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Descendants of John Sumner

Generation No. 5

7. JOSEPH⁵ SUMNER (FRANCIS⁴, JOHN³, FRANCIS², JOHN¹) was born 1718 in Onslow Co., NC, and died October 29, 1784 in Onslow Co., NC. He married MARGARET CHESTNUTT 1737 in Onslow Co., NC.

Notes for JOSEPH SUMNER:
Last Will & Testament of Joseph Sumner, Onslow County, NC. Signed 10-29-1784:

(Spelling is as it appears in copy of original will)

In the name of God Amen. I Joseph Sumner of Onslow County in the provence of North Carolina being weak in body but sound of mind and memory and calling to mind any memry the mortalety of my body that it is appointed for all men once to die do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and forme following.

I committ my soul to God that gave it, hoping that, through the merits and medyation of my blessed savour to receve free pardon of all my sins and my body I committ to the earth from whence it was taken to be buried in Christian like manner at the discretion of my executers and as to shuch worthety estate as it hath please God to endow me with I dispose off in the following manner to wit:

First I give to my son Richard Sumner my land three hundred acres with my plantation only my beloved wife Marget Sumner is to have her thirds of the land and plantation peaceably and quietly during her lifetime. Further I give to my son Richard my gun a paris of milstons and a grinstone and a pair of stilards and one fether bed.

To my beloved wife I give one fether bed the same she lyes on with the funeture one cow and two three year old heffers and to my son Joseph Sumner one cow and yearling __________and to my daughter Ruth one pound in money to be pay'd out of estate to my daughter Christian I give one pound in money to be paid out of my estate and to my daughter Mary I give one pound to be paiyd out of my estat and no more for them.

The rest of my stock and cattle to my son Richard after my lawful depts is paid and as to my housholds goods to my wife and son Richard to be equelly devided between them after my decees only my hors to be for her use during his life and lastly for the executing of this my last will and testament I constetute and opoynt my wife Magit and my son Richard to be my Excuters and I do hereby utterly disaow revoke and disanol all and every other will or wills by me maid rattefying and confirming this to be my last will and testament in wittness whereof I have hearonto set my hand and seal this 29 day of October one thousand seven hundred & eighty fore.

Mary Mashborn X (her mark) Joseph Sumner X (his mark) SEAL

Elizabeth Manner X (her mark)

Thomas Barber

This will proved by the oath of Thomas Barber & Margart Sumner, the widow being duly qualified. Recorded.

Children of JOSEPH SUMNER and MARGARET CHESTNUTT are:

11.	i.	JOSEPH CHESTNUT⁶ SUMNER , SR., b. 1761, Onslow Co., NC; d. December 30, 1827, Emanuel Co., GA.
12.	ii.	RICHARD SUMNER, b. 1770, Onslow Co., NC; d. Emanuel Co., GA.
	iii.	RUTH SUMNER.
	iv.	CHRISTIAN SUMNER, m. WILLIAM BARKSDALE.
	v.	MARY SUMNER.

8. EZIKEAL⁵ SUMNER (FRANCIS⁴, JOHN³, FRANCIS², JOHN¹).

Child of EZIKEAL SUMNER is:

FRANCIS⁶ SUMNER.

9. THOMAS⁵ SUMNER (JETHRO⁴, JOHN³, FRANCIS², JOHN¹) was born Abt. 1728 in Upper Parish, Nansemond Co., VA, and died Abt. 1771.

Child of THOMAS SUMNER is:

WILLIAM⁶ SUMNER, b. Abt. 1764; d. Abt. 1808.

10. JETHRO⁵ SUMNER , JR. (JETHRO⁴, JOHN³, FRANCIS², JOHN¹) was born 1733 in Suffolk, VA, and died March 18, 1785 in Warren County, NC. He married MARY HURST Bef. 1770, daughter of WILLIAM HURST and CHRISTIAN MCKINNIE.

Notes for JETHRO SUMNER , JR.:
Below exerpt from book "North Carolina. 1780-81. Being A History of the Invasion of the Carolinas By The British Army Under Lord Cornwallis in 1780-81" by David Schenck, LL.D. Raleigh, NC; Edwards & Broughton, Publishers, 1889.:

(Dedication in front flyleaf:)" To The Memory of Brigadier General Jethro Sumner, The Hero of Eutaw Springs, whose lofty courage, whose undaunted spirit and unswerving patriotism deserve the admiration of mankind, this book is dedicated, as the only monument which the author is able to raise in honor of that eminent soldier."

