Bio-Sawyers
SURNAMES: BUTTERFIELD,  FASSETT, DYCHE, 

An experienced, successful railroad man who has amply proved that with intelligent labor and conscientious attention one may succeed at horticulture in the Santa Clara Valley and attain to the most enviable results in this important division of California agriculture, is F. A. Sherman, who is operating the two Fassett farms, among the best cultivated ranches in the Santa Clara Valley. He was born at Allen, Hillsdale County, Mich., on November 8, 1861, the son of Frederick Sherman, a carpenter and builder who had married Miss Sabina Butterfield; and he was fortunate in being given a good grammar school education, for circumstances then compelled him to get out and work for a living. He secured employment on farms and also engaged with his father in carpentering; and he commenced at ranch work when he was only twelve years old and received five dollars a month. He next learned telegraphy and was an operator and agent at various places between Chicago and Lanark, Ill., on the Chicago and Council Bluffs division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, and for nine years he was at Hampshire, Stillman Valley, and Ontarioville, when he also did considerable relieving at various stations along the line. In the fall of 1894, he came to Washington and for fifteen years he was with the Great Northern Railway Company as station agent; and there he became well acquainted with James J., or "Jim" Hill, as he was familiarly and affectionately known, the famous railway magnate.

He had also become acquainted with the Fassett family at Hampshire, Ill., and after they moved out to Santa Clara, Cal., in October, 1896, he married Miss Calla Fassett, the daughter of the late C. A. Fassett. After their marriage they went to Washington, where Mr.'Sherman continued in the railway service until September, 1910. when he came to his present place of residence and took up the responsibility already referred to. The two ranches aggregate thirty-two acres, and of these he has twenty-seven acres devoted to the cultivation of prunes, and five acres to apricots.

Mr. and Mrs. Sherman are the parents of five children, all of whom are still living. Wilma, a graduate of the College of the Pacific, is the wife of Justin K. Dyche, who was a second lieutenant of aviation, and is now connected with the Oahu Col-
lege of Honolulu, as an instructor in chemistry and mathematics. Marian A. is a graduate of San Jose State Normal and is a teacher in the Santa Clara grammar school, Ceylon F. was in the junior training corps and is a student at the College of the Pacific, where Edna L. is also studying; and there is Waldo N. Sherman, attending the grammar school at Santa Clara. Mr. and Mrs. Sherman are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Santa Clara, and politically they aim to vote for the best men and measures without fear or favor. Mr. Sherman belongs to the Odd Fellows of Santa Clara and is a past grand of that order; and he is junior warden in the Masonic Lodge. All in all, Mr. and Mrs. Sherman belong to those circles most welcomed in the Santa Clara community, for they believe in the future of the great Golden State and never lose an opportunity to contribute to its permanent progress.

Transcribed cferoben, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California,  published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 731

SANTA CLARA COUNTY PIONEER BIOGRAPHIES

SANTA CLARA HISTORY