Butte County
Biographies
THOMAS JEFFERSON CUMMINS
THOMAS JEFFERSON CUMMINS.—There are few more inspiring
examples of self-won success in the history of California than that furnished
by the career of T. J. Cummins, who became one of the largest
landowners in Northern California. Except in rare instances,
the youth of today steps into his active life with at least a fair school
education. Mr. Cummins knew no such advantage and furthermore he was
without money or influence. He was born in Fulton County, Ill., July 23, 1838,
a son of James and Mary (Dickinson) Cummins, natives of Virginia and Ohio
respectively, both born in 1814. They settled in Illinois and then moved to
Missouri where the mother died in 1847, when Thomas J. was but nine years old.
The family lived in Bates, Henry and Ray Counties, Mo., in succession. Rumors
of the discovery of gold in California reached the quiet farming section in Ray
County, and James Cummins, with his son, Thomas J., came across the plains with
ox teams, in 1848, and the following year he returned to his children with
several thousand dollars in gold. In 1852 he came back to California, again
accompanied by Thomas J. and several members of his family, he having married a
second time. He ran the Eagle Hotel on the old Nevada road, above Sacramento,
until 1855, and then, with a daughter and Thomas J. he returned to Missouri. In
1857 he purchased five hundred head of cattle and drove them across the plains,
and on his arrival, settled in Calaveras County. He died at Hillsdale, Kans.,
in 1878.
In the meantime changes had come into the
life of Thomas J. that were not set down by his
ambitious father when he took him to Missouri to help drive back the herd of
cattle. In Ray County he fell in love with a girl of some fifteen years of age,
his junior by three years, married her, and with his father, his wife’s family
and the cattle, started across the plains. This girl was Cordelia
J. Bostwick, born in Ray County, a daughter of Noble
D. and Catherine Bostwick, natives of Pennsylvania
and Ohio, respectively. The Bostwick family settled
in Sutter County in 1857. Later they moved to Santa Rosa and still later to
Jackson County, Ore., where Mr. Bostwick died, in
1896. His wife died at the home of Mr. Cummins in Woodland, Cal., in 1899. In
crossing the plains there was a misunderstanding between Thomas J. and his father,
and with a capital of four dollars and fifty cents and his young wife, they
made the rest of the journey on foot, a distance of three hundred miles, their
extra clothing and bedding being hauled by fellow travelers. At the Salt Creek
Hotel, Mrs. Cummins and her sister earned three dollars a day each, sewing. Mr. and Mrs. Cummins managed the Mountain
Spring House, for which they received eighty dollars a month. Then they lived
with her parents in Yuba County for a month. Mr. Cummins did any kind of work
and both he and his wife endured almost every kind of privation until he
located on some land at Colusa County, which he had bought and upon which he
raised hogs. In October, 1870, he bought some land in Sutter County and added
to it until he had eighteen hundred acres. Thirteen years after their
disagreement on the plains, father and son became reconciled, the latter
visiting his father. The son had accumulated considerable land and was well-to-do, accordingly he purchased his father a home in Hillsdale,
Kans. In order to give his children a better chance to attend school Mr.
Cummins located on forty acres of land near College City, where he lived from
1876 till 1894, when he located at Woodland.
In 1872, Mr. Cummins took a band of cattle
to Lassen County, these he sold at a good advance. From 1873 to 1875 he bought
and sold cattle for the San Francisco market. Later he bought three thousand
acres of hay land in the Surprise Valley, Modoc County. He traveled extensively
over the country and during his life bought and sold thousands of head of
stock, at one time being the largest individual buyer in the state.
A trait of character of Mr. Cummins which
appeals to the hearts of all who knew him was his appreciation of the wife who
so bravely shared his fortunes, encouraging him in stress and storm, and
rejoicing with him in his prosperity, and to her he ascribed a large share of
his success. The children in order of birth were: Virginia S., who married
James Whitehead; Mary H., who became the wife of George Tolson;
Ida S., who died aged sixteen months; Catherine L., who married Asa Levy Lane; Charles Edwin, who managed some of his
father’s property; Evelyn L., who became the wife of Jackson P. West; Ada E., who married Charles Betterton; Cordelia
M., wife of B. Worley; Leonora E., who married F. B. Caldwell; Thomas
D.; and Blanche E., who died in 1916.
Mr. and Mrs. Cummins celebrated the
fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, at their home in Woodland, on December
29, 1906, at which time all the children were present. Mr. Cummins passed away
in December, 1911, leaving to his children a valuable heritage and an honored
name. His widow survived him and died in January, 1914. Mr. Cummins was a
jovial and companionable man, at all times a gentleman of the old school,
honorable, fearless and loyal.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
07 June 2009.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages
945-947, Historic Record
Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies