THE BERRY MEADOW ARCHIVE - Mountain Light School

Scheuerman family are dated “5/57” so Bill had likely begun receiving information about them through
his Aunt Esther (Scheirman) Talbert of Bremerton, Washington who was aware of her Endicott cousins.
In December 1957 Bill received a Christmas card from a member of the John George
Scheuerman family of Ft. Collins, Colorado in response to a general letter of inquiry he had written after
finding their last name in a Denver phonebook. Bill then made a business trip to Colorado in the spring of
1957 and learned that John had emigrated from Russia 1905 but was unable to determine how they were
related. The experience, however, spurred his determination to seek out others who might be relatives. He
learned of a Scheuerman family living in Bashaw, Alberta and his June 1958 letter to them was directed
to Henry Scheuerman, whose father, Adam, was the brother of Bill‟s grandfather and had immigrated
with him to Kansas in 1888. Encouraging replies to Bill that same month from Henry and his son, Paul
Sherman of Edmonds, Washington, informed him of their acquaintance with the daughters of Endicott‟s
Adam and Catherine (Scheuerman) Schmick, Clara Holm and Elizabeth McMahon. (Elizabeth‟s only son,
Donald McMahon, was a fighter pilot who had been killed in Italy in World War II. The story of his life
and heroic sacrifice has been extensively chronicled by Larry Morasch.)
Above is one of countless “WLS” annotated family charts he sent Evelyn, me, and
others over the years. This one is of his Great Grandfather Peter Scheuerman‟s clan.
Bill wrote Paul on August 20, 1958 that he considered this information “the first lead” in his
quest to locate his grandfather‟s extended family. Bill‟s enthusiasm dovetailed with a business trip to
Alberta in October 1958 that enabled him to visit the families of Adam Scheuerman‟s sons, Henry and
Jacob, in Bashaw. His Canada trip then led to further communication between Bill and relatives in
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