Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/90

 SUMNER

SUMNER

On March 13. ISC"), lie was brevetted lieutenant- colonel for gallant ami meritorious service during the rehellion. and brigadier general of volunteers for services on the field. He was promoted cap- tain U.S.A.. Sept. -';3. 1803; major. 5th cavalry, March 4. 1S79; lieutenant-colonel, 8th cavalry, April 15. 1890, and colonel. 7th cavalry, Nov. 10, 189-t ; was commissioned brigadier-general of vol- unteers May 27, 1898, and was in command of the De|>artment of Colorado and Missouri, April, 1898-March 30. 1809. He was honorably mustered out of the volunteer service. Feb. 24, 1899, and was retired as brigadier-general U.S.A., March 27, 1S99. In his record of over 38 years' active service he was never absent from his duty on account of sickness, nor was he detailed on other than field service during the civil war. He was married. July 18, 18G6. to Margaret, daughter of Gen. John Forster of Harrisburg, Pa., and their onlv son, E. V. Sumner 3d, was appointed in 1903 a cadet at tlie U.S. :Military academy.

SUMNER, George Watson, naval officer, was born at Constantine, St. Joseph's county, Mich., Dec. 31, 1841. He was graduated from the U.S. Naval academy in 1861 ; was engaged at the bom- bardment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, April 27. 1862. and of the Vicksburg batteries ; was promoted lieutenant Aug. 1, 1862, and later was given command of the Massasoit on the James river. In January, 1865, with the Massasoit and OnomUiga, he protected Grant's supplies at City Point, Va., from the Fredericksburg and Virginia. He was promoted lieutenant-com- mander July 25, 1866 ; commander, June 13, 1876, and captain, Oct. 2, 1891. He commanded the Baltimore at the international naval review in 1893, and commanded the Columbia at the open- ing of the Kiel canal in Germany in 1895. He was captain of the navy yard at New York, July, 1897-April 1. 1899 ; was promoted rear-admiral March 3, 1899 ; was commandant of the naval station at Port Royal, S.C, June 1, 1899 to Jan. 16, 1901, and on Jan. 19, 1899, was appointed commandant of navy yard and station at Phila- delphia. He was married, Feb. 20, 1886, to Maudtliilde Willis of New York. He became a meuiber of the Empire State society ; the Sons of the American Revolution ; a charter member of the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish- American War, an honorary member of the Regular Army and Navj- Union, and a member of .Associated Veterans of Farragut's Fleet.

SUMNER, Increase, governor of Massachusetts, was born in Roxbury, Mass., Nov. 27, 1746 ; son of Increase Sumner, and a descendant of "William Sumner who settled in Dorchester, Mass., about 1635. He was gra<luated at Harvard, A. B., 1767, A.M., 1770. and began to practice law in Roxbury in 1770. He was a representative in the general

court, 1776-80 ; a state senator from Norfolk county, 1780-82 ; and a member of the convention called to draw up a form of government in 1777 and 1779. He was elected a delegate to the Conti- nental congress in 1782, but being appointed as- sociate-judge of the supreme judicial court in August, 1782, never entered congress. In 1797 he resigned his justiceship and served as governor of Massachusetts, 1797-98. He was re-elected in 1799, and took the oath of office on his death bed. He was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Will- iam Hyslop of Brookliiie, and had three children. His son, William Hyslop Sumner (q.v.), published a memoir of his father. Increase Sumner had a public and military burial in the Old Granary Burj'ing Ground, where his body was placed in the tomb of the Schrimpton family, from which his wife was descended. His portrait, painted by Maj. John Johnson, is one of the most satisfactory of all those displayed at the State House, and for a long time hung back of the chair of the senate's president. Governor Sumner died at his home in Roxbury, Mass., June 7, 1799.

SUMNER, Jethro, soldier, was born in Vir- ginia in 1733 ; son of Jethro and grandson of Will- iam Sumner, who emigrated from England about 1675 and settled in Suffolk, Va. Jethro Sumner became a lieutenant in Col. William Byrd's Virginia regiment in 1758 ; was with Wash- ington at Braddock's defeat, and later at the cap- ture of Fort Duquesne ; was promoted captain, and in 1761 mustered out and presented with 2000 acres of land in recognition of his services. He removed to Bute county, N.C., sometime prior to 1769, and was made sheriff in 1772. In 1775 he was commissioned major of the minute-men, and in April, 1776, was made colonel of the 3d North Carolina regiment. He fought at the de- fence of Charleston in July, 1776, moved north to join Washington, and fought at Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777. He wintered at Valley Forge, and in the spring joined the southern armj' ; was pro- moted brigadier-general, Jan. 9, 1779. and com- manded the North Carolina brigade under Gen- eral Lincoln at the battle of Stono Ferry, June 20, 1779. He was taken ill at this time, and went to North Carolina, where he succeeded in recruit- ing new troops. He fougiit at Camden in 1780 ; at Eutaw Springs in 1781, and with General Davidson conducted the retreat across the Yad- kin river and suppressed the raids of the Tories in North Carolina. He was the first president of the North Carolina division. Society of the Cin- cinnati. His wife was related to several promi- nent families in North Carolina and Virginia and is Siiid to have been very wealth}'. Beyond this, little is known of her. General Sumner died at his manor house in Warren county, N.C., March 17, 1785.