Sidney Sherman

Sherman was a soldier and businessman. He was born in Massachusetts in 1805 and, orphaned at the age of 12, and clerked for a mercantile firm in Boston before starting his own business. He started several businesses in New York, Ohio, and Kentucky before selling everything and raising a company of volunteers to go to Texas in 1835. They arrived in time to participate in the Convention of 1836 and join the main army. Sherman was made a lieutenant colonel under Edward Burleson, then promoted to colonel and commanded the Second Texas Volunteer Regiment at San Jacinto. After the Revolution, Sherman was made a colonel in the regular army and was sent to Kentucky to raise funds and volunteers. When he returned to Texas, he settled on San Jacinto Bay, served one term in the Texas Congress, and then as the major general of the militia where he presided over the court martial trial of Commodore Edwin Moore. Sherman moved to Harrisburg and started the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway Company and a sawmill, then moved to Galveston to open the Island City Hotel after both businesses burned down. He served as the commandant of Galveston during the Civil War until he became ill and returned to his home on San Jacinto Bay and then moved to Richmond. After the war and the loss of his wife and two sons, he returned to Galveston and lived with his daughter until his death in 1873. Sherman County and Sherman, Tex., are named in his honor.