SHERMAN D. CROFT, a prominent lawyer and real estate dealer of Covington, Miami County, Ohio, has been a resident of this village since 1901 and is numbered among its most progressive citizens. He was born on a farm in Newberry Township, Miami County, January 12, 1866, and is a son of David and Catherine (Whitmer) Croft.

David Croft, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Maryland, where he grew to maturity, and when a young man came west to Dayton, Ohio. He clerked in a store for a time and then moved from that city to Newberry Township, Miami County, where he was married. He became proprietor of a mill and grew to be a man of considerable importance in the community, in which he continued to live until his death in 1881.

Sherman D. Croft was reared on the farm and received his primary education in the district schools, supplemented by a course in Covington High School, from which he graduated in 1886. He read law at home and in the office of Judge Johnston at Piqua, and while continuing his professorial studies carried on a real estate business in Covington from 1897 until 1901, when he was admitted to the bar of Miami County. During the winter and spring of the latter year he pursued a review Course in law in Ohio Northern University at Ada. Immediately after his admission, he began practice in Covington and in the mean time has continued the real estate business with uninterrupted success. He has bought and sold many farms, and has been very active in building new additions. He has always identified himself with the best interests of the place and takes high rank among his fellow citizens. Upon the organization of the Stillwater Valley Bank Company in 1909, he took an active part in the affairs of that institution, in which he is still financially interested.

Mr. Croft was united in marriage with Miss Lillie Kauffman, a daughter of George Kauffman of Newton Township, and they have one son, named William Herbert. Fraternally, he is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, of which he is treasurer; and is also a member of the Ancient and Honorable Order of Gobblers.