The town was first settled about 1736. A parish of North New Fairfield was organized in 1744. It was incorporated as a town in 1802, named for Roger Sherman, who as a young man, living with his brother, plied his shoemaker's trade. One of the town's distinguished sons, Reverend Philo P. Stewart (1798-1868), became a western missionary and founded Oberlin College.
Edgar L. Heermance, compiler, The Connecticut Guide: What to See and Where to Find It, Connecticut Emergency Relief Commission, Hartford, 1935.