Increase Sumner

or INCREASE SUMNER, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS. BY UIS SON WILLIAM H. SUMNER. TOGETllER WITH A GENEALOGY OF THE SUMNER FAMILY. PREPARED Fon TIils ~1dn fng!imh ~ist.oricnl an!) tforr:r!ogir:il !1rgisftr. BOSTON· SAMUEL G. DRAKE, PUBLISHER, 15 Illu. TTLE STREET, 185'1. DtrTTOlf & \VElfTWORTH, PRINTJ!RS, No, 81, COlliftD S&rHt. J\ifEniOIR. INcnEASE SuMNER, Governor of Massachusetts, was born in Roxbury in the County of Suffolk, now Norfolk, on the 27th of November, 174.6. His portrait, the engraving of which precedes this sketch, was taken in the robes worn by the Justices of the S. J. Court until abou T92. In the year 1797, after he was chosen Governor, it was retouched, and the hair dressed and powdered as he th.en wore it. The house of his father, in which his birth took place, stood on the site of Hall's new brick block of buildings in Washington street, Roxbury, nearly opposite to Sumner street. This house, in which his mother then resided, being exposed to the shot of the enemy during the siege, the family removed to Dorchester, and had a temporary residence on. the farm left him by his father, called "l\1organ's," now belonging to the Hon. Marshall P.Wilder, whose house he afterwards built. He gave an outright deed of this estate to his son a few days after he was taken sick, antici pating the fatal termination of his complaint, and declared his in tention not to make a will. After the Revolution, he purchased the house and land formerly owned by Judge Auchmuty, which was a confiscated·estate, and lived_ there until his- death. This house, situated on Burtlett street, i; now occupied by ::\Ir. Charles Bradford. Opposite to it lies the estate of fourteen acres ( in the centre of the city of Roxbnry) which his father-in-law, l\'Ir. Hyslop, purchased for him, and in cultivating which, after he had ploughed down the breastworks erected in the time of the war, and made it an open field, he took great pleasure. This estate was recovered of his heirs by Joseph Dudley, as tenant in tail, a few years after his death, ,vhen Mrs. Sumner removed to Boston. · His ancestor, 1Villiam Sumner, it is said, came from 13urccstcr 4 Memoir of Governor Increase Sumner. in Oxfordshire, England, and settled in Dorchester, Mass., about the year 1635, from which time until his death he held various public offices. The father of the subject of this sketch, whose name he bore, was a yeoman, who by his industry subdued his paternal acres, and left considerable property. Never was there a man better calcula ted for the sturdy labors of a yeoman. He was of colossal size, and equal strength of muscle, which was kept in tone by regu larity and good habits. He shrunk from no labor, however ardu ous or fatiguing it might seem to others. Instances of the won derful feats of strength performed by him were related after his death by his cotemporaries in his native place and the vicinity. He married Sarah, daughter of Robert Sharp of Brookline, on the 28th of October, 1736. By a Commission, now in the possession of his grandson, it appears · that "Increase Somner, ( so spelled in 0 the Commission) Gent ," was appointed Coroner for the County of Suffolk, in the year 1752, by Hon. Spencer Phips, Esq., Lt. Governor and Commander in Chief of the Province. He was chosen one of, the Selectmen of Roxbury in 1753, and again in 1750, and was a man highly respected. He died much lamented on the 28th of November, 1774, having had eight children; four of whom, Sarah Davis, Elizabeth Cushing, Increase-Sumner, and Lucy Bowman, left descendants. The first_ rudiments of learning were taught the subject of this notice by the late Judge William Cushing of the Sup. Judicial Court of the U. S., who was preceptor of the public Grammar School in Roxbury; iu 1752. Under such a master, and his suc cessors in this distinguished school, ( one of whom was General Joseph Warren, a native of the town,) the pupil made such prog ress as induced the friends of the family to solicit the father's permission that his son might continue his studies at Harvard University. To gain this point was no easy task. The hardy yeoman considered that happiness and success in life were more certainly found in agricultural, than in any other pursuits ; but he yielded at length to the repeated entreatfos of his son, and to those friends who indulged ardent hopes of the youth's future eminence if !!e :;~dd. vi.ru.i.ia u. ciassicaL education. All obstacles being sur- Memoir of Governor Increase Sumner. 