Melvin E. Sherwin | |
---|---|
Born | Melvin Ernest Sherwin July 17, 1881 – January 5, 1924 South Dakota, U.S. |
Died | January 5, 1924 Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. | (aged 42)
Burial place | Oakwood Cemetery (Raleigh, North Carolina) |
Occupation | Adacemic |
Known for | Founding FarmHouse fraternity |
Academic background | |
Education | University of Missouri, B.S. Agriculture, 1908 University of California, Berkeley, M.A. Agriculture, 1909 |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Agriculture |
Sub-discipline | Soil Science |
Institutions | University of Maine North Carolina State University |
Melvin Ernest Sherwin (July 17, 1881 – January 5, 1924) was an American soil scientist, agronomist, academic, and founding member of FarmHouse fraternity. He was a professor and department head in soil sciences at what is now North Carolina State University.
Serwin was born in South Dakota on July 17, 1881.[1][2] He enrolled in the University of Missouri in 1903 and graduated with a B.S. in agriculture in 1908.[3] While there, he became one of the seven founders of the FarmHouse fraternity on April 15, 1905.[4]
He received an M.A. in agriculture from the University of California, Berkeley in 1909.[5]
While he was a graduate student, Shewin was an instructor of agronomy at the University of California.[6] In the fall of 1909, he became an assistant professor of agronomy at the University of Maine.[6][5] In 1910, he joined the faculty the North Carolina State College of Agriculture & Mechanical Arts (now North Carolina State University) as a professor of soils and the head of its soils department.[5][7] This was the first professional position in soils at the university.[7]
Sherwin was noted for his investigative work with drainage lines.[2] In November 1936, he was elected president of the North Carolina Drainage Association.[8] He wrote a laboratory guide on soils that was used as a textbook in North Carolina's agricultural high schools.[2] He also helped train county agricultural agents, spoke at the North Carolina Drainage Convention, and presented a paper at the conference of the North Carolina Academy of Science.[9][10][11] He also spoke at the Association of Southern Agricultural Workers in February 1921.[12]
Sherwin was married Edith Dodson of Centrilia, Missouri.[13] The couple had five children, including Sidney T Sherwin and Edith Evelyn Sherwin.[2][14][15] He lived on Avent Ferry Road in Raleigh, North Carolina and owned a farm in Hyde County, near Lake Mattamuskeet.[2][1]
On January 3, 1924, he became ill and fell unconscious from uremic acidosis.[2] After contracting spinal meningitis two days later and never regaining consciousness, he died on January 5, 1924, in Rex Hospital in Raleigh at the age of 42.[5][1][2] His funeral was held at the Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh.[16] He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh.[3][16]
After his death, his widow married his brother, Herbert A. Sherwin, and lived in Greensboro, North Carolina.[15][13]