11 Facts About Byron Sunderland

Byron Sunderland was an American Presbyterian minister, author, and Chaplain of the United States Senate during the American Civil War.

Byron Sunderland taught for some time before attending the Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York.

In 1843, Byron Sunderland became pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Batavia, New York.

Byron Sunderland was appointed to the office of Chaplain of the Senate in 1861, serving for three years.

Byron Sunderland resigned in 1864 to accept the post of Pastor of the American Chapel in Paris, France.

Byron Sunderland served in that position from September 1864 until October 1865, when he returned to Washington to resume his duties as Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church.

Byron Sunderland served as the president of Howard University from 1867 to 1869, and on the first board of directors of Gallaudet College in Washington.

Byron Sunderland retired from his pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church in Washington in 1898, becoming pastor emeritus for life.

On June 2,1886, in the Blue Room of the White House Byron Sunderland performed the marriage service for the wedding of President Grover Cleveland and Frances Cornelia Folsom, the daughter of Cleveland's former law partner.

Byron Sunderland served on the executive committee of the American Colonization Society.

Byron Sunderland died of a cerebral embolism at the home of his daughter and son-in-law, Rosalie and Orrin Day, in Catskill, New York on June 30,1901, his wife, Mary Elizabeth Tomlinson Byron Sunderland, having predeceased him in 1896.