Dr. Frank Foster Sumney, M.D.
Born April 3, 1866, Nottingham Twp., Washington Co., Pa.
Died, March 20, 1938, Dravosburg, Allegheny Co., Pa.Dr. Frank Foster Sumney, son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Foster) Sumney, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, April 3, 1866. He attended the public school, and after there pursuing preliminary studies entered He entered Jefferson Academy at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, later matriculating at the University of Western Pennsylvania (University of Pittsburgh). In this last named institution he prepared for the practice of medicine, and was awarded his M.D. in March, 1891. Dravosburg, Pennsylvania, has been the one scene of his professional activity, his practice general in nature, and he is accorded worthy place among his medical brethren. He holds membership in the County and State Medical societies and the McKeesport Academy of Medicine. Dr. Sumney is identified with the Knights of Malta, the Knights of Pythias, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His political preferences are Democratic, and he has filled numerous of the local offices, and was appointed postmaster of Dravosburg in 1914. Dr. Sumney married, June 6, 894, Elizabeth, born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, daughter of James N. and Fannie (Osborne) Lawson, and has children: Ruth, a student in the California State Normal School; Weir, Janet, Frank, died in infancy.
Obituary, source not identified:
Veteran Physician Dies in Dravosburg Home at Age of 71
Dr. Frank Foster Sumney, veteran Dravosburg physician and a former member of the State Legislative District, died at his home, 11 Maple Ave., in Dravosburg, at 11 p.m. yesterday.
Dr. Sumney, a direct descendant of Isaac Sumney, pioneer Pennsylvania resident who founded Sumneytown in Montgomery County, had practiced medicine in Dravosburg since 1891. He would have been 72 had he lived until April 3.
He was former president of the Dravosburg School Board and served as a member of that body four years, 1898 to 1902. He was also a former member of the Mifflin Township School Board and in 1917 served as a member of the Dravosburg Draft Board.
He was born in Munntown, Washington County, Pa. on April 3, 1866, a son of Isaac and Elizabeth Foster Sumney. He worked his way through old Jefferson Academy in Canonsburg, then enrolled in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, paying for his tuition by teaching school.
He graduated from Pitt School of Medicine and, after taking a course in postgraduate work in Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, settled in Dravosburg in 1891.
On June 6, 1894, he married the late Elizabeth Lawson. Following her death, Dr. Sumney was married on Sept. 15, 1920, to Miss Besse Phillips.
Describing himself as an "old time Jeffersonian Democrat," Dr. Sumney entered politics in 1934 as a candidate for the State Legislature from the Eleventh District. He served one two year term, 1935-1936, but declined to run for a second. He was an ardent supporter of New Deal principles at their earliest conception but later was opposed to many of the administration's policies.
He was active in various civic affairs in Dravosburg and was a member of the Amity Presbyterian Church, county and state medical societies, Knights of Malta, Knights of Pythias, Junior Order of United American Mechanics, the Elks and the Sons of the American Revolution.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Besse Phillips Sumney; two daughters, Mrs. Ruth Hughes, of Dormont and Mrs. Janet McMullen, of Glassport; one son, Weir Mitchell Sumney of Clairton; four sisters, Mrs. Alice Canon, of Mt Lebanon; Mrs. Gertrude Scott, of Pittsburgh; Mrs. Hattie Gamble, of Manchester, Pa. and Mrs. Grace Wolf, of Washington, Pa.; one brother, Roy E. Sumney, of Washington, Pa. and five grandchildren.
Friends will be received at the family residence where services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in charge of the Rev. John W. Black. Burial will be in Richland Cemetery.Researcher’s note: Dr. Frank was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. His interest in genealogy may have been stimulated by receipt of his great grandfather’s family bible. Printed in Germany in 1720 and written in German, the bible may have originally belonged to Dr. Frank’s great-great grandfather, Jacob Sumney, a veteran of the Revolutionary War and one of the pioneer settlers of Westmoreland County, Pa. Enclosed within the pages in meticulous German script, his great grandfather, Isaac Sumney, recorded the names and dates of birth of his family.