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Cummings Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: mss-097

Scope and Content

The Cumming Collection contains a large selection of family letters (1823-1946), with the majority of letters being the correspondence between Elizabeth Cummings and her immediate family, family deeds (1795-1906) from Dunstable Massachusetts, Norwich and Thetford Vermont, of which the Norwich and Thetford deeds make up the bulk of this section. Family photogrphs by Vermont photographers and others (ca. 1850-1944), a vast amount of family genealogical data, and two volumes of Cummings family and North Thetford history, compiled by Elizabeth Cummings are in the collection. These two volumes give a good picture of the start and further development of North Thetford. In them are descriptions of the town and its streets, buildings, landmarks, and people. There is also a story with pictures on the 1927 and 1936 flooding of the Connecticut river.

Dates

  • 1795-1946

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Access:

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Manuscripts.

Cummings Family History

Ebenezer Cummings (1790-1857) was one of the early settlers of the North Thetford, Vermont. Much of the village was built upon land which at one time was his farm. He was the father of three children, the most notable being Harlan Page Cummings. Harlan was educated at Thetford Academy. He served with the 15th Regiment during the Civil War. After the war he sold building lots in North Thetford. He was director, clerk, and treasurer of the West Fairlee, Fairlee, and Thetford Telephone Co., and also a trustee of the Thetford Academy. For twenty five years he held the office of Justice of the Peace and he was postmaster of North Thetford for ten years (1866-1876). He was also a member of the General Assembly, representing North Thetford. Harlen married Alpa M. Baxter on January 23, 1868, and was the father of six children. One son, Allen (1868-1930) graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth in 1892. He later taught high school for thirty-five years. Marshall B. Cummings, another child , was a professor of Horticulture at the University of Vermont. He experimented with apple orchards, and in 1937 discovered the emergence date of the fruit fly thus giving farmers accurate data on when to spray to keep the fruit flys under control. Marshall was also secretary of the Vermont Sate Horticulture Society for thirty years. Another child of Harlan Page Cummings is Elizabeth A. Cummings. She is the woman who, while in her late years, crippled with arthritis, put together the papers in this collection. Prior to her affliction she was a supervisor at the Clark School for the Deaf, in Massachustts.

Extent

1.0 Linear feet (1 carton)

Abstract

The Cummings Papers contain a large selection of family letters (1823-1946), family deeds (1795-1906) from Dunstable Massachusetts, Norwich and Thetford Vermont, family photogrphs (ca. 1850-1944), genealogical data, and two volumes of Cummings family and North Thetford history, compiled by Elizabeth Cummings.

Physical Location

Library Research Annex.

Acquisition Information

Elizabeth A. Cummings

General note

Volumes

  1. North Thetford Vt. Historical scrapbook, ca. 1946
  2. North Thetford Vt. Historical scrapbook, ca. 1946
Title
Guide to the Cummings Family Papers, 1795-1946
Status
Completed
Date
1998
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the University of Vermont Libraries, Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Silver Special Collections Library
48 University Place, Room B201
Burlington Vermont 05405 U.S.A. US
(802) 656-2138
(802) 656-4038 (Fax)