San Francisco County
Biographies
WILLIAM A.
SHERMAN
Among the business executives of San Francisco who have achieved outstanding success entirely through their own efforts and ability is William A. Sherman, who is president of the Merchants Ice & Cold Storage Company, president of the City National Bank, and an official in a number of other important organizations. He was born in San Francisco, September 17, 1881, and is a son of the late Albert Sherman and his wife Mary E. (Bryant) Sherman. The Sherman family is of Scotch, Irish and English descent, and, with the Bryant family, is of American colonial stock. Albert Sherman and his wife were both born in the state of Massachusetts, were married there, and came to San Francisco, California, in 1878. The death of Albert Sherman occurred here in 1912, when he was sixty-five years of age; he is survived by his widow.
William A. Sherman, the only child born to his parents, was educated in the public schools of Sonoma county, California, and graduated from Sonoma high school in 1899. During his school years he worked as a janitor in Sonoma high, and then was employed as a typesetter and printers’ devil for the Sonoma Expositor. Following this, he came to San Francisco, where for two years he was with the old San Francisco Post, after which he became a clerk for the Merchants Ice & Cold Storage Company. From this minor position he advanced, proving his ability at every step. In 1906, he became secretary of the company, and in 1926 he was honored with the presidency of the concern, a position he has since held. As noted, Mr. Sherman is also president of the City National Bank, and he is likewise a director of the Cereal Products Refining Corporation and a director of the Union Merchants Ice Delivery Company.
In Sacramento, California, April 19, 1915, occurred the marriage of Mr. Sherman and Miss Marcelline L. Blais, a native of Calaveras county, California, and a daughter of George and Catherine (Latimer) Blais, the latter now being deceased. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sherman there have been born two sons, namely: William A., Jr., whose natal day was August 30, 1916; and John B., born January 19, 1920. Both of the sons were born in San Francisco. The family residence is situated in Saratoga, Santa Clara county, California.
During the period of the United States’ participation in the World war, Mr. Sherman was commissioned a captain in the quartermaster’s corps, and was assigned to duty in the cold storage warehouses in Chicago for a short period toward the end of the war. In civic affairs of San Francisco, Mr. Sherman has been for many years one of the leading group. He has been president of the local board of fire commissioners since 1927, and was president of the state board of harbor commissioners from 1925 until 1927. His politics are republican. He has been a member of the executive committee of San Francisco Council, Boy Scouts of America, since the Scout movement was established in San Francisco in 1916.
In religion, Mr. Sherman is a Protestant. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to Presidio Lodge, No. 354, F. & A. M.; California Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M.; California Council, No. 2, R. & S. M.; California Commandaery, No. 1, K. T.; the San Francisco bodies of the Scottish Rite, and Islam Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He served as grand master of Masons of California in 1923. He likewise belongs to the Elks, the Olympic Club, the Commercial Club, the Commonwealth Club and the Rotary Club.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 2 Pages 479-481.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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