Alamo defender. Killed in action at the Alamo(503045)
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“The Daily Courier”, Connellsville, PA Saturday, March 15, 1969
Local Marker Memorializes Hero by Lucille McGill
The name of David P Cummings, who died March 6, 1836, at the Alamo, is inserted] on a monument in Hill Grove Cemetery as well as in Texas history.
The tall sandstone marker just inside the main entrance also memorializes other members of his family. His father, Maj David Cummings, was buried here in 1848. Names of the brothers are written there – John A Cummings 1823-1893, Veteran of the Sante Fe Expedition and Mexican War and Dr James C Cummings 1802-1872. Two sisters are buried there. Mrs Thomas (Hannah) McKee and Mrs Thomas (Margaret E) McLaughlin (1808-1899). A separate stone nearby marks the graves of his sister, Ellen and her husband, R T Galloway. Mrs Galloway lived from 1821 to 1913.
The Cummings family was prominent in early day Connellsville and Fayette Counties. David’s father, Maj David Cummings, who was born April 23, 1777 in Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland, fought in the War of 1812, before becoming a citizen of Connellsville about 1826. His father, James, was a veteran of the Revolutionary War.
1812 Veteran
Maj Cummings was in the War of 1812 and became a friend of Sam Houston’s during that conflict and that may have led to an interest in the Texas struggle. He was taken captive at the Battle of Beaver Dam in Canada and sent to England. Maj Cummings and other prisoners of war were held at the prison of Dartmoor. He was paroled after six months and returned to America.
After the war, he became a government mail (unreadable) and came to western Pennsylvania in that capacity.
Maj Cummings represented Fayette County in the legislature and reportedly was the first member of that group to propose that the state establish a general system of education. That issue was controversial and may have caused his defeat at the next election.
Went to Lewistown
When the Juniata Canal was being planned, he went to Lewistown, building the section between Lewistown and Huntingdon in 1839. Later he became superintendent of the canal, and eventually collector of tolls at Harrisburg. He died in 1848 in Lewistown.
Maj Cummings and his wife, the former Elizabeth Cather of Cecil County, Md., whom he married in 1801, became parents of six sons and six daughters.
David made his home at times with his oldest sister, Mrs McKee, both in Connellsville and Lewistown.
County Coroner
Their brother, Dr James Cummings, studied medicine at Jefferson College and also studied under Dr Robert P Moore, a well-known Connells (unreadable). He practiced medicine here and served for several terms as Fayette County Coroner. In 1843 and 1844 he served in the legislature. He never married.
Jonathan had followed David to Texas and fought in later battles, returned to Connellsville in his later life.
The Galloways became the parents of a son, Robert, who did not marry, and a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Joe Paul. Their children were Joseph, George and Robert. The McLaughlins at one time lived in Covington, KY.
Much of this information has been provided by a descendant of David’s sister, Alice Frances who married William Ross Hawthorne (sp?) a Civil War general and lived at Academia, (unreadable) and Harrisburg.
The descendant is Mrs Maria Lambert, wife of retired Air Force Colonel Donald Greene Lambert. In 1959 or 1969 they talked with J Martin Stroup of Lewistown, retired editor and historian who has given The Daily Courier permission to use materials he has uncovered on the Cummings family. The Lamberts had just came from San Antonio and the Alamo Library, maintained by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and continued their search for Cummings family material in the Mifflin County Historical Society Library Museum. The Lamberts had a summer address in Maine and the Harrisburg address of Mrs Lambert’s mother, but these are not current addresses.
Family Scattered
Other members of the family for the most part settled in various sections of Pennsylvania, although David’s sister, Sophia, and her husband, Josiah Simmons, lived in Austin and Uvalde, Texas, and a brother, Jonathan also went to Texas.
Texas also became the home of a cousin, Stephen Cummings, who also was a cousin of Dr John Purdy Reynolds of Lewistown, who was killed at the Alamo.
In the early 1830s, Stephen Cummings had founded a newspaper “The Lewistown Republican and Working Man’s Advocate” in partnership with John W Shugart. It was in this newspaper that David’s letters to his father were published.
