Burton A. Cummins Biography


	This biography appears on pages 827-828 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. I (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	BURTON A. CUMMINS, one of the most loyal and influential citizens 
of Pierre, is a native of the old Green Mountain state and is a scion 
of families long identified with the annals of New England history. He 
was born in Montpelier, Vermont, on the 3d of April, 1869, being a son 
of Albert Oren and Mary (Frances) Cummins. The subject secured his 
early educational discipline in the public schools of his native city, 
and after leaving the high school continued his studies and graduated 
in the Washington County Grammar School at Montpelier, Vermont, as 
valedictorian of the class of 1887. He shortly afterward went to the 
city of Boston, where he took a successful examination for 
matriculation in Harvard, but instead of entering that famous 
institution he decided to come to the west and at once identify himself 
with the practical activities of life. He located in the city of Sioux 
City, Iowa, where he secured a position as note teller in the Sioux 
National Bank, showing a distinctive predilection for the banking 
business and being promoted from one position to another in that 
institution, in whose services he continued until 1890, when he 
resigned. On the 3d of July of that year he set forth for Pierre, South 
Dakota, and was elected cashier of the First National Bank of this 
city, being at the time but twenty-one years of age and having the 
distinction of being the youngest cashier of all national banks in the 
Union. He has held this office ever since, showing marked 
discrimination and judgment in the handling of his exacting executive 
and administrative duties and gaining a high reputation in the 
financial circles of the state. In 1901 Mr. Cummins was appointed 
colonel on the staff of Governor Herreid, retaining this office during 
both terms of Governor Herreid's office. He was president of the Pierre 
board of trade from 1892 to 1894, inclusive, was chairman of the Pierre 
capital committee in 1902, and has been a most zealous worker in the 
interests of his home city at all times and seasons. In politics he 
accords an unswerving allegiance to the Republican party, and has been 
a prominent figure in its councils in this state, having been a member 
of both the state and central committee and the state executive 
committee in 1898. In 1902 he was elected president of the South Dakota 
State Bankers' Association. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Pierre 
Lodge, No. 27, Free and Accepted Masons; Pierre Chapter No. 22, Royal 
Arch Masons; La-Co-Tah Commandery No. 6, Knights Templar, and El Riad 
Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in 
Sioux Falls, and has been for years treasurer of his blue lodge.  

	On the 3d of April, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Cummins to Miss Clara Belle Merrick, a daughter of Fred L. and Nancy 
Merrick, of Kankakee, Illinois, and they became the parents of two 
children, Albert 0., who was born on the 24th of February, 1892, and 
who died on the 26th of February, 1895; and Aline, who was born on the 
19th of February, 1897. Mr. and Mrs. Cummins are prominent and active 
in the social life of the community, and their attractive home is a 
center of refined hospitality.