Captain Joseph Cummings, Sr. of Woburn

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Cummings, Capt. Joseph I-Sarah Estey Cummings, Capt. Joseph I-Sarah Estey Cummings, Capt. Joseph I-Sarah Estey Cummings, Capt. Joseph I-Sarah Estey. 0 Footnote Cummings, Capt. Joseph I-Sarah Estey ShortFootnote Cummings, Capt. Joseph I-Sarah Estey Bibliography Cummings, Capt. Joseph I-Sarah Estey.

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Page Capt. Joseph Cummings I Born: September 1, 1692, O.S. At: Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Parents: Cummings, Abraham and Sarah Wright Occupation 1: farmer Occupation 2: realtor

Note: “Capt. Cummings became quite a large operator in real estate, for between 1719 and 1763 as many as twenty-three deeds were recorded as passed between him and various parties, principally purchases by him of tracts of land.”

Residence: Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts Will dated: July 29, 1785 Died: April 22, 1794 At: Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts

Note: My longest-lived male ancestor at 101 years, 7 months, and 21 days.

Note: An obituary, allegedly published in the Salem Gazette: “In early life he made a public profession of religion, and, by a uniform piety, integrity, temperance, cheerfulness and benevolence, he supported an amiable and unblemished character. He was not favored with the advantages of education; but strong mental powers, inquisitive turn of mind, and a tenacious memory had enabled him to acquire and retain a good knowledge of the principal events and public transactions of the last hundred years. Possessed of a rich fund of interesting and entertaining anecdotes, he was a living history of nearly a century. Within his memory the people in his neighborhood were in fear of the Indians, and he had himself stood sentry at a small fortress in the town. Employed from his youth in cultivating a valuable farm, not with excessive labor, but steady industry - living in a plentiful, but plain and simple manner - and enjoying a uniform cheerfulness - the powers of his body and mind continued in great vigor to a very advanced age. When nearly a hundred, he would readily mount his horse from the ground; and his reason continued to his last moments. Satisfied with living, and with little appearance of any other disease than senility, he closed this mortal scene, in the cheering hope of a blessed immortality. His descendants were 2 children, 23 grandchildren, 116 great-grandchildren, and 32 great-great-grandchildren, total, 173.”

Note: A tradition of his great-granddaughter, Susanna Randall: “The day he was a hundred years old, he put his foot in the stirrup from the ground, seated himself in the saddle, rode to Andover on a cold wintry day to visit his grandson, Stephen, my father, and about that time Stephen had a son born whom he named Joseph for his grand-sire.”

Will proved: May 5, 1794 Marriage 1: December 1, 1714 At: Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts Spouse 1: Sarah Estey Born: October 4, 1694 At: Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts Parents: Estey, Isaac Jr. and Abigail Kimball Note: Mary Towne Estey, hanged at Salem in 1692, was her paternal grandmother Died: c. 1750 At: Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts

Known issue: 1. Thomas [see Cummings, Thomas Sr. and Lydia Richardson]. 2. Sarah, born 20 Aug 1720. Married Benjamin Lamson 18 Sep 1736.

Marriage 2: November 10, 1751 Spouse 2: Priscilla Lamson

Primary sources: 1. Mark Hanks. 2. The Cummings Memorial: A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Isaac Cummings. Rev. George Mooar. Published by B. F. Cummings. New York. 1903. 3. The Salem Gazette. 4. Vital Records of Topsfield, Massachusetts.

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Mark Hanks Mark Hanks Mark Hanks Mark Hanks. 0 Footnote Mark Hanks ShortFootnote Mark Hanks Bibliography Mark Hanks.

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Page Capt. Joseph Cummings married, Dec. 1, 1714, Sarah, daughter of Isaac and Abigail (Kimball) Estey, sister to Abigail, who married Joseph Cummings. According to the address delivered by Prof. Parker Cleaveland at the 200th anniversary of the town of Topsfield, Joseph who was born in Woburn, went at the age of 12, to live with his Uncle Howlet. This was about the year 1704. The uncle William had married Oct. 27, 1671, Mary Perkins, daughter of Thomas and Phebe (Gould), born 1651; died, 1728. They had but one child, Thomas, who married, 1695, Rebecca Cummings. Thomas having no child, adopted Joseph Cummings, whose mother was Sarah Howlet. But Thomas died in 1713, and his father, on May 21, 1715, made the following declaration and conveyance; the John Howlet mentioned was the son of Samuel, William's brother.

