Springfield-Greene
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DAVID ULYSSES SHERMAN, M. D. Why any man is made, who knows? Why any life is, from snails to gods, who is to tell? Why you are what you are, why some men are what they are; the influences and causes which made them so, and how far the causes and influences were voluntary, or accidental--in short, whether we make our own destiny, or have it made for us--who shall solve the eternal riddle? These are things which none of us can fathom, but all of us can make the most of the little life which is ours, as has been the case with Dr. David Ulysses Sherman, one of the well-known physicians of Springfield, and, by doing our best "between these walls of time," as he is evidently striving to do, we may be a blessing to ourselves, our families and the human race.
Doctor Sherman was born at Henderson, Webster county, Missouri, September 29, 1871. He is a son of Henry Sherman, born near Idlebury, Germany, March 10, 1836, and he spent his young manhood in his native land, where he was educated, and in 1854, with two brothers, he immigrated to the United States, also a sister accompanied him, and they settled in Butler county, Pennsylvania. Four years later Henry Sherman and his sister came to Missouri, locating on a farm near Henderson, Webster county, He had learned the blacksmith's trade in Germany, at which he continued to work in connection with farming after taking up his residence in the new world. He proved his loyalty to his adopted country in 1861 by enlisting in the Union army, in which he served six months as a private, then was assigned to the government horse shoeing shops in Springfield, Missouri, these shops occupying the present site of the Colonial hotel. He was later transferred to the government shops in St. Louis, where he was retained until the close of the war. He was an expert in his trade and gave every satisfaction. After his discharge he returned to Webster county and built a shop on his farm, where he did the custom work for miles around, and succeeded in due course of time in hammering out on the anvil five hundred acres of choice farming land in that county. He was one of the best known blacksmiths in that part of the state, and many of his patrons came from remote sections of the country. He married Rhoda N. Hardy in 1855. His death occurred in 1907. She was a native of Virginia, from which state she made the long overland journey, when a child, with her parents; the family made the trip in an old-fashioned wagon, drawn by an. ox team. They settled at Henderson, Missouri. Mrs. Sherman's mother was of Irish ancestry, and both she and Mr. Hardy were members of the. Presbyterian church, devout Christians, doing much church work, being always ready with their time and money to do anything to further the interest of the church, and they assisted in building many new churches; their home was always open to ministers and church workers. The death of the mother of Doctor Sherman occurred in 1904. Seven sons and one daughter were born to Henry Sherman and wife, namely: William E., who lives on a farm near Henderson, Missouri; Henry O. lives on a farm near Fordland, this state; Charles C. is engaged in the hardware business in Fordland; James D. and Obit D. are both farmers near Fordland; Lucian L. makes his home at Elmonte, California, and is a bookkeeper by profession; Dr. David U., of this sketch; and Mrs. Mattie Cobb, who lives at .Boulder, Colorado.
Doctor Sherman grew to manhood on the home farm in Webster county, where he worked hard when a boy during the summer months and in the winter time he attended the old district schools there, the old school house located on, his father's farm, later entering the Henderson Academy, from which he was graduated in 1891. In September, 1895, he entered the Beaumont Hospital, at St. Louis, where he took the prescribed medical course, and was graduated with the class of 1897-98. Soon thereafter he came to Greene county and began practicing his profession at Elwood, where heremained ten years, enjoying an excellent country practice; in fact, it is safe to say that no country physician in this partof thestate had a more extensive practice during that period than he. In order to further fit himself for his chosen vocation, he took the post-graduate work in the Chicago Post-Graduate Medical School in 1896, and at once removed to Springfield, where he has remained to the present time and has built up a very satisfactory practice.
Doctor Sherman is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, of which he is ex-president, also a member of the Southwest Missouri Medical Society the Missouri State Medical Association and the American Medical Association. Fraternally, he belongs to the Royal Arch Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Neighbors of America. Politically, he is a Republican, and religiously he belongs to the Methodist church.
Doctor Sherman married Julia Belle Gault on September 12, 1895. She was born in September, 1870, six miles east of Springfield on the James river, in Greene county, Missouri. She is a daughter of Walter B. Gault, of Irish ancestry, one of the early pioneers of Greene county, and he was one of the successful and well-known farmers of the eastern part of the county, and he did much to promote the general good of the county, having been ambitious to place it in the front rank of the counties of the state, which position it now occupies. During the Civil war Mr. Gault was a soldier in the Union army, and was commissioned lieutenant for meritorious service.
Mrs. Sherman grew to womanhood in her native vicinity and received her education in the district schools and the Henderson Academy, at Henderson, Missouri, from which institution she was graduated, after which she began teaching, which she followed successfully for a period of nine years. On account of the death of her parents when she was young, she was left to depend upon her own resources, and she succeeded in becoming one of the most popular teachers in her section of the state.
To Doctor Sherman and wife two children have been born, David Orlando Sherman, whose birth occurred at Elwood, Missouri, January 16, 1896; he is at this writing a student in the Springfield high school, where he is making an excellent record.
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