5 1:1ounted, he entered College in 1763, and his reputation, while there, justified the predictions of his friends ; for he gruclunted with a distinguished part in the Commencement exercises of 17G7. On leaving College, he took charge of the school at Roxbury, at which he had received his preparatory education for admission to the University, and continued in this situation for two years, during which time his name stood as a student in the office of Samuel Quincy, an eminent barrister and Solicitor Generul of the Province, who fled with the refugees at the evacuation of Ilostori, and was afterwards appointed Attorney to the Crown, in the island of Antigua.* This gentleman was the brother of Josiah Quincy, who, taking the opposite side in politics, dis tinguished himself as a patriot, statesman and om.tor, and fell a victim to his arduous exertions in the cause of freedom before the commencement of the Revolution. In 1770 Sumner was admitted to the Bar, and opened his office in Roxbury, in tl:rn house in which his mother continued to reside until her death. The people found him intelligent and worthy of confidence, and his business in the profession soon became im portant and lucrative. The following letter to Roland Cushing, Esq., shows the senti ments which lvlr. Sumner, although educated in the office of a Tory, entertained at this early period of his life, upon the then existing state of affairs : • "BosToN, November 24th, 1772. DEAR Srn:- ·we have nothing new here, but the affair of the piracy) the particulars of which the Col. will be able to inform you. The late appointment from home has reyived old dispntes, and caused frequent town meetings, the cjJect of which is a full and explicit declaration of our 1·1'glits, natural as. well as politfral. * He r,pplierl to John Adams for admission to his office. But, says :,Ir . .Adams arterwa.rds, in a letter to Gov. Sumner's son, "Ha,ing at that time three clerks, and the orders of the court prohibiting any barrister to ent~rtuin more than that number at unr one time, I was compelleJ. much ngnin~t. my inclinntion. 10 r~fu,,, him Tt ll"as a sensible mortification to me, not only because my mother a11d his mother were :sister,' dan~hters, but liccause I knew the young gentleman was a promising genius, and a studions and virtuous youth." 6 Ll-femoir of Governor Increase _Sumner. Roxbury has not pursued the measures taken by the town of Boston, but has instructed its Representative to use his influence to obtain an act of the General .Assembly, by which the Judges may have fixed, established salaries, adequate to those appointed from home .. I have heard some folks much applauded for their judicious address to a certain great man on the same subject. I could wish a little more of the time of a gentleman of your _leisure, abilities and independency, was taken up in asserting and maintaining the rights of Britons and free-born Englishmen. If it was, sir, it would not be time misspent; for the man who, with h~s pen, his fortune and abilities, exerts himself to support that constitution which is so happily calculated for the good of society, and for the preser vation of which our venerable forefathers submitted to the most rigorous hardships, must necessarily feel that divine satisfaction, which ever accompanies tme, loyal, undaunted patriotism : while on the other hand the man who, regardless of public happiness, is ready to fall in with base measures, and to sacrifice conscience, honor, and his country, merely for the sake of his own advance ment, must, (if notwretchedlyha.roened,)feel a tor~re, the intense ness of which nothing in this world besides can equal. But pardon me·; sir, if I caution you against running into extremes, which have so much hurt some of our politicians.. They,. like gen tlemen of our own profession, when they take up on either side, have extended their principles too far, ancl very often to the pre judice of the cause they mean to espouse. The Whi~s h:n-cn't stuck at anything, however rash and unwarrantable, to accompli:-;h their designs. The Tories, under a pretence of supporting order and good government, on the other hand, have advanced the most palpable absurdities: so that the character of a high Whig, or high Tory, by the most judicious, is thought to be equally des picable. 'In medio tutissimus ibis,' is the motto I have long since adopted, and a close adherence to which appears to me to be likely to caiTy a man through life in peace and quietness. I am, sir, your friend, and Very obedient, humble servant, To Mr. Rolnnd Cushing, Attorney, ? INCREASE SUMNER Jr. at Pow~aiborougn." 5 Memoir of Governor Increase Sumner.

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