Sumner, Charles Pinckney, 1776-1839

C. P. Sumner received his A.B. from Harvard in 1796.

From the description of Non omnis possumus omnes : [student theme], December 18, 1795. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 77072599

Charles Pinckney Sumner (1776-1839), Sheriff of Suffolk County, received an AB from Harvard in 1796. He worked as a lawyer in Boston, and served as Clerk of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1806 to 1807 and again from 1810 to 1811, before becoming sheriff of Suffolk County in 1825. His son, Charles Sumner (Harvard AB 1830) served as a United States Senator from 1851-1874.

From the description of The invention of letters annotated by Charles Pinckney Sumner, ca. 1795-1796. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 700706890

Charles Pinckney Sumner (1776-1839) was born in Milton, Massachusetts on January 20, 1776; he was originally named after his father, Job, but his parents decided to change his name to Charles Pinckney while he was young, probably in honor of the South Carolina statesman. His father was a descendant of William Sumner, who came to Dorchester, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, from England in 1635. Charles Pinckney studied at Phillips Academy at Andover before entering Harvard College, where he received an A.B. in 1796. Following graduation, he read law in the office of Josiah Quincy. On April 25, 1810, Sumner married Relief Jacob (1785-1866); they had nine children together, all born in Boston. He was Clerk of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1806 to 1807 and again from 1810 to 1811, before becoming sheriff of Suffolk County. Charles Pinckney Sumner served as sheriff from 1825 until his death on April 24, 1839.

Charles Sumner (1811-1874), the eldest son of Charles Pinckney Sumner and Relief (Jacob) Sumner, was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 6, 1811. He attended Boston Latin School from 1821 to 1826, entered Harvard College in 1826 and received an A.B. from the College in 1830, showing an aptitude for literature, history, and forensics. Sumner entered Harvard Law School after graduation and was a diligent pupil of the school's most prominent professor, Joseph Story. He received an LL.B. in 1834 and entered private practice for several years, also teaching at Harvard Law School, before departing in 1837 to travel and study in Europe. He stayed in Europe for over three years, and following his return to Massachusetts became widely known as an effective public speaker and advocate for peace and the abolition of slavery. Sumner was elected a United States Senator in 1851 and served for twenty-three years, until 1874. He became chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in 1861 and served until 1871, ousted through the retaliatory efforts of President Ulysses Grant. Sumner was a passionate and outspoken abolitionist and advocate of equal civil rights for African American citizens; he died on March 11, 1874.

From the guide to the Collection of college memorials of Charles Pinckney Sumner and his son, Charles Sumner, 1794-1833, (Harvard University Archives)