BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

Ruyter Stinson Sherman
(also Ruiter, nee Shearman)

April 19 1865 - March 30 1941

Civil Engineering, Queen's University 1885
Private/Corporal/Sergeant, 38th Dufferin Rifles 1884-1889
Ontario Land Surveyor 1890
Dominion Land Surveyor 1892
B.C. Provincial Land Surveyor #18 1893
Lecturer, Mainland Teacher's Institute 1899
Member, Vancouver Oldtimer's Club c1900
Founding Member, Entomological Society of B.C. 1902
B.C. Teacher's Certificate, First Class 1903
Teacher, Lord Roberts Elementary School 1905 - 1907
Recording Secretary, Pacific Coast Teachers Association 1906 - 1907
Principal, Admiral Seymour Elementary School 1907 - 1932
Charter Member, B.C. Mountaineering Club 1907
Charter Member & Executive Committee, B.C. Academy of Science 1910
Chairman & Trustee, Savary Island Park Association, 1910 - ?
Charter Member, Vancouver Natural History Society 1918
Charter Member, B.C. Art League 1920
Member, Vancouver Pioneer's Club c1920
Author, J.M. Dent & Sons 1924 - 1941
Elected Member, Canadian Author's Association 1925
Founding Member/President, Burrard Field Naturalist Club 1926 (VP 1932)
First Vice-President, Director (1933) AHSAV
Director, Vancouver Museum



R.S. Sherman, c1925


552 West 7th Ave., c1903-1905


Ruiter Stinson Sherman was born to English parents in Youngstown, Ohio in 1865. A few years later his family moved to Ontario, where he grew up. His family name was Shearman, but for reasons unknown he changed his last name to Sherman by 1890, and went by that name for the rest of his life. He trained as a civil engineer and surveyor after deciding not to become a doctor. He came west in 1889, and became a prominent Vancouver educator, naturalist, author, and artist.

  


A condensed family tree.

He arrived in Vancouver in time to qualify as a Vancouver Old-Timer, a group that later expanded to become the Pioneers, and registered as the 18th Provincial Land Surveyor in B.C. A few years later he began teaching school, and achieved his first-class teaching certificate in 1903. In 1907 he was appointed Principal of Admiral Seymour Elementary School in Vancouver, a position he held until his retirement in 1932.

In 1910 Sherman was one of the founders of the Savary Island Park Association, established to sell vacation lots on Savary Island. He purchased a lot, as did others in his family, and to this day their descendants still spend their summers there.


Traumerei, Sherman cottage on Savary Island

Although he was an artist and illustrator, and occasionally exhibited his work, he was more notable for his support of the arts and cultural organizations in Vancouver. He joined the B.C. Art League as a Charter Member in 1920, along with his daughter Maud.


The Broncho May 1920


The Wishing Tree March 1922

In 1922 he and his daughter went on a sketching expedition led by Thomas Fripp.

Ruiter was influential in a number of other groups in Vancouver, including the B.C. Mountaineering Club (founding member, 1907); Vancouver Natural History Society (founding member, 1918); Burrard Field Naturalists Club (Charter member and later President); and the Vancouver Museum (Director).


The Ecology of Savary Island, 1931

He was an ardent entymologist, specializing in Diptera, or two-winged flies, and was a founding member of the Entomological Society of B.C. in 1902. He made many early contributions to recording the insect life of the province. He donated a collection of insects to the Vancouver Museum in the 1920s, and his entire collection was donated to the museum by his widow after his death. Unfortunately both collections were later thrown out due to poor condition, and no record of their contents remains.


Mother Nature Stories, 1924

He was also a prolific author of natural history stories for children, and was published in many school books by J.M. Dent & Sons, as well as in "School Days" magazine, which included a large number of his pen and ink drawings.

Some of his books include Mother Nature Stories, illustrated by Maud; the Canadian Industrial Reader; Wild Folk and Their Ways; and six volumes of The Silent Study Readers.

