March 26, 2025
Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series on Mayflower descendants, focusing on the Sherman and Little families, especially Sarah – who lived to be 107! Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
Today I continue with my series “Mayflower Descendants: Who’s Who,” covering the families of Marshfield, Massachusetts, settlers who married into Mayflower lines.
To recap: Part one covered the marriage of Lydia Whitney O’Brien (1804-1888) to Aaron Simmons Sherman (1798-1881), son of Aaron and Lydia (Mitchel) Sherman, a descendant of Mayflower passengers Myles Standish, John Alden, Priscilla Mullins, and Edward Doty. His forebears also include William Sherman, Thomas Bourn, and Thomas Chillingsworth.
Another son born to Aaron and Lydia (Mitchel) Sherman was Elisha James Sherman (1813-1849), who married Sarah Gifford Little (1819-1925), daughter of Edward Preble and Edy (Rogers) Little of Marshfield. After Mr. Sherman’s death Sarah married Howard Yarnall, son of Enoch and Hannah (Howard) Yarnall, on 14 July 1853.
Sarah descends from Mayflower passengers Richard Warren, Elizabeth Walker, John Alden, Priscilla Mullins, and Edward Doty. She also descends from Marshfield settler Thomas Little.
Lineage:
- Richard Warren and Mary Walker
- Thomas Little and Ann/Anna Warren
- Ephraim Little and Mary Sturtevant
- John Little and Constant Fobes, daughter of William and Martha (Pabodie) Fobes, granddaughter of William and Elizabeth (Alden) Pabodie, great granddaughter of John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden
- Lemuel Little and Penelope Eames, daughter of Jedediah and Mary (Oakman) Eames; granddaughter of Tobias and Elizabeth (Doty) Oakman; great granddaughter of Edward and Sarah (Faunc) Doty; gr. great granddaughter of Edward and Faith (Clarke) Doty
- George Little and Rachel Rogers
- Edward Preble Little and Edy Rogers
- Sarah Gifford (Little) (Sherman) Yarnall
Below is a photo collage of Sarah with her four sisters. All were members of the Quaker community in the Philadelphia area. From left to right: Sarah Gifford (Little) (Sherman) Yarnall; Elizabeth Rogers Little (1816-1884), married David James Gould; Rachel Wales Little (1812-1899), married Joseph Healy; Almira Little (1822-1905), married Richard Peterson; Mary James Little (1827-1912), married Stephen R. Rogers.
Elisha James and Sarah Gifford (Little) Sherman had one daughter, Edith “Edy” Rogers Sherman (1842-1886), who married Theodore Ashmead Mehl (1833-1875), son of Jacob and Hariett (McCalla) Mehle of Germantown, Pennsylvania.
I found a newspaper clip of their wedding announcement. The couple married on 3 October 1866.
This wedding notice reads:
MEHL-SHERMAN. – On the 3d inst., by Friends’ ceremony, in the presence of the Mayor, Theodore A[shmead] Mehl to Edy R. Sherman, both of this city.
They had three sons, and their lineage continued. Here is a photo of their son Theodore Ashmead Mehl Jr. (1871-1950), who married twice and had five children. He was president of Mehl and Latta, Inc. and director of Bryn Mawr Trust Co.
Some history on Sarah Gifford (Little) (Sherman) Yarnall can be found in the scrapbook family album of Lee Snyder, a descendant through the marriage of Theodore A. Mehl Jr.’s daughter Blanche Claire Mehl (1925-2022) to William Monroe Snyder (1925-1998), son of John Amos and Frances J. (Morrow) Snyder.
A page in the scrapbook features a photo card of Sarah taken on her 104th birthday, accompanied by her obituary.
The obituary in the scrapbook is a little faded, so I fetched my own via GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives.
This article reads:
Mrs. Sarah Gifford Yarnall, 107, of Philadelphia, is dead here. She was passing the summer with her son, David G. Yarnall, of Wallingford, [PA].
Mrs. Yarnall was born in Marshfield, Mass., April 23, 1819. High points in her long life were her contact with the “Abolitionist against Anti” contest early in the nineteenth century; her interest in the one-time “underground railroad” for escaping slaves, and her presence in Pennsylvania Hall, Philadelphia, when it was attacked and burned by Anti-Abolitionists.
Eight great grandchildren survive Mrs. Yarnall.
Sarah’s ancestors also include some prominent Quaker families including Stephen Wing, son of the Reverend John and Deborah (Bachelor) Wing, and his wife Sarah Briggs.
Stay tuned! Much more on Sarah and her ancestors coming!
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Note on the header image: “Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor,” by William Halsall, 1882. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
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