From 1839 to 1844, kept an account book of his work for the and in the , Illinois, city government. Sherwood joined the church by 1832 and moved to , Ohio, in 1834. From there he relocated to in 1838, but he was expelled from the state along with his fellow Latter-day Saints the following year. After settling in in 1839, he was appointed to the Nauvoo . During his time in Nauvoo, he filled important positions in the city government and as a financial for JS and the church. Sherwood helped survey land in and around , Illinois, which later became the city of Nauvoo, and in October 1839, he was appointed by the Nauvoo high council to supervise the sale of town lots in Nauvoo. The land he was selling had been purchased by JS, , and for the church; JS held it through his position as the church’s trustee-in-trust. As a financial agent, Sherwood appears to have received a range of goods and donations. He also settled the estate of JS’s scribe , who died in November 1839, by overseeing the construction of a home for Mulholland’s family and paying other expenses.

In addition to his work as a financial agent, held several civic responsibilities. He was appointed the and served from 1841 to 1843; his duties included informing the members of the Nauvoo City Council about meetings, attending council meetings, and serving documents from the Nauvoo courts, such as subpoenas and warrants. Sherwood became a tax assessor for the Fourth Ward of Nauvoo on 17 December 1842 and was responsible for assessing and collecting the taxes of those who lived in the southwest quarter of the city. He also helped keep order in the city, serving on the city watch in 1843 and as a guard in the .

kept a record of his work and the donations he received, specifically noting that he was “keeping accounts that relate to the business of H[enry] G. Sherwood for the Church of Jesus Christ L. D. Saints.” He apparently considered his work for the city and court to be part of the business he was conducting for the church. Sherwood’s attitude was not unusual; in there often was not a clear separation between ecclesiastical and municipal responsibilities. However, Sherwood submitted claims to the Nauvoo City Council requesting payment for his civic work, which were evaluated by the council and usually paid. So, even though Sherwood included municipal work in the account book designated for church transactions, he seems to have expected the city rather than the church to pay for his civic efforts.

kept his accounts in a small book he acquired in . The book had previously been used by , who had served as a church recorder and clerk for the . Robinson had used it to record a survey of land in . Sherwood used the mostly blank book to keep a record of the transactions he oversaw for JS and the city of Nauvoo, and he then used it to verify accounts, submit claims to the city council requesting payment, or copy other records into the proper books. Sherwood’s account book contains entries from November 1839 to June 1844. A few later miscellaneous entries written on the back pastedown and flyleaf are separated from the main accounts by approximately ninety blank pages. Most of these entries are undated, but two are dated November 1844. Three of these later entries appear to have a connection to counterfeiting. Sherwood wrote statements on the two pages containing the entries indicating that they were “in no way connected with any Church affair” but were instead “private in nature—or apart from the Church.” However, because he recorded them in this account book and they relate to his finances, they are reproduced here as miscellaneous accounts.