Charles Sumner
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Charles Sumner (1811 - 1874)

Charles Sumner
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, USAmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 17 Oct 1866 (to 10 May 1873) in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United Statesmap
Died at age 63 in Washington, District of Columbia, USAmap
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Profile last modified | Created 2 Apr 2016
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Preceded by
Robert Rantoul Jr.




Preceded by
James M. Mason
Charles Sumner
US Senator
from Massachusetts
Seal of the US Senate (Class 1)
1851—1874

Chair of the
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Seal of of the US Senate
1861—1871
Succeeded by
William B. Washburn




Succeeded by
Simon Cameron

Contents

Biography

Notables Project
Charles Sumner is Notable.

Charles was born 6 Jan 1811 in Boston, Massachusetts to Charles Pinckney Sumner and Relief Jacob.

Political Life

He was an American politician and United States Senator from Massachuttes. As an Academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the US Senate during the American Civil War. He worked hard to destroy the Confederacy, free all the slaves, and to keep on good terms with Europe.

Consequentially, following one of his anti-slavery speeches, in which South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, was mentioned, Butler's second cousin, Preston Brooks beat Sumner with a cane on the floor of the United States Senate. South Carolinians, with other Southerners, reacted with "widespread adoration" for Brooks. Sumner required three years to recover from his injuries and return to Office, yet Brooks was little punished.[1]

"The caning had an enormous impact on the events that followed over the next four years...
As a result of the caning, the country was pushed, inexorably and unstoppably, to civil war."[2]

Personal Life

Charles was 55 when he married Alice (Mason) Hooper, widow of who was 28. They married 17 Oct 1866.[3] He divorced Alice for desertion 10 May 1873.

Charles died 11 Mar 1874. He is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[4]

Sources

  1. Foreman, Amanda: A World On Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War"; Random House; New York; 2010, p. 34.
  2. Puleo, Stephen The Caning: The Assault That Drove America to Civil War; Westholme Publishing; 2012.
  3. "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FH33-15S : Wed Oct 25 17:27:16 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles Sumner and Charles P., 17 Oct 1866.
  4. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1005/charles-sumner: accessed February 25, 2024), memorial page for Charles Sumner (6 Jan 1811–11 Mar 1874), Find A Grave: Memorial #1005, citing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.

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Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner



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