   

Sherman died in 1941 of heart failure while working in his yard on Dundas Street in Vancouver. He left behind a large legacy of written work and published illustrations, which continued to be republished many times over by Dent, until after more than forty years his two longest-lasting nature stories, "Merwa the Moose" and "Kwah! the Crow" made their last appearance in a grade school reader in the 1960s. Most importantly, almost every one of the many groups and institutions that Ruiter Sherman helped to found in Vancouver continues to this day, including the art school and the art gallery.


Books from the Sherman family library.


R.S. Sherman bookplate

R.S. Sherman grave

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION ARTWORK
1919 Sept. 6 - ? Sketch Club   Monthly Exhibition A Sandy Desert Shore
1920 Feb. 7 Sketch Club   Monthly Exhibition (pen & ink drawings of insect life)
1920 April 10 Sketch Club   Monthly Exhibition (sketch near Seaside Park)
1920 October 2 Sketch Club   Monthly Exhibition Seton Lake
1920 December 4 - ? Sketch Club   Annual Exhibition Seton Lake
1921 Nov. 5 Sketch Club   Monthly Exhibition (landscape)

References - MONOGRAPHS

Refer to BIBLIO.

References

SAVARY ISLAND PARK issued by The Savary Island Park Association
      Sales brochure for lots on Savary Island c1918
      Includes photographs and text extolling the virtues of buying land on the island
      Sherman is listed as Chairman & Trustee of the Association.

SCHOOL DAYS magazine, published by the Vancouver School Board
      September 1919 - June 1930 (monthly except July and August)
      Contains articles, poems, contests, school information, student exercises.
      Numerous stories and illustrations by R.S. Sherman and his daughter Maud Sherman
      Also illustrations by Charles H. Scott and Spencer Perceval Judge.

MUSEUM AND ART NOTES, Vol. VI, No. 1
      March 1931; 42 pages, illustrated black and white
      Published by the Art, Historical and Scientific Association of Vancouver
      Includes article by R.S. Sherman on Savary Island
      Pen & ink illustration by Maud Rees Sherman on page 12.

NATURE AND LANGUAGE WORKBOOK (Junior) by Ruiter Stinson Sherman and E.W. Reid
      1934 (first printing); 66 pages; Published by J.M. Dent & Sons
      Extensivly illustrated in b&w by Maud Sherman.
      "Junior Book Suitable for Use in Grades II & III"

EARLY LAND SURVEYORS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (P.L.S. GROUP)
      Compiled and edited by John A. Whittaker
      Published by The Corporation of Land Surveyors of the Province of British Columbia
      1990, ISBN 1-55056-090-5; 170 pages (softcover)
      Contains excellent two page biography and b&w photograph of R.S. Sherman

SUNNY SANDY SAVARY: A History of Savary Island 1792-1992 by Ian Kennedy
      1992, Kennell Publishing, Vancouver; ISBN 0-9696291-0-9
      188 pages, paperback, illustrated black & white; index, bibliography
      Includes references to Maud Sherman, R.S. Sherman, the Herchmer family,
           Frankie Keefer, Helen Griffin, visiting artists, art school students & staff.

BUTTERFLIES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA by Crispin S. Guppy and Jon H. Shepard
      Royal B.C. Museum; ISBN 0-7748-0809-8
      408 pages, 8-1/2 x 11", hardcover, colour photographs, maps, illustrations

MAGNETIC ISLE - Gladys Bloomfield's Savary
     2005; ISBN 0-9739209-0-4; 146 pages, illustrated in black and white
     Edited by Conde Landale; published by Savary Island Heritage Society
     Includes references to R.S. Sherman, Maud Rees Sherman, Laurencia Herchmer.

