DIVINING ISABELLA
Author's note: There are times when significant branches of one's family tree get pushed out of sight. Sometimes it's because they are too difficult to learn about or understand. They are, however, always worth our best efforts. This is an unpolished attempt to elucidate the origins and members of one such Irish-American clan.)
RECENTLY, in working to push back further the ancestry of the Hart and Cummins families of Mifflin and Juniata Counties, Pennsylvania, new information has come to light that may hold answers to the families' early life in America and their Irish origins. While only minimal information has been gleaned about Hart family progenitor Hugh Hart or his wife Mary Ard, some significant developments have been revealed regarding his son-in-law, DR. WILLIAM CUMMIN, and William's mother, ISABELLA (STINSON) CUMMIN.
This has largely unfolded through two sources. They are: copies received from the New York Public Library of Colonial and Revolutionary Lineages, volume 16, regarding both the Hart and Cummins families; and, further, a copy of an academic record for student William Cummin from the Royal Belfast Academical Institute, and received through the Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI).
Both of these, inclusive of the published family records and the original academic document, underscore a previously unknown generation. The purpose here is to analyze the information that supports these sources and to put forth a brief new genealogy for the family members, citing the circumstances and evidence available at this time. A new and provisional genealogy is compiled below.
GENEALOGY
ISABELLA (STINSON) CUMMIN was born ca. 1777, likely in Upper Tyrone Co., Ireland, possibly near the village of Aughnacloy. She died 6 Nov 1856, in Juniata Co., Pennsylvania, aged 79, and is interred at the Adams Cemetery in Juniata Co.
She married, in Ireland, ante 1803, WILLIAM CUMMIN, SR. His birth date is unknown; he was deceased by 1825. William Cummin, Sr., is identified through the academic record of their son, Dr. William Cummin, Jr. (Royal Belfast Academical Institute), which refers to the father as "William, late of Aughnacloy, Upper Tyrone." The widow Isabella (Stinson) Cummin immigrated ca.1827 to Mifflin Co., Pennsylvania, likely via Philadelphia, with her two sons, Robert Cummin and Dr. William Cummin, Jr.
She is mentioned in the (1861) legal proceedings of her deceased brother, THOMAS STINSON (1786-1860), of whom further below.
Known Issue of William Cummin and Isabella (Stinson) Cummin:
1.) ROBERT CUMMIN, b. 16 Mar 1803, likely at Aughnacloy, Upper Tyrone Co., Ireland; d. 7 Apr 1894, likely at Walker Twp., Juniata Co., Pennsylvania. He is interred next to his mother at the Adams Cemetery. He never married.
A naturalization record in the Court of Common Pleas, Juniata County, Pennsylvania archives states: "ROBERT CUMMIN" from County Tyrone, Ireland. Present residence: Walker Twp., Juniata Co. Age: 24 yrs., 5'6" tall, gray eyes. Occupation: Farmer. Emigrated Apr 1827. Declaration filed 4 Dec 1832." (The age is representative of the time of emigration.)
He is mentioned in the 1846 will of his brother, Dr. William Cummin, Jr.
He is listed as "blind" in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes for Juniata Co.
He is listed in the 1850 census for Walker Twp. in the household of his uncle THOMAS STINSON and his second wife MARGARET BANKS WALKER (1786-1866), and again in the 1860 census in the household of the widow, "Margaret Stinson."
He is named as administrator of his uncle Thomas Stinson's estate.
The Stinson Connection
The relationship between ISABELLA (STINSON) CUMMIN and THOMAS STINSON is inferred by many complex 1861 Mifflin Twp., Juniata Co., Penn., court documents showing various affidavits concerning Thomas's property settlement with any known heirs also being in County Tyrone, Ireland. This document explicitly names the three brothers and five sisters of THOMAS STINSON, including a sister named "ISABELLA." It also states that Thomas Stinson emigrated to the United States in 1803. The relationship is further supported by Mifflin and Juniata census records (Isabella's son Robert Cummin living in the Stinson household) and the proximity of the Stinson and Cummin graves at the Adams Cemetery. It is most notably presented here in a Power of Attorney from Isabella's grandson, Thomas Stinson Cummin[s], to his uncle Robert Cummin, wherein all of Isabella's grandchildren are named.
Above: This document names Isabella as a sister of Thomas Stinson. It also names the other siblings in Ireland and America.
Above: This document names all of Isabella's grandchildren via her son William Cummin, Jr, as heirs to the estate of her brother Thomas Stinson. It also shows his business connections to Hugh Hart.
A record of Isabella's brother Thomas Stinson follows:
THOMAS STINSON was b.in 1786, in County Tyrone, Ireland; d. May 1860 in Walker Twp. Juniata Co., Pennsylvania, and is buried at the Adams Cemetery with his second wife, MARGARET BANKS WALKER (1786-1866). Thomas Stinson led a highly colorful and often contentious life, detailed in Robert Steuart's 1907 biography, Colonel George Steuart and his wife Margaret Harris. This book chronicles the life of Thomas's first wife, MARGARET (HARRIS) (STEUART) STINSON (1764-1824) and her first husband, George, but also pays special attention to the litigious antics and strong character of her second husband, Thomas Stinson.
Thomas Stinson had no children by either of his two wives: first, Margaret (Harris) Steuart (1764-1824), who was twenty-two years his senior (the biography states eighteen years), or second, Margaret Banks Walker. More study of the 1861 court document is needed to fully list out all of Isabella's and Thomas's siblings' descendants and possibly push the Stinson line back further.
Thomas Stinson is an interesting character in the genealogy of this family's past. He is clearly motivated by money and land - even in terms of romance. (He married a wealthy widow with five children) His motivations for this are uncertain as he himself died childless. He is however the glue that keeps the Stinson family alive and connected to the Cummin, Hart, and other Pennsylvania Irish clans as late as 1864 via the settlement of his estate.
2.) WILLIAM CUMMIN, M.D., was b. in 1804 in Newry, Counties Down and Armagh, Ireland; d. 7 Oct. 1846, age 42, in Liverpool, Perry County, Pennsylvania. He married, first, ante 1833, MARGARET STEEL, daughter of David Steel and Margaret Talbot Steel. She was b. 5 Dec 1796 at New Buffalo, Perry County, Pennsylvania, d. 28 May 1836; