Isaac Cummlngs

128. DEACON ISAAC CUMMINGS (1633 – 1721), son of Isaac Cummings

129. MARY ANDREWS (c. 1640–1692/1712), daughter of Robert Andrews and Grace Unknown

Isaac Cummings was baptized on 17 March 1632/3 in Mistley, County Essex, England. [1] He deposed that he was 63 on 22 February 1696; this is consistent with his being baptized shortly after his birth. [1] Deacon Isaac Cummings died on 19 June 1721. [2] Deacon Isaac, the son of Isaac, married Mary Andrews, the daughter of Robert and Grace Andrews of Rowley Village (Boxford) on 27 November 1659 in Topsfield. [3][4]

Mary Andrews was born about 1640, as on 27 June 1692, Mary Cummings deposed that she was about sixty. [5] She died between this deposition and 27 August 1712, when her husband made his will and did not mention her.

Mary's father referred to her as the wife of Isaac Cummings in his will of 16 May 1668. [6]

Isaac is on a 1684 list of church members in full communion at Topsfield. [7]

Isaac Cummings, Jr. was on a 14 : 10 : 1661 list of commoners in Topsfield. [8, 4:149] He was as assessed for taxes in Topsfield on 27 January 1668 and 18 November 1668. [8, 4:106, 148] On 4 May 1666 Isaac Cummings, Sr. was the constable of Topsfield and Isaac, Jr. was his deputy. [8, 3:335] He was chosen selectman in Topsfield on 4 March 1678/7[!]. [9, 23] He was on the jury of trials at the court at Ipswich on 27 March 1683. [8, 9:1] Sergeant Isaac Cummings was confirmed as constable for Topsfield on 30 March 1686. [8, 9:596]

Deacon Isaac Cummings, Sr. testified in the witchcraft trial of Elizabeth Howe, who was hung in Salem on 19 July 1692. He said that eight years before, Elizabeth's husband James Howe had asked his son Isaac if he could borrow a horse and his son refused. The next day his mare fell down dead. His son confirmed the story. Deacon Cummings' wife Mary testified that she had been asked by the Ipswich church to provide an account of James and Elizabeth Howe and she had told them about the mare. A short time later, her son's mare was missed and when it returned, it appeared bruised and as if it had been burned by a hot bridle. [10][5]

Isaac Cummings made his will on 27 August 1712; it was proved on 19 June 1722. He left bequests to his sons Isaac, John and Thomas; his daughers Abigail Perley and Rebecca Howlett; he granddaughter Lydia, the daughter of his son Isaac. [2]

Children of Isaac Cummings and Mary Andrews: Births, except for Abigail, in [11]

i. Son Cummings born and died 28 August 1660 in Topfield. [12]

ii. Son Cummings born and died 2 November 1661 in Topsfield. [8, 2:346][4]

iii. Son Cummings born and died 6 December 1662 in Topsfield. [12]

iv. Isaac Cummings was born on 15 September 1664 in Topsfield.

v. John Cummings was born on 7 June 1666 in Topsfield. [8, 3:386] He died between 8 May and 16 July 1722. He married Susanna Town on 23 January 1688/9 in Topsfield. [3] Susanna, the daughter of Joseph and Phebe (Perkins) Town, was born on 24 December 1671 in Topsfield. [13] The widow Susanna died, age 95, died on 13 September 1766 in Topsfield. [12]

John made his will on 8 May 1722; it was proved on 16 July 1722. [13]

vi. Thomas Cummings was born on 27 June 1670 in Topsfield. [8, 4:319] He died before 25 December 1749, when his will was proved. [13] He married Mehitable Porter on 20 March 1705 in Topsfield. [3] Mehitable, the daughter of Joseph and Ann (Hawthorne) Porter, was baptized in the First Church in Salem in September 1682 and she died on 9 May 1738 in Boxford. [13]

Thomas moved to Boxford before his marriage. [14] Perley [14] says that Thomas and Mary had four children, "one of whom, Jacob, lived here, and had seven children, two of whom were Dudley and Thomas, — two queer characters, whose non compos mentis state is well known to our older inhabitants."

vii. Mary Cummings was born on 16 February 1671/2 in Topsfield. She died on 16 December 169_. [4] She probably married Daniel Black of Boxford on 14 July 169_ in Boxford. [3] Daniel, the son of Daniel and Faith (Bridges) Black, was born on 24 August 1667. [4] He married second Sarah Andrews on 19 July 1695. [4]

viii. Rebecca Cummings was born on 1 April 1674 in Topsfield. [8, 5:441] She married first Thomas Howlett on 13 January 1695/6 in Topsfield. [3] Thomas, the son of William and Mary (Perkins) Howlett, died on 10 February 1713. [4] Rebecca is "said" to have married second Michael Whidden of Portsmouth, NY on 20 December 1715. [4]

ix. Abigail Cummings died on 22 January 1725/6. [4] She married Samuel Perley [Jr.] on 28 March 1693/4. [4]

x. Stebbings Cummings was born on 27 February 1680 in Topsfield. He "Dyed by the hand of the Indians" on 3 July 1706 in Topsfield. [12]

References

1. John Plummer, "Isaac Cummings of Essex County, Massachusetts," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 145 (1991): 239.

2. "Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638–1881," database with images, AmericanAncestors, no. 6706.

3. Vital Records of Topsfield, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield: Topsfield Historical Society, 1903), 131–4.

4. George Mooar, The Cummings Memorial: A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Isaac Cummings, an Early Settler of Topsfield, Massachusetts (New York: B.F. Cummings, 1903), 8–9.

5. "Three Depositions of Mary Cummings v. Elizabeth How," transcription, in "S2 No. 072: Elizabeth How Executed July 19, 1692," Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project (http://salem.lib.virginia.edu).

6. George Francis Dow, The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts, vol. 2 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1917), 134.

7. John H. Gould, Early Records of the Church in Topsfield (Salem: Essex Institute, 1888), 5.

8. George Francis Dow, ed., and Harriet S. Tapley, trans., Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 9 vols., digitized books, Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project (http://salem.lib.virginia.edu).

9. Town Records of Topsfield, Massachusetts, vol. 1 (Topsfield: Topsfield Historical Society, 1917).

10. "Deposition of Isaac Cummings, Sr. v. Elizabeth How" and "Testimony of Isaac Cummings, Jr. v. Elizabeth How," transcriptions, in "S2 No. 072: Elizabeth How Executed July 19, 1692."

11. Vital Records of Topsfield, 26–27, 30–31.

12. Vital Records of Topsfield, 212–4.

13. Mooar, Cummings Memorial, 17–18.

14. Sidney Perley, The History of Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts (Boxford: The author, 1880), 401.

last revised 20-Apr-2020