Sherman W. Fanning is a westerner by birth and has devoted himself to the development of the raw country of the west for many years with gratifying results in a fine farm, good improvements and a substantial holding of property that makes him one of the well to do men of the vicinity of Nez Perce, his farm being about one mile southwest from Nez Perce.
Sherman W. Fanning was born in the vicinity of Albany, Oregon, on September 18, 1865, being the son of Elias E. and Mary A. (Gladhill) Fanning, natives of Morgan County, Illinois. Levi Fanning, grandfather of our subject, was a Mexican War veteran. The father of Sherman was a member of the state militia in Illinois. In 1852 Mr. and Mrs. Fanning crossed the plains with a train of over two hundred people. Cholera attacked them and many of the emigrants were buried by the trail. Six months were consumed on this weary journey and they settled near Albany on a donation claim. In 1874 they came to the vicinity of Forest Grove and in 1877 they all settled near Pomeroy, Washington. The father was a prominent politician in Oregan and served in the legislature from Washington County. He was also prominent in the Grange movement in that state.
On July 4, 1887, Mr. Fanning married Miss Effie M., daughter of George W. and Sarah E. (Bragg) Warfield, natives of Illinois, and came from Union County, Iowa, where Mrs. Fanning was born, to Pomeroy, in 1881. Mr. Warfield died on January 11, 1899, but his widow is still living in Whitman County, Washington. Mr. Fanning resided near Pomeroy until the spring of 1898, when he came to his present farm, which is now well supplied with buildings and the farm is highly cultivated and a valuable place.
Mr. Fanning is a member of the W. W. Camp No. 419, of Nez Perce. Two children have been born to him and his estimable wife, Sherman W. and Arthur L. Mr. Fanning’s mother died on December 5, 189 1, aged fifty-five. His father died on December 23, 1900, aged sixty-seven.
He is a director of the Nez Perce tramway, the first one on the Clearwater, of which he was one of the instigators.
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Source: An Illustrated History of Northern Idaho, Embracing Nez Perce, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903