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The CUMMINS were pioneers during the early 1800's traveling from North Carolina through Tennessee to Jefferson County, Alabama. And then after 1853, lured to the rich farmlands Attala County, Mississippi.
While mustered under Mississippi and Alabama regiments, William and Emily Cummins sons, many grandsons and other kin fought (and some died) in the Civil War(even though they were not slave owners).
And while many remain in Mississippi, there were many others who dreamed of a newer frontiers moving on to Texas.
Many of the CUMMINS clan meet each May in Kosciusko, Mississippi at the Doty Springs Baptist Church Homecoming. This homecoming has been a traditional pilgrimage for generations kinfolk over the past century. It is always the 3rd Sunday in May regardless of what the date is.
My Version of the CUMMINS Pioneering Journey:
About 200 years ago, WILLIAM CUMMINS was born in North Carolina. His forebears had already secured this great country's independence. And on this side of the Mississippi River, the wilderness lands in the New Southwest Territory were being seized from the Great Indian Nations. Following the War of 1812, the Creek Indians of the Alabama Territory were displaced from their land and "Alabama Feaver" spread causing a rush of new settlers seeking land. It was feared that this "Feaver" might result in the depopulation of states like NC & Virginia. In 1816, Frontiersman Davey Crockett took a look around northern Alabama before deciding to move on "WEST" into the wilderness of "Western Tennessee". As it were, with the best land taken, those coming after had to keep moving.
Young and newlywed, WILLIAM CUMMINS and his wife, EMILY, made their way into Tennessee where their first son, WILLIS W., was born in 1821. Thereafter, the young pioneers would most likely travel south along one of the very few trails charted into Alabama - the Huntsville Road. The 1830 Alabama Census lists WILLIAM CUMINS and family in Jefferson County (present day Birmingham). Children are married in Alabama: Willis W. to Lucinda TURNER (m1843), Mary Ann to Isaac ELLARD (m1844), Malinda to Merit ELLARD (m1848), Daniel H. to Martha WHITFIELD, and William M. to Frances Malinda ARMSTRONG (m1855). The 1840 Census lists another child - a boy 0-5 yrs old that is not listed on the 1850 Census.
In 1852, a Ruhama Baptist Church report tells of an action against Bro. & Sis. CUMMINS who had been charged with "mistreating" another member. Several months later they were restored to fellowship. Nevertheless, on July 18, 1852, Wm. & Emily sold or "conveyed certain land" to youngest son William M CUMMINS. Thus and so, (except for son, Wm. M.) All of the CUMMINS and many of the in-law families sold their lands and moved to Possumneck and Rocky Point, Mississippi (1860 Attala County, MS Census). Or perhaps it was the talk of Mississippi's rich farmlands - the "Garden of America" that lured them to this part of Mississippi.
More on Willis W. CUMMINS and his descendants can be seen by clinking on "LINK" shown at bottom of this page.
According to Census Records, WILLIAM CUMMINS was born about 1805 and EMILY about 1803. Their names are not listed on the 1870 Mississippi or Alabama Census. Family tales/rumors claim that William returned to Alabama after the War and was never heard from again. Likewise, no one seems to know where he or she is buried or when or where they may have died.
William's full name may have been William M. or "Billy" CUMMINS or in transcribed records his middle initial as "C" or "CC" because of a fancy curve he used to sign the "M" in his name. Several CUMMINS families from NC named at least one of their sons William. To positively identify our William Cummins' parents has become more of a process of elimination. Also, Emily's maiden name has not been found or determined. Census records cite she was born in NC and one family researcher found an entry listed her as Mrs. Gore.
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