| Settling in New Fairfield, the Puritans established The New Fairfield
Meeting with a meeting house in its center. The north seven miles of the
town became well populated, and in 1744, its residents established their
own North Meeting with the Congregational Church and schools.
The North Meeting petitioned the Connecticut General Assembly to be a separate town and in 1802, became Sherman, named for Roger Sherman, the only American to sign four important historical documents: The Continental Association of 1774, The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and The Federal Constitution. Farming was the predominant occupation, along with mills for timber, shingles, cider and grain. Early Sherman had one church, one store, a doctor, and men who could build, bank , and deal in cattle and property sales. Only after the flooding of Candlewood Lake in 1928, did the town begin to grow to new proportions. |