Son of Job Sumner.
In the 1855 Massachusetts state census, John (then aged 15) and his four brothers are living with their mother, Sarah, in West Roxbury, Norfolk, Massachusetts.[1]
In the 1865 Massachusetts state census, John is listed as single, living in Dorchester, and employed as a tinplate worker[2]
He married Mary A. Robinson in Dorchester Massachusetts on 18 Nov 1869[3]
In the 1870 federal census, he is listed a "Manufacturer of Tin Ware" in Newton, employing his 22-year-old brother, James Sumner.[4]
In the 1880 federal census, he is listed as married to Mary with four children and living in Newton. His occupation is stove dealer.[5]
He died in 1913. According to his obituary[6] in the Boston Globe, he was "world's champion rifle shot and famous as a fancy skater". He died at the home of his daughter, Elizabeth Tolman (Sumner) Harwood (1875-1949) in Newtonville.
According to the obituary, "Mr. Sumner was born on the Sumner farm, now a part of Franklin Park, the son of Job and Sarah Sumner. His parents moved to Newton when he was a young man. In 1869 he married Mary Abbie Robinson of Dorchester and five children were born to them, three of whom are now living.
"Mr. Sumner retired from business 15 years ago, on account of a cancer of the eye, an affliction which had been troubling him for years, and which was the final cause of his death.
"For the past 50 years he has had the reputation of being an all-around fancy skater. He had not missed skating for 65 consecutive winters.
"In 1867 he joined the Massachusetts Rifle Association, and was one of the men who helped make Walnut Hill famous in it early days. He broke and made world's records, some of which still stand in the conditions under which they were made.
"The three surviving children are Mrs. Arthur P Fiske of Sharon, Charles S Sumner of Hamburg, Germany, and Mrs. Harry A. Harwood of Newtonville. There are six grandchildren, three of whom are in Germany."
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