Charles R. Sherman, being thus apparently ruined by his rascally subordinates, determined to seek new fortunes in the Western country of which his father had given such a glowing account. He at first intended to settle at Zanesville, Ohio, but finally selected Lancaster, in Fairfield County. Having established himself there as a lawyer, he returned to Norwalk for his wife, who meanwhile had become the mother of their first-born, Charles Taylor Sherman. Then, in 1811, he and his wife set out on horseback for Ohio, he carrying their infant child on a pillow on the saddle before him. After a weary and perilous journey, largely through a wilderness, they reached the village of Lancaster and there made their new home. By lovers of curious co-incidences it will be observed with interest that Sir Henry Sherman, the first English Sherman mentioned, was a resident of the County of Lancaster, England. Mr. Sherman rapidly rose to eminence in Ohio as a painstaking and trustworthy counsellor at law and a most eloquent and forcible advocate. He also maintained the reputation of his family for earnest and practical piety. It is told that, failing one Saturday night to reach the place where Court was to be held on Monday, he, in company with several other eminent lawyers, resolved, out of regard to the day of rest, to remain at the small town where they were over Sunday. There was no minister of the Gospel in that place and so Mr. Sherman, who was then Judge of the Supreme Court, was selected to preach a sermon and conduct other religious exercises, which he did with great acceptability. At the age of thirty-five, Mr. Sherman was made by the Ohio Legislature a Judge of the Supreme Court. It was an honorable position, and offered prospect of a brilliant future. He did not occupy it long, however. While on the bench at Lebanon he was stricken with sudden illness, and died on June 24th, 1829, being then only forty-one years old. His salary had been small and he had been able to save almost nothing. His widow therefore, was left practically penniless, with eleven children to care for, the oldest eighteen years of age, and the youngest six weeks. This was a desperate situation indeed. But Mary Hoyt Sherman was not the woman to be daunted. She addressed herself to the training and education of her children with energy, patience and prayer, and was remarkably successful in her arduous work. From four of her children she was for a time partially separated in order that they might enjoy the advantages offered to them by kind relatives and friends. Two of them were thus taken into the family of their aunt, Mrs. Parker, one into the family of the Hon. Thomas Ewing and one into the family of her kinsman, John Sherman, a merchant of Mount Vernon, Ohio. The last mentioned child was John Sherman, who has since become one of the foremost of American statesmen, while the ward of Mr. Ewing was William T. Sherman, whose famous career we are now about to consider.