Description: This photograph depicts the Sherman House, birthplace of the brothers General William Tecumseh Sherman and statesman John Sherman. The home is a Registered National Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) was born in Lancaster, Ohio. Orphaned at age nine, he was raised by Thomas Ewing, a U. S. senator who also served as secretary of the treasury and secretary of the interior. He graduated sixth in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in positions in the South, where he gained great knowledge of the Southern people and the geography of the region. Sherman served in the Mexican War, but left the army in 1853. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Sherman accepted a position as a colonel in the regular army. He became well known for his tactics of property damage and psychological warfare against the southern people, best illustrated by his march through Georgia. His goal was to convince the southern people to stop the war, and prevent more battle field deaths. Sherman is credited with the saying "War is hell." John Sherman (1823-1900) grew up in Lancaster, Ohio, one of eleven children of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Charles Sherman. In 1840, Sherman moved to Mansfield to live with his oldest brother, Charles Jr. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, as secretary of the treasury, and secretary of state. He authored numerous pieces of legislation, though he is best remembered for the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Sherman was considered for the Republican presidential ticket three times, but never gained his party's nomination. Critics claimed that he was a cool and distant man and that these personality traits cost him the presidency. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3244_4401982_001
Subjects: Presidents and Politics; Military Ohio; Architecture; Civil War; Houses; National Register of Historic Places; Sherman, John, 1823-1900; Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
Places: Lancaster (Ohio); Fairfield (Ohio)
 

Description: The outside of the Sherman Home in Lancaster, Ohio. This is where John Sherman (1823-1900) was raised. Sherman is best known as a man who would serve in the senate for over ten years. Sherman at first held a few other jobs before getting into the world of politics, working both as an engineer and an attorney. Before he went on to serve in the senate, he served for a number of years as a representative in Congress. During his time in politics he would support at first the Whig Party, which favored more power for the central government as opposed to the states. After the demise of the Whig party, he became an avid supporter of Republican party policies and was so passionate about the cause of preserving the Union he considered abandoning politics at least for a time and fight the Confederacy. In the end, he abandoned this idea and devoted his time to pushing for his favored policies in Congress. He continued to serve in the senate and hold his own during the turbulent time of Reconstruction. Sherman usually came off as a moderate voice in the time of increasing conflict between the Senate and the President over how to bring the United States back together. He was not afraid to criticize both and advocated for a moderate approach. Sherman left the Senate for a period to become a cabinet official, returning to the Senate upon his leaving the cabinet. While he was once again serving in the senate, he formulated and would give his name to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which made it possible for business monopolies to be dismantled. He would continue to serve in the Senate until a few years before his death, leaving in 1897, and dying three years later in 1900. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06775
Subjects: Sherman, John, 1823-1900; United States. Congress. Senate; United States. Congress. House; Civil War
Places: Lancaster (Ohio); Fairfield County (Ohio); Ohio