My Genealogy Hound

A. W. SHERER.
A. W. Sherer, who has been connected for some years with the auditing office of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company at Topeka, has been a resident of the State since the age of seven years. He was born in Strafford County, New Hampshire, September 20, 1878, and is a son of Charles G. and Flora A. (Craig) Sherer.

Mr. Sherer comes of Revolutionary stock on the maternal side, and his grandmother Craig, who resides with her daughter, Mrs. Charles G. Sherer, is a cousin to one of the noted military men of that day. Charles G. Sherer was born April 30, 1845, in Deering, New Hampshire, and was educated in the schools of that locality. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he determined, although opposed by his parents, to become a soldier, and finally became a member of Company D, Seventh Reg., New Hampshire Vol. Cav., in which he served from 1861 to 1863, taking part as a member of this regiment in the famous Wilson raid. In the spring of 1864 he reenlisted in Company C, First Reg., New Hampshire Vol. Cav., and served until the close of the war, being honorably discharged July 12, 1865. His father, who was also in the service, died of ship fever and was buried at sea.

After the close of the war, Charles G. Sherer returned to New Hampshire and learned the carpenter’s trade and then spent one season in New Mexico in the employ of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company. In 1886 he came to Topeka and joined his family, who were established at Oakland, and continued to work at his trade. He has served in office in Topeka, having been street commissioner and road overseer under Mayor Bingham. He is a member of Topeka Post, No. 71, G. A. R. of which he is past commander, and is also a member of the Sons of Veterans and of the Knights and Ladies of Security. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

On June 11, 1873, in Lowell, Massachusetts, Charles G. Sherer was married to Flora A. Craig, and they have had four sons, three of whom still survive: A. W., Frank G. and Albert. Frank G. is a veteran of the Spanish-American War. He served in Troop B, 15th United States Cavalry, in the Philippine Islands for two years, being then discharged on account of disability.

In 1886 A. W. Sherer came to Kansas with his mother and maternal grandmother. After completing a good common-school education, he received a certificate from the Oakland School, being then about 14 years old. For a time he worked in a nursery and then in a grocery adjacent to the woolen mill in Oakland. On May 15, 1898, he entered the employ of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company, in the passenger department; beginning as ticket boy in the auditor’s office, he has climbed to his present position through his own efforts. He has always been interested in military matters and has served seven years in the Kansas National Guard, entering as a private and now ranking as chief musician and quartermaster sergeant in the local company. He has the honor of being division commander of the Sons of Veterans of the Division of Kansas. He is eligible to membership in the Sons of the American Revolution. His fraternal connections include membership in Orient Lodge, No. 51, A. F. & A. M.; the Knights and Ladies of Security; Calla Division, No. 8, Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias; and Modern Woodmen of America, in which he has served as assistant chief forester under Chief Forester L. N. Penwell, of Topeka. He has served as assistant marshal of Oakland under Deputy Sheriff Wilson and Sheriff Lucas.

Mr. Sherer was married December 25, 1901, to Marie Belle Duree, of Shawnee County, and they have a bright little daughter of eight months bearing the name of Frances Arvilla, named for her paternal great-grandmother and grandmother and her maternal grandmother. Mr. Sherer is preparing a very cozy home at Oakland where he has lately invested in some very desirable property and now owns some six lots in the town, including a fine orchard.

Mr. Sherer is one of the active Republicans of Topeka and does his full share in furthering the interests of the party in Oakland. Both he and his wife belong to the Presbyterian Church.