Scope and Content Note
The papers of the Sumner family span the years 1836-1940 and consist of the correspondence, legal documents, photographs, and reports of Edwin Vose Sumner (1797-1863) and his sons, Edwin Vose Sumner (1835-1912) and Samuel Storrow Sumner (1842-1937). Edwin Sumner I was a career military officer and with his sons served in the United States Army during the Civil War. His papers document his audience with the King of Prussia, a military expedition against the Sioux in 1855, a disagreement with General W. S. Harney, battles at Fredericksburg and Williamsburg, Virginia and Antietam, Maryland, and military maneuvers and administration in Northern Virginia. The papers of his sons also document the Battle of Fredericksburg. The papers of Edwin Sumner II contain a letter from Fort Reno in the Indian Territory describing soldier training at that post in the 1880s.