SANDCASTLES - Key Persons

Nathaniel also married Elizabeth HARRIS in 1722. (Elizabeth HARRIS was born about 1697 and died in 1773.

Thomas Sherman had always been counted on by his father, "Cump", to oversee the family's finances and business affairs. But to his great sorrow, Tom decided in 1878 to enter the Society of Jesus. Such was Cump's grief that he refused to attend when Tom was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1879. He then taught philsophy at St. Louis University where he was recognized nationally as a brilliant scholar and eloquent speaker and writer. He served as a military chaplain in the Spanish-American War of 1898 where he was attached to the personal staff of General Ulysses S. Grant, II. In 1891, Father Tom conducted the graveside service in St. Louis for his father, but was unable to return from London, where he was studying theology, in time to say goodbye to the dying Cump. Proving that "fact is stranger than fiction," a small cemetery in Grand Cateau, Louisiana, has two unlikely "bedfellows" buried side by side uner identical Latin inscribed tombstones. One, Father John Salter, was the grandnephew of Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, and on his right, lies Thomas Ewing Sherman, son of General and Mrs. William T. Sherman. Why was the Confederacy vice president's grand nephew buried next to the son of the Union general who was the scourge of the South? Father Salter was simply the next Jesuit in the Province to die following Sherman. Nathaniel married Abigail PADGETT, daughter of Thomas PADGETT and Dorothy, on 12 Nov 1746 in Cumberland Co. NJ. (Abigail PADGETT was born on 28 Jun 1727 in Stow Creek, Cumberland Co., NJ and died on 1 Nov 1810 in Hopewell Twp., Cumberland Co., NJ.) The grandson of Thomas Ewing Sr. and Mary Maskell, George Ewing was born 18 March 1754 in Greenwich, Salem County, New Jersey. He died 15 January 1824 in Perry County, Indiana. George married Rachel Harris, daughter of Nathaniel Harris and Abigail Padgett, on 10 August 1778. They had seven children: George Jr., Abigail, Sarah, Rachel, Hannah Haris, Thomas, and Jane Hunter. You can read more about George Ewing's life and his experiences in the American Revolution and you can view a copy of his military commission signed by John Hancock. During the American Revolution and during his time at Valley Forge, George Ewing kept a Military Journal, copies of which have been passed down through many generations. The Journal is 54 pages in length and it is contained here in its entirety. For more information about George's ancestors and descendants, go to Descendant Names. Copyright © 1998-2006 Marilyn Price-Mitchell. Permission to copy all or part of this page granted for non-commercial use only. Send mail to ewingfamily(at)sandcastles.net. Instead of (at), use the @ symbol normally found in an email address. Last modified: September 16, 2006

James Ewing, the youngest son of Thomas Ewing Sr. and Mary Maskell, was born July 12, 1744. He was a member of the famous "Tea Party" which, on the night of Thursday, Dec. 22, 1774, destroyed a quantity of tea which had been landed at Greenwich NJ, contrary to the Articles of Association of the Continental Congress. He was elected to the Assembly from Cumberland County in 1778, and liked the atmosphere of Trenton so well that he took up his residence there the next year, in 1779. He engaged in the mercantile business, and for a short time was a partner of Isaac Collins, the printer of the New Jersey Gazette. For several years he was one of the Commissioners of the State Loan Office. He was the author of an ingenious "Columbian Alphabet," an attempt at a reformed system of spelling, which he explained in a pamphlet published at Trenton in 1798. He was Mayor of Trenton from 1797-1803. He died October 23, 1823. He was a Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion Cumberland Militia and a paymaster of Militia. Charles Ewing was the only child of James Ewing and his wife Martha Bond. Chalres graduated from Princeton in 1798 and was accepted to the bar in 1802. He was Chief Justice of New Jersey from 1824-1832, dying in office.

Jane Hunter Ewing was the youngest child of George Ewing and Rachel Harris. She was born 26 April 1792 in Wheeling, Virginia and died on 5 April 1877 in Hansboro, Mississippi. The photo to the left was passed down through the Latimer family. The original looks like an early photo; however, there has been some sketching over the photo with black ink. It was while her parents were living in Athens County, Ohio, that Jane met and married Elisha Latimer and where several of their children were born. In May of 1818, she and Elisha, with her parents and several other members of the Ewing family, traveled by boat down the Ohio River and landed in Perry County, Indiana where they made their home for many years. They purchased 748 acres of excellent land at the mouth of Millstone Creek, fronting on the Ohio River. On the premises were about 50 acres under cultivation, a hewn log house, several cabins, a number of bearing fruit trees, and a good millseat. They planted 10 or 12 acres of corn and were well supplied with fish from the river. In addition to her work on the land, Jane had a total of twelve children with Elisha, four of whom died in infancy. Jane and Elisha lived in Perry County for almost 30 years then about 1842 moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. In family letters to her brothers, she talks about the long trip down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and then on to Biloxi. Jane's obituary in the Biloxi, Mississippi newspaper reads: In this place, on Thursday morning, April 5, 1877, after a long and lingering illness, Mrs. JANE H. LATIMER, aged 84 years, 11 months, and 9 days. Mrs. Latimer was born in Virginia, April 26, 1792; moved from there to Ohio; then to Indiana, whence she removed to Mississippi, and had been living; to the day of her death at this point, thirty-five years, honored and respected by every one. Mrs. Latimer whose virgin name was Ewing, was a sister of Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, and nearly related to Mrs. General Sherman. (she was Jane's niece) A loving and fond mother, a kind neighbor, a true friend, she was fully reconciled to her fate, and met death with complete composure. Her nephew, General George Ewing remembered her as a "sprightly old lady sitting in bed smoking a clay pipe."

