Fountain County IN Archives Biographies.....Cunningham, Andrew B. 1835 - 
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Author: H. W. Beckwith (1881)

   Andrew B. Cunningham, dentist, Attica, son of Adam and Mary (Baskin)
Cunningham, was born in Island county, Ohio, January 31, 1835. His early life
was spent in tilling the soil and in merchandising. In 1856-7 he took a partial
course of medical lectures at the Ohio College, in Cincinnati, and afterward a
full course at the Ohio Dental College, graduating in the spring of 1858. He
immediately located at Leesburg, Ohio, and in June, 1859, removed to Attica. He
has lived in this place since, excepting one year spent at Decatur, Illinois. In
the time of the war he was county agent to procure men for the military service
to fill the quota of Fountain county. He obtained upward of fifty. He held the
appointment of deputy United States marshal several years, beginning about 1874.
He is a member of the State Dental and the Wabash Valley Dental Associations,
and president of the latter body. In politics he is firmly attached to the
principles, and is a warm advocate, of the policy of the democratic party. Mr.
Cunningham has been connected with the detective business some time, and has
rendered very important service in that capacity. Of the numerous occasions on
which he has shown ability for such work, one or two may be mentioned. The
principal one, perhaps, was the discovery and arrest of John Jones, the murderer
of James Hall. The tragedy was committed in Attica in the autumn of 1870, and
Hall was apprehended, but escaped. The marshal offered a reward of $150 and the
city $500. He had been at large a week when Mr. Cunningham began the pursuit.
But he soon got upon his track, and refusing to be misled by the deceptive arts
which the fugitive employed to conceal his true character, he followed steadily
the route he had taken, and finally discovered his hiding place in Ford county,
Illinois, where he recaptured him. The captor divided the rewards with the men
who accompanied him. On May 25, 1875, he did a good day's work in discovering
four illicit stills and capturing the distillers. Two of them were situated in
the southern part of this county, and the others were across the line in Parke
county. These operations were not a little dangerous, on account of the
hostility of the neighborhoods to the interference of the law, but they were
swiftly and skillfully performed and completely successful. In 1873 the safe of
the Revere House, in Attica, was robbed most mysteriously, and the case was
confided to this detective to work up and ferret out, which he did in a short
time in a successful manner, recovering the stolen property, and arresting the
culprit, and obtaining the evidence of his guilt at every step of his progress.
Mr. Cunningham was married January 17, 1859, to Emily King, of Attica, daughter
of Jackson King, who emigrated to Richland township about 1827. They have an
only son living, named William.

Additional Comments:
Logan Township

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF FOUNTAIN COUNTY,

TOGETHER WITH
HISTORIC NOTES ON THE WABASH VALLEY,

GLEANED FROM EARLY AUTHORS, OLD MAPS AND MANUSCRIPTS
PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE, AND OTHER AUTHENTIC, THOUGH, FOR THE MOST
PART, OUT-OF-THE-WAY SOURCES.

BY H. W. BECKWITH,
OF THE DANVILLE BAR; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF
WISCONSIN AND CHICAGO.

WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHICAGO: H. H. HILL AND N. IDDINGS, PUBLISHERS.
1881.


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