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The name CUMMINGS is a NORMAN SURNAME

The name appears in Scotland Ancient manuscripts, in Scotland, established that

the first record of the name Cummings was found in Northumberland where they were

granted lands, by Duke Williamof Normandy, for their distinguished assistance at the

Battle of Hastings in 1066 AD.Many alternate spellings of the name are shown in the

ancient manuscripts. The name Cummings, occurred in many references, and from time

to time, the records included variables such as Cummins, Comines, Cummings,Comine

, Cummin, Comyn,Cumming, Cummine, Cuming, Cumine, Cumun,Cummyn,and many

others. Scribes recorded and spelled the name as it sounded.Because of this,it was

possible that a person would be born with one spelling, married with another, and buried

with another.Although the Normans are commonly believed to be of French origin, they

are actually of Viking origin. The Vikings landed in the Orkneys and Northern Scotland

about the year 870 AD. Later, they invaded France about 940 AD. The French King

conceded defeat and granted them the northern part of France (hence: Normandy,Normans).

Duke William of Normandy was descended from the first Duke, Rollo, of Normandy. Duke

William invaded and defeated England in 1066, and Scotland in 1070. King Malcom

Canmore granted many Norman nobles lands in Scotland.The name Cummings is more

properly Cummin, often spelt Comyn. It is a typical Norman nickname, taken from the herb

called cumin.This unpretentious name is in fact the most royal in Scotland of any that failed

to attain the crown. The first Cummin to settle in Scotland was a powerful Anglo-Norman

churchman, and close confidant of King David I, under whom he became Chancellor of

Scotland in 1133. William de Cummin, the Chancellor,received a grant of land in

Roxburgh. He also held the position of Bishop of Durham, by force, for three years. After

his nephew, William Cummin, was killed in the dispute, he gave up the position as bishop

in 1144, in return for the castle and Honor of Northallerton being given to another nephew,

Richard Cummin, ancestor of the Scottish Clan.William, son of Richard, was Justiciary

of Scotland, and in 1210 became Earl ofBuchan by marriage with Marjory,Countess

of Buchan.William's son, by a previous marriage, became Earl of Menteith and acquired

the Lordship of Badenoch by grant from Alexander II. His nephew John, known as the

"Red Comyn," was father of the "Black Comyn" who was one of the six guardians of

Scotland during the minority of the Maiden of Norway, and later became a competitor

for the Crown of Scotland. The "Black Comyn" married Marjory,Sister of John Balliol,

and their son John was known, like his grandfather, as the "Red Comyn."The surname

Cummings emerged as a notable Scottish Family name in the County of Northumberland,

where William the Conqueror, allocated the Earldom of Northumberland to Robert De

Comines, from Comminges in Normandy. However, Robert De Comines rule in

Northumberland was uneventful, His violence to the local people became intolerable

and he was killed in 1069.When Richard Comyn, his grandson, came to Scotland with King

David, he married Hextilda of Tynedale, Granddaughter of King Donald of Scotland.

Richard had a son by this marriage, William, who became the Earl of Buchan, but by

previous union, William had Richard, who became father of Sir John Comyn, Chief of the

Clan. Richard Cummin, lord of Northallerton, married the granddaughter and eventual

heiress of King Donald III Ban (Shakespeare's "Donaldbane"), the King of Scots who had

been deposed and blinded in 1097.King Donald III's family seems to have been rightfully

belonging in Lochaber and Badenoch at the expense of the MacWilliams, whose direct

decendant, King Duncan II, had been slain by King Donald. After the overthrow of the

MacWilliams in 1230, the Cummins became undisputed Lords Of Badenoch, holding

also much of Lochaber and the "Great Glen".During the thirteenth century, the Cummins

became the most powerful and patriotic noble family in all Scotland. At this period, the

highest rank in Scotland was that of earl, held only by the mightiest cousins of the king or

by the heirs of former local kings. There was only thirteen earldoms altogether. In 1242

Alexander Cummin was Earl of Buchan, Walter Cummin was Earl of Menteith and John

Cummin was Earl of Angus, all as the result of further marriages to Celtic dynastic

heiresses. So nearly a quarter of the Scottish earls were Cummins. The Cummins themselves

had come to have as much Celtic as Norman blood.From 1270 to 1308 the Cummin endowed

the rebuilding of Glasgow Cathedral.Their chief, "the Black Cummin", was one of the

Competitors for the Crown of Scotland in 1291, claiming as heir, of King Donald III. He

married the sister of King John Balliol. The abduction of King Balliol, by the English,

greatly strengthened the royal claims of his son, "the Red Cummin". These claims led to

the downfall of the Cummins.Edward of England invaded Scotland and deposed King Balliol

then embarked on direct rule and defeated the independence movement of William

Wallace. The Bruces remained loyal English subjects. The removal of the Balliols left the

Comyn (Cumming) family the most powerful in Scotland, and the only one with claim to the

crown senior to that of the Bruces.Robert the Bruce, (the 8th Robert Bruce) had claim on

the throne and was strongly supported. The other contender, Baliol, supported by Sir

John Comyn, the Black Comyn. His son, John Comyn of Badenock, styled the Red Comyn

was a co-leader with Bruce, but they were also competitors. In August 1299, the Red

Comyn had almost killed Bruce in a scuffle in Selkirk Forest. In February 1306, Robert

the Bruce invited the Red Comyn to a church in Dumfries to discuss terms of agreement.

