Ashael Sumner Dean
Acting Assistant Surgeon

---

A. Sumner Dean (In later years he spelled his name Deane) was born in  Foxboro, Massachusetts March 31, 1837.  On November 25, 1863 he was appointed Acting Assistant Surgeon in the Union Navy. He was assigned to the receiving ship USS OHIO until Dec 10, 1863 and on February 18, 1864 reported to the USS Harvest Moon. He remained assigned to the Harvest Moon until March 31, 1865 when he was detached and reassigned to the CSS/USS Columbia (captured ironclad). On June 13, 1865 he was detached from the Columbia. His resignation was accepted July 6, 1865. After the war he practiced medicine in Taunton, Mass.  He died April 10, 1925 and  is buried in Rock Hill Cemetery, Foxboro. His uniform and other articles were donated by his family to Old Colony Historical Society in Taunton.

Surgeon Deane frequently wrote letters to his wife Virginia, sister Louise, brother Henry and his parents. Many of these letters were retained by his grandson, William Sumner Hawley (1900-1997) who had lived with surgeon Deane for about 25 years. According to Mr. Hawley, the name Sumner is a tribute to their relative Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts (1811-1874). Senator Sumner is notable for being badly injured when he was caned by Senator Preston Brooks of South Carolina as he sat in his seat in the Senate chambers. Surgeon Deans letters and some of his Civil War artifacts are currently being preserved by his great granddaughter Mrs. Stella Hawley Skitch of Lymington, England. 

 

Dr. Dean's Civil War Medical Instruments photo by Christopher Skitch	A. Sumner Dean student	Dr. A. Sumner Deane circa 1890
Surgeon Dean's Civil War Letters To His Family This page is sponsored by the Harvest Moon Historical Society Wilmington, DE