Author: Sumner, Charles P.
Biography:
SUMNER, Charles P. (1776-1839: ancestry.com)
Charles Pinckney Sumner, the son of Esther (Holmes) and Job Sumner, was born in Milton MA and graduated from Harvard (Class of 1796), where he met Joseph Story (q.v.), who in future would be an influential mentor to his son Charles (1811-1874), later a US Senator. He was called to the bar in Suffolk country, served as Clerk of the state House of Representatives, and in 1825 became Sheriff of the county--a well paid position that he held until his death. He married Relief Jacobs (1785-1866) about 1809; they had at least six children who survived infancy. Sumner held controversial social views, being strongly opposed to slavery and to laws against mixed-race marriages, but his only other separate publication appears to be a pamphlet about the role of sheriffs (1829). The Harvard Archives hold some papers from the Harvard years of both father and son, including two poems by the former in ms. Sumner died in Boston and is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery. (ancestry.com 28 Oct. 2020; findagrave.com 28 Oct. 2020; "Sumner, Charles," ANBO 28 Oct. 2020)