Jesuit Priest, Author. Thomas Sherman was the son of Major General William and Ellen Ewing Sherman. His father is most noted for his march to the sea that led to a scorched-earth policy in Georgia during the Civil War. He was highly intelligent, graduating from Georgetown at age 18 then pursued a career in law by earning a degree from Yale two years later. Upon return to the family home in St. Louis, he looked after the considerable holdings of his famous father while reading law with a prominent St. Louis lawyer. Abruptly, he announced a calling for the priesthood. Upon ordination as a Jesuit, his disappointed father refused to attend. The intellectual Father Sherman was assigned to teach philosophy at St. Louis University while giving many public lectures on religion, debunking the notion at that time, Catholics could not be good, loyal citizens because of loyalty to the Vatican. During the Spanish-American War he served as a military chaplain attached to the personal staff of General Ulysses S. Grant III. After the war, he continued as a public speaker and writer, considered to be the chief pro-Catholic spokesman for the Church. Upon the death of his famous father, he conducted his funeral mass. Father Sherman experienced mid-life depression in his fifties. With mental problems, he basically left the Jesuit order becoming a nomad. He wandered the West Coast, Europe and then rejoined his family in the East for a period of time. Finally, the wayward priest returned to the West Coast with a church assignment in Santa Barbara and once again became an active priest. The family received word, Thomas was in grave condition and nearing the end of his life. His wealthy niece, Eleanor Sherman Fitch answered the call, taking charge. She was a winter resident of New Orleans and a generous benefactor to Louisiana Jesuits. Eleanor relocated her uncle, with admittance to DePaul Sanitarium in New Orleans, a facility operated by the Daughters of Charity. He lingered for two years before suffering a massive hemorrhage of the stomach. Before passing on that night at age 71, he renewed the vows of a Jesuit. A funeral mass was conducted at the Jesuit church on Baronne Street in New Orleans and interment followed at the Jesuit cemetery in Grand Coteau. In a bit of trivia...Father Thomas Sherman is ironically buried next to the grave of Father John Salter who was the nephew of Alexander Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederacy during the civil war. The interment had no political significance as Salter happened to be the next to die in the Jesuit community.
Jesuit Priest, Author. Thomas Sherman was the son of Major General William and Ellen Ewing Sherman. His father is most noted for his march to the sea that led to a scorched-earth policy in Georgia during the Civil War. He was highly intelligent, graduating from Georgetown at age 18 then pursued a career in law by earning a degree from Yale two years later. Upon return to the family home in St. Louis, he looked after the considerable holdings of his famous father while reading law with a prominent St. Louis lawyer. Abruptly, he announced a calling for the priesthood. Upon ordination as a Jesuit, his disappointed father refused to attend. The intellectual Father Sherman was assigned to teach philosophy at St. Louis University while giving many public lectures on religion, debunking the notion at that time, Catholics could not be good, loyal citizens because of loyalty to the Vatican. During the Spanish-American War he served as a military chaplain attached to the personal staff of General Ulysses S. Grant III. After the war, he continued as a public speaker and writer, considered to be the chief pro-Catholic spokesman for the Church. Upon the death of his famous father, he conducted his funeral mass. Father Sherman experienced mid-life depression in his fifties. With mental problems, he basically left the Jesuit order becoming a nomad. He wandered the West Coast, Europe and then rejoined his family in the East for a period of time. Finally, the wayward priest returned to the West Coast with a church assignment in Santa Barbara and once again became an active priest. The family received word, Thomas was in grave condition and nearing the end of his life. His wealthy niece, Eleanor Sherman Fitch answered the call, taking charge. She was a winter resident of New Orleans and a generous benefactor to Louisiana Jesuits. Eleanor relocated her uncle, with admittance to DePaul Sanitarium in New Orleans, a facility operated by the Daughters of Charity. He lingered for two years before suffering a massive hemorrhage of the stomach. Before passing on that night at age 71, he renewed the vows of a Jesuit. A funeral mass was conducted at the Jesuit church on Baronne Street in New Orleans and interment followed at the Jesuit cemetery in Grand Coteau. In a bit of trivia...Father Thomas Sherman is ironically buried next to the grave of Father John Salter who was the nephew of Alexander Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederacy during the civil war. The interment had no political significance as Salter happened to be the next to die in the Jesuit community.
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