John Norval Sherman
JOHN NORVAL SHERMAN, M. D. Although one of the younger physicians of Neosho County, Dr. John Norval Sherman, of Thayer, has gained the confidence and support of the public by reason of his thorough training for his profession and his fidelity to the ethics of the medical fraternity. He came to his present field of activity in 1916, with five years of experience behind him, and has already built up what promises to be a lucrative and representative practice.
Doctor Sherman was born July 11, 1884, at Lafayette, Madison County, Ohio, and belongs to a family which originally came to America from England and settled in New York before the War of the Revolution. His grandfather was William Sherman, who was born in 1825, in the Empire State, from whence he went to Kentucky, then to Scioto County, Ohio, and later to Madison County, Ohio, his death occurring in 1885, at Irvin Station, Ohio. He was a pioneer cattle man of the Buckeye State and a good and loyal citizen who served the Union as a soldier during the Civil war. A. W. Sherman, the father of Dr. J. N. Sherman, was born January 10, 1850, at Columbus, Ohio, and was reared in Scioto County, that state. As a young man he went to Madison County, where he was married and engaged in farming until 1888, when he removed to Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky, his present home. He has for some years past been engaged in the lumber business, and is one of the substantial men of his community. He is a republican, a strong member of the Baptist Church, and well known in fraternal circles, belonging to the Masons, Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Sherman married Miss Susan Holler, who was born at West Jefferson, Ohio, and they have three children: A. W., Jr., who is engaged in the laundry business at Samuels, Kentucky; Dr. John Norval; and Grover E., who is engaged in merchandising at Samuels, Kentucky.
John N. Sherman received his early education in the public schools of Bardstown, Kentucky, to which community he was taken as a lad of four years. After graduating from the high school there in 1898, he entered the University of Valparaiso, Indiana, where he completed the junior year course, and then took up his medical studies in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. After one year in that institution he went to the University of Louisville, Kentucky, where he spent three years and graduated in 1907, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and further advanced his training by doing post-graduate work in the New York Polyclinic Hospital, where he spent eight months in 1908. For two years, 1910 and 1911, he was an interne in the Louisville City Hospital, and in the latter year began practice at Knoxville, Tennessee, where he remained until 1914. Doctor Sherman then did another year of interne work at the Louisville City Hospital, and in 1915 went to St. Louis, Missouri, and later to Kansas City, in both of which cities he practiced for a short time. In July, 1916, he settled permanently at Thayer, Kansas, his offices being located the second door west of the postoffice, on Neosho Avenue. Doctor Sherman has created a decidedly favorable impression upon the people of Thayer, and with his comprehensive training and broad experience it is highly probable that he will build up a large practice. He possesses in large degree the desirable qualifications for his profession, prominent among them being a natural sympathy and kindness of manner, while his devotion to his honored calling makes him a respecter of its best and highest ethics. He holds membership in the Neosho County Medical Society, the Kansas State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and keeps abreast of all the advancements made in medicine and surgery. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Duvall Lodge No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Bardstown, Kentucky. He is a faithful member of the Baptist Church, and in politics maintains an independent stand.
Doctor Sherman was married at Bardstown, Kentucky, May 27, 1908, to Miss Palmer Hibbs, the daughter of Arthur and Sally (Bean) Hibbs, residents of Cox's Creek, Kentucky, where Mr. Hibbs is engaged in agricultural pursuits. Doctor and Mrs. Sherman are the parents of one daughter, Eunice, who was born October 19, 1909.
Transcribed from volume 4, pages 1992-1993 of A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, written and compiled by William E. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, copyright 1918; originally transcribed 1998, modified 2003 by Carolyn Ward.