Sheridan was born in
Millbury,
Massachusetts, and moved with his parents to
Chicago in 1858.
Civil War During the
Civil War, he served as a
captain in the
Union Army until his resignation on October 28, 1864. After the war, Sheridan was one of a group of Northern officials who moved in to administer the defeated Southern states (often derisively referred to by Southerners as "
carpetbaggers"). In 1866, he moved to
New Orleans,
Louisiana; where he served as
brigadier general of the
militia on the staff of the
Republican Governor,
Henry Clay Warmoth. In 1867, Sheridan was made
sheriff of
Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana, which was later divided into
East Carroll and
West Carroll parishes.
Congress Sheridan ran for the House in 1872 as a
Liberal Republican against then Lt. Gov.
P. B. S. Pinchback. After the election, Pinchback would become the first black governor of a U.S. state following the impeachment of the prior governor
Henry C. Warmoth. Pinchback originally had credentials to be seated and the House was inclined to do so, but did not wish to be as he had also won a seat in the Senate (that he was never allowed to take). Sheridan contested the election and the matter wasn't fully settled until March 3, 1875, the last day of Congress. He was sworn in in the morning, serving until noon the next day.
After Congress After his service in the House, he was appointed
Recorder of Deeds in the
District of Columbia by President Rutherford Hayes, serving from May 17, 1878, until May 17, 1881, when President James Garfield fired him in order to provide the job to
Frederick Douglass.
Family His daughter was the actress,
Emma Sheridan.
Death Sheridan died at the age of fifty-six in the
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Hampton,
Virginia. He was interred at
Arlington National Cemetery. ==See also==