William Brunton was born in Sheffield, England, in the mid-19th century, and had four siblings: Mary, Eliza, John, and Riley. He worked as an errand boy and in a mill during his youth, and graduated from the Unitarian Home Missionary College in Manchester, England, in 1869. In December 1871, he emigrated to the United States, where he led several congregations in New York and Massachusetts before attending Harvard Divinity School. After his graduation in 1879, he resided in Boston and in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. He retired in February 1905, and died on March 10, 1906. He and his wife, Elma Amelia Summer ("Nellie") of Braintree, Vermont, married in October 1872, and had one son, Herbert.
Herbert Rogers Brunton was born in Vermont on March 18, 1876, and lived with his family in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Boston Dental College (now part of Tufts University) in 1897 and practiced dentistry in Malden, Massachusetts, where he lived with his wife Ethel and their two children, Robert and Barbara.
From the guide to the William Brunton journal, Brunton, William journal, 1880-1885, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
William Brunton ( 1850-1906 ) was born in Sheffield, England, and graduated from the Unitarian Home Missionary College in England in 1869 . He was ordained to the ministry at Manchester, England on January 20, 1869 . He had settlements at Middlesbrough and Colyton, England, and came to America where he graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1879 . He served as pastor at churches in Brighton, MA ; Yarmouth, Maine ; Whitman, MA ; and Fairhaven, MA . He was married to Elma Amelia Sumner of Braintree, VT, and had one son. Rev. Brunton died in Boston on March 10, 1906 .
From the guide to the Brunton, William. Poetry, 1865-1901., (Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School)