Personalities Related to Richard Clow: John Sherwin Clow 1836-1909

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Richard H. McBee Jr.

John Sherwin (nickname “Sher”) Clow was born a full 11 years before Richard Clow in Nova Scotia, Canada where the family lived until 1853. John probably got the nicknam of “Sher” due to the fact that he had the same first name as his father, John Stevenet Clow. Consequently when Sher moved to the USA to homestead in Minnesota, he used this moniker and even enlisted in the Union forces, 3rd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment in order to fight with Sherman’s troops across the South.

John Sherwin was married to Celinda Warren Burnap Clow prior to enlistment and had a daughter, Carrie Bertha in 1862, who died at the age of 2 months and a son, Fredrick Redman Clow in 1863. After the war he had another three children. Only two children survived to the time of his death in 1909.

There is a book written about John Sherwin Clow by Catherine Ann Clow and published in 1977, but it is out of print and I have tried in vain to find a copy to purchase as it would have been a God-send to have this information for my own book, “Rough Enough” on his brother, Richard Clow.

Richard Clow corresponded with enough family during the Civil War to keep track of his brother John to a degree in hopes that they would meet up in the field. This unfortunately did not happen until after the end of the war at the Grand Review. Richard writes an excellent descriptive letter of this meeting. I’d like to see a screen writer get into the mood of this and I’m sure it would make great pics.

I have one picture of John Sherwin Clow and another of his wife and first or second baby, but as you will have discerned by now it is not on this blog because I can’t find my original jpg. file to download it. I’ll have to get back to the scanner and you’ll see this pic sometime down the road.