John Sherrard was a resident of Tyrrell County. According to John Collins, James Sherrard told Collins that while on a visit at his brother John Sherrard's house, he saw John Lewellen, who informed him that he thought the Gourd Patch Conspiracy would have to resort to violence in order to protect Protestantism in the state. While Lewellen and James Sherrard evidently interacted at John Sherrard's house, there is no further evidence linking him to the plot itself.