By 1836 Stephen had sold out his interest and purchased the Juniata Free Press of Mifflintown. He worked in the office of the Baltimore Sun before going to Texas about 1840 working in Austin as a printer.
“He saw military service in his adopted country and was a true friend to Texas in his struggle for liberty” according to “The Annals of Travis County and the City of Austin.”
County Judge
He was a county judge of Travis County in the late 1840s and for several years was a clerk in the General Land Office. He died in 1890 after falling from a tree and was buried in Austin. His widow, Nancy, died in 1901 in San Marcos at the age of 83.
The Cummings name is kept alive in Texas on the monument commemorating the battle of the Alamo, which carries the names of the dead. The portrait statues of James Bowie and James Bonham stand above the east panel, with William Travis and David Crockett above the west panel.
The inscription says “They chose never to surrender nor retreat, these brave hearts with flag still proudly waving perished in the flames of immortality that their high sacrifice might lead to the founding of this Texas.”
(47644196)
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“The Daily Courier”, Connellsville, PA Saturday, March 15, 1969
Local Marker Memorializes Hero by Lucille McGill
The name of David P Cummings, who died March 6, 1836, at the Alamo, is inserted] on a monument in Hill Grove Cemetery as well as in Texas history.
The tall sandstone marker just inside the main entrance also memorializes other members of his family. His father, Maj David Cummings, was buried here in 1848. Names of the brothers are written there – John A Cummings 1823-1893, Veteran of the Sante Fe Expedition and Mexican War and Dr James C Cummings 1802-1872. Two sisters are buried there. Mrs Thomas (Hannah) McKee and Mrs Thomas (Margaret E) McLaughlin (1808-1899). A separate stone nearby marks the graves of his sister, Ellen and her husband, R T Galloway. Mrs Galloway lived from 1821 to 1913.
The Cummings family was prominent in early day Connellsville and Fayette Counties. David’s father, Maj David Cummings, who was born April 23, 1777 in Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland, fought in the War of 1812, before becoming a citizen of Connellsville about 1826. His father, James, was a veteran of the Revolutionary War.
1812 Veteran
Maj Cummings was in the War of 1812 and became a friend of Sam Houston’s during that conflict and that may have led to an interest in the Texas struggle. He was taken captive at the Battle of Beaver Dam in Canada and sent to England. Maj Cummings and other prisoners of war were held at the prison of Dartmoor. He was paroled after six months and returned to America.
After the war, he became a government mail (unreadable) and came to western Pennsylvania in that capacity.
Maj Cummings represented Fayette County in the legislature and reportedly was the first member of that group to propose that the state establish a general system of education. That issue was controversial and may have caused his defeat at the next election.
Went to Lewistown
When the Juniata Canal was being planned, he went to Lewistown, building the section between Lewistown and Huntingdon in 1839. Later he became superintendent of the canal, and eventually collector of tolls at Harrisburg. He died in 1848 in Lewistown.
Maj Cummings and his wife, the former Elizabeth Cather of Cecil County, Md., whom he married in 1801, became parents of six sons and six daughters.
David made his home at times with his oldest sister, Mrs McKee, both in Connellsville and Lewistown.
County Coroner
Their brother, Dr James Cummings, studied medicine at Jefferson College and also studied under Dr Robert P Moore, a well-known Connells (unreadable). He practiced medicine here and served for several terms as Fayette County Coroner. In 1843 and 1844 he served in the legislature. He never married.
Jonathan had followed David to Texas and fought in later battles, returned to Connellsville in his later life.
The Galloways became the parents of a son, Robert, who did not marry, and a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Joe Paul. Their children were Joseph, George and Robert. The McLaughlins at one time lived in Covington, KY.
Much of this information has been provided by a descendant of David’s sister, Alice Frances who married William Ross Hawthorne (sp?) a Civil War general and lived at Academia, (unreadable) and Harrisburg.
