceding members of both Houses were 

 outspoken and defiant. The message of Presi- 

 dent Buchanan showed that he was perplexed 

 and overwhelmed by events which he had not 

 the courage to control. At the beginning of 

 Buchanan's administration the public indebted- 

 ness was less than $20,000,000. At this time 

 it had been increased to nearly $100,000,000, 

 and in such a crippled condition were its finances 



