Ervin O. Sherman

Regions: Otsego Co., NY; Walworth Co., WI

From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, Publ. 1912 - Page 889-891 ERVIN O. SHERMAN. If there is one thing which distinguishes the American citizen over those of any other country it is the facility with which any and all occupations are readily taken up by him and are made successful. In the older countries it was customary for the son to follow the father's pursuit. "Follow your father, my son, and do as your father has done," was a maxim which all sons were expected to adopt. It is in such countries as the United States that full swing can be given to the energies of the individual. A man may choose any business or profession he desires, and he is limited only by competition. He must meet the skill of others, and give as good service as they or he will not get the positions. Such adaptation to any work or business is well shown in the career of many of the men whose biographies are outlined in this work, among whom is Ervin O. SHERMAN, well known veterinary surgeon of the town of Sharon, who has also been a successful agriculturist for the major part of his life. He has turned his hand to many things and proved that farming was not the only occupation which he could make successful. Mr. SHERMAN was born on March 25, 1839, in Sandy Creek, Oswego county, New York. He is the son of Benjamin and Sarah (CRANDELL) SHERMAN, both natives of the state of New York where they grew up and were married and from there they came to Wisconsin in the fall of 1850, and first settled at Lake Geneva, but they stopped there only for the winter, when in the early spring he went to Sharon, this county, where the father soon purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Sharon township. Later he sold eighty acres of this, and developed the remaining eighty into a good farm, on which he spent the rest of his life, dying on March 12, 1884, his wife having preceded him to the grave in the fall of 1861. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin SHERMAN, namely: D. W., of Lake Geneva; E. J., of Sharon; J. W., of Lake Geneva; and Ervin O., of this sketch. Ervin O. SHERMAN was reared on the home farm and there made himself useful in his boyhood days. He received his education in the public schools of Otsego county, New York, and in Sharon, Wisconsin. Mr. SHERMAN took up farming early in life and followed the same for a livelihood. He purchased the old homestead upon the death of his father and here he has continued to reside to the present time, having kept the place well improved and well cultivated, and, having prospered through close application and good management, he added to the original until he is now the owner of two hundred acres of as good land as the county can boast. He has a large, pleasant home and substantial outbuildings. He has always kept an excellent grade of live stock, of which no better judge could be found in Walworth county. Mr. SHERMAN is a veterinary surgeon of wide repute, one of the most successful and best known, in fact, in this part of the state. Having retired from active farming in 1906, he moved to his pleasant home in the town of Sharon where he has since devoted his attention exclusively to veterinary work. He rents his farm, merely looking after it in a general way. He has kept well abreast of the times in all that pertains to his profession and is well equipped in every way for the successful practice of the same. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen, and, politically, he is a Republican, but has not been especially active. Mr. SHERMAN was married on February 25, 1860, to Elizabeth CHAMBERS, daughter of Thomas and Sophia (READER) CHAMBERS, who were born in England, where they spent their early lives. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. SHERMAN, named as follows: Sarah is deceased; Benjamin is on a farm; William, Mertie and Charles. Submitted by Carol