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Subject: Stearns families of Bedford, Mass. - Hist. of Bedford by Abram English Brown 3
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 14:34:10 EDT

Subject: Stearns
Source: Source: History of the Town of Bedford
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
From it's Earliest Settlement to the Year of our Lord, 1891
Abram English Brown, 1891
Part V

p.35 Stearns - Part 3.

Abner Stearns.

Abner7 Stearns, the oldest child, only one by the first wife, and the
namesake of his father,
rant the mill at the homestead for a while and then went to Bennington,
Vermont, and later
to Texas, where he died. He was engaged at both locations in the business of
a machinist.
He married Mary Dresser of Vermont, who with a son and daughter survived him.

Edward Harrison Stearns.

Edward Harrison Stearns too a course of three years at Andover, after which
he taught school
at Provincetown, Mass., making the journey to the Cape in a schooner. He
then went to
Covington, Kentucky and spent a season and later started the business of
wool carding, having
conducted the business of the home farm after the death of his parents, and
had a farm in
Stoneham in the meantime. He increased his manufacturing business by adding
a planing mill
and general wood-working establishment. This was all destroyed by fire,
when he erected a
set of fire-proof buildings. He was next found in Cincinnati, engaged in
inventing, improving
and manufacturing saw-mill machinery. His business next called him to
Hamilton, Ohio, after
which he bought lands in Erie, Pennsylvania and started large manufacturing
industries. When
facilities for travelling were most primitive, he made personal visits to
all states in which
there were lumbering camps, to introduce machinery of his patent and
manufacture, which for the
relief of manual labor was of inestimable value.

The inventive genius of the father was an inheritance with this son. He was
credited with thirty
patents which were the outcome of his own mind. As is very often the case,
unprincipled men
sought to obtain his honors by infringing upon his patents, and he was known
to stand if de-
fence of his own rights, in the court house. The fame of this son, who
began life by ex-
perimenting in an obsure saw-mill in Bedford, Massachusetts, has spread
throughout the land.
The Stearns Manufacturing Company, of Erie, Pennsylvania, of which Edward
Harrison Stearns
was the founder, is the largest establishment of the kind in the West and is
known throughout
the world.

Previous to his career, saw mill machinery was very poor, and through his
efforts a complete
revolution was made in the lumber manufacture. He was an ardent
abolitionist, having imbibed
the spirit at Andover and from the beginning of the anti-slavery movement
was a prominent
champion of the cause. Religiously he was of the faith of Emanuel
Swedenborg, was prominent
in establishing a church where that faith was taught, and the chief
financial supporter. His
energy and public spirit made him a leader in the different places of his
residence, where he
always enjoyed the confidence of his associates. He married Harriet C.
Raymond of Charlestown,

Mass. He had no children. His death occured August, 1880.

George Sullivan Stearns.

George Sullivan Stearns when eighteen years old, went West after pursuing a
short course of
study at Andover. It then required two weeks to make the journey to Alton,
Illinois, which
can now be made in 24 hours. He was at Alton two years, engaged in the
milling business, after
which he spent some time in Kentucky at farming and nursery business, on the
Licking River.
From there he went to Lawrenceburg, Ind., and started the lumber business.
In the year 1840,
he was at Cinnicinnati engaged in printing and stereotyping. He stereotyped
the first copy
of the Mormon Bible. He experimented in the manufacture of printers' ink
and became the
leading manufacturer of that artickle in the West. In 1849 he bought his
brother Henry's
interest in the wadding business, and the two lines were thereafter merged
in one. It thus
appears that George S. Stearns and Henry A. Stearns were the founders of
this firm, which is
one of the oldest manufacturing concerns in Cincinnati. Mr. Stearns, with
his sons and others
started the lumber business in Lockland, Ohio about the year 1880, where
they built large
mills.

While this was being successfully prosecuted, he engaged in several other
manufacturing
enterprises, the last being with his brother Henry A. Stearns (each of whom
were respresent-
atives of their respective companies), in the erection of the mills of the
Dominion Wadding
Company at Montreal, Canada, of which a son of each was in charge. Mr.
Stearns built a fine
residence at Wyoming, Ohio, where he died in 1889. He was modest and
retiring in his nature,
and was never persuaded to accept any political or public office. He was
possessed of rare
judgment and was successful in life in the best way. He was generous and
always ready to
help others. Among the many objects of his benevolence was the Trinitarian
Congragational
Society of Bedford, Mass., which his father had helped in forming and the
church connected
with it, in which he had learned those principles that predominated during
his entire life.
He contributed liberally towards rebuilding the meeting-house, in 1886,
which his father had
assisted in erecting more than a half century earlier. While always greatly
interest in
church work and an abundant giver in the support of the gospel, he kept
himself in the
background. He had but little to say about religious matters, but his life
was a constant
application of Christianity. Through humbling himself he became exalted. He
was a founder
of the Presbyterian Church of Wyoming, O., an Elder, Trustee and large
contributor to its
support.

To be continued Part 4 - p.35 cont'd - George Sullivan Stearns - his
obituary in the Cincinnati Commerical Gazette - November 1889.
Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth

God Bless America
History and Genealogy Freely Shared
Janice Farnsworth
http://tfeeney.esmartbiz.com/janice.htm
Toni Feeney
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