For the past several summers, the Chautauqua County Genealogical Society has chosen one cemetery to research, read tombstones and put this information into a publication. Our 1996 project was the Summit Cemetery in the town of Sherman, popularly called Sherman Cemetery .On July 13, 1996 fifteen members gathered to read this cemetery located on route 430 at the intersection of County Road 18 just east of the village of Sherman. These members included: Paul & Virginia Barden, Dale & Maureen Davis, Don & Valerie Griffing, Norwood & Lois Barris, Alice Peterson, Jean Hanson, Wayne Leamer, Donna Johnson, Karen Livsey, Donna Mills, Richard Sheil. We enjoyed a pleasant day that Included a picnic lunch on the grounds of the Yorker Museum in the heart of the village.
We were privileged to be allowed access to the burial records for this cemetery held in the office of the Sherman Town Clerk. Norwood and Lois Harris spent many days in this office copying records to include in this book. CCGS gratefully acknowledges the help and hospitality of Mrs Bessie V. Endress who fills the office of Clerk, not only for the Town, but also for the Village of Sherman. While working in her office, we learned that the town also had some old maps and records for the two smaller cemeteries in the town. Thanks to Norwood Barris, who spent several hours over the rest of the summer, reading the stones in the Wait Corners and Sherman Valley cemeteries. Norwood had also spent many hours using his graphic skills to reproduce or create the maps included in this publication.
This book is divided into five sections: the first includes the inscriptions read by the 15 members on July 13, 1996, arranged alphabetically in five columns: 1 name; 2 birth date; 3 death date; 4 other information on the stone {wife of, son of, etc.) or about the stone {such as condition of stone, double stone with_); and 5 section number.
The second part is the burial information copied in the town office. There were two books copied. One contained a list of burials arranged alphabetically giving just name and burial date some as early as 1830\’s. This listing seemed incomplete and may have been reconstructed at some time from earlier tombstone readings. The other book was a chronological listing of burials starting in 1923 to the present, this one (sometimes) giving birthplace, residence at death, death date & burial date, and next of kin. The information from these two sources was combined to give an alphabetized list in six columns: 1 name; 2 residence; 3 date of death; 4 date of burial; 5 other information such as age, place of birth, relatives; 6 section and lot where buried. The maps called the newer sections # 7 & # 8, but the official records used the designation section C & D, so we may seem to have conflicting information on these newest sections.
The third section is a list of the tombstones in Sherman Valley Cemetery , also called Pleasant Valley, also called Slab City. This cemetery is on County Road 15 south of Slab City. The information is listed alphabetically by name in five columns: 1 name; 2 birth date; 3 death date; 4 other information; and 5 plot-lot-grave number. The plots are either A, B or C and each refers to one of three plot maps for this cemetery included in the map section which starts on page 111. These maps show lot numbers on each of these plots, so the attempt was made to locate the stones on the lots. When there was more than one grave on the lot, numbers were assigned each grave.
Section four includes a list of tombstones in Wait Corners Cemetery. This cemetery is located on Wait Corners Road north of the intersection of Bailey Hill Road. The stones were read and placed by lot number by referring to the map of this cemetery included in the map section. The list is alphabetized in five columns: 1 name; 2 date of birth; 3 date of death; 4 other information; and 5 lot and grave number. There was one section designated Potter\’s Field with one stone marked only by initials. This lot is referred to the list as p.f. Part four also includes some death records extracted from the records of the Free Will Baptist Church that once existed near the site of this cemetery. These church records are in the office of the Sherman Town Clerk.
Following the cemetery lists is a section comprised of the maps of the three cemeteries.
An every-name index starts on page 119.
Norwood & Lois Barris
1997
