I sometimes google family names to see what turns up (found the location of my grandfather's grave that way), and doing so today I found an old message on a mailing list that is almost certainly from a cousin of some sort on my mother's side and which sorta confirms a family detail/rumour that we're part German.

Apparently the Sheriff name originated in Bavaria and was spelled Scherff before it got changed during the Civil War.

Which explains all the beer.