The descendant is Mrs Maria Lambert, wife of retired Air Force Colonel Donald Greene Lambert. In 1959 or 1969 they talked with J Martin Stroup of Lewistown, retired editor and historian who has given The Daily Courier permission to use materials he has uncovered on the Cummings family. The Lamberts had just came from San Antonio and the Alamo Library, maintained by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and continued their search for Cummings family material in the Mifflin County Historical Society Library Museum. The Lamberts had a summer address in Maine and the Harrisburg address of Mrs Lambert’s mother, but these are not current addresses.
Family Scattered
Other members of the family for the most part settled in various sections of Pennsylvania, although David’s sister, Sophia, and her husband, Josiah Simmons, lived in Austin and Uvalde, Texas, and a brother, Jonathan also went to Texas.
Texas also became the home of a cousin, Stephen Cummings, who also was a cousin of Dr John Purdy Reynolds of Lewistown, who was killed at the Alamo.
In the early 1830s, Stephen Cummings had founded a newspaper “The Lewistown Republican and Working Man’s Advocate” in partnership with John W Shugart. It was in this newspaper that David’s letters to his father were published.
By 1836 Stephen had sold out his interest and purchased the Juniata Free Press of Mifflintown. He worked in the office of the Baltimore Sun before going to Texas about 1840 working in Austin as a printer.
“He saw military service in his adopted country and was a true friend to Texas in his struggle for liberty” according to “The Annals of Travis County and the City of Austin.”
County Judge
He was a county judge of Travis County in the late 1840s and for several years was a clerk in the General Land Office. He died in 1890 after falling from a tree and was buried in Austin. His widow, Nancy, died in 1901 in San Marcos at the age of 83.
The Cummings name is kept alive in Texas on the monument commemorating the battle of the Alamo, which carries the names of the dead. The portrait statues of James Bowie and James Bonham stand above the east panel, with William Travis and David Crockett above the west panel.
The inscription says “They chose never to surrender nor retreat, these brave hearts with flag still proudly waving perished in the flames of immortality that their high sacrifice might lead to the founding of this Texas.”
(47644196)
Alamo defender. Killed in action at the Alamo(503045)
----------
“The Daily Courier”, Connellsville, PA Saturday, March 15, 1969
Local Marker Memorializes Hero by Lucille McGill
The name of David P Cummings, who died March 6, 1836, at the Alamo, is inserted] on a monument in Hill Grove Cemetery as well as in Texas history.
The tall sandstone marker just inside the main entrance also memorializes other members of his family. His father, Maj David Cummings, was buried here in 1848. Names of the brothers are written there – John A Cummings 1823-1893, Veteran of the Sante Fe Expedition and Mexican War and Dr James C Cummings 1802-1872. Two sisters are buried there. Mrs Thomas (Hannah) McKee and Mrs Thomas (Margaret E) McLaughlin (1808-1899). A separate stone nearby marks the graves of his sister, Ellen and her husband, R T Galloway. Mrs Galloway lived from 1821 to 1913.
The Cummings family was prominent in early day Connellsville and Fayette Counties. David’s father, Maj David Cummings, who was born April 23, 1777 in Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland, fought in the War of 1812, before becoming a citizen of Connellsville about 1826. His father, James, was a veteran of the Revolutionary War.
1812 Veteran
Maj Cummings was in the War of 1812 and became a friend of Sam Houston’s during that conflict and that may have led to an interest in the Texas struggle. He was taken captive at the Battle of Beaver Dam in Canada and sent to England. Maj Cummings and other prisoners of war were held at the prison of Dartmoor. He was paroled after six months and returned to America.
After the war, he became a government mail (unreadable) and came to western Pennsylvania in that capacity.
Maj Cummings represented Fayette County in the legislature and reportedly was the first member of that group to propose that the state establish a general system of education. That issue was controversial and may have caused his defeat at the next election.
Went to Lewistown
When the Juniata Canal was being planned, he went to Lewistown, building the section between Lewistown and Huntingdon in 1839. Later he became superintendent of the canal, and eventually collector of tolls at Harrisburg. He died in 1848 in Lewistown.
