The law students of the Radical University: Charles W. Cummings

Charles Wesley Cummings (b. January 11, 1854; d. April 30, 1888)

Illinois.  White.
Occupation: U. S. Storekeeper
Father's occupation: merchant, preacher, professor, teacher.

Charles W. Cummings was born in 1854 to Isabelle and Anson W. Cummings. Census records state that Charles was born in Illinois, although the timeline surrounding his birth is slightly confused. The year before Charles was born (in 1853), Charles's parents married, and his father Anson left Illinois for Rogersville, TN to become president of the Odd Fellows Female College (later the Rogersville Synodical College). Charles's mother may have remained in Illinois to give birth or some of the recorded dates may be erroneous. 

Anson remained in Tennessee for about a year, and then in 1854, he moved the family to Asheville, NC. There Anson became president of the Holston Conference Female College. The Cummings family remained there for most of the Civil War. Around 1865 or 1866, the family moved to Spartanburg, SC so that Anson could become president of the South Carolina Female College. About two years later, the college ran into financial difficulties and closed. Anson remained in Spartanburg, working as a farmer and a merchant.

In 1872, while still living in Spartanburg, Charles was nominated to be a cadet at United States Military Academy at West Point by U.S. congressman Alexander S. Wallace.  However, the nomination was rejected, and Charles remained at home.

Later that year the Cummings family moved again. This time they moved to Columbia, SC because Anson had been made Professor of Mathematics and Civil and Military Engineering and Construction at the University of South Carolina.

The son Charles matriculated at the University of South Carolina in fall 1872. His first year he studied law and mathematics. He was one of the few students to remain at the university after the first African American student was admitted in October 1873. Charles completed USC's law program and received his LL.D. degree in 1874. The next year he passed the state bar. 

Despite his legal training, it is unclear if Charles ever worked as a lawyer. In 1877, he was commissioned as a trial justice to fill the office of a retiring judge. However, the commission was given by Daniel H. Chamberlain during the time of a dispute over who was the legitimate state governor. Chamberlain conceded the election in April. At that time, Charles presumably lost his commission, and it unclear if he ever served. 

Most of Charles's jobs were federal appointments. In 1877, he was appointed as a U.S. Marshall and as an internal revenue storekeeper and gauger for the Treasury Department. He would remain in these position for most of his life. Charles' initial appointments were in Columbia, but he moved to Spartanburg in 1880, to Lowndesville in 1881, back to Columbia in 1883, and then to Liberty in 1885. 

In 1878, some residents living in Pickens County began complaining that U.S. revenue officers were abusing their powers, for example by making unwarranted arrests. The problem was serious enough that the county grand jury appointed a committee to inquire into the allegations. 

The committee received testimony from one resident regarding Charles. The resident said that, in March 1878, he was accosted by Charles and about twenty other men while repairing a fence on his property. The men accused the resident of running an illegal alcohol distillery. He was arrested and carried twenty miles to the town of Walhalla. The resident alleged that the arrest was made improperly. He was only shown an arrest warrant the day after he was arrested. Moreover, the arrest warrant, he said, was forged: the document appeared to be signed by the U.S. Commissioner for the county, but when asked, the Commissioner told the resident that he had never issued such a warrant.

The appointed committee issued a report that substantiated the allegations against the revenue agents. In the report, the committee condemned the revenue agents in strong terms and called on the courts to protect citizens. If the courts did not take action, the committee members said that residents would take extralegal action: "the people will of their own volition devise the means to protect their families and their firesides from insult and oppression."

In 1884, Charles began to experience failing health, and he resigned from his position as U.S. marshal.  He died four years later, while living in the town of Liberty.

Sources Cited

1). Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States. United States: James H. Lamb Company, 1900.

2) 1860; Census Place: Asheville, Buncombe, North Carolina; Page: 245; Family History Library Film: 803889

2) 1870; Census Place: Court House, Spartanburg, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1508; Page: 410A; Family History Library Film: 553007

3) 1880; Census Place: Spartanburg, Spartanburg, South Carolina; Roll: 1240; Page: 28B; Enumeration District: 137

3) Official Register of the United States, Containing a List of Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military, and Naval Service: 1877, 1879, 1881, 1883, 1885.

4) "Mrs. Isabella Cummings Celebrates 92nd Birthday Saturday." Newspaper clipping dated August 28, 1908.

6) Cummins, Albert Oren. Cummings Genealogy. Montpelier, VT: Argus and Patriot Printing House, 1904. p. 576–587.

6) "The Radical County Convention." The News and Herald [Winnsboro, SC]. October 12, 1876. p. 3.

5) "Revenue Whelps." The Pickens sentinel, July 11, 1878, p. 1.

7) "The Hunted Mountaineers." The Anderson intelligencer, July 4, 1878, p. 1.

8). "Olin F. Cummings."  Wellsville Daily Report, May 28, 1902.  p. 5.

9). U.S. Military Academy Cadet Application Papers, 1805-1866; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M688, 1 roll); Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.