John Sherman Home

John Preston(he's the son of Willie Mae Preston) has quite a project on his hands. He grew up in a home, north of Poteet, that was built in the 1860's by John Sherman. His family bought the place in the 1940's and he would like to restore the home to it's original glory. It has had additions, and the old sandstone has been plastered over, but John will tear all that away. The original fireplace is intact, as is the rock with "J Sherman"carved out of it. The property is on the Palo Alto Creek and was most likely on or near one of the Caminos Reales.

John Sherman was born in c.1825 in New York. He apparently came to Texas in about 1848. He was granted the 160 acres by Sam Houston in 1861, the result of a process he had begun in 1854. In 1862 he enlisted in the Texas Confederate Army as a Private, signing on with Co. 3, 36th Cavalry, or "Green's Brigade", organized in San Antonio. He was given the nickname "Battery,"working as a teamster in Woods'Reginent.

John Sherman married Eliza Jane Williams in 1866 in Atascosa County. She was the daughter of Lorenzo and Mahala Sweet Williams. John purchased more land in Atascosa County, but by the 1880's John had built a mill on the Guadalupe River near what is now Ingram, in Kerr County. The mill stayed busy sawing lumber, grinding corn and ginning cotton. It stayed in operation until about 1914. It washed away in 1932. Today there is an historic marker near the site of "Sherman's Mill". His descendants still live in Kerr County, Charles Sherman is the family historian and has provided the history and wonderful old deed records. He plans to come to Atascosa County to see the old home built by his ancestor.

Check back later to see the progress on John Preston's project. It's a wonderful thing he's doing, and he has the interest of the County and State Historical Commissions, as well as other local historians.