Maj Cummings and his wife, the former Elizabeth Cather of Cecil County, Md., whom he married in 1801, became parents of six sons and six daughters.
David made his home at times with his oldest sister, Mrs McKee, both in Connellsville and Lewistown.
County Coroner
Their brother, Dr James Cummings, studied medicine at Jefferson College and also studied under Dr Robert P Moore, a well-known Connells (unreadable). He practiced medicine here and served for several terms as Fayette County Coroner. In 1843 and 1844 he served in the legislature. He never married.
Jonathan had followed David to Texas and fought in later battles, returned to Connellsville in his later life.
The Galloways became the parents of a son, Robert, who did not marry, and a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Joe Paul. Their children were Joseph, George and Robert. The McLaughlins at one time lived in Covington, KY.
Much of this information has been provided by a descendant of David’s sister, Alice Frances who married William Ross Hawthorne (sp?) a Civil War general and lived at Academia, (unreadable) and Harrisburg.
The descendant is Mrs Maria Lambert, wife of retired Air Force Colonel Donald Greene Lambert. In 1959 or 1969 they talked with J Martin Stroup of Lewistown, retired editor and historian who has given The Daily Courier permission to use materials he has uncovered on the Cummings family. The Lamberts had just came from San Antonio and the Alamo Library, maintained by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and continued their search for Cummings family material in the Mifflin County Historical Society Library Museum. The Lamberts had a summer address in Maine and the Harrisburg address of Mrs Lambert’s mother, but these are not current addresses.
Family Scattered
Other members of the family for the most part settled in various sections of Pennsylvania, although David’s sister, Sophia, and her husband, Josiah Simmons, lived in Austin and Uvalde, Texas, and a brother, Jonathan also went to Texas.
Texas also became the home of a cousin, Stephen Cummings, who also was a cousin of Dr John Purdy Reynolds of Lewistown, who was killed at the Alamo.
In the early 1830s, Stephen Cummings had founded a newspaper “The Lewistown Republican and Working Man’s Advocate” in partnership with John W Shugart. It was in this newspaper that David’s letters to his father were published.
By 1836 Stephen had sold out his interest and purchased the Juniata Free Press of Mifflintown. He worked in the office of the Baltimore Sun before going to Texas about 1840 working in Austin as a printer.
“He saw military service in his adopted country and was a true friend to Texas in his struggle for liberty” according to “The Annals of Travis County and the City of Austin.”
County Judge
He was a county judge of Travis County in the late 1840s and for several years was a clerk in the General Land Office. He died in 1890 after falling from a tree and was buried in Austin. His widow, Nancy, died in 1901 in San Marcos at the age of 83.
The Cummings name is kept alive in Texas on the monument commemorating the battle of the Alamo, which carries the names of the dead. The portrait statues of James Bowie and James Bonham stand above the east panel, with William Travis and David Crockett above the west panel.
The inscription says “They chose never to surrender nor retreat, these brave hearts with flag still proudly waving perished in the flames of immortality that their high sacrifice might lead to the founding of this Texas.”
(47644196)
----------
“The Daily Courier”, Connellsville, PA Saturday, March 15, 1969
Local Marker Memorializes Hero by Lucille McGill
The name of David P Cummings, who died March 6, 1836, at the Alamo, is inserted] on a monument in Hill Grove Cemetery as well as in Texas history.
The tall sandstone marker just inside the main entrance also memorializes other members of his family. His father, Maj David Cummings, was buried here in 1848. Names of the brothers are written there – John A Cummings 1823-1893, Veteran of the Sante Fe Expedition and Mexican War and Dr James C Cummings 1802-1872. Two sisters are buried there. Mrs Thomas (Hannah) McKee and Mrs Thomas (Margaret E) McLaughlin (1808-1899). A separate stone nearby marks the graves of his sister, Ellen and her husband, R T Galloway. Mrs Galloway lived from 1821 to 1913.
The Cummings family was prominent in early day Connellsville and Fayette Counties. David’s father, Maj David Cummings, who was born April 23, 1777 in Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland, fought in the War of 1812, before becoming a citizen of Connellsville about 1826. His father, James, was a veteran of the Revolutionary War.
