# Jessie Sumner

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{{Short description|American politician (1898–1994)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Jessie Sumner
|image = Jessie Sumner.jpg
|state1 = [Illinois](/source/Illinois)
|district1 = [18th](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives%2C_Illinois_District_18)
|term_start1 = January 3, 1939
|term_end1 = January 3, 1947
|preceded1 = [James A. Meeks](/source/James_A._Meeks)
|succeeded1 = [Edward H. Jenison](/source/Edward_H._Jenison)
|office2 = Judge of [Iroquois County, Illinois](/source/Iroquois_County%2C_Illinois)
|term_start2 = December 8, 1937
|term_end2 = December 5, 1938
|predecessor2 = John H. Gillan
|successor2 = Stephen C. Malo
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1898|07|17}}
|birth_place = [Milford, Illinois](/source/Milford%2C_Illinois), U.S.
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|08|10|1898|07|17}}
|death_place = [Watseka, Illinois](/source/Watseka%2C_Illinois), U.S.
|resting_place = Maple Grove Cemetery, Milford, Illinois, U.S.
|party = [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States))
|occupation = Attorney<br/>Bank president
|alma_mater = [Smith College](/source/Smith_College)
}}
'''Jessie Sumner''' (July 17, 1898 – August 10, 1994) was an American attorney and banker from Illinois. A [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)), she served as a [U.S. Representative](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) from 1939 to 1947.

==Early life==
Jessie Sumner was born in [Milford, Illinois](/source/Milford%2C_Illinois) on July 17, 1898, the daughter of Aaron Taylor Sumner and Jeannette Elizabeth (Gillan) Sumner.<ref name="Pace">{{cite news |last=Pace |first=Eric |date=August 15, 1994 |title=Jessie Sumner, Fervent Enemy Of Roosevelt in House, Dies at 96 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/15/obituaries/jessie-sumner-fervent-enemy-of-roosevelt-in-house-dies-at-96.html |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |location=New York |page=B7 |via=[TimesMachine](/source/TimesMachine)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Peters |first=Anna Ruth Whitescarver Austin |date=2006 |title=Whitescarver Family Ties II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqhbAAAAMAAJ&q=%22aaron+taylor+sumner%22+%22Gillan%22 |location=Baltimore |publisher=Gateway Press |page=275 |via=[Google Books](/source/Google_Books)}}</ref> She attended the public schools of Milford and in 1916 she graduated from the [Girton School](/source/North_Shore_Country_Day_School) in [Winnetka, Illinois](/source/Winnetka%2C_Illinois).<ref name="BlueBook1940">{{cite book |date=1940 |title=Illinois Blue Book, 1939-1940 |url=https://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/bb/id/22172/ |location=Springfield, Illinois |publisher=Illinois Secretary of State |page=131 |via=Illinois Digital Archives}}</ref> She then attended [Northampton, Massachusetts](/source/Northampton%2C_Massachusetts)'s [Smith College](/source/Smith_College), from which she graduated in 1920 with a [AB](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) degree in economics.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clayton |first=John |date=1970 |title=The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2glAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Jesse+Sumner+,+res+.+Iroquois+Co.%22 |location=Carbondale, Illinois |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |page=147 |isbn=978-0-8093-0381-6 |via=[Google Books](/source/Google_Books)}}</ref>

After college, Sumner studied law at the [University of Chicago Law School](/source/University_of_Chicago_Law_School), [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University), and [Oxford University](/source/Oxford_University).<ref name="BlueBook1940"/> She also studied briefly at the [University of Wisconsin–Madison](/source/University_of_Wisconsin%E2%80%93Madison) and the [New York University](/source/New_York_University) School of Commerce in New York City.<ref name="Directory1971">{{cite book |author=Joint Committee On Printing, U.S. Congress |date=1971 |title=Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1971 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WgWeWBMrSbgC&pg=PA1776 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=1776 |via=[Google Books](/source/Google_Books)}}</ref> She was [admitted to the bar](/source/Admission_to_the_bar_in_the_United_States) in 1923 and practiced in [Chicago, Illinois](/source/Chicago%2C_Illinois).<ref name="BlueBook1940"/> In 1928, Sumner moved to New York City, where she was employed on the legal staff of the [Chase National Bank](/source/Chase_Bank).<ref name="BlueBook1940"/> She returned to [Milford, Illinois](/source/Milford%2C_Illinois) in 1932, resumed the practice of law, and was an unsuccessful [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) candidate for [Iroquois County](/source/Iroquois_County%2C_Illinois) district attorney.<ref name="BlueBook1940"/><ref name="Directory1971"/> Sumner also served as director of Sumner National Bank in [Sheldon](/source/Sheldon%2C_Illinois), of which her father was president.<ref name="Pace"/><ref name="Directory1971"/>

