Biography

09/11/1835 - 03/14/1913

William Henry “Henry” Sutton (D12) Montgomery County 1883-1886

Early Life: 

William Henry Sutton born September 11, 1835, Haddonfield, Camden County, New Jersey; son of Henry Sutton and Ann Craig Sutton; education local schools, Dickinson Grammar School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Dickinson College, 1855; attended, Union Philosophical Society; Wesleyan College, Connecticut, 1857; teacher, American Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, Hartford Connecticut; studied law, admitted, Philadelphia bar, attorney, 1863; engaged banking; Elected, auditor, 1876, school director, Lower Merion Township, 1879; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1882-1887; County judge, Montgomery County; married, Hannah Anderson, 1872, children, Howard A., William Henry, Jr., (died in infancy), Helen, Isaac C., Grace, Corona, Lucy and Henry Craig; Dickinson College, honorary doctor of law degree, 1908; died, March 14, 1913, (aged 77) Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; interment, West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.  

Early Career:

Attorney, Philadelphia bar, 1863-1913, practice, successful career, Philadelphia, Delaware and Montgomery counties. 

Raised, emergency militia during the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania, but the unit, not activated. 

Engaged in banking, served, director, Merion Title and Trust Company, Bryn Mawr National Bank; president and treasurer, board of trustees of his local Methodist church. 

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Member, Methodist Episcopal Church; Board of Managers, Methodist Episcopal Church Extension Society, Tract Society, Home Missionary Society and American Sunday-school Union. 

Mason, Past Master, George W. Bartram Lodge, No. 298, Media; Past High Priest of Jerusalem Chapter, No. 3, Holy Royal Arch; projector, first High Priest of Montgomery Chapter, No. 262, Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, auditor, 1876, school director, Lower Merion Township, 1879. 

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 12th district, Montgomery County, 1883-1886; committee assignments: Centennial Affairs, Insurance, Judicial Local, Public Building, Public Printing and Retrenchment and Reform. 

County judge, Montgomery County.

Legacy: 

Read law with the Honorable William M. Meredith, former Secretary, Treasury and Pennsylvania Attorney-General.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members S". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1885). Smull, W.P., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 843, 849-851, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 813-814.

William Henry Sutton (1835-1913) | Dickinson College

William Henry “Henry” Sutton (1835-1913) - Find a Grave Memorial