"For and in consideration of a deed of sale of this date made by John Howlet of said Ipswich, at my request and desire, of his farm in Thick Woods, to Jos. Cummings of said Ipswich, as per deed may appear, and also for the sum of 60 pounds paid and secured to be paid by my order to my daughter-in-law, Rebecca Howlet, and for that said John Howlet hath promised and engaged to fulfill these following articles: To pay annually during the natural lives of me and my now wife, twenty-five bushels of good and marketable Indian corn, six bushels of good and merchantable barley malt, four bushels of rye, two bushels of wheat, one hundred pounds of good pork, four barrels of cider, six bushels of apples and fire wood, and fifty of pork, sufficient for them at the door, the keeping of two cows, winter and summer, and ten pounds of flax, ten and eighteen pounds money, the running of two pigs at door and in orchard; all this duty to be performed yearly by said John Howlet:

"Convey and confirm unto said John Howlet, his heirs and assigns forever, all my farm, messuage or tenement which I now dwell upon and that tenement which my son Thomas's widow dwells upon, which farm and tenements are situated partly in Ipswich and partly in the township of Topsfield, containing by estimation one hundred acres, be it more or less, lying partly on the North Side of Ipswich river, and partly on Topsfield line, bounded as followeth: On the North East by Ipswich town common, on the East upon Ipswich river, West on land of Nathaniel Averill, Samuel Howlet and Ebenezer Averill, North West on land of Tobijah Perkins, also all my wood land lying upon the South Side of Ipswich river."

Accordingly, John Howlet, May 20, 1715, had signed the following: "Whereas, in consideration of a deed made to me by my Uncle William, of the farm he now dwells on in Ipswich, I have granted all this said farm to Joseph Cummings of Ipswich, at the request of said William, being seventy acres, sixty of which stands by the house and barn,beginning at a stake and heap of stones by John Lamson's land, at a place called the pond, thence up the hill and extending to the river on the other side." Marietta Clark (Historical Collections of Topsfield Historical Society), says Joseph Cummings is known to have lived on the hill referred to.

On Jan. 3, 1717-8, William Howlet bequeathed one-half of his estate to be "equally divided between my cousins, John Howlet, that lives hard by, and my cousin, Joseph Cummings." In a codicil, Apr. 3, 1718, he says: "By my cousin, Joseph Cummings, I do intend my sister Sarah, her grandson Joseph Cummings."

Mrs. Mary Howlet completes this narrative of the Howlet connection, for in her will she says: "My will is that my cousin, Joseph Cummings, aforesaid, and my cousin Sarah Wildes, now Perkins, who hath lived with me some years, shall have at my decease what remains undisposed of otherwise, equally divided between them, only my bed which I now lie on shall be and is already ordered to my cousin, Joseph Cummings, not being any divided between them, but shall be free and clear to said Cummings; but all the rest undisposed of shall be equally divided between them, only that I would have it noted that my little iron dish kettle that contains about the quantity of a pailful, together with a coverlid which was my sister Judith's lately deceased, and fell to my part of the estate - These particulars last mentioned shall fall into and be accounted part of my cousin, Sarah Wildes, now Perkins, aforesaid, her share."

Capt. Cummings became quite a large operator in real estate, for between 1719 and 1763 as many as twenty-three deeds were recorded as passed between him and various parties, principally purchases by him of tracts of land. After a good deal of negotiation, the part of Ipswich where he lived was set off to Topsfield. This was in 1774. The Rev. Temple Cutler, of Essex, Mass., says that among the papers of his grandfather, Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, he once came across an obituary notice of Capt. Cummings, in which the Doctor speaks of him as a remarkable man, well versed in the politics of the day. My correspondent adds: "From the interest Dr. Cutler felt in him, he must have been a staunch patriot and Federalist."