Clippings

"...in the evening a fancy dress ball was held in the pavilion, the Savary Island orchestra providing music for the dancers... ...The costumes were particularly well done and becoming. Among those in fancy dress were the following: ... Mr. Ruyter Sherman "Mephistopheles" ..."
      From "Savary Island" (fundraiser for the French Red Cross)
      Vancouver Province, August 10 1918

"Mr. R.S. Shearman (sic) with his son and daughter-in-law have returned to Vancouver. Mrs. Shearman and Miss Maud will remain for some time on the island."
      From "Savary Island"
      Vancouver Province, September 5 1919

"Other exhibits were ... "A Sandy Desert Shore" by R.S. Sherman."
      From "Sketch Club Opens Winter Season's Work"
      Vancouver Province, September 8 1919

"Mrs. R.S. Sherman (sic) (was represented by) by a most interesting educational series of pen and ink drawings of insect life; ... "
      From "Sketch Club Has Resumed Exhibitions"
      Vancouver Daily World, February 9 1920

"A strong and direct from nature sketch from near Seaside Park was Miss Maud Sherman's Easter offering, whilst Mr. R.S. Sherman found inspiration from the same locality."
      From "Art Exhibits Fewer But Maintain Standard"
      Vancouver Daily Province, April 13 1920

"Mr. and Mrs. Stacey Shearman, with their son and daughter, Mr. Reuter (sic) and Miss Winnifred Shearman, are occupying Mr. R.L. Shearman's (sic) cottage at present. The advent of a baby boy in the family of the R.L. Shearman's is occupying the attention of the grandparents at present."
      From "Savary Island"
      Vancouver Province, ?, 1920

"Mr. R. S. Sherman's "Seton Lake" was also very good."
      From "Artists and Their Doings"
      Western Woman's Weekly, October 9 1920

"Miss Maude Sherman, who has studied with Mr. Fripp for a year or two, is coming ahead quite rapidly. Everyone liked her "Autumn Glow" especially. She also showed a view of mountains, Lulu Island, and Port Alberni. Mr. Sherman, another Fripp pupil, has a very lovely picture of Seton Lake showing a decided Fripp influence."
      From "Annual Exhibit by Sketch Club"
      Vancouver Province, December 6 1920

"The exhibitors were: ... Mr. R.S. Sherman, landscape; ... "
      From "Many View Sketch Club Exhibit and Much Work Shown"
      Vancouver Sun, November 7 1921

"The party consisted of Mr. R. Sherman and Miss Sherman..."
      From "Sketching Trip Enjoyed"
      Western Woman's Weekly, July 29 1922

""Mother Nature Stories," one of the latest books for boys and girls, has found its way a little tardily to the Christmas bookshelves in Vancouver and elsewhere. The author is Mr. R.S. Sherman, principal of the Admiral Seymour public school, Vancouver, and the illustrations are from the pencils of Maud Sherman and the author."
      From "Educational Notes" by Spectator
      British Columbia Monthly, December 1924

"SHERMAN, R.S.: The collecting bug "bit" him when he captured a rhinoceros beetle and delivered it to Professor Bell of Albert College, who pronounced it as a rare capture and new record for Canada. He continued his insect collecting in the Belleville, Ontario district in the 1870s. He moved to the west coast and lived in Vancouver during the early decades of the present century collecting extensively on the southwest coast. As a lover of "Nature's children, be they birds, beasts, insects, or plants", he preferred to collect beetles and butterflies and especially the Diptera; their economic importance, however, was of little interest to him. He was an old-fashioned entomologist, one for whom the net, killing bottle, pinning block, and neatly labelled, pinned specimens in a box meant everything. Systematic entomology and a naturalist's delight in the wonders of nature caused him to regard himself as "a harmless imbecile who afforded rare sport for the small boy and the yokel."
      From Entomologists of British Columbia, February 1 1991
      Compiled by P.W. Riegert, published by Entomological Societies of Canada and British Columbia
      ISBN 1-55056-134-0, 47 pages.


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