From "History of North Washington" Published 1904 Transcibed by: Candy Grubb (candyg@theofficenet.com) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAMUEL F. SHERWOOD Samuel F. Sherwood, who at this writing, is mayor of the town of Colville, is one of the prominent men of Stevens county and a leading mine owner of both the Okanogan country and the reservation section. He was born in New Rochelle, New York, in a large inn that was granted to his ancestors by George III. His parents, Lawrence J. and Aniliza (Winship) Sherwood were both descended from prominent American families. His father's father fought in the Revolution and his large inn was taken possession of by the British as a hospital but after the war he gained it again. The mother's grandfather was a Frenchman who fought under Napoleon and later was a planter in Martinique where he was murdered by an uprising mob of negroes. His daughters were taken captive and were rescued by a French man of war. Samuel was educated in his native place and in Hagerstown, Maryland. At the outbreaking of the Mexican war he enlisted and served throughout, being discharged at Ft. Hamilton, New York. He was wounded by a gunshot in the head and by a stroke on the head and had a serious time with brain fever, but came through all right. He was a musician in the First New York Artillery under Captain Hazelton, Colonel Crane, of Twigs Division. Following the war he was employed as engineer on a merchant line from New York to Havre, france, and also in the navy. Then he was employed by Vanderbilt at the isthmus and in Nicaragua to handle a steamboat on the river. Later as he was going to San Francisco from New York aboard the steamship San Francisco, in 1853, with the Third United States Artillery they were shipwrecked off Cape Hatteras and he was rescued with the others by the British ship, Three Bells, and taken to New York. He later returned to San Francisco and went thence to the Fraser River country and prospected but did not succeed and returned to San Francisco and went thence to Portland, Oregon, where he was assistant engineer of the fire department. At the time of the Orofino excitement he went to search for gold. This was in 1861. In 1864 he journeyed thence to the Kootenai mines and one year later to Montana. In 1867 he came to Fort Colville engaging in the quartermaster's department, and two years later he was elected county auditor on the Republican ticket. The next year he took a ranch at Chewelah, and in 1871 and for a year following was interpreter for the government in the Indian wars. In 1890, Mr. Sherwood was elected county auditor again and since the expiration of that term he has devoted himself to mining and has some very valuable properties. In 1900, Mr. Sherwood was elected mayor of Colville and he still holds the position. Mr. Sherwood married Mary Goodhue, of Atchison, Kansas, in 1892. Her father died in 1890 at Delta, Colorado, and her mother still lives there. Mr. Sherwood is a member of the A.F. & A.M., and he and his wife belong to the Episcopalian church. In 1883 Mr. Sherwood took a delegation of Indians to Washington D.C., for the purpose of arranging for matters of the Columbia reservation and among those who went were Chief Moses, Lott, Tonaskat and Sar-Sarp-Kin. Mr. Sherwood was in the Nicaragua country during the filibuster reign. The filibusters captured Fort San Carlos and fired on the river steamer where Mr. Sherwood was engaged. He was the target for numerous bullets. Finally the authorities appointed Mr. Sherwood agent to negotiate terms of peace with the occupants of the fort. He went at the work with the result that he captured the fort and the entire force and then dictated his own terms. Mr. Sherwood has indeed passed a varied career. He has success- fully fought as a soldier; wrought on the merchant marine; served in the United States navy; been steamboat engineer, pathfinder, frontiersman, and scout; has filled United States, state and county offices; and now in the golden days of his life, we find him quietly serving the people of his home town as chief executive and devoting his time to mining interests, of which he has a large share. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent.