James S Cummins b.1770 d.aft.1850

James S Cummins took to be his wife one Lucy Noel on July,14 . 1804. in Mercer County KY The bondsman was one Dudley Noel the brides father was Benjamin Noel and the Teste was Joshusa Cummins. This marriage produced the following children:

i. HUGH3 CUMMINS, b. KENTUCKY; d. January 1861, TARSNEY LAKE, MISSOURI.
ii. MARTHA CUMMINS.
iii. THERESA CUMMINS.
iv. ELIJAH CUMMINS, b. 1805, KENTUCKY; d. August 13, 1853; m. MARY ANN BISHOP, 1830; b. 1812, KENTUCKY.
More About ELIJAH CUMMINS and MARY BISHOP:
Marriage: 1830
v. PRISCILLA CUMMINS, b. April 14, 1808, MERCER COUNTY, KENTUCKY; d. September 25, 1891, MERCER COUNTY, KENTUCKY.
vi. GREENUP CUMMINS, b. 1809, KENTUCKY.
vii. SARAH CUMMINS, b. 1825, KENTUCKY.
viii. MARGRET JANE CUMMINS, b. 1828, KENTUCKY.

I have linked the Family together by the use of Marriage Records and Federal Census records in 1850 James and Lucy lived not far from Greenup Cummins and his family James was said to be 80 and Lucy was listed to be 69. James died some time after 1850 but I have not located any specific dates. In 1860 we have Lucy Cummins living with her daughter Sarah Higgins and her Family she died sometime after 1860. Green or Greenup Cummins will be whom we will focus on he was born about 1809 in Kentucky and is my GGGG-Grandfather

The Beginnings of a Legacy

Matthew Cummins

Made his way to the wild frontiers of Kentucky after the Revolutionary War.

he and his wife were the forbears of the Cummins legacy. They fostered to adulthood the following children.

i. ALEXANDER2 CUMMINS, d. Abt. 1854.
ii. HANNAH CUMMINS,
iii. ISAAC CUMMINS, d. Bef. 1850

v. JAMES S. CUMMINS, b. 1770, PENNSYLVANIA.
vi. ?LEVI CUMMINS, b. 1776, HALIFAX, VIRGINIA; d. 1840.
vii. MATTHEW CUMMINS, b. June 07, 1777, HALIFAX, VIRGINIA; d. October 08, 1865

viii. JOHN CUMMINS, b. 1779, VIRGINIA; d. 1850
ix. JOSHUA CUMMINS, b. Abt. 1780
x. MARY (POLLY) CUMMINS, b. 1783; d. October 04, 1852

xi. MICHAEL CUMMINS, b. July 10, 1786, ; d. March 22, 1863
xii. WILLIAM CUMMINS, b. 1788, KENTUCKY; d. Aft. 1860

xiii. SAMUEL CUMMINS, b. Abt. 1791 KENTUCKY; d. Abt. 1870
xiv. ELIZABETH (BETSEY) CUMMINS, b. 1801

Certain records indicate that there were as many as eleven sons and seven daughters. We will focus on our descendant James S Cummins I have compiled records of which contain census , military records ,Death Certificates and Newspaper articles that substantiate our Heritage back to Matthew Cummins. During my research I have found a town in Mercer County, KY.called Salvisa that has a camp ground named Cummins Ferry Rd. I am not sure if there is any connection but will further investigate these findings. The family stayed in and around the Anderson, Mercer County area and what was to become Franklin County and to this day there are Cummins decendants still in these areas.

