Descendants of Ebenezer Cummings
James Harvey Cummings is the son of Ebenezer Cummings and Jane Harris. He was born about 1830 in Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada. He died about 1864 at about age 34.
About 1850, he married his step-sister, Mary A. Lanfear. She is the daughter of David Lanfear and Cynthia Bosworth. She was born about 1833 in New York and died sometime before 1895.
- After James' death in 1864, Mary married James' older brother, (2) George Washington Cummings in San Joaquin County, California on 12 Jan 1868. He was born about 1819 in Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada and, apparently, died before 1870.
- Then on 19 Dec 1878, Mary married (3) Benjamin F. Slater in San Joaquin County, California. He was born 10 Nov 1815 in New York. He had previously married Emily M. (unknown) sometime before 1870. Benjamin died just 9 days after his marriage to Mary, on 28 Dec 1878, at age 63 in San Joaquin County, California. He is buried in Liberty Cemetery, Galt, San Joaquin, California.
Children of James Harvey Cummings and Mary A. Lanfear:
- David Harvey Cummings was born in Jan 1855 in California.
- John William Cummings was born 11 Feb 1858 in California.
- Sarah E. Cummings (or Sadie, as she was known) was born about 1860 in California.
Children of George Washington Cummings and Mary A. Lanfear:
- George Cummings was born about 1869 in California.
Notes
Judith Eisenhauer, a descendant of David Lanfear, quotes from her
grandfather's reminiscences (March 1905):
"Aunt Mary died ... of a broken heart. Her youngest son, George, about the time
he became twenty years of age, robbed a stage and the government mail. He was
arrested and plead guilty and was sent to States Prison for 14 years. He had not
been known to commit a crime before that time. Aunt Mary was a good woman, and
this trouble killed her. Aunt Mary came to California with her first husband,
across the plains, about 1849. They lived most of the time on a farm near Galt,
Calif. John is living in the North part of the state, Sadie at Sacramento, I
believe, and Harvey in that section of the state somewhere."
Sources
George W.: Marriage from Early Vital Records, San Joaquin County.
Caroline: Birth from the 1880 Census (Liberty, San Joaquin, CA. p. 142).
George: Birth from the 1870 Census (Liberty, San Joaquin, CA., p. 4).
Census Listings
The individuals in this family appear in the following census listings.
- 1860 Census. Elliott, San Joaquin, CA., p. 948.
- George W.: 1860 Census. Placerville, El Dorado, California. Page 914.
- 1870 Census. Liberty, San Joaquin, CA., p. 4.
- 1880 Census. Liberty, San Joaquin, CA. p. 142.