Madison County IA Archives Biographies.....Cummings, Henry J. B. 1831 - 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ia/iafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 9, 2007, 9:51 pm

Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1896)

HON. HENRY J. B. CUMMINGS, of Winterset, Iowa, and an ex-member of Congress from
the Seventh Iowa district, was born in Newton, Sussex county, New Jersey, May
21, 1831. His father, Colonel Heman L. Cummings, was a native of Litchfield
county, Connecticut, and a man of moderate means. His mother's maiden name was
Ann Garton Johnson. Henry was the oldest child. He had a brother, Louis Jerome,
three years younger, who died in Winterset, August 1, 1856, of disease
contracted by exposure while with General James Lee in efforts to make Kansas a
free State. He was a young man of patriotic and noble impulses, of considerable
culture and ability.

   The subject of this sketch is a great-great-grandson of General Daniel
Brodhead, who was one of the generals in the Revolutionary war, the friend and
confidant of General Washington, by whom he was assigned to the command of Fort
Pitt, now Pittsburg. General Brodhead was enabled to maintain peace with the
Indians in western Pennsylvania and Ohio, in great part by the confidence they
had in him. They made him one of their chiefs, and gave him the name of Great
Moon. The subject of this sketch has a Masonic apron worn by General Brodhead in
the lodge of which Washington was at the time Master, and a letter written by
him to Washington.

   In 1840 Heman L. Cummings moved with his family from New Jersey to Muncy,
Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and Henry received his education in the common
schools, of that State, supplementing it with a year's study in a private
school. He then spent a year or two in the pineries of Lycoming county, most of
the time making a hand in a sawmill. Like many young men who have subsequently
gone to Congress, he felt called upon to teach a public school; but two months'
experience convinced him that he did not excel as a pedagogue, and that ended
his services as a teacher.

   In 1848 he commenced the study of law, reading a year and a half, when,
having a natural taste for printing, he went, in 1849, to Schuylkill county,
Pennsylvania, where he made an agreement to learn the trade in the office of the
Schuylkill Haven Map, he to commence as "devil" and to serve three years; but
his name was to appear as associate editor. After about a year, his uncle, Henry
Johnson, a lawyer of great reputation and a large practice, a prominent State
Senator in Pennsylvania during the Civil war, now deceased, purchased the
office, and the paper was edited and manned exclusively by his nephew, assisted
by his brother, who here joined him. This arrangement continued until the autumn
of 1852, when Henry returned to Muncy and finished his law studies in the office
of his uncle just mentioned, being admitted to the bar early in 1854.

   Late in the next year Mr. Cummings started for Iowa, crossing the Mississippi
river on the ice on the 1st of January, 1856. He went directly to Winterset,
Madison county, and immediately opened an office. The anti-Nebraska party had
carried Iowa in the autumn before, and early in the spring of 1856 the
Republican party was being organized in the State. Mr. Cummings joined with
others in calling a public meeting to organize the county. The meeting was
largely attended, but only eight persons would assist in the organization. Mr.
Cummings also assisted in organizing Adair and Cass counties, and with others
thoroughly canvassed these counties before the election. He was nominated by the
Republicans of Madison county that year for Prosecuting Attorney, and was
elected, holding the office two years and three months, at the end of which time
it was abolished by the new constitution of the State. He held the office of
Mayor of Winterset for two terms and was twice City Solicitor.

   March 4, 1857, at Muncy, Pennsylvania, Mr. Cummings was married to Miss Annie
Webster Robb, youngest daughter of William F. and Mary Robb, of the last named
place; and they have one daughter, Laura Justina, who was maried in November,
1876, to James W. Miller, who resides at Winterset.

