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- Rev. Charles CummingsBef 1746 - 1812
Facts and Events
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Related
- Ebbing Springs Call
Biography
Rev. Charles Cummings (pre 1746-1812)
Rev. Charles Cummings, son of John and Sarah Polk Cummings, was born in Denegal county, Ireland. Through the influence of his brother, James, who was the captain of a merchant vessel, Charles came to America at the age of eighteen. He entered Carlisle College, Pa., from which he was graduated, and then went to Lancaster county, Va., where he was employed as a tutor, and studied theology with the noted preacher, Rev.James Waddell. "The Carters, Gordons and others in that congregation were in the habit of employing, as teachers, young gentlemen of classical education from the mother country. A number of these became ministers in the Presbyterian Church."--Foote. He was licensed to preach by Hanover Presbytery at Tinkling Spring, April 17, 1766. Oct. 15, 1766, Rev. Mr. Cummings received three calls, and accepted the one to Maj. Brown's Meeting House in Augusta, and filled it until June 2, 1772, when he accepted a call from the congregations of Ebbing Spring and Sinking Spring on Holston in Washington co unty, where he remained until his death in 1812. He and his wife are buried in the Sinking Spring cemetery. Foote says that: "His call from the Holston was signed by one hundred and twenty heads of families, all respectable men, many of whom afterwards became distinguished; a fact as remarkable as true."
The following is extracted from a sketch of Rev. Mr. Cummings by ex-Governor Campbell: "Having accepted the call, he removed with his family, purchased land in the neighborhood of where Abingdon now stands, and settled upon it. His first meeting house at Sinking Spring was a very large cabin of unhewn logs, from eighty to one hundred feet long, by about forty wide. . . . Mr.Cummings was of middle statue, about five feet ten inches high, well set and formed, possessing great firmness and dignity of character. His voice was strong and had great compass; his articulation was clear and distinct. Without apparent effort he could speak to be heard by ten thousand people. His mind was good without any brilliancy. He understood his system well, spoke always with gravity, and required it from all who sat under the sound of his voice. . . . When he came to Holston he was about forty years of age.
"At this time the Indians were very troublesome, and continued to be for several years; and generally during the summer months, the families for safety were obliged to collect together in forts. The one to which he always carried his family was on the land of Captain Jos. Black and stood on the first knoll on the knob road south of Abingdon. In the month of July, 1776, when his family were in the fort, and he with a servant and wagon and three neighbors were going to his farm, the party were attached by Indians, a few hundred yards from the meeting house. Creswell, who was driving the wagon, was killed at the first fire of the Indians, and during the skirmish the other two neighbors were wounded. Mr. Cummings and his servant man, Job, both of whom were well armed, drove the Indians from their ambush, and with the aid of some men from the fort, who, hearing the fire, came to their relief, brought in the dead and wounded.
"In his early ministry he became possessed of a valuable library; and appears to have been devoted to his work as a minister of the gospel. .. . He preached for many years and until far advanced in life to one of the largest, most respectable and most intelligent congregations ever assembled in western Virginia. "Mr. Cummings was a zealous whig, and contributed much to kindle the patriotic fire which blazed forth so brilliantly among the people of the Holston in the war of the Revolution. He was the first named on the list of the Committee of Safety for Fincastle county, and after the formation of Washington county, 1776, he was chairman of the Committee of Safety of that county, and took an active part in all its measures. Mr. Cummings died in March, 1812, in about the eightieth year of his age, leaving many and most respectable descendants. He was a sincere and exemplary Christian, and a John Knox in his energy and zeal in support of his own church. He never lost sight of his object and always marched directly up to it with a full front. He performed a great deal of missionary labor through an extensive district of country, beyond his own large field. The fruits still remain. . . . In the expedition against the Cherokees in 1776, Mr. Cummings accompanied the forces from Holston, and preached at the different stations now included in the State of Tennessee; and in this way was the first minister of the gospel in that State."
Summers' Southwest Virginia says that Mr. Cummings is accredited with the honor of having drafted the Fincastle resolutions which were adopted Jan. 20, 1775; and that he assisted in drafting the petition from the Hanover Presbytery to the General Assembly of Virginia asking for the separation of the Church and State, in October, 1776.
