Roger Sherman

Roger Sherman was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on the 19th of April, 1721. He received a limited education, and learned the trade of a shoemaker. He removed to Connecticut, and was employed as a surveyor. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar.

He was elected to the Legislature of Connecticut, and was afterward appointed a judge. He was a member of the Continental Congress, and signed the Declaration of Independence. He was one of the committee appointed to draft that instrument, and rendered important services in securing its adoption.

He continued in Congress until 1781, and was afterward elected to the upper house of the Connecticut Legislature. He was a member of the convention which framed the Constitution of the United States, and took an active part in the deliberations of that body.

He was elected a member of the first Congress under the Constitution, and served until his death. He died in New Haven, Connecticut, on the 23d of July, 1793.

Source:
McCabe, James D. The Centennial Book of American Biography. Philadelphia and Chicago: P. W. Ziegler & Co., 1876. Patriot Echoes Archive