Northumberland County PA Archives Biographies.....Cummings, Robert M. 1833 - living in 1899

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Author: Biographical Publishing Co.



ROBERT M. CUMMINGS, a prominent and well-known attorney-at-law of Montandon,

Northumberland County, Pa., a recent portrait of whom appears on the opposite

page, was born in Chillisquaque township November 21, 1833, and is a son of

William and Hannah (Erwin) Cummings.



  The paternal grandfather of our subject, John Cummings, was of Scotch-Irish

descent, and was born in Londonderry, Ireland, immigrating to this country with

his fifteen brothers and settling in Chester County, Pa. He was commissioned

captain of a company in a Chester County regiment and served in the

Revolutionary War until its close. In 1794 he went to Chillisquaque township,

Northumberland County. There he bought between 300 and 400 acres of land, which

had been taken up by Peter Boor in 1769. On this land Mr. Cummings carried on

farming, after it had been cleared and improved generally, and also built and

conducted a distillery. Part of this land he divided with our subject's father,

and it was on this farm that Mr. Cummings departed this life, at the age of

eighty years. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Church, lies beside him

in the Northumberland cemetery. Their children were: Ann, born April 29, 1782,

died November 29, 1821, married a Mr. Fordsman; Thomas, born July 7, 1784;

James, born December 7, 1786, was a farmer of Chillisquaque township; Elizabeth

and Polly, born January 10, 1790, died in infancy; William, our subject's

father, who was born November 19, 1791; John, born October 5, 1793; and Polly,

born January 11, 1799.



  William, the father of the subject of this personal history, settled on a part

of the homestead and followed farming all his life. He remodeled and enlarged

the original house; a part of the old house remains as it was in former days,

being made of logs with weatherboard covering. William Cummings married Hannah

Erwin, daughter of William and Mary Erwin. He died in 1865, and his wife passed

away in 1883. Several children blessed their union. John Andrew Jackson, who was

born without hands, in spite of the fact became an expert penman, received an

excellent education, taught school, and for two terms served as register and

recorder for Northumberland County; he was also the publisher of the latest maps

of Northumberland, Montour and Columbia counties. He married Helen M. Sisty.

Robert M., our subject, was the second child born to his parents. Mary Ann, who

resides at Montandon, is the widow of Thomas T. Baker. Mr. Baker, a son of Jacob

Baker, was born in Huntingdon County, Pa., and was one of the eight sons who

served in the Civil War. He was a member of Company I, 192d Reg., Pa. Vol. Inf.

He died at the age of sixty-one years. He was the father of the following

children: Clara A.; Elmer E.; Ella J.; Carrie M. and Hannah Mary, postmistress

of Montandon. Sarah Jane, who lives at Montandon, is the widow of David

Kingsberry, of Luzerne County. Annie C., the fifth child of William and Hannah

Cummings, married Wesley Auten and resides in Baltimore. Harriet J., deceased,

married J. W. Taylor. Margaret Agnes, who married Amandus Freize, resides on the

old homestead. Eliza T. died at the age of seventeen years. William Cummings was

an unswerving Democrat; he was a member of the Presbyterian Church.



  Robert M. Cummings, the subject of this biography, attended the common schools

and Lewisburg Academy, later studying law with G. F. Miller, of Lewisburg. He

was admitted to the Northumberland County Bar in 1859. In 1865, when there were

only two buildings on the site, Mr. Cummings and his brother, John, purchased

land and laid out what is now known as the village of Montandon. There our

subject erected a large brick residence and office, where he carries on his

practice. He has dealt extensively in real estate, and has done much to further

the progress of the village. His practice has been mostly in the Orphans' Court

and in cases involving real estate, and he has established an excellent

reputation, his judgment being eagerly sought by people for miles around Montandon.



  Mr. Cummings married Mary E. Albright, a daughter of John Albright, of

Northumberland County, Pa., and late of Turbot township, that county. This

marriage has been blessed by seven children, as follows: Clara Elizabeth, who

married F. B. Irvin, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and has three children, Miriam, Kathryn

E. and Beulah E.; John W., who is a teacher by vocation; Herbert W., who, in

partnership with Lewis Dewart, is engaged in the practice of law at Sunbury;

Mary A. and Harriet J., both at home; and three who died in infancy.



Mr. Cummings has served for ten years on the school board. He has served

officially in the Methodist Church, materially assisting to build the church

edifice. Politically, he is a stanch Democrat and takes an active interest in

the political affairs of the town. He is a member of Lodge No. 623, I. O. O. F.,

of Pottsgrove, and has served as district deputy grand master of Northumberland

County. By all with whom he is acquainted Mr. Cummings is spoken of only in the

highest terms and he is respected by every one.





Additional Comments:

Extracted from:



Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District

Published by 

Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)







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