James Sherrill 1830 - 1913 - his Life and Times

 James Sherrill lived an amazing life:

-- 1830, born to a famous southern pioneer family;

-- 1840, raised on the frontier in Alabama;

-- 1850, grew to manhood on the frontier in Iowa;

-- 1852, married Mary Ann Evans, honeymoon on the Oregon Trail;

-- 1853, claimed 320 acres of land on the frontier in the Willamette Valley;

-- James Sherrill was a pioneer, a farmer, an inventor

-- 1870 Census, still farming his 320 acres near the Willamette River.

-- 1873, invented and patented a new and improved cultivator,

The Albany register. (Albany Or.) February 09 1877
Sherrill's Cultivator and Seeder

-- 1872, moved from his farm in Linn County, Oregon, to Harrisburg, and set up manufacturing for his Cultivator, meeting a popular demand for his invention

-- 1885, moved to Washington where he made another farm out of the wilderness in Chelatchie, Clark County, Washington. The 1885 Territorial census shows James Sherrill, age 54, with his wife, Mary A. Sherrill, age 51, and their two youngest children:  George Sherrill, age 21 and Ella Sherrill, age 12.

--  1887, Clark, Washington. The Census shows James Sherrill, age 56, still in Washington Territory; with him, his wife, Mary Sherrill, age 53, and their youngest child, Ella Sherrill, age 14.

-- 1896, James and his wife Mary Ann (Evans) Sherrill eventually retired to a home in The Dalles, Wasco County, Oregon, where she died in 1896, at age 63.

--  1900, in Harrisburg, Oregon, James Sherrill, widower, age 67, is living with his son Hugh Sherrill, his daughter-in-law America Sherrill, his three grandsons, and a granddaughter.

-- 1910, James, age 77 was living in Island, Union County, Oregon, with Mary E Childers, his widowed sister-in-law. Mary grew ill and her daughter came to take care of her. She died in 1912.

-- 1912-1913, James Sherrill, age 79, returned to Clark County, Washington, where he lived with his daughter Annie, age 58, and her husband Constant Barchus, age 66. Their youngest son Harry Barchus, age 20, and youngest daughter, Floy, age 17, were still at home to make things lively for grandpa James. James was blind by then, and was known affectionately in the neighborhood (which was filled with his grandchildren), as the 'the blind grandfather'.

-- 1913, James Sherrill died 30 Oct 1913, age 82.

Exciting details for each era of his life to follow, beginning tomorrow.

James Sherrill is my great-great-grandfather, as shown in the pedigree snippet below:

Pedigree snippet from Wikitree

                      Reminder - click once on the image to see a large version.
                     Click once more to return to regular view.