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 574 STEARNS. STEARNS. in the Boston &r Maine Railroad Relief Association. With his time largely en- grossed by his daily duties, he neverthe- less devotes a portion of each day to the more congenial pursuit of literature in his library. In politics Mr. Staples is a staunch Demo- crat, firmly believing in the creed as defined by Jefferson. He has been the candidate of his party for legislative honors, receiv- ing a flattering support from his opponents. In religion he is an attendant upon, and a supporter of, Congregational worship. STEARNS, EPHRAIM, son of Ephraim and Rachel (Learoyd) Stearns, was born in Waltham, Middlesex county, March 8, .839. After receiving a good education at the common schools, completed at the Waltham high school, he took up the mercantile profession, and began business life in 1856, with the firm of Milton Cushman & Com- pany, remaining with them nearly ten years. During this time he enlisted in company G, 45th regiment, Massachusetts volunteers, seeing service in North Carolina. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned with the rank of sergeant. Leaving the employ of Milton Cush- man & Company, he entered into co-part- nership under the firm name of Blake & Stearns, commission merchants and dealers in woolens — a house since enjoying much prosperity and a reputation for honorable dealing. Mr. Stearns was married in Waltham, October 26, 1865, to Persis Louisa, daugh- ter of Charles W. and Hannah B. (Haven) Warren. They have two children : Charles Ephraim and Rachel Learoyd Stearns. January 1, 1885, he was appointed on the staff of Governor Robinson, as assistant quartermaster-general, with the rank of colonel. Although nearly all his interests are in Boston, Mr. Stearns has not neglected the duties of a good citizen, and has been prominent in the political and social affairs of his native town. Always active in politics, he has served several times as chairman of the Republi- can town committee, and was elected a delegate to the national Republican con- vention at Chicago in 1884. He was a member of the committee on the city charter, and was elected as an alderman of the first city government of Waltham. In December, 1888, he was elected presi- dent of the New England Commercial Travelers' Association. He has served as a trustee of the Waltham Savings Bank, and a commissioner of the sinking fund of the city of Waltham. He is a member of the First Parish church, Waltham, and has been chairman of the parish committee for several years. He is a member of Monitor Lodge, Waltham Royal Arch Chapter, and also of the Middlesex Club of Boston STEARNS, George Andrew, son of Ephraim and Rachel (Learoyd) Stearns, was born in Waltham, Middlesex county, September 2, 1827. He received the cus- tomary public school education of the times, attending school in the winter and working on a farm in the summer, from nine years of age until he was sixteen. At the latter age he entered as an apprentice the machine shop of Coolidge & Sibley at Stony Brook, where he devoted the usual four years to acquiring the elements of the machinist's trade, his special branch being the construction and setting up of cotton machinery. At the age of twenty-one he entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti- tute at Troy, N. Y., where he took a special course in civil engineering. After receiv- ing his diploma, he followed his profession for a year in the service of the Troy &: Boston Railroad. He then accepted the position of clerk and paymaster at the Wal- tham Bleachery, and remained in the em- ploy of the company until 1872 — for the last four years of his service as superinten- dent of the works. In 1872 he resigned his position to enter into partnership with William H. Forbes of Boston, under the firm name of W. H. Forbes & Co., lithog- raphers and engravers. He has since con- tinued in the business, though the firm has resolved itself into a corporation — the Forbes Lithograph M'f'g Co. Mr. Stearns has held various offices of public trust. He is treasurer and general manager of the Waltham Gas Light Company, and has been a director in the Waltham National Bank ; treasurer of the Waltham Music Hall Company ; a member of the school board ; chairman of the board of managers of public cemeteries, and a member of the drainage and sewerage commission for Waltham. He has always been a promi- nent member of the First Parish (Unita- rian), of Waltham ; was for years clerk and a member of the parish committee, treasurer of the society, and superintendent of the Sunday-school. Mr. Stearns, in common with all of the name in Waltham or its vicinity, is a de- scendant from Isaac Sterne, or Sternes, who came to America in 1630 from Norfolk, Eng., in the company of Sir Richard Sal-