Pgs. 468-472: The greatest soldier of that day, from North Carolina, was BRIGADIER GENERAL JETHRO SUMNER of Warren County. We know that he passed, without reproach, through the terrible campaigns of Washington, in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and survived as one of the seven hundred from a brigade of more than five thousand men, and was promoted for gallantry and skill displayed amid those bloody scenes. For his constancy, fidelity and great influence in the State, he was detached to raise the four new regiments of regulars in North Carolina in 1780-81, and in his letters during that period evince such a lofty and unselfish patriotism that they challenge the admiration of every reader. If his patriotic offer to command the militia, assembling for the battle of Guilford Court-House, had been accepted, it is probable, nay almost certain, that the revolutionary struggle would have ended at that place, instead of Yorktown, and that the lives of thousands of good men would have been spared. Under his eye, and with his discipline and example to prepare and encourage them, the North Carolina regulars and militia were among the foremost in the fight, exciting the wonder and admiration of General Greene at Eutaw Springs.
In the most distressing condition of public affairs; admidst the jealousies of the smaller men of that day; without arms or equipments for his soldiers when organized; surrounded by doubting patriots and disloyal Tories, he never lowered his crest or trailed his flag in the dust, but with undaunted will and unswerving faith, he struggled manfully against every obstacle and danger, until at last he was able to put in the field three battalions of disciplined soldiers, who gave the final and fatal blow to British prestige and power in the South. He made no parade over his victory, but was as modest in triumph as he was constant and faithful in disaster. One of the earliest military orders preserved in North Carolina is this: "In Committee of Safety, November 28th, 1775. Halifax. Ordered that Major Jethro Sumner raise what minute men and volunteers he can and follow Colonel Long with the utmost despatch. A copy by order, Orond. Davis, Clerk"
And from that day to the end of the struggle, more than seven years, he was in the active service of his country. It is not recorded of him that he ever fled from the foe or left his soldiers in the field. He enjoyed the full confidence of Washington, Lafayette and Greene, and was their correspondent while he was in the South.
His letters do not indicate that he was either educated or cultivated, but he possessed that native genius and originality of thought that gave him confidence and power in every emergency. He knew men and things from observation and experience, and was ever ready to profit by the knowledge.
He was not irritable like Greene, and, in his unguarded correspondence, never spoke evil of his enemies. He was hopeful, patient, serene and faithful in the most trying scenes of life, and never faltered in his devotion to the cause of the Colonies.
I have no authentic record of General Sumner's early life. Wheeler says he was born in Virginia, but Wheeler is so often inaccurate that he cannot be relied upon. In the same sketch he says, "General Sumner behaved gallantly at Camden". He was not there. He was appointed Colonel of the third regiment of Regulars the 15th of April, 1776 and Brigadier General the 9th January, 1779.
After the war General Sumner married a wealthy widow, a Mrs. Heiss, of Newbern, by whom he had three children -- Thomas Edward, who died without issue; "Jacky," who also left "no continuance;" Mary, his daughter, married Hon. Thomas Blount, a member of Congress, and brother of Major Reading Blount, who fought at Eutaw Springs. She had no children, and the generation of General Sumner ended with her death.
He was buried in Warren County, near the road that runs from Louisburg to Warrenton, and near the old Shocco Chapel. There is a slab over his grave with this inscription:
"To The Memory of GENERAL JETHRO SUMNER, One Of The Heroes Of 1776."
Not a county or town in the State (NC) bears his name. The day of his death and his birth are alike unknown. No voice has been raised in eulogy of his heroic character; no public recognition of his services has ever been made; modest and unpretentious in life, neglected in his death, this great Carolinian sleeps in the solitude of the forest, where the waste of time will soon obliterate the trace and memory of his grave.
"Lo! here he lies, who every danger braved; Unwept, unhonored, in the land he saved."
Will not some young North Carolinian undertake the honorable task of having these sacred remains removed to the capital of the State, and marked by a monument, worthy of the memory and heroic deeds of this noble soldier?
My task is done. My duty to my State is performed. In reading the histories of the invasion of the Colonies, in 1780-81, my heart burned with indignation at the many misrepresentations, of the people of North Carolina, which had so long gone unchallenged. I was surprised at the way the State had been robbed of her honors, and unjustly reproached by unworthy men, and astonished that our own authorsd had repeated these reproached, rather that take the trouble to investigate the truth of history and repel them. I therefore determined to do what I could to correct these misrepresentations, and resent the reproaches so unjustly cast on my native State, which I so fondly love. This book is the result of that determination.
It was prepared among the busy cares of a lawyer's office, with a full practice on my hands; but if it shall serve to awaken the slumbering pride of our people, who have been more modest than wise, or provoke them to investigate the truth of North Carolina history, or increase their love and devotion to the "good old North State," the object of my book shall have been accomplished.
THE END."
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Below from information received from Julian Anderson:

Jethro Sumner Jr. was an inkeeper in Bute County (between Warren and Franklin Counties). The inn was owned by Sumner but kept a man named "Elliott". In 1772 Jethro was appointed Sheriff of Bute County. In 1774, Capt. J.F.D. Smythe, of the British Army, after touring the Carolinas, described Sumner as "a facetious man". (Meaning, as the word was used at that time, urbane, polished and witty) And "one of violent principles." (Genealogy of NC Families., S.A. Ashe.) "Ordinary keepers" wrote Smythe in his TRAVELS, after staying at Sumner's inn, "more that 1/3 of the general officers of the American Army were innkeepers, and have been chiefly indebted to that circumstance for their rank, because by that public and inferior station, their principals and persons become more generally knwn; and by the mixture and variety of the company they conversed with in the way of their business, their idea and their ambitiouys views were more excited and extended that the generality of the honest and respectable planters, who remained in peace in their homes." (Genealogy of Virginia Families, 1982, Genealogy Publishing Co.)

