When Joseph William Sherwood was born on 15 February 1846, in Illinois, United States, his father, Isaac Elmore Sherwood, was 52 and his mother, Dorcas Elizabeth Sharp, was 40. He married Rosannah Anne Nickerson on 24 March 1867, in Cass Township, Fulton, Illinois, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 4 daughters. He lived in Canton Township, Fulton, Illinois, United States in 1900 and Deerfield Township, Fulton, Illinois, United States in 1910. He died on 3 August 1933, in Cass Township, Fulton, Illinois, United States, at the age of 87, and was buried in Buckeye Cemetery, Cass Township, Fulton, Illinois, United States.