Elliot M. Sutton (October 13, 1841 - March 5, 1908) was a Vermont businessman and politician. A Democrat, among the offices in which he served was mayor of Burlington (1898-1899) and member of the Vermont Senate (1902-1904).

Elliot M. Sutton (sometimes spelled "Elliott" and frequently abbreviated E. M. Sutton) was born in Oxford, Connecticut, on October 13, 1841.^[1] His family moved to Burlington, Vermont in 1850, and Sutton was educated in the public schools of Burlington and Burlington High School.^[1]

Sutton was working as a photographer when he registered for the Union Army draft during the American Civil War.^{[2][lower-alpha 1]} In 1864, he moved to South Carolina, where he purchased a plantation and lived for a year.^[3]

By 1865, Sutton had returned to Burlington, where he owned and operated a restaurant, the City Coffee House.^[4][5] He was later involved in several other business ventures, including owning apartments and commercial buildings, working as a real estate broker, and operating a lumber dealership.^[6][7] He also took part in civic activities, including joining the volunteer fire department's Hook and Ladder Company Number 1, of which he served as auditor.^[8] Sutton later sponsored another fire company, which was christened E. M. Sutton Hose Company in his honor.^[9]

Sutton was both a supporter of the Temperance movement and an opponent of Prohibition.^[10] He was investigated on several occasions for violating Vermont's law prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcohol.^[10] In August 1867, the city constable searched his home and confiscated three pints of whiskey.^[11] Sutton defended himself in a trial before the city recorder and won a dismissal of the charges and return of his liquor.^[11]

In January 1869, he was found guilty on four counts of selling liquor at the City Coffee House, and paid an $80 fine.^[12] In February 1869, he was convicted of one count, and fined $20.^[13] In May 1869, he was again charged for violating the law, and the charges were dismissed.^[14] In October 1869, he once again faced charges for selling alcohol at his restaurant.^[15] He pleaded guilty and was fined $20.^[15]

In August 1873, law enforcement officers searched his home in the early morning hours and discovered a workman leaving the premises with two jugs of liquor.^[16] Upon entering Sutton's basement, they found him packing bottles of whiskey for transport and observed him emptying a washtub and another container.^[16] Police seized bottles and other supplies and equipment.^[16] In January 1874, police again searched Sutton's home, but found nothing incriminating.^[17]

In 1882, Sutton paid a $50 fine after pleading guilty to five counts of illegally selling liquor.^[18] In 1889, a search of his barn uncovered a secret tunnel with a concealed entrance in the cellar, which led to a hidden storage room.^[19] Authorities discovered several containers of high wines, as well as bottles, coloring, flavoring, and other ingredients, all of which they seized.^[19] As Vermont began to market itself as a tourist destination, the prohibition on alcohol sales was subject to lax enforcement.^[20] For example, by the 1890s Urban A. Woodbury, the owner of Burlington's Van Ness House hotel, was openly serving alcohol.^[20]

In the last three years of his life, Sutton was often in ill health and was cared for by his daughter.^[1] He died at her home in Johnson, Vermont on March 5, 1908.^[1] Sutton was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington.^[53]

In 1863, he married Martha O'Brien of Burlington.^[54] Sutton paid a $7 fine in early 1882 after pleading guilty to assaulting her.^[55] She sued for divorce on the grounds of intolerable cruelty, won her case in late 1882 and received both a divorce and the right to resume using her maiden name.^[56] In 1886, Sutton married Hattie L. (Ballou) Hurlburt of Worcester, Massachusetts.^[57] They were married until September 1907, when Elliot Sutton obtained a divorce on the grounds of desertion.^[58]

In January 1884, Sutton had a daughter, Inez, with Alice Guyette.^[59][60] Inez May Sutton (1884-1916) graduated from Edmunds High School in 1902 and became a teacher.^[59] In 1905, she married Dr. Lyndhurst P. Holcomb of Johnson.^[59] They were the parents of a son, Harold (1906-1976).^[59][61]