It was here that Bruce and his followers murdered John Comyn at the altar. John Comyn's

uncle, Sir Robert, was also killed in the church while trying to save his nephew's life.

In March 1306, Robert the Bruce had himself crowned King of Scotland. This made the

Comyn's and Bruce's bitter enemies.During the long wars that followed, King Robert

destroyed the Cummins. The Red Cummins's only son, rightful Lord of Badenoch

and chief of the name, was killed in action against his father's slayer on the field of

Bannockburn, while fighting with the English. His heiresses went to France with the

family claim to the Scottish throne. And, it is ironical to reflect that when the exiled Stuarts

(heirs of Bruce) fled to refuge in France, the then heir of Balliol and of the Red Cummin

was their host King Louis XIV himself. The junior co-heir of the Red Cummin, curiously

enough, is the Premier Baron of England (Lord Mowbray and Stourton), who quarters

the Arms of Cummin and has returned to live in Scotland.A remnant of Badenoch branch

of the Cummins found refuge in England during this time. The Buchan branch of the

Cummins was also destroyed. After ravaging Buchan with fire and sword, Bruce gave the

Cummin castle of Slains, and the hereditary office of Constable of Scotland, to his own

friend and supporter Hay, Lord of Erroll, whose grandmother had been a Cummin. Today,

The Lord High Constable, (the Earl of Erroll), has precedence in Scotland before

every other hereditary honor, except the Blood Royal. It is interesting that a similar

position is occupied in England by the Earl Marshal, (the Duke of Norfolk), who is heir in

the female line of the Cummin Earls of Buchan. Therefore, had Cummin triumphed over

Bruce, he would also have been Constable of Scotland.A remnant of the Cummins of

Buchan has survived to modern times.




The name Evans is A Welsh SURNAME

The Evans came from Caernarfonshire, Wales about 1698 to New Castle Delaware

and settled a Welsh Tract before moving south to North and South Carolina.They

settled in the Chesterfield and Marlboro Districts. Evan Evans(born abt

1665) and his wife had six children; Samuel , Hugh , Thomas, John,Margaret

and Nathan.Thomas Evans(born abt 1685) married Ann(born abt 1685)

and they had a son;Thomas Evans (born abt1745) married and had a son;Josiah

James Evans (born 1786 and died 1858) married Doretha De Witt (b.1793-1847)

in 1813. They had two children; Samuel Wilds Evans (b1822) and Edward Evans.

Samuel (b1822-d1895) married Alexina Wallace(b1828-d1866) in 1844.Samuel and

Alexina had a son, William De Witt Evans (b1849). He married Mary Peggues(b1852)

and they had one daughter Alexina W. Evans.

John Evans married Lydia Evans (b. abt 1685). Nathan Evans

married Elizabeth Ann Bethea. They had four children; Nathan II, David , Mary

and Enoch. Nathan II (b1760,Craven County--d1810, Marion County)

married Edith Godbold in 1789. They had a son; H Thomas Evans (b1790-d1845).

He married Jane Beverly Daniel(b1795-d1861) in 1816. They had two children;

James and Asa L.James (b1831) married Maria Antoinette Powell (b1841-d1908),

She was the daughter of William Alexander Powell (b1799) and Lucy Peachy Lee

(They married in 1820) and the grandaughter of Levin Powell, Jr and Susannah

Elizabeth Orr ( they married 1797) and she was the ggrandaughter of Levin

Powell(b1737,Prince William County,Va --d. 1810,Bedford Springs,Pa.)and

Sarah Harrison in 1760)in 1865. They had one daughter; Mary Lee , born

in Little Rock, SC married Frank Boyd Gary.Asa L (b1834-d1905) married

Tracy H McClenaghan (b 1845) in 1865. They had one daughter; Sallie

(born in Marion , SC) married Charles R James.David Evans

(b Wales--d1799, Cumberland County,NC) married Mary Carver.They had

a son Jonathan who married Elizabeth Smith. They had a son; William

Augusas. He married Annie Conger. Mary Evans married William Baker

(b1739,Craven County-d1823,Marion County,SC).They had a son; William

Baker, Jr(b1776-d1834). He married Annis Phillips in 1807.Enoch Evans

(son of Nathan Evans,b abt 1755) had a son;Enoch Evans,Jr

(born abt 1775) married Ann James Edwards (daughter of Peter Kolb and Ann

James ). They had a son; Wil John (b.aft 1815) married Mary Elizabeth

Craig. They had a son; Robert Edward Evans. This was

John Linwood Evans Grandfather and is the line we are desendants from.

( see Ancestors of John Linwood Evans)

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