The Sherman name first appeared among some Saxony people living along the Rhine river as far back as the 10th
century.

The earliest record found of the Sherman name in England was, 8 June 1274. A license to trade in wool was
granted at Westminister to Richard Le Sherman, a merchant of Huthe in Essex County.

Before the 12th century most people only had a first name. Later their occupation was often added to the first
name and became their last or surname. England adopted occupational names starting in the 12th century. Middle
names did not appear until the early 1800s.

The origin of the name Sherman apparently came from some early progenitor whose occupation was a dresser or
shearer of cloth: One who sheared worsted, fustians etc to even the nap. This is they were cloth dressers and
workers with cloth, commonly called clothiers (they dealt with cloth, not clothes). This kind of tradesman was
referred to as the "Shearmancraft."

Names were seldom written in the 1300-1500s, but when they were they were generally spelled as the recorder
saw fit. English spellings are Shearmen, Sharman, Shereman and Shurman. German and Dutch spellings are
Schuerman, Schuermann and Schuurman. French spellings have the "le" prefix, for example le Sherman.

The common spelling seen in early documents for our family name is Shearman, until about mid 1800s when it
changed gradually to Sherman.

The Shermans in England were middleman who bought lengths of cloth from cottage weavers. Then they dressed
or sheared it, dyed it if they had a woadhouse, sorted it for quality, baled it, marked it with their trademark, and
sold it at weekly auctions to the clothes makers.

Our Sherman ancestors of England were wealthy land gentry and yeomanry, they lived mostly in the area
Northeast of London called East Anglian.