==Later career==
In December 1937, Sumner won a special election for judge of Iroquois County, filling the vacancy left by the death of her uncle John H. Gillan.<ref>{{cite news |last=Stanger |first=Harlan |date=December 11, 1937 |title=Iroquois Voters Judge Jessie Sumner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pantagraph-voters/181442650/ |work=[The Pantagraph](/source/The_Pantagraph) |location=Bloomington, Illinois |page=5 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}}</ref> She served until December 1938, when she resigned in preparation to assume her seat in the [United States House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives).<ref>{{cite news |agency=[United Press](/source/United_Press) |date=December 30, 1938 |title=Jessie Sumner Tells of Plans for Congress |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-belleville-news-democrat-plans/181442897/ |work=[Belleville News-Democrat](/source/Belleville_News-Democrat) |location=Belleville, Illinois |page=3 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}}</ref> In 1938, Sumner was elected to the U.S. House; she was reelected three times and served from January 3, 1939 to January 3, 1947, the [76th](/source/76th_United_States_Congress), [77th](/source/77th_United_States_Congress), [78th](/source/78th_United_States_Congress) Congresses.<ref name="Directory1971"/> During her congressional service, Sumner was known for her opposition to the presidency of [Franklin D. Roosevelt](/source/Franklin_D._Roosevelt).<ref name="Pace"/> She was also an isolationist before [World War II](/source/World_War_II) and opposed expansion of the navy and continuation of the pre-war draft.<ref name="Pace"/> After the war, Sumner opposed the [United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration](/source/United_Nations_Relief_and_Rehabilitation_Administration)'s efforts to rebuild Europe and Asia.<ref name="Pace"/> She was not a candidate for renomination in 1946, and returned to her Illinois legal and banking interests.<ref name="Directory1971"/>

After the end of her congressional term, Sumner resumed her position at Sumner National Bank, where she had been appointed as vice president in 1938.<ref name="Pace"/> Following the death of her father, in 1966 she succeeded him as the bank's president, and she served until her death.<ref name="Pace"/> She also managed her family's other business interests, including an insurance company, grain elevators and farms.<ref name="Pace"/> Sumner died in [Watseka, Illinois](/source/Watseka%2C_Illinois), on August 10, 1994.<ref name="Pace"/> She was buried at Maple Grove Cemetery in Milford.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bunting |first=Jason |date=March 22, 2023 |title=Women's History Month Commemoration, Jessie Sumner |url=https://www.ilga.gov/documents/house/transcripts/htrans103/10300025.pdf |website=103rd General Assembly: House of Representatives; Transcript |location=Springfield, Illinois |publisher=Illinois General Assembly |page=240}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Women in the United States House of Representatives](/source/Women_in_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{CongBio|S001071}}

{{Bioguide}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
|state=Illinois
|district=18
|before=[James A. Meeks](/source/James_A._Meeks)
|years=1939-1947
|after=[Edward H. Jenison](/source/Edward_H._Jenison)}}
{{s-end}}
{{USCongRep-start|congresses= 76th–79th [United States Congress](/source/United_States_Congress)es |state=[Illinois](/source/Illinois)}}
{{USCongRep/IL/76}}
{{USCongRep/IL/77}}
{{USCongRep/IL/78}}
{{USCongRep/IL/79}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumner, Jessie}}
Category:1898 births
Category:1994 deaths
Category:Businesspeople from Illinois
Category:Lawyers from Chicago
Category:County judges in the United States
Category:Smith College alumni
Category:University of Chicago alumni
Category:Columbia University alumni
Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Category:New York University Stern School of Business alumni
Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford
Category:Female United States representatives
Category:Women in Illinois politics
Category:People from Milford, Illinois
Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Illinois
Category:20th-century American women politicians
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:20th-century American judges
Category:20th-century American lawyers
Category:20th-century United States representatives

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jessie Sumner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_Sumner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_Sumner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.