We add a part of the notice of him which appeared in the Salem Gazette, May 13, shortly after his death and may well be the one to which Mr. Cutler refers: "In early life he made a public profession of religion, and, by a uniform piety, integrity, temperance, cheerfulness and benevolence, he supported an amiable and unblemished character. He was not favored with the advantages of education; but strong mental powers, inquisitive turn of mind, and a tenacious memory had enabled him to acquire and retain a good knowledge of the principal events and public transactions of the last hundred years. Possessed of a rich fund of interesting and entertaining anecdotes, he was a living history of nearly a century. Within his memory the people in his neighborhood were in fear of the Indians, and he had himself stood sentry at a small fortress in the town. Employed from his youth in cultivating a valuable farm, not with excessive labor, but steady industry - living in a plentiful, but plain and simple manner - and enjoying a uniform cheerfulness - the powers of his body and mind continued in great vigor to a very advanced age. When nearly a hundred, he would readily mount his horse from the ground; and his reason continued to his last moments. Satisfied with living, and with little appearance of any other disease than senility, he closed this mortal scene, in the cheering hope of a blessed immortality. His descendants were 2 children, 23 grandchildren, 116 great-grandchildren, and 32 great-great-grandchildren, total, 173."

In a statement made by Mrs. Susanna Randall, is found the following tradition: "The day he was a hundred years old, he put his foot in the stirrup from the ground, seated himself in the saddle, rode to Andover on a cold wintry day to visit his grandson, Stephen, my father, and about that time Stephen had a son born whom he named Joseph for his grand-sire." As will be seen from comparison of records, the grand-sire was born Sept. 1, 1692, and his name-sake, Dec. 6, 1792. Capt. Cummings married for his second wife, Nov. 10, 1751, Priscilla Lamson. In his will, dated July 29, 1785, and proved May 5, 1794 (he died Apr. 22 preceding), he mentions "the heirs of my last wife's two brothers, viz.: The heirs of John Lamson and the heirs of Peter Lamson, deceased; the heirs of Abigail Edwards, also deceased. Mary Davis, daughter to my granddaughter, Hannah Adams." Among his granddaughters he also mentions Sarah Wiggins and Lydia Wiggins. To his son Thomas, with whom he had spent his declining days he devised the residue of the estate. Priscilla, the second wife, had died Aug. 19, 1780.

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The Cummings Memorial: A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Isaac Cummings Rev. George Mooar, The Cummings Memorial: A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Isaac Cummings Rev. George Mooar, The Cummings Memorial: A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Isaac Cummings Rev. George Mooar. The Cummings Memorial: A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Isaac Cummings. Published by B. F. Cummings. New York. 1903 0 Footnote Rev. George Mooar, The Cummings Memorial: A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Isaac Cummings ShortFootnote Rev. George Mooar, The Cummings Memorial: A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Isaac Cummings Bibliography Rev. George Mooar. The Cummings Memorial: A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Isaac Cummings.

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24 Page 24 Capt. Joseph Cummings, b. in Woburn Sept. 1, 1692; m. Dec. 1, 1714, Sarah, dau. of Isaac and Abigail (Kimball) Estey. She d. 1749-50 and he m. 2d Nov. 11, 1751, Priscilla Lamson. She d. Aug. 19, 1780. At the age of twelve, tradition says, he came to Topsfield to live with Thomas Hewlett, whose wife was Rebecca Cummings, and by whom he was adopted. In 1715 he received by deed the farm east of the Ipswich River, in "thick woods," of recent years known as the Smith farm. He d. Apr. 22, 1794; aged 102 years.

To the last his memory was strong and exact - his judgment clear and sound - his retorts equally clear and keen. He had strong mental powers and inquisitive turn of mind, and a tenacious memory had enabled him to acquire and retain a good knowledge of the principal events and public transactions of the last hundred years. Possessed of a rich fund of interesting and entertaining anecdotes, he was a living history of nearly a century. When nearly an hundred, he would readily mount a horse from the ground; and his reason continued to his last moments. Satisfied with living, and with little appearance of any disease than senility, he closed this mortal scene, in the cheerful hope of a blessed immortality. His descendants were two children, 23 grand-children, 116 great-grand-children and 32 great-great-grand-children. Total 173.

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The Salem Gazette The Salem Gazette The Salem Gazette The Salem Gazette. 0 Footnote The Salem Gazette ShortFootnote The Salem Gazette Bibliography The Salem Gazette.

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Page May 6, 1794. Died at Topsfield, Captain Joseph Cummings, 101.