Editing Sherry, Wisconsin (section)

==History==
In June 1851 the six mile (10&nbsp;km) square which later became the town of Sherry was [[Surveying|surveyed]] by crews working for the U.S. government. They found the [[Section (United States land surveying)|section corners]] with [[Gunter's chain|chain]] and [[Solar compass|compass]] and marked them.<ref>{{cite web|title=Land Survey Information|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/SurveyNotes/SurveyInfo.html|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|accessdate=March 10, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Field Notes for T24N R5E| url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/SurveyNotes/SurveyNotes-idx?type=PLSS&twp=T024NR005E|work=Original Field Notes and Plat Maps, 1833-1866|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|accessdate=April 30, 2013}}</ref> When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:
<blockquote>''This Township is heavily Timbered with [[Maple]] [[Oak]] [[Birch]] & [[Eastern white pine|Pine]] Maple Oak & Birch being the prevailing Kinds - along the Border(?) of Mill Creek there is some good scattering Pine - along the Border(?) of the small stream (?) almost invariably(?) find [[alder]] thickets caused by [[Beaver dam]]s. - the streams are fed by the swamp, and are subject to very sudden rise & fall - the soil is a dark loam is well adapted for the purpose of agriculture. the Surface is generally level & is covered with stone the stone being of a reddish color''<ref>{{cite web|last=Ellis|first=A.G. and Ellis, F.S.|title=Interior Field Notes (Oct. 1851)|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/SurveyNotes/SurveyNotes-idx?type=article&byte=2784256&twp=T024NR005E|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|accessdate=30 April 2013}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1880 Henry Sherry and a partner named Briggs started a [[sawmill]] on Mill Creek, with a company store, which attracted workers and grew into a community. With various partners, Sherry continued running the sawmill and added a [[planing mill]] and a factory that made [[Stave (wood)|barrel staves]]. The community also had a [[blacksmith]] in those early years.<ref name=Jones>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=George O.|last2=McVean|first2=Norman S.|title=History of Wood County, Wisconsin|date=1923|publisher=H.C. Cooper Jr & Co.|location=Minneapolis-Winona|pages=269-270|url=https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/wch/id/38716|access-date=March 25, 2024}}</ref> Sherry's first school was started in 1881.<ref name=our_hx>{{cite web|title=Our History|url=https://townofsherry.com/our-history|publisher=Town of Sherry|access-date=March 25, 2024}}</ref> A post office called Sherry was established in 1884, and remained in operation until 1968.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=WI&county=Wood | title=Post Offices| publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | accessdate=March 27, 2018}}</ref>

[[Image:HenrySherryHouseNeenahWisconsin.jpg|thumb|Henry Sherry's house in Neenah]]
Henry Sherry was not a local, but instead lived in [[Neenah, Wisconsin|Neenah]]. He was a flour miller's son who operated a sawmill there and ended up owning many sawmills in the 1880s along with the one in Sherry: [[Oshkosh, Wisconsin|Oshkosh]], [[Fond du Lac, Wisconsin|Fond du Lac]], [[Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin|Centralia]], [[Auburndale, Wisconsin|Auburndale]], [[Milladore, Wisconsin|Milladore]], [[Vesper, Wisconsin|Vesper]], [[Marshfield, Wisconsin|Marshfield]], [[Aniwa, Wisconsin|Aniwa]], Kent, Mineral Lake, and [[Park Falls, Wisconsin|Park Falls]].<ref>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=99001607}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Henry Sherry House / Hugh Strange House|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|author=Peter J. Adams |date=December 20, 1997 |accessdate=April 9, 2018}}</ref>

The town (6x6 miles) of Sherry was established in 1885, taking its name from the community located within its borders.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.mcmillanlibrary.org/files/docs/placenames.pdf | title=Wood County Place Names | publisher=The University of Wisconsin Press | author=Rudolph, Robert S. | year=1970 | pages=77}}</ref>

The unincorporated community known as Sherry was [[plat]]ted in 1899.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.mcmillanlibrary.org/files/docs/placenames.pdf | title=Wood County Place Names | publisher=The University of Wisconsin Press | author=Rudolph, Robert S. | year=1970 | pages=76}}</ref><ref name=our_hx/>

Sherry's [[Presbyterian]] congregation formed around 1900 and built its brick church in 1903. The [[German Americans|German]] [[Lutherans]] built their church one year later.<ref name=Jones/> In 1906 some Presbyterians started the Northwest Collegiate Institute, a Christian secondary school, on a 500-acre farm along Mill Creek. The students could work on the farm to pay their tuition. This school ran until 1921.<ref name=our_hx/>

As of 1923, the village included two [[general stores]], a hotel, a garage, a cheese factory, and a real estate office. A stage ran from Sherry village two miles to the railroad station at [[Blenker, Wisconsin|Blenker]] twice a day.<ref name=Jones/>