Who is Mr. Sherwin from On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 and what is their importance?

Mr. Sherwin is a family acquaintance who lived for some time in De Smet before moving to Cedar County, Missouri. He subsequently sends back enthusiastic letters with photographs of orchards and other abundant crops. The photographs cause the Wilders and others to refer to Missouri as The Land of the Big Red Apple. Although Sherwin does not appear directly in the journal, he is mentioned in the August 25, 1894 entry as having judged Cedar County land superior to Wright County land.