John Sumner was born ABT 1845 in Goolwa. He Died on 24 NOV 1905, in Point Mcleay, South Australia, Australia, where he was in Residence for 2/3 of his life[1].
In Rev. George Taplin's Journal of 1859-1879[2], the Sumner name is listed in the Talkundjerion sub-group of the Jaralde Dialect Group.
Only 4 days after beginning his mission on 8 April 1859, George Taplin heard about an Aboriginal boy named Johnny Roy whom a Mr Sumner and Mrs Sumner had been looking after at Goolwa (op.cit., p.1, or 7/310 pdf version), who is described by Taplin by the now unmentionable term 'half-caste', hence not John Sumner, if correct.
On 6 and 7 August 1861 (op.cit., p.57 & 58, or 63 & 64/310) there are references again to a Mr Sumner of Goolwa wanting to help the local people hunt for swans but they were too lazy to go with him.
On 4 May 1863 (op.cit., p.89) Taplin refers to a boy John Sumner at the Mission, the only Sumner mentioned, although many times. He was born abt.1845 in Goolwa and passed away on 24 November 1905 in Point McLeay (Kartinyeri, 2006, p.97).
He was leaving to go and live with a Dr Walker in Adelaide but would return, be baptised on 12 July 1868, marry Rebecca Giles on 17 December 1872, and have 14 children with her at the Mission (op.cit., pp.97, 98 & 101). Taplin (p.222) has Rebecca's surname as Robinson, which is consistent with a Rigney FT that has her name as Rebecca Ranyaluke Giles Robinson[3] but without any explanation. She would become a church member as Rebecca Sumner on 2 October 1873 (Taplin, p.233).
John Sumner's story is told in the Goodes Family Tree[4], which displays some of the many Ngarrindjeri family relationships back to some of the apical ancestors even where no birth and/or death dates are known. That the dates correspond to those in Kartinyeri's work for John Sumner certainly suggests that before coming to the Mission he had been called Johnny Roy and acquired the Sumner name there, at least by 1863 but probably soon after his arrival. How and at what age his father was given the name Benjamin Sumner is less clear as he is not mentioned as being at the Mission.
Mr Sumner of Goolwa is mentioned as visiting the Mission again on 4 June 1873 (Taplin, p.230).
John and Rachel's first child, named Rachel, was born on 7 March 1874 (Kartinyeri, 2006, p.97)[5], and was followed by 13 more, with the last named Everitt Sumner, who was born on 12 June 1896 (op.cit., pp.100 & 103). All were born at the Mission. There is a photo with 9 of the children outside the home that John built on page 100.
Taplin's Journal only covers the period 1859 to 1879, while only 2 of his children are shown has passing away before he did on 24 November 1905, aged about 60 years, in Point McLeay Mission, his wife Rebecca 20 years later, aged about 65 years. Excluding 2 children who did not reach the age of 5 years and on without a death age, their average life span was 50 years.
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
John is 37 degrees from Zendaya Coleman, 28 degrees from Sting Sumner, 27 degrees from Josh Brolin, 31 degrees from Timothée Chalamet, 28 degrees from José Ferrer, 28 degrees from Frank Herbert, 27 degrees from Richard Jordan, 30 degrees from David Lynch, 25 degrees from Virginia Madsen, 27 degrees from Charlotte Rampling, 25 degrees from Patrick Stewart and 31 degrees from Denis Villeneuve on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.