Daniel Cummings​​

 

Daniel was one of five children born to his parents including: 
​
1. Mary Holt Cummings 1804-1829 m. Josiah Little
2. Eliza Cummings 1806-1808 (died young)
3. Daniel Cummings 1810-1885 m. Amanda Challes 1843
4. Clarissa Ann Cummings 1815-1832 (died young)
5. Lewis Ladd Cummings 1818-1847 m.________

​Note: Daniel may have been the only child of the five who survived and lived a fairly long life. His 3 sisters all died young, and Lewis, his brother, died in 1847 at the age of 29 years.

A very interesting letter was written by Daniel from Ray County, MO to his friend whom he called ‘Lane’ back Maine in 1840. Minot Corner, which he mentions in his letter/journal, was in Androscoggin County, Maine and had been his home before leaving to head west in 1839. According to the letter, (found and printed in the Lewiston, Maine newspaper LEWISTON JOURNAL in 1939), he had left Minot Corner in November of 1839 and journeyed from Maine, through New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and eventually reached St. Louis, Missouri after traveling 1308 miles in the dead of winter! Within a few weeks of more traveling up the Missouri River, he found himself in Ray County, MO which is northeast of present-day Kansas City . The letter he wrote to his friend, Lane in Maine , was mailed from the Ray County town named Camden , situated on the Missouri River . Today the little town still exists but only had a population of 191 people in the census of 2010.

Daniel wrote his letter with glowing reports to his friend telling him what a great place Missouri was and it would be wise for him to make the move west to the frontier and set up a business there. He told him that money was rather scarce at the time because so many people were coming to Missouri and buying up land from the land offices. I had to smile when he wrote a line that said…. "it was a good place for a Yankee to relocate and open up a store to sell barrels, kegs, tubs, etc. by coopers (barrel makers) !!" Land was selling for $1.25 an acre which was an outstanding bargain for new settlers. He went on to say that he had located about 35 miles from Indian Territory ( Kansas ) and what the people really needed were wagon makers, millwrights, carpenters, blacksmiths, and cabinetmakers. He said the Missourians were a friendly, healthy people which was unlike the folks he saw back in Indiana and Illinois whom he described as “pale and feeble” !!! BY THE WAY, he made his trip of almost 1600 miles with a horse and buggy and used the same horse the whole trip and the animal stayed strong and healthy almost all the way to Indian Territory/Kansas…..

WELL, I DON’T KNOW IF HIS FRIEND, LANE, CAME TO MISSOURI OR NOT BECAUSE BY 1843, DANIEL HAD MOVED TO MILLER COUNTY , MISSOURI-----
​
On December 7, 1843, Daniel had married a Miller County woman, Amanda Challes, daughter of Hugh and Mary Challes who lived in the Tuscumbia area, north of the Osage River . I guess getting married at the age of 33 years is what finally settled him down to one place…….

He opened a store in early Tuscumbia and was told by an old Indian who was still in the region that there was flooding at intervals along the Osage and he showed Daniel where to build his store building. He said the building’s sills should be at a certain mark on the cliff side nearby and any future flooding wouldn’t touch him. He did as the old Indian told him but his houses OVERFLOWED in a later flood! Daniel was a storekeeper in Tuscumbia before and after Civil War times. He also owned a storehouse, a hotel, cooper shop, steam & grist mill, and was a founder of the Tuscumbia ferry boat service across the Osage River . Since those businesses didn’t keep him busy enough, he became a trustee of the school district; a trustee of the town, helped to organize the Masonic AF & AM Lodge #169, was the first Public Administrator of the county and was Miller County Treasurer from 1844-1850. Oh! yes, I also forgot that he procured the official seal of the Miller County Court which has been in use since 1844…………..

Daniel and Amanda were parents of 12 children, but 6 of the 12 died when young. The children included:
​
1. infant daughter 1844-1844
2. Martha A. Cummings 1847- ? m. (1)______Mahan (2) Augustus Mahan of Cole Co., MO
3. Eliza Ann Cummings 1849-1934 m. Dr. James B. McGee (Later they lived in Oklahoma)
4. Edward L.Cummings 1852- ? m. died young ?
5. Francis L. Cummings 1854-1854
6. Josiah L. Cummings 1856- ? m. Mary E/Molly McCarty
7. Lucy A. Cummings 1858- ? m. Marquis W. Fancher (Later they lived in Georgia)
8. Infant daughter 1862-1862 )~~~ twin?
9. Infant son 1862-1862 )~~~~~~~ twin?
10.Mariah Brooks Cummings 1864- ? m. Charles Golden
11. Infant son 1868-1868
12. Wm. M. Cummings 1869- ? m. Isa L. Birdsong
Later they lived in Arkansas

Amanda Challes Cummings died in 1881 at the age of 58 years and was buried at the Tuscumbia Cemetery. Daniel lived until 1885 and died in Tuscumbia at the age of 75 years and was placed beside Amanda in Tuscumbia Cemetery . Their young, deceased children are also buried beside them.

Researching and writing this story of an early citizen of Miller County has been so interesting. Even though the family name no longer appears in Miller County, Daniel was a true pioneer who helped settle and form the county’s history and heritage. You can look in many cemeteries across the county and see names that are not familiar to the present residents, but they were important and it is a joy to write their stories.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

 

For further information about Daniel Cummings, please Click Here. 

​