Researching John Sherman

Sherman was a very visible "outsider" character in the climbing world during much of the 1980s and 1990s. An early boulderer, Sherman followed the sport from the era of searching for elusive Gill arrows to the forefront of the modern climbing world. He was one of the foremost developers of Hueco Tanks bouldering with over 400 first ascents there in the 1980s and early 1990s.

About 1803, Sherman became pastor of the Unitarian church at Trenton, New York, which was organized in 1803.

In 1805, Sherman first viewed Trenton Falls during a visit from Connecticut. In 1806, Sherman moved to Trenton to be the pastor of the Reformed Christian Church. Sherman resigned as pastor in 1810 and established a teaching academy next to the low ground trail to Trenton Falls. In 1808, with the help of money donated by Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, a path was blasted to Trenton Falls.

In 1812, Sherman founded an academy in the village, which he successfully conducted a number of years and educated a large number of scholars. He was a finely educated man, an eloquent preacher and a writer of ability. He was enraptured over the falls and their surroundings, and believed from the first that the locality would eventually become a popular resort.

In 1822, Sherman and partner Jarvis Phelps purchased from the Holland Land Company (including Sherman Falls). Sherman bought out his partner in 1823, and built the Rural Resort, which opened to visitors that summer. In 1825, Sherman expanded the Rural Resort to accommodate overnight guests. Trenton Falls became a “must see” destination between the East Coast and Niagara Falls.

In 1827, visitor Michael Moore severely injured his leg during a fall in the gorge; Sherman's daughter Maria nursed Moore back to health. In 1831, Moore married Maria Sherman and assumed management of the resort. In 1851, the Trenton Falls Hotel – known by the popular name Moore's Hotel – was constructed, leading to a dramatic rise in tourism.

Sherman was the grandson of the American founding father Roger Sherman.

He made 27 known appearances in first-class matches from 1809 to 1852.

Sherman was a right-handed batsman and a right arm slow underarm bowler. He played his first four matches at the original Lord's Cricket Ground and the next four at its present location. His career fell into a long hiatus from 1823 but after a gap of 21 years he reappeared for Manchester and took 11 for 50 against Yorkshire. He played another five first-class matches before his last appearance in 1852.

Born in Lancaster, Ohio, Sherman later moved to Mansfield, where he began a law career before entering politics. Initially a Whig, Sherman was among those anti-slavery activists who formed what became the Republican Party. He served three terms in the House of Representatives. As a member of the House, Sherman traveled to Kansas to investigate the unrest between pro- and anti-slavery partisans there. He rose in party leadership and was nearly elected Speaker in 1859. Sherman was elevated to the Senate in 1861. As a senator, he was a leader in financial matters, helping to redesign the United States' monetary system to meet the needs of a nation torn apart by civil war. He also served as the Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee during his 32 years in the Senate. After the war, he worked to produce legislation that would restore the nation's credit abroad and produce a stable, gold-backed currency at home.

Serving as Secretary of the Treasury in the administration of Rutherford B. Hayes, Sherman continued his efforts for financial stability and solvency, overseeing an end to wartime inflationary measures and a return to gold-backed money. He returned to the Senate after his term expired, serving there for a further sixteen years. During that time he continued his work on financial legislation, as well as writing and debating laws on immigration, business competition law, and the regulation of interstate commerce. Sherman was the principal author of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison. In 1897, President William McKinley appointed him Secretary of State. Failing health and declining faculties made him unable to handle the burdens of the job, and he retired in 1898 at the start of the Spanish–American War. Sherman died at his home in Washington, D.C. in 1900 at age 77.

His brothers included General William Tecumseh Sherman; Charles Taylor Sherman, a federal judge in Ohio; and Hoyt Sherman, an Iowa banker.