John Lawrence Sumner -- Farmer and Carpenter

 

John Lawrence Sumner was born on September 28, 1921 in Trigg County, Kentucky. He was the seventh of nine children born to John Calvin Sumner and Lucy Ethel Lawrence Sumner.  John Calvin was a native of Trigg County, Kentucky and worked as a farmer. Lucy was also a native of Trigg County and worked as a homemaker.  John Calvin was a descendant of both Drewry Bridges and Starkie Thomas. 

Lawrence’s siblings were William Odell Sumner, born in 1907 and married Julia Ruby Cameron; Lacy Calvin Sumner, born in 1909 and married Lorena Farmer and second wife, Mary Bryant; James Woodson Sumner, born in 1911 and married Myra Lorraine Thomas; Martha Alberta Sumner, born in 1915 and married George Lewis Gothard; George Robert Sumner, born in 1917 and married Dorothy Mae White; Mary Henrietta Sumner, born in 1919 and married John Thomas Bridges; Myra Dean Sumner, born in 1924 and married Mosco Doris Bridges; Sarah Frances Sumner, born in 1926 and married Forrest Lanston Matthews, then second husband, John Franklin Phillips and third husband, Clarence Noble P’Pool,  and Perry Cullen Sumner, born in 1927 and married Lorena Farmer.

Lawrence grew up in rural Trigg County in the Donaldson Creek community and attended the one-room Oak Grove and Donaldson Creek schools. He was raised on his father’s farm and thus worked as a farmer himself for many years.  In the late 1940s, Lawrence began his main career when he worked as a carpenter.  He became well-known as a construction carpenter in the Trigg County area.

Lawrence was a member of the Cadiz Masonic Lodge and the Thomas-Bridges Association where he had served as President and on the Board of Directors.

On December 20, 1941, Lawrence married Belva Marie Compton in Charleston, Missouri.  Marie was born May 20, 1925 in Trigg County and was the daughter of John William Compton and Ollie Dixon Compton, both natives of Trigg County.  Marie, like her husband, grew up in the Donaldson Creek community and attended the same one-room schools that he did. Marie worked as a homemaker until her son graduated from high school and she then worked as a seamstress at the Elk Brand Manufacturing Company in Cadiz.

Lawrence and Marie were the parents of one son, Lawrence Gaylon Sumner, who was born in 1947 and married Donna Jean P’Pool.

Lawrence died on September 23, 2001 at the St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz, Kentucky.  Marie died on October 13, 2007 at the Hilltop Nursing Home in Kuttawa, Kentucky.  She was buried in the East End Cemetery next to her husband.

Lawrence and Marie Sumner

Lawrence Sumner tombstone

LINEAGE: (John Lawrence Sumner was the son of John Calvin and Lucy Ethel Lawrence Sumner and the grandson of Benjamin Miles and Henrietta Gabrella Bridges Sumner and James H. and Lucy Thomas Lawrence.  Henrietta was the first child of Drewry and Peachie Ann Tart Bridges.  Drewry was the fourth child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges.  William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.  Lucy Thomas Lawrence was the eighth child of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)