As we continue to move toward our nation’s semiquincentennial, I’m still focusing on elements of the Revolutionary War effort of attaining independence and the related contributions and connections of families of the Fork, the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston Rivers.
One thing leads to another. Helma Jane Fawver’s comment on my Facebook post about the Edmondson family I was researching led to a delightful exchange of information, and here we are.
I’ve known for quite a while that the Sherrod family has had deep roots along the Holston River, but I really didn’t know much about their history. However, while standing at the grave of Alexander McMillan in the Old Caledonia Cemetery off Ruggles Ferry Pike, I wondered why I hadn’t come across a Revolutionary War veteran for them. Enter Conrad Sherrod.
But let’s back up a bit. According to James Andrew Sherrod’s 1984 864-page tome of family history, Arnholtz and Catherina Scherertz left the western part of Germany back when it was Prussia and came to America about 1754 on the ship Neptune. After landing on the shores of Pennsylvania, the family eventually settled in York County, where they built a combination grist/saw mill and a fulling mill that was used to process linen. Amazingly, the grist mill still stands!…