Isaac Newton SUMNER

  General Notes:

The earliest record of the name Sumner appears in 1199 in England. The name from the Anglo-French "Somnour," meaning one whose duty was to summon people to appear in court. This occupation was probably passed on from one generation to the next as it was tradition for at least one menber of the family in each generation to hold this position. Although, there is no actual connection between the names Sumner and Summer, many believe that persons whose name is Summer, may have ancestors named Sumner. John Bird Sumner was arch bishop of Canterbury in 1548. The name has been found in America since about 1635 when William Sumner is recorded in Dorchester, Massachusetts, having settled there after leaving Bicester Oxford, England. Charles Sumner, an American statesman in the eighteenth century was one of the leaders in Congress who opposed slavery, a position which brought him physical assault by are presentative from South Carolina. History records a William Sumner, conveying a tract of land in Bertie County, North Carolina in the year 1726 with John Sumner, a justice of the peace, as a witness. The census of North Carolina, in 1790 lists an Isaac Sumner as being a resident ofthat Northeastern part of the state, in a county named Northhampton. Fourteen years later on October 14, 1804, it was recorded in the Kentucky Land Grants of Green River by W. R. Jilson, that Isaac Sumner received a tract of 213 acres of land on lower Donaldson Creek in the southern part of Trigg County (then Christian County) between the mouth of Beechy ForkCreek and the mouth of Donaldson Creek. Isaac Sumner came to Donaldson Creek from Albemarle, Bertie County, North Carolina, in the fall of 1804. He brought with him a wife, Martha, their six children and his meager belongings, including his trusty flintrock rifle. There on the banks ofDonaldson Creek, he homesteaded at the place later known as Sumner's Ford, which is now under the waters of Barkley Lake. He soon set up agrist mill which served the needs of his community for several years. He also established a tannery which operated until about 1870. He was a cooper and made hogsheds, several kinds of barrels, kegs and tubs from oak wood. The census taken in Trigg County in 1820 lists Isaac Sumner as having a wife and eight children and four slaves. This early pioneer, who came to Trigg County in 1804, has left, counting himself, nine generations of Sumners, many of whom have remained in Trigg County, and many others who have spread to all parts of the United States and some others of foreign countries.

Isaac married Martha M. FUTRELL, daughter of Thomas FUTRELL and Sarah Bittle RICKS, in 1793 in Stewart County, Tennessee. (Martha M. FUTRELL was born in 1772 in North Hampton County, North Carolina and died between 1820 and 1823.)

Isaac next married Elizabeth THOMAS on 23 MAY 1823 in Trigg County, Kentucky.