| 1. | Ruth Sherman was born on 29 Jan 1723 in Dartmouth, Bristol Co, Massachusetts; died on 24 Oct 1811. Notes:
a discrepancy here. The record of FDS # 1328 says it was Ruth ALLEN.. [RVS-68].
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10/13/01 (Terry Olson)
I have some info, but it concludes that Ruth's identity really is not fully proven. I guess I had taken Roy Sherman's genealogy to heart and hadn't followed up on rechecking everything.
I preface this with a side note that Henry C. Sherman, who provided the information that John Shearman married Ruth Shearman, daughter of Elkanah, also provided the information (p.293), that Edmund Shearman married Dorcas "Hicks," which turned out to be correct. See "The Great Migration Begins."
This is what I can say about John and Ruth Shearman:
Roy Sherman's genealogy says Dartmouth for both John and Ruth's births and marriage. I found John in the Dartmouth records (on a CD ROM "fiche on CD" by Search and ReSearch Publishing Corp.), Dartmouth Vital Records, v.1, p.226.
Ruth, the daughter of Elkanah is found in Dartmouth births, v.1, p.230, but I have not found the marriage for Ruth and John recorded in Dartmouth, New Bedford, or Rochester. The Sherman genealogy says John Shearman and Ruth Allen married 21 April 1740, but does not specify where. Henry C. Sherman's notes regarding Ruth Shearman daughter of Elkanah apparently do not have marriage info. I have searched fairly thoroughly in Plymouth and Bristol counties for a record, but have come up with nothing.
The death record for a Ruth Shearman is recorded in New Bedford on the fiche for the date in the Sherman genealogy, and calls her "mother of Elizabeth." It is noted that the record comes from an abstract of the Friends Meetings records which has been copied into the town records. John and Ruth had a daughter Elizabeth as their first born, and if the identity of Ruth is the daughter of Elkanah Shearman, then her mother would also be Elizabeth (Manchester). There is also a record of death for an Elizabeth on 8 December 1825 in New Bedford VRs, calling her daughter of Ruth, and she is buried in Long Plain (north of present day New Bedford). John supposedly outlived Ruth, according to Roy Sherman's genealogy, but here we have persons with the dates of death from the genealogy, reflecting Ruth identified only as Elizabeth's mother, and Elizabeth only as Ruth's daughter, and no John mentioned for either of them. Also, no parents or maiden name for Ruth is given.
Rochester death records do list Elizabeth Shearman, d.Jo[h]n, Dec 8, 1825, a.82 (v.2, p.429). So here we have the same date of death, the appropriate age, and the connection to John Shearman. This would then connect John and Ruth as the parents, and Elizabeth as the daughter, but it is mysterious as to why they are not all listed together in the same town. And again, it does not give a clue as to Ruth's maiden name.
The births of the children of John and Ruth are recorded in the Sandwich Monthly Meeting (Births and Deaths p.21). I have a copy of this from the Archives of the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends at the RI HistSoc Library in Providence. These are the dates of birth that can be found in Roy Sherman's genealogy. Maybe I need to ask specifically about more Sandwich Meeting records regarding John and Ruth.
The birth for Elizabeth, daughter of John and Ruth, is listed in New Bedford as well, with no date, and says "Long Plain," which is the village and Friends Meeting Place north of New Bedford. A note mentions again that the record comes from the Friends Meeting minutes.
On my CD ROMs of the Vital Records for Plymouth and Bristol counties (taken from the Vital Records to 1850 series, on microfiche), I have done a search or both Ruth Shearman/Sherman, and for Ruth Allen. One interesting thing I discovered is that for the Allen family (Dartmouth VRs), there are children for George and Lusanna Allen, including a Ruth. In each case, it reads like his: "Ruth ch. George and Lusanna d.John Shearman." First, I was confused, as it appears to say that Ruth was a child of George AND connected to a John Shearman. When I discovered that Seth Allen's entry said the same thing, I realized that the mother's father was a John Shearman, thus, these are children of George Allen and Lusanna Shearman. Lusanna is the daughter of John and Ruth Sherman, so it may be that somewhere along the line, someone did not look at the dates carefully, and saw the record of Ruth Allen and the name John Shearman, and thus assumed that to be a marriage.
Ruth Shearman's father (supposed), Elkanah, is said to have probably died 1778, in Coventry, RI. If there is a probate record for him there, then I would like to know what it contains.
A query to the Archives of the New England Friends in Providence, RI, might come up with a more definitive answer.
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Addendum: I dug up my info from the New England Yearly Meeting, which does state that they looked for, and did not find a marriage recorded for John and Ruth.
It appears as though they were searching primarily in Sandwich, New Bedford, and Dartmouth.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=artcohan&id=I04596
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Ruth married John Sherman on 21 Apr 1740. John (son of David Sherman and Abigail Hathaway) was born on 12 Apr 1720 in Dartmouth, Bristol Co, Massachusetts; died in 1789 in Rochester, Plymouth Co, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Children:
- 2. Job Sherman
 was born on 30 Sep 1746 in Rochester, Plymouth Co, Massachusetts; died on 24 Feb 1837 in Foxborough, Norfolk Co, Massachusetts.
- 3. John Sherman was born on 22 Apr 1750 in Rochester, Plymouth Co, Massachusetts; died on 16 May 1829 in Rochester, Plymouth Co, Massachusetts.
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1723 - 1811 (88 years)