Wounded Warrior

Matthew Cummins having served during the Birth of a new nation was not unlike most soldiers of the Revolutionary War. He was but a weaver with a desire for freedom and self goverment and, was determined to protect what he and others like him had establish on this wilderness continent. He declared that in 1776 he enlisted in Capt. William Cowan's company in Col. Thomas Clark's regiment and then went to Amboy Jersey. He enlisted with Capt. Thomas Overton of the 2nd Virginia Regiment, Commanded by Col. Samuel Haws, on 15 July 1780. afterwards he was transferred to the command of Capt. John Denham's company of the 1st Virginia Regiment of Col. Rh Campbell. The regiment then marched south to the aid of Gen. Green.
He enlisted at the Charlotte Court house, Va. He was in the Battle of Guilford and was then transferred to Capt. Sansom's Company of the 1st Virginia Regiment and was marched to the Battle of Eutaw Springs under Brig Gen. Huger. He was wounded in the shoulder by a musket ball thus breaking his collar bone. Ten of his men along with Col. William Washington were Killed during the battle. He was captured and taken prisoner on 8 Sept. 1781.He was held on the British Prison ship "Esk" at Charleston until being released on 3 Nov. 1782. He was treated very poorly and was in poor health at the time of his release. he fought also at the battle of Brandywine in as a militiaman under Capt. Thomas Atkins of Col. Dunlap's Regiment.

Humble Beginnings

Matthew enlisted as a Private in VA in 1776 and again in July 1780, at which time his family lived in Charlotte Co., VA. In Sept 1781 he was wounded in the battle of Eutaw Springs when his collarbone was broken by a musket ball. He was taken captive by the British and was detained on the prison ship "Esk" at Charleston Harbor.He was taken captive by the British and was detained on the prison ship "Esk" at Charleston Harbor. On 4 Mar 1782: "Joshus Morris is appointed to furnish Elizabeth Cummings, the wife of Matthew Cummings, a poor soldier, belonging to the Continental Army, and now a prisoner of the British in Charles Town, with four bushels of corn and one hundred weight of bacon for the support of herself and three children for one year, to be paid for by the Treasurer of the State." [Virginia Military Records, Charlotte Co. Records, Page 125] Matthew was released in Nov 1782.
Under warrant #6,480 Matthew Cummings was issued Military Land Script for 200 acres as a soldier of the Virginia Continental Line. The script was assigned and delivered through Allen Latham. [Virginia General Land Office Records, 15 Nov 1834] Note: Matthew probably took possession of 200 in Lincoln Co., KY (formed from Kentucky Co., VA in 1780), the area were he lived becoming Lincoln Co., KY in 1786 and then Anderson Co., KY in 1827. He appears in a Lincoln Co . record in 1786.
He was a weaver by trade.

Where to start?

I have to say I do not know where to start. My wife's aunt ask me about my Cummins family one day for her genealogy research and I began to realize that I knew very little about my family history. Also after some fifty years of looking my father was united with two siblings who were adopted as infants. Being a man of curiosity I began a quest for truth and fact. I knew nothing of my Great grandfather pictured to the left though he did not die until 1988. As my grandfather was not one who spoke of his family, being abandoned by his mother at an early age. His mother I had only seen as an infant of about two, everyone called her Frances Edwards I came to find her real name among a 1921 marriage bond. Through a persistent dogged determination I was on my way digging up old bones long ago forgotten and buried with the past. I have found an entire family whom I only know through old tattered pages of Census records Marriage Bonds.
This is a photo of my great-great-grandmother Janie Cummins at about 1911-1913 with three of her sons John, James and Arthur along with who I belive is her sister-inlaw Sarah Frances Cummins-Schwietzer.
Come to find out my family has been here in this state "Kentucky"since the late 1700's over some two hundred plus years. I have tracked down the my first Cummins back to one Matthew Cummins an American Revolutionary War Veteran Who resided in Mercer County Kentucky after the war. He had made a pension request dated November 13, 1818 Reqst.#S35870 which was granted 3 Feb 1819.he was dropped from the roll on 10 Mar 18 21, restored to the roll on 1 Mar 1823, and reinstated 11 Nov 1823. When his life had reached a closing he was found in Anderson County KY, thus drawing his last breath on August 08, 1833. Through his son James S Cummins and Lucy Noel we begin our journey. tracing back over some nine generation from my birth.