Elijah Bernis Sherman (June 18, 1832 – May 1, 1910) was a prominent
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters.
The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
and
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
.
Biography
Sherman was born in
Fairfield, Vermont
Fairfield is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States, chartered in 1763. The population was 2,044 at the 2020 census. President Chester A. Arthur was born in Fairfield in 1829, and lived there for the first three years of his life. ...
on June 18, 1832, the son of Elias Huntington Sherman and Clarissa Wilmarth.
He worked on the family farm until 1855, when he enrolled in pre-college studies at the
Brandon Seminary, and then Burr Seminary in
Manchester, Vermont
Manchester is a New England town, town in, and one of two shire towns (county seats) of, Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,484 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
Manchester (village), Vermont, Mancheste ...
. He entered
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...
in 1856, graduating in 1860. Upon graduating from college, he went on to teach at Brandon and
South Woodstock Seminaries.
[
With the outbreak of the ]American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, in May 1862, Sherman enlisted in the 9th Vermont Infantry
The 9th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three years' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Eastern Theater, from July 1862 to December 1865. It served in the VII, XVII and XXIV Corps.
History
The ...
. This regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation.
In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
was captured at the September 1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry
The Battle of Harpers Ferry was fought September 12–15, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. As Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee's Confederate States Army, Confederate army invaded Maryland, a portion of his ...
, a part of the Maryland Campaign
The Maryland campaign (or Antietam campaign) occurred September 4–20, 1862, during the American Civil War. The campaign was Confederate States Army, Confederate General (CSA), General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the Northern United Stat ...
. Following the capture of his regiment, the Union Army sent Sherman to Camp Douglas. Annoyed by this forced idleness, Sherman resigned his commission in January 1863 having attained the rank of lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
.
Sherman now enrolled at the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
to study law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
. He graduated in 1864 and set up a law practice. He married Hattie G. Lovering in 1866, and they had one son, Bernis W. Sherman.[
In 1876, he was elected to the ]Illinois House of Representatives
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...
. The next year, Shelby Moore Cullom
Shelby Moore Cullom (November 22, 1829 – January 28, 1914) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate and as the 17th Governor of Illinois. He was Illinois's longest serving s ...
, Governor of Illinois
The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...
, appointed Sherman as judge advocate
Judge-advocates are military lawyers serving in different capacities in the military justice systems of different jurisdictions.
Australia
The Australian Army Legal Corps (AALC) consists of Regular and Reserve commissioned officers that prov ...
of the first brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...
of the Illinois National Guard
The Illinois National Guard comprises both Army National Guard and Air National Guard components of Illinois. As of 2013, the Illinois National Guard has approximately 13,200 members. The National Guard is the only United States military force e ...
, a position he held for many years. He won re-election to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1878. In 1879, he was appointed master in chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of eq ...
of the . In 1882, he was elected president of the Illinois State Bar Association
The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) is among the largest voluntary state bar associations in the United States. Approximately 28,000 lawyers are members of the ISBA. Unlike some state bar associations, in which membership is mandatory, ISB ...
. He was also active in the activities of the American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...
.[
He died from pneumonia at his home in Chicago on May 1, 1910, and was buried at ]Rosehill Cemetery
Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is a historic rural cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. At , it is the largest cemetery in the city of Chicago and its first private cemetery. The Entrance Gate and Administration ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Elijah B.
1832 births
1910 deaths
American jurists
19th-century American lawyers
Burials at Rosehill Cemetery