He married on February 13, 1766 Millicent Carter, daughter of Thomas Carter, Gentlemen, of Lancaster county, who was born in Lancaster, Aug 9, 1743. Rev. Charles and Millicent Carter Cummings had issue:
- John Cummings, born August 24, 1767. Never married,
- Thomas Cummings, born Oct. 1, 1768. Was educated for the ministry, but died young, unmarried,
- Sarah Cummings, born March 15, 1770,
- Mary Cummings, born Dec. 15, 1771,.
- James Cummings, born Nov. 9, 1773, died Aug. 1, 1840,
- Charles Cummings, born May 10, 1776. Never married,
- Millicent Cummings, born Jan. 27, 1778,.
- Nancy Cummings, born Nov. 30, 1779, died in childhood,
- Robert Cummings, born May 16, 1781,
- Elizabeth Cummings, born April 16, 1783, died in infancy,
- George Cummings, born May 14, 1784, died in infancy,
- William Cummings, born Oct. 7, 1788. Never married.
From The Descendants of Captain Thomas Carter, by Joseph L. Miller (1912)
Notes
NOTE: the following reference in Chalkley's seems to indicate that Nancy Cummings did NOT die in childhood:
1799--April 15, John Allison and Charles Cummins, surety. John Allison
and Nancy Cummins, daughter of above Charles. John is of age.
"Sketches of Virginia, Chapter IX. - Settlements on the Holston" [1] Image with names of signers as well as other biographies of neighbors also provided
I send you enclosed by the same mail that carries this letter, a copy of the call to the Rev. Charles Cummings, signed by one hundred and thirty-eight heads of families. In my early life I knew personally, many of those whose names are signed to it — and I knew nearly all of them from character. They were a most respectable body of men; were all whigs in the revolution, and nearly all — probably every one of them, performed military service against the Indians—and a large portion of them against the British, in the battles of King’s Mountain, Guilford court-house, and other actions in North and South Carolina. The Campbell family, from which I am descended, were originally from the Highlands of Scotland, and emigrated to Ireland about the latter end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. John Campbell, my great-grandfather, with a family of ten or twelve, children, came to America in 1726, and settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He had six sons —three of whom, Patrick, Robert and David, emigrated with him from Pennsylvania, to what was then Orange, but afterwards Augusta County, about the year 1730. Patrick was the oldest child and grandfather of General William Campbell of the Revolution. David was the youngest, and was my grandfather. He married in Augusta County, Mary Hamilton, and had seven sons — John, Arthur, James, William, David, Robert and Patrick. All except William, who died when a young man, emigrated to Holston; John, Robert and Arthur before their father, the other three with him. The other sons of John Campbell had families, and their descendants are scattered over many of the States of the West. William B. Campbell, a young man and lately elected Governor of Tennessee, is my nephew, and is the grandson of Margaret Campbell, one of the daughters of my grandfather, David Campbell. The Edmiston, or Edmondson family, that came to Holston, was a very large and respectable one, numbering some ten or fifteen families. They were zealous whigs, and William the oldest brother was Major in the regiment from this county, that behaved so gallantly in-the battle of King’s Mountain. Two of his brothers, Captain Andrew Edmiston and Lieut. Robert Edmiston, and a cousin Captain William . Edmiston, were killed in that battle. The Vance, Newell and Blackburn connection was very large and respectable. The Rev. Gideon Blackburn once of Tennessee, and one of the most distinguished pulpit orators of his time, was of the same Blackburn stock. Col. Samuel Newell, son of Samuel Newell who signs the call, was a distinguished officer in the battle of King’s Mountain and a man of fine talents. He died in Kentucky. The Buchanan family was a numerous one, all worthy people. There were four brothers of the Davises and three of the Craigs, all very worthy men — also several brothers of the Lowreys and Montgomerys, equally worthy. William Christian was from near where Fincastle now stands — was a man of fine intellect, and distinguished in western warfare. Benjamin Logan was the same man who went to Kentucky, and became a distinguished man there. There are on the list many others whose families have done well in the western country. I will omit at present going into more detail, and indeed I do not know that I can give you any information further that would deserve your notice. I have not .given you any particular account of my immediate ancestors, supposing it would not be suitable from me....
Source
- From "Early American Presbyterians"
- (http://sdsspc1.physics.lsa.umich.edu/amckay/presbioc.htm#Rev. James Campbell)
- Sketches of Virginia, Chapter IX. - Settlements on the Holston
- https://electricscotland.com/history/america/virginia/chapter09.htm
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