Nathaniel HARRIS was born on 8 Oct 1693 in Southampton, Long Island, NY and died on 2 Nov 1775 in Hopewell Twp., Cumberland Co., NJ. According to "Salem Co. New Jersey Genealogical Data" by H. Stanley Craig, p. 90, "Nathaniel Harris served in the Colonial Militia in 1715, South side of the Cohansey, under the command of Capt. Joseph Sealey. 5. Elizabeth HARRIS was born about 1697 and died in 1773. Elizabeth married Nathaniel HARRIS, son of Thomas HARRIS and Ruth JAMES, in 1722. (Nathaniel HARRIS was born on 8 Oct 1693 in Southampton, Long Island, NY and died on 2 Nov 1775 in Hopewell Twp., Cumberland Co., NJ.)

Rachel HARRIS was born on 2 Sep 1754 in Roadstown, New Jersey, died on 29 Sep 1825 in Perry Co., Indiana and was buried in Cliff Cemetery, Cannelton Indiana. The book, EARLY RECORDS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY NEW JERSEY by Charlotte Meldrum (1998) p. 93 lists the parents of Rachel as Nathaniel and Abigail Harris. She was born September 2, 1750; she and George Ewing were married August 10, 1778.

Thomas Sherman had always been counted on by his father, "Cump", to oversee the family's finances and business affairs. But to his great sorrow, Tom decided in 1878 to enter the Society of Jesus. Such was Cump's grief that he refused to attend when Tom was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1879. He then taught philsophy at St. Louis University where he was recognized nationally as a brilliant scholar and eloquent speaker and writer. He served as a military chaplain in the Spanish-American War of 1898 where he was attached to the personal staff of General Ulysses S. Grant, II. In 1891, Father Tom conducted the graveside service in St. Louis for his father, but was unable to return from London, where he was studying theology, in time to say goodbye to the dying Cump. Proving that "fact is stranger than fiction," a small cemetery in Grand Cateau, Louisiana, has two unlikely "bedfellows" buried side by side uner identical Latin inscribed tombstones. One, Father John Salter, was the grandnephew of Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, and on his right, lies Thomas Ewing Sherman, son of General and Mrs. William T. Sherman. Why was the Confederacy vice president's grand nephew buried next to the son of the Union general who was the scourge of the South? Father Salter was simply the next Jesuit in the Province to die following Sherman.

William Tecumseh Sherman (click on image to enlarge) was the seventh child of Charles Sherman and Mary Hoyt Sherman. He was born in Lancaster, Ohio, in a small frame house located next door to the large Hon. Thomas Ewing home. Sherman's came to Lancaster just before the War of 1812 because Charles' father, Judge Charles Taylor Sherman of Norwalk, Connecticut, had been given, as indemnity for property lost in Connecticut in the Revolutionary War, title to 2 sections of land in the Western Reserve. Charles had been admitted to the bar in 1810 and married Mary Hoyt shortly thereafter. They came by horseback and covered wagon with their 1st son Charles. Their second child, Elizabeth, was born 10 days after they reached Lancaster. When Charles died in 1829, Mary was left with eleven children. Thomas Ewing offered to take the "smartest" of the boys to raise as his own. Although William was never legally adopted by the Ewing family, he lived with them from the age of nine. In 1836, Ewing obtained "Cump's" appointment to West Pointe. In 1850, Cump married Ewing's daughter, Ellen, in a ceremony at Blair House in Washington D.C. during which time Thomas Ewing held the post of Secretary of the Interior. The marriage was attended by President Taylor. He and Ellen had eight children. William T. Sherman's Civil War record was climaxed by the Atlanta campaign and the "March to the Sea," bringing him the adulation of the North and the animosity of the South. After the war, he held the post of commanding general of the army from 1869-1883. Declining to run for presidency, he spent his remaining years writing his memoirs and touring the speakers' circuit. He died in New York in 1891 and was buried in St. Louis, where his grave is marked by a simple shaft of his own design. William's brother, John, also achieved fame which nearly equaled that of his older brother. He studied and practiced law in Mansfield, where he launched his political career at an early age, becoming a Congressman (1855-1861), U.S. Senator (1861-1881), and Secretary of Treasury (1877-1881), and Secretary of State (1897-1898). The Sherman Antitrust Act carries his name.