John Sherwood Cheney (April 14, 1827 – March 12, 1910) was an American businessman, state legislator, California Gold Rush prospector, and member of the Cheney silk manufacturing dynasty of Manchester, Connecticut.

He attended Manchester Academy and worked on a farm until the age of 18, when he became a commercial traveler based in New York City.

In Australia, he served as mayor, town councilor, and justice of the peace of Creswick, Victoria.

A Republican, he also served as a Manchester probate judge (1884–1889), member of the town school board and a school district committee (1873–1906), and captain of Company G, 1st Regiment, Connecticut Army National Guard.

[2][1] Cheney married Ellen Coates, an Englishwoman living in Creswick, Australia, on February 25, 1861.