JOHN CUNNINGHAM, deceased, whose portrait appears in this work, may be
truthfully said to have been one of the representative men of Bourbon
County. He was born June 15, 1795, in Hardy County, Virginia. His parents
were Robert and Mary Robinson Cunningham, both of whom were natives of
the old Dominion. ...
... John Cunningham, the subject of these lines, was married December 27, 1817, to Mary Bean, a native of this State. She was born Sept. 22, 1796, on Strodes Creek in Clark County. She is the daughter of John Bean, and Eva, daughter of Dr. Peter Sensine, a native of Ireland. Mr. Cunningham removed to Bourbon County in 1818, where he spent the greater portion of his life. He was truly a representative man of his time. His early advantages for acquiring an education were very meager, but he made the best of his advantages and studied and read much. Being a close and steady thinker, a liberal patron of good books, and the public journals, he became at length a well-informed man of the locality. He engaged successfully in farming; was a large landholder at the time of his death; was very methodical and exact in his farming operations, building fence of the most durable character, stone being his choice, of which he has left many monuments in this line. He did much to encourage the breeding and growth of fine stock--horses seemed his favorite class. He gave special attention to them, and owned the noted horse "Woodpecker." He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and was a warm and ardent admirer of Henry Clay. From 1833 to 1850 he served as Justice of the Peace; in 1853 he began handling short horns, and continued in this interest up to the time of his death. In 1833 he was chosen to represent his County in the legislature, re-elected in 1839, and to the Senate in 1851, '2, 3' and '4. In all matters that pertained to the good of the Commonwealth, John Cunningham ever bore a prominent part; he largely encouraged the building of railroads and pikes; he was free-hearted and unselfish in his aims and purposes, and labored for the good of his county and country generally, and at his death he was mourned as one beloved by all; he passed away peacefully, Aug. 17, 1864. His wife yet survives him on the homestead, upon which lives John and Naomi; Robert and Lewis on farms adjoining.