Jethro was with George Washington at Fort Winchester, Northern Shenendoah Valley in the French and Indian Wars;, Council of War, Fort Harness, August 10, 1756, attended by both Jethro Sumner and "Colonel Washington." (Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1774, Murtie June Clark)

Appointed Lieutenant in William Byrd's Virginia Regiment in General Forbes' expedition against Fort De Quesne. Remained in service in 1762. (Genea. of NC Families, S.A. Ashe)

Col. then Brig. Gen., Revolutionary War. Commanded 3rd North Carolina Regiment of Continental Line. Fought at Norfolk in November 1775 when Gov. Dunmore of the colony siezed the city. With Light Horse Harry Lee (father of Confederate General Robert E. Lee) on expedition to take St. Augustine in August in 1776. Regiment sent north in March 1777 to join Goerge Washington. Fought at Brandywine and Germantown, where Sumner's regiment lost heavily. At Valley Forge, formed Washington's left wing at Monmouth, where his regiment was badly shot up; Stone Ferry June 20, 1779; Eutaw Springs;, August 8, 1781 where his reformed unit was again badly shot up. (Genea. of NC Families, S.A. Ashe)

Following Revolutionary War, Sumner was awarded 12,000 acres in Western NC; now Eastern Tennessee. (Sumner County, Tenn. is named for him) In the "North Carolina Room" of the New Hanover County (NC) Library, there are many letters to and from Gen. Sumner to and from soldiers (when Sumner was rather desperately recruiting soldiers after the fall of Charleston and before Guilford Courthouse battle). These letters demonstrate that the art of draft-dodging did not begin with Vietnam!

Col., 3rd Regiment April 15, 1776; Brig. Gen. Continental Army, Jan. 9, 1779 and served to end of war. (Roster of NC Soldiers in the Amer. Rev., Genea Pub. Co., Baltimore, MD, 1997, pg. 527.)

S.A. Ashe, in his biographical sketch of Jethro Sumner wrote that "on the 23rd of April, 1783, furloughs were granted to North Carolina soldiers" and Gen. Sumner retired to his plantation in Warren County, near old Bute Court House. "It was about that time apparantly that he suffered a severe bereavement in the loss of his wife. Only once did he afterwards leave his privacy. On April 13, 1784, he presided over the North Carolina division of the Society of Cincinnati."

The Society of Cincinnati was an alliance of former Revolutionary War officers who, it was feared by Benjamin Franklin among others, would establish a "heditary" society making demands on the nationa treasury. Nevertheless, George Washington, who had resigned as commander in chief on Dec. 23, 1783 and returned to Mt. Vernon, served three years as its president after substantially revamping its rules to remove citizens' objections.(Geo. Washington; Patriot and President, Vol VI, Douglas Southall Freeman)

Misc. Notes: On 12-10-1764, Jethro & Mary Sumner bought "the Walnut Fort Plantation" (320 acres) in Halifax Co., NC. On 2-8-1765, they sold "White Hall" (140 acres) in Halifax, NC. On 2-13-1765, they sold 2 tracts totalling 420 acres which Mary had inherited from her mother, Christian McKinnie Hurst, who, in turn, had inherited it from her father, Baraby McKinnie.

After his death in 1785, Jethro Sumner was buried in Warren Co., NC. In 1891, his remains and grave monument were moved to the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, scene of the 3-15-1781 battle between forces of the British Lord Charles Cornwallis and the American Army under General Nathanael Green.
Carved on the face of the monument is:
Brig.-Gen. Jethro Sumner
Born In The Year 1733
Died March 18, 1785

Colonel of the Third North Carolina
Continental Troops
April 15, 1776

Charleston, June 28, 1776
Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1776
Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777
Monmouth, June 28, 1778
Stone Ferry, June 20, 1779
Eutaw Springs, Sept. 8, 1781

"Spotless in character, pure in patriotism, the most eminent soldier among the North Carolina troops."

Carved into the south face of the monument is: To the memory of General JETHRO SUMNER one of the Hero's of '76.

The monument was erected and paid for thru the will of Jethro Sumner's daughter, Jacky (Mary) Blount, when she died in 1822.

At his death, Jethro owned approximately 20,000 acres and 34 slaves.

Children of JETHRO SUMNER and MARY HURST are:

	i.		THOMAS EDWARD⁶ SUMNER, b. January 04, 1770, Bute County, NC; d. July 23, 1819, Williamson County, TN; m. MARY HUGHLETT, August 16, 1807, Williamson County, TN.
	ii.		MCKINNIE HURST SUMNER, b. Abt. 1774; d. October 1793, Halifax County, NC.
	iii.		JACKY (MARY) SUMNER, b. 1777, Warren County, NC; d. December 13, 1822, Tarboro, NC; m. THOMAS BLOUNT, 1802, Edgecombe Co., NC.

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