Hon. Roger Sherman, signer of the "Declaration of Independence"

Roger Sherman

"American Founding Father & The Great Signer"

A Patriot of the American Revolution for CONNECTICUT. DAR Ancestor # A103361

He had been a U.S. Senator, representing the state of Connecticut (geni.com 1793).

Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Sherman

Sherman was born in Newton, Massachusetts, near Boston, to a poor farming family. To help earn additional money, his father also made shoes, and Roger was taught the shoe-making trade. In 1743, when he was 19 years old, his father died, and the Shermans moved to New Milford, Connecticut, where his older brother lived. For a time, he continued to farm and to make shoes. He studied to become a surveyor, and, at age 24, he was appointed surveyor of New Haven County, Connecticut. Roger Sherman would later run a country store, become a lawyer, serve as a legislator and judge, and as Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court from 1766 to 1789. In 1774, he was elected to the First Continental Congress. At first, many delegates discounted his rough, homemade clothing and lack of a wig (all gentlemen wore wigs in those days), but his words and demeanor won him respect. Among the first patriot leaders to deny the supremacy of the British Parliament over the Colonies, he became influential in the Continental Congress defending that cause. He served on the committee to write the Declaration, and, although his words did not go into the document, his views did. Roger Sherman's greatest service to his country came after independence was won, during the drafting of the United States Constitution. During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he presented the Connecticut Compromise, a proposal that resolved the major differences between the large states and the small states on representation – that each state would have a Representative based upon its population, and an equal number of Senators. It was this compromise that helped to get all of the states to agree on the Constitution, and, for this reason, Connecticut is called "the Constitution State." He was elected as an At-Large Representative from Connecticut to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1789 to 1791, then as a Senator from Connecticut to the United States Senate, serving from 1791 until his death in 1793, at the age of 72.

The Great Signer

Sherman is the only American to sign all four major founding major documents of the United States, as well as many of The Continental Congress Broadside Collection (256 titles) and The Constitutional Convention Broadside Collection (21 titles)

The cornerstone American founding documents are in bold below:

• The Petition to the King (1774)
• The Articles of Association (1774) 1
• The Olive Branch Petition (1775)
• The Declaration of Independence (1776) 2, 3
• The Articles of Confederation (1777)
• The Constitution of the United States (1787)
• The Bill of Rights (1791) 4, 5

The Charters of Freedom (Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights)

1. Member of the Association Drafting Committee
2. Member of the Declaration Drafting Committee or The Committee of Five
3. Roger Sherman’s Draft Copy of the Declaration of Independence, was Thomas Paine consulted?
4. Member of the Bill of Rights House Committee of Eleven charged with taking up the subject of the amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
5. The Bill of Rights wasn't signed by the founders, 10 of the 12 proposed amendments were ratified by 3/4 of the states.

Name Roger Sherman
Gender Male
Residence Date About 1792
Residence Place New Haven, Connecticut
Will Date 6 August 1792
Probate Date 1793
Probate Place Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Inferred Death Year 1793
Inferred Death Place Connecticut, USA
Case Number 9247
Item Description Probate Packets, Shepherd, Anne-Sherwood, H, 1683-1880
Others Listed (Name) Relationship

Roger Sherman
Rebekah Sherman Wife
John Sherman Son
Isaac Sherman Son
Roger Sherman Son
Oliver Sherman Son
Chloe Sherman. Daughter
Rebekah Sherman Daughter
Elizabeth Sherman Daughter
Mehetabel Sherman Daughter
Martha Sherman Daughter
Sarah Sherman Daughter
Betsey Sherman Granddaughter
William Sherman Son

Table of Contents 50 images
Cover Page 1
Administration Papers 2 – 9
Inventory Papers 10 – 15
Account Papers 16
Inventory Papers 17 – 23
Account Papers 24 – 33
Cover Page 34
Administration Papers 35 – 44
Petition Papers 45
Will Papers 46 – 49
Inventory Papers 50

Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999

NOTE: The granddaughter mentioned in Sherman's Will was Elizabeth Law 'Betsey' Phelps (Sherman), daughter of Roger's second child and second son, Lt. William Sherman and his wife Sarah Law.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Dec 21 2022, 17:16:50 UTC