Governor, Army officer, Indian Commissioner. Little is known of his early years, but he relocated to Augusta and was the mayor in1839. During the Mexican war he was a sutler with Winfield Scott's army. He then served as superintendent of Indian affairs for the central division from 1853 to 1856. In 1855 he was named the senior of three commissioners assigned to make a treaty with the Blackfeet Tribe at the Judith River and the first treaty with that tribe was signed on October 17. President James Buchanan appointed him as governor of the Utah Territory to replace Brigham Young in 1857. There were some threats of an uprising among the Mormons, but Young voluntarily gave way and there was no blood shed. Cumming was a Democrat and served until 1861 and Lincoln's Inauguration, when he returned to Augusta where he lived in retirement until his death.
Governor, Army officer, Indian Commissioner. Little is known of his early years, but he relocated to Augusta and was the mayor in1839. During the Mexican war he was a sutler with Winfield Scott's army. He then served as superintendent of Indian affairs for the central division from 1853 to 1856. In 1855 he was named the senior of three commissioners assigned to make a treaty with the Blackfeet Tribe at the Judith River and the first treaty with that tribe was signed on October 17. President James Buchanan appointed him as governor of the Utah Territory to replace Brigham Young in 1857. There were some threats of an uprising among the Mormons, but Young voluntarily gave way and there was no blood shed. Cumming was a Democrat and served until 1861 and Lincoln's Inauguration, when he returned to Augusta where he lived in retirement until his death.
Bio by: Tom Todd
Family Members
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