The life of famed Monticello resident Henry Sherman

To the Editor,

     I wish to share information about three former residents of Monticello, Iowa, that have helped to make our town what it is today.

     I’m enclosing one of three that I have written regarding these men, that I feel should be honored for the contributions they have made to our town.

Henry David Sherman

     Monticello has some forgotten residents that helped make our town what it is today. One of these early men was Henry David Sherman. He arrived here about 1862 as a well-trained schoolteacher with years of experience teaching in Connecticut, New Jersey, Ohio, and Illinois. He came across the Mississippi River into Iowa to teach two years in Anamosa, Jones County. He then moved on to Monticello to teach. It was here that he took an interest in the dairy industry and started a side job of his own.

     Farmers usually came into town on Saturday. Some didn’t have money to pay for their supplies and had to barter. They used churned butter, even fresh cream to pay their bills.

     Mr. Sherman talked to the families and said he would buy the above-mentioned items and pay for them with gold coins. This was a good deal for the farmer. Gold bought more than his bartering did. Sherman took all of the things he bought and put them in a store basement where it was cool and they wouldn’t spoil. On Saturday evening, he put all the cream he had or could make from his milk, added salt, and churned it into butter.

     The next morning he packed his butter in wooden boxes – put each in a larger box packed with chopped ice to keep the butter cool. On Monday, he put the larger box on the local train that took it to the main line. It was then sent to Chicago, arriving the next morning and sent to the city market and sold. People bought Sherman’s butter and asked for more. Mr. Sherman had started his own new business.

     • 1868: H.S. Sherman gives his full attention to buying butter and eggs.

     • 1872: H.D. Sherman builds a large warehouse on S. Maple Street, opposite the (old) high school front doors. Stores butter, eggs and poultry.

     • 1873: Simpson, McIntyre & Co. of Boston came and bought all of H.D. Sherman’s butter.

     • 1874: Simpson, McIntyre & Co. of Boston tells H.D. Sherman to buy some land and build a large creamery.

     • 1875: H.D. Sherman buys land, builds creamery and installs equipment. The Diamond Creamery was the first creamery in Jones County.

     • 1876: Diamond Creamery opens. Boston Creamery takes all the butter. H.D. Sherman made vice president of National Butter and Egg Association. H.D. Sherman elected mayor of Monticello.

     • 1877: H.D. Sherman expands his creamery to all steam power. Sherman opens second creamery in Jones County using steam.

     • 1878: H.D. Sherman introduces a tin-tight container to keep butter fresh longer. It was sold to the U.S. Army and Navy and to South American countries.

     • 1879: Diamond Butter going to Brazil. H.D. Sherman made president of Northwestern Iowa Butter and Cheese Association. Their next meeting will be in Monticello, Iowa. Diamond Butter sent to the International Dairy Fair in New York. Sherman wins butter contest and wins $100 in gold. He also won $50 for the best Iowa butter there.

     • 1880: H.D. Sherman retained as president of Northwestern Iowa Butter and Cheese Association. He leases the Ross Cheese Factory to make butter.

     • 1881: Simpson, McIntyre & Co. of Boston invests more money into H.D. Sherman’s creamery. The name will stay the same. The money went to the Diamond Creamery to buy out any competitor in Jones County. The Diamond Creamery will control 12 creameries.

     • 1884: H.D. Sherman sells his interests in the Diamond Creamery to Simpson, McIntyre & Co. of Boston.

     • 1885: H.D. Sherman made president of the Iowa Dairymen’s Association, and the Iowa National Butter and Egg Association. Sherman called the “Father of the Iowa Dairy Industry.”

     • 1886: H.D. Sherman appointed the first Dairy Commissioner of Iowa, by Gov. Larrabee. Sherman comes out strong against counterfeit butter.

     • 1887: H.D. Sherman made a director of the Monticello Bank; and elected president of the Jones County Fair, but they didn’t name their dairy barn in honor of him.

     • 1888: H.D. Sherman re-appointed Iowa Dairy Commissioner.

     • 1890: H.D. Sherman not re-appointed by the new Iowa governor. Sherman retired from the dairy business and the Diamond Creamery, a star posted in our Monticello history and a man we should never forget.

     Henry David Sherman is buried in Oakwood Cemetery: Oct. 8, 1824-Jan. 28, 1917. His wife, Sarah Secrest Sherman: Oct. 23, 1841-Aug. 19, 1926. Their daughter Minnie: Sept. 5, 1866-May 25, 1867.

William E. Corbin

Monticello, Iowa