Matilda K. Sands Sherwood

Detail of the gate of the Sands family plot

In one of my early posts, I wrote that Gilbert Marten, who died in 1854 at the age of 90, was probably the oldest person buried in the cemetery. I may have been wrong. Matilda K. Sands Sherwood, who died at the age of 92, was older, according to the transcription of the cemetery conducted in 1914. The transcription gives Matilda's birthdate as March 3, 1810 and her date of death as December 17, 1902. However, different censuses suggest different years of birth for Matilda, ranging from 1817 to 1827. For several decades, she seems to have gotten younger by the year.

Women buried in the Episcopal Cemetery died on average 2.7 years later than men. By my calculations, life expectancy for women in the cemetery was slightly but consistently greater for women - the opposite of the national trend throughout the nineteenth century. So it would be appropriate (but not necessary) for Matilda to be two years older than Marten, who is probably the longest-lived man in the cemetery.

I have to rely on the 1914 transcription for Matilda's dates of birth and death because I have not yet identified her stone. I know where the Sherwood plot is - it's located directly behind the Sands plot in the Methodist section of the cemetery. I haven't seen Matilda's stone, though, and I have a sneaking suspicion it's this one.

Grave of Matilda Sands and Daniel Sherwood?

Matilda's husband was Daniel W. Sherwood, a minister who was born in Connecticut in 1820 and ordained in the Patterson Baptist Church in 1844 or 1845. They had one son (whom I know of), Joseph, born in 1846. In 1850, the family lived in East Fishkill, New York. Matilda's age was given as 33, which would place her year of birth around 1817.

1850 US Federal Census

In 1860, the Sherwoods were living in Saugerties, New York. In one decade, Matilda had aged only five years, going from 33 to 38. This meant that in 1860 she was younger than her husband, while in 1850 she had been older.

1860 US Federal Census

In 1870, the Sherwoods were living in Northfield, Staten Island, with two new family members: Joseph's wife Adelia and their child Jesse, who had been born that May. Joseph was working as an apothecary. A notable error in the 1870 census is that Jesse is listed as a girl, when he was in fact a boy, as indicated by all subsequent censuses.

For the second time, Matilda had only aged five years in a decade - going from 38 to 43.

1870 US Federal Census

The next decade was particularly rough on Daniel and Matilda, as it aged them each by about twenty years. Either that or the Sherwoods were becoming more comfortable in revealing their actual ages. Matilda, who had been 43 in 1870, was 61 in 1880. The couple lived in Farmers Mill, Putnam County, New York, with their servant Cordelia Light.

1880 US Federal Census

Meanwhile, Joseph and Adelia Sherwood were still living in Staten Island. They had suffered the loss of their one-year-old son Clayton in 1875, and buried him in the cemetery. The couple's surviving children were Jessie and Edith.

1880 US Federal Census

Daniel Sherwood died in the house of his son in Shandaken, New York, in 1898; his obituary stated that he was "about 80 years old." In 1900, Matilda was living with her son's family in Shandaken. Her age is given as 88 and her birth year as 1812.

1900 US Federal Census

Matilda died on December 17, 1902. According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, she left her son Joseph $5,000 in real estate and $10,000 in personal estate.

Ages of Matilda Sherwood

Out of curiosity, I made this little chart to see how Matilda "aged" over the years. As you can see, her estimated birth year - based on the age she gave to the census enumerator - gets steadily later between 1850 and 1870. In 1880, her estimated birth year drops down to 1819 - still two years later than the census of 1850 would suggest. Matilda's year of birth is given outright in the census of 1900 as 1812. This is the closest to the year (1810) given in the transcription, and probably the closest to the truth.

By 1910, Joseph and Adelia were back in Staten Island and were living alone. His occupation was given simply as "own income." I'm guessing that meant that he and Adelia still had plenty of his inheritance left to live on.

Joseph and Adelia's son Jesse married Inez Doyle in 1896. In 1900, they were living in Manhattan with their children, Thelma and Daniel, and Jesse was working as a bookkeeper. They had lost one child.

1900 US Federal Census

By 1910, Jesse and Inez had moved to West Pittston, Pennsylvania. This census reveals that Jesse's son Daniel's middle name was Merritt. Jessie also had a younger son named after his brother Clayton who died in 1875. Inez was now said to be the mother of five children, three of whom were living. Jesse was a clerk in a "DLYW Office." His sister Edith Sherwood Smith and her husband Frank lived with them.

1910 US Federal Census

In 1920, Jesse's mother Adelia had moved in with them, presumably after Joseph had died. Jesse's son Daniel Merritt Sherwood, age 20, was now known simply as Merritt, bringing the Merritt Count up to six. Jesse was working as a clerk for a steam railroad company, as was his 22-year-old daughter Thelma. Son Merritt was working as a wagon driver for an "Express Co.," and Edith Smith was a seamstress.

1920 US Federal Census

Jesse died sometime in the 1920s. In 1930, Inez was living with her son Daniel Merritt Sherwood, who was divorced, and daughter Thelma Sherwood Keller in Douglas, California. Thelma had two sons. Daniel worked as a salesman in a bakery.

1930 US Federal Census

To return to Matilda K. Sands: I wonder whether she was a daughter of Merritt Sands and Elizabeth Kirby. They have four children buried in the cemetery, all of whom were born between 1810 and 1820. There is also an Abram Sands buried in the cemetery who was born in 1812 and died in 1901; could he be a son of Merritt and Elizabeth? More investigation will be needed to find out.

1. Daniel W. Sherwood (1820-1898) m. Matilda K. Sands (1810?-1902)
1. Joseph L. Sherwood (1846-) m. Adelia F. (1852-1920) in 1868
1. Jessie M. Sherwood (1870-) m. Inez Doyle (1872-1957) in 1896
1. Thelma Sherwood (1897-) m. Eugene Keller
1. Eugene C. Keller (1922-)
2. Winfield Doyle Keller (1926-2002)
2. Daniel Merritt Sherwood (1899-1952)
3. Clayton Sherwood (1903-) m. Nan (1907-)
1. Sherie Sherwood (1930-)
2. Edith M. Sherwood (1873-) m. Frank Smith (1871-)
3. Clayton E. Sherwood (1875-1876)