Cummings, Barnet Bushnel

BARNET BUSHNEL CUMMINGS (deceased) was born in 1817 in Centreville, this county; son of Cornelius and Minerva (Baxter) Cummings. Having lost his mother when he was but five years of age, and his father, who was a pioneer and the first Postmaster of Centreville, Penn., when he was fifteen years old, our subject was brought up in the family of David Winton, Esq. He was married, August 16, 1840, to Lydia H. Carter, born March 14, 1822, near Syracuse, N.Y., daughter of Thomas and Abi (Hotchkiss) Carter. By this union were twelve children, six growing to maturity, viz: Ella A., Barnet Bushnel (who died in 1880 aged thirty-one), Winfield S., Thomas Carter, Mrs. Carrie Davidson and Lizzie W. Mrs. Cummings’ parents came to this county and lived at Centreville from 1839 to 1841, then returned to their farm in Cattaraugus County, N.Y., subsequently moving to Oberlin, Ohio, where the mother died December 31, 1864. The father afterward married Mrs. Abigail Hinman, his deceased wife’s sister, who in a few years also died. Mr. Carter has three sons living: Ladwick, of Randolph, N.Y., Franklin, of Oberlin, Ohio, and Lafayette, of Chicago, Ill., and one daughter, with whom he is residing, enjoying the comforts of an honored old age. Mr. Cummings, our subject, was born in Centreville, moved to Riceville and there established a hotel and was appointed the first Postmaster. In 1857 he was elected Register and Recorder of this county on the Republican ticket. After filling this office with ability he served one term as Deputy Sheriff; in 1865 he returned to Riceville with his family and again took charge of the hotel. April 26, 1872, Mr. Cummings fractured his right leg by falling from a load of hay and died from the effects of his injuries May 9. He was a man of generous impulses and high honor, and his loss was deeply lamented. His widow, who is a lady of exalted character, enjoying the respect of her neighbors, still keeps the hotel on the family homestead. She is a member of the Unitarian Church of Meadville.