Increase Sumner

Increase Sumner
Painting by James Sharples
5th Governor of Massachusetts
In office
June 2, 1797 – June 7, 1799
LieutenantMoses Gill
Preceded bySamuel Adams
Succeeded byMoses Gill (acting)
Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
In office
1782–1797
Nominated byJohn Hancock
Preceded byJames Sullivan
Succeeded byTheophilus Bradbury
Personal details
Born(1746-11-27)November 27, 1746
Roxbury, Province of Massachusetts Bay
DiedJune 7, 1799(1799-06-07) (aged 52)
Roxbury, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyFederalist
Spouse
Elizabeth Hyslop
(m. 1779)
RelativesSumner family
Alma materHarvard College
Signature

Increase Sumner (November 27, 1746 – June 7, 1799) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Massachusetts. He was the fifth governor of Massachusetts, serving from 1797 to 1799. Trained as a lawyer, he served in the provisional government of Massachusetts during the American Revolutionary War, and was elected to the Confederation Congress in 1782. Appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court the same year, he served there as an associate justice until 1797.

He was elected governor of Massachusetts three times by wide margins, but died shortly after the start of his third term. His descendants include his son William H. Sumner, for whom the Sumner Tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, is named, and 20th-century diplomats Sumner Welles and Sumner Gerard.