1, Sturgis, born June 28, 1742; ...
Sturgis Gorham, Esq., son of Benjamin, was a successful business man. He was a merchant, engaged in the fisheries, and in the coasting and West India trade. In the Revolution he was a whig, and was on many committees, and did much good service in the cause. He built a large and elegant mansion house opposite his grandfather's, on the west side of Coggins' Pond. This house has been cut up and shorn of its fair proportions, and the builder, if now living, would not recognize it. *
He married Sept. 13, 1763, Phebe Taylor, who died Nov. 7, 1775, aged 31, and July 12, 1778, to her sister Desire Taylor, who died Dec. 15, 1786, aged 30. ...
Sturgis Gorham, Esq., died April 26 1795, aged 52 years.
In his will he gives one-half of the profit of his wind mill to his sister Olive till her son Sylvanus is 21. He gives legacies to his grandsons James and Joseph Lovell, and the remainder of his estate equally to his daughters Charlotte and "Polly," (Mary Sturgis). May 5, 1795, John Palfrey, Esq., of Boston, was appointed guardian of Charlotte. His estate was settled April 13, 1802 ; after paying debts and legacies the balance was £683,13,10. His real estate was sold to Elijah Smith, of Chatham for £900.
Sturgis Gorham, Esq., for many years was the business man of Barnstable. On his shoulders the mantle of his grandfather fell. He did much to develop the business, and advance the prosperity of his native town. He exerted a wide influence, but it is perhaps doubtful whether that influence was always salutary. He was a slaveholder, as many at that time were ; and if common report is reliable the poor slave rarely had a harder master.
* The late Mr. Jabez Hinckley said that for building the front stairway, Mr. Gorham paid him for seventy-five days work. Every part of the house and its surroundings were finished with the same care.