   Mr. Cummings continued the practice of law until the breaking out of the
Rebellion, when, after the firing on Fort Sumter, a company of home guards was
organized at Winterset, and he was elected Captain. Governor Kirkwood having
notified him that it was desired that Madison county should furnish a company of
men for the United States military service, Captain Cummings immediately
reorganized his company, and in July, 1861, acting under orders from the
Governor, he took his company to Council Bluffs, where it became Company F, of
the Fourth Iowa Infantry, Colonel G. M. Dodge commander of the regiment. While
in camp there, at a meeting of the officers of the regiment, Captain Cummings
was recommended to be commissioned Major; but as the two field officers already
appointed were Republicans, the Governor concluded it would be better to take a
Democrat for the third office, and on that ground declined to appoint Captain
Cummings. He continued with his company until, as part of General Samuel R.
Curtis' army, it reached Helena, Arkansas, in 1862. After the battle of Pea
Ridge, Missouri, in March of that year, his superiors in rank having been
wounded or being absent, he fell in command as ranking captain of the regiment,
and commanded it on its march through southern Missouri and northern Arkansas to
Batesville. Captain Cummings readily acquainted himself thoroughly with the
military rules and regulations, and this fact was recognized in his appointment
several times as Judge Advocate of important courts martial. He was a strict
disciplinarian, considerate of his men, and one of the best drill officers in
the service. A good trait of his character in the field was that he was always
strictly temperate and never profane. On reaching Helena, Captain Cummings
returned to Iowa on sick leave, but bearing a letter from General Curtis to
Governor Kirkwood, asking the latter to advance the Captain in one of the new
regiments then forming. The Governor commissioned him Colonel of the
Thirty-ninth Infantry. The regiment rendezvoused first at Des Moines and then at
Davenport. In November, 1862, Colonel Cummings was ordered to report at Corinth,
Mississippi, where he was assigned to the command of that post. There he had
charge of three regiments, the white refugees coming into the Federal lines, and
the contrabands, the last being employed in running a cotton plantation. When he
took the post it was considerably in debt, but he soon paid off that
indebtedness and when he was relieved there were several thousand dollars in its
treasury. The Colonel was regarded as peculiarly fitted for post duty, and had
several important commands of that nature, among them at Culleoka, Tennessee;
Athens, Alabama; Rome, Georgia; and, as above stated, at Corinth, Mississippi.
At Chattanooga his regiment joined the army advancing on Atlanta, and was the
first that went through the Snake Creek Gap in the movement flanking Dalton.
When the army reached Kingston the brigade to which his regiment belonged was
stationed at Rome, Georgia, and remained there on the flank during the entire
siege of Atlanta. It also was part of Sherman's army that marched to the sea.

   Having served three and a half years, Colonel Cummings was mustered out on
the 4th of January, 1865, and returned to Winterset. In 1869 he purchased the
Winterset Madisonian, and was connected with it until 1885. As a journalist he
was a success. He seemed to know by intuition what the needs of his readers were
and always had the ability to meet their wants to their satisfaction. As a
writer his style is not ornate, but simple, clear and forcible.

   In November, 1876, he was elected to Congress in one of the strongest
Republican districts, carrying every one of the ten counties in his district,
and making a majority of nearly 8,000 votes over his Democratic competitor,
Samuel J. Gilpin, Esq., with whom be held nearly forty joint discussions. As a
public speaker he is more logical than fluent. He makes no claim to being an
orator, yet has good command of language. Whatever is necessary he can say on
any occasion, and say it well and forcibly. His manner is dignified and
impressive, his words are always well chosen, and his ideas are expressed on the
rostrum as clearly and forcibly as in his editorials. He has the air of
frankness and truth, and so impresses his hearers. In the joint canvass spoken
of, his friends were more than satisfied. While in Congress he served as a
member of the committee on claims, one of the most important and responsible
committees of the House. The following extract from an editorial letter to the
Des Moines Daily Register is given to show his standing as a Congressman: "Our
own member, Colonel Cummings, is making a good name for himself quietly and not
slowly. He is a close student of the House and its rules, and is always in his
seat. No one keeps a better run of the business in the House, or has a clearer
head in regard to any thing that is going on. He looks after details
industriously, and in all departments has already formed a popular acquaintance
with the powers that be,-which is one of the wisest things that a Congressman
anxious to serve his district can do. I predict that in caring for the interests
of the district and in serving promptly and well all his constituents who have
affairs here to attend to, Colonel Cummings will be found the equal of any man
that the former fighting, but now Quaker, district of Iowa has ever had. In the
House, too, he will be equally faithful and vigilant, and guard with jealous eye
and intelligent zeal the public good. The Colonel and his amiable and
entertaining wife have cosy quarters at the Ebbitt House, where Iowa people will
always find a cordial welcome, and Seventh, district folks meet the unaffected
cheer and hospitality of home."

   April 1, 1878, the Colonel made his first speech in the House; it was in
opposition to the payment of Southern war claims. The speech was widely copied
and highly commended by the press of the State. As a citizen, Colonel Cummings
stands well. He is always ready to take a part in every enterprise for the
public. He has been active and prominent in all measures for the public good;
his especial forte, in fact, is his executive ability.

   He is a prominent member of the Masonic order, and has been for years active
in the Grand Lodge of the State, being at one time chairman of the committee on
foreign correspondence. He was selected by that body to prepare a Masonic digest
for the State; has served many years as Master of his lodge, and has attained to
the rank of Knight Templar.

   Prior to the organization of the Republican party he was a Whig. For a long
time he has been one of the leaders of the Republican party in Madison county.
His religious creed is that of the Presbyterian Church, to which both he and his
wife belong. The Colonel has a high reputation for integrity, his word being a
sure guarantee of performance. By careful and prudent management he has placed
himself in comfortable circumstances. Personally he is five feet, nine inches
and a half tall, and weighs 225 pounds; his hair, which was light when he was a
young man, is almost white; his complexion is fair; and his disposition is
cheerful and social.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA

ILLUSTRATED

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendants."'—MACAULAY.

"Biography is by nature the must universally profitable, universally pleasant,
of all things."—CARLYLE

"History is only biography on a large scale"—LAMARTINE.

CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1896


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ia/madison/bios/cummings118gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/iafiles/

File size: 12.3 Kb