1812 Veteran
Maj Cummings was in the War of 1812 and became a friend of Sam Houston’s during that conflict and that may have led to an interest in the Texas struggle. He was taken captive at the Battle of Beaver Dam in Canada and sent to England. Maj Cummings and other prisoners of war were held at the prison of Dartmoor. He was paroled after six months and returned to America.
After the war, he became a government mail (unreadable) and came to western Pennsylvania in that capacity.
Maj Cummings represented Fayette County in the legislature and reportedly was the first member of that group to propose that the state establish a general system of education. That issue was controversial and may have caused his defeat at the next election.
Went to Lewistown
When the Juniata Canal was being planned, he went to Lewistown, building the section between Lewistown and Huntingdon in 1839. Later he became superintendent of the canal, and eventually collector of tolls at Harrisburg. He died in 1848 in Lewistown.
Maj Cummings and his wife, the former Elizabeth Cather of Cecil County, Md., whom he married in 1801, became parents of six sons and six daughters.
David made his home at times with his oldest sister, Mrs McKee, both in Connellsville and Lewistown.
County Coroner
Their brother, Dr James Cummings, studied medicine at Jefferson College and also studied under Dr Robert P Moore, a well-known Connells (unreadable). He practiced medicine here and served for several terms as Fayette County Coroner. In 1843 and 1844 he served in the legislature. He never married.
Jonathan had followed David to Texas and fought in later battles, returned to Connellsville in his later life.
The Galloways became the parents of a son, Robert, who did not marry, and a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Joe Paul. Their children were Joseph, George and Robert. The McLaughlins at one time lived in Covington, KY.
Much of this information has been provided by a descendant of David’s sister, Alice Frances who married William Ross Hawthorne (sp?) a Civil War general and lived at Academia, (unreadable) and Harrisburg.
The descendant is Mrs Maria Lambert, wife of retired Air Force Colonel Donald Greene Lambert. In 1959 or 1969 they talked with J Martin Stroup of Lewistown, retired editor and historian who has given The Daily Courier permission to use materials he has uncovered on the Cummings family. The Lamberts had just came from San Antonio and the Alamo Library, maintained by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and continued their search for Cummings family material in the Mifflin County Historical Society Library Museum. The Lamberts had a summer address in Maine and the Harrisburg address of Mrs Lambert’s mother, but these are not current addresses.
Family Scattered
Other members of the family for the most part settled in various sections of Pennsylvania, although David’s sister, Sophia, and her husband, Josiah Simmons, lived in Austin and Uvalde, Texas, and a brother, Jonathan also went to Texas.
Texas also became the home of a cousin, Stephen Cummings, who also was a cousin of Dr John Purdy Reynolds of Lewistown, who was killed at the Alamo.
In the early 1830s, Stephen Cummings had founded a newspaper “The Lewistown Republican and Working Man’s Advocate” in partnership with John W Shugart. It was in this newspaper that David’s letters to his father were published.
By 1836 Stephen had sold out his interest and purchased the Juniata Free Press of Mifflintown. He worked in the office of the Baltimore Sun before going to Texas about 1840 working in Austin as a printer.
“He saw military service in his adopted country and was a true friend to Texas in his struggle for liberty” according to “The Annals of Travis County and the City of Austin.”
County Judge
He was a county judge of Travis County in the late 1840s and for several years was a clerk in the General Land Office. He died in 1890 after falling from a tree and was buried in Austin. His widow, Nancy, died in 1901 in San Marcos at the age of 83.
The Cummings name is kept alive in Texas on the monument commemorating the battle of the Alamo, which carries the names of the dead. The portrait statues of James Bowie and James Bonham stand above the east panel, with William Travis and David Crockett above the west panel.
The inscription says “They chose never to surrender nor retreat, these brave hearts with flag still proudly waving perished in the flames of immortality that their high sacrifice might lead to the founding of this Texas.”
(47644196)
Gravesite Details
Killed in action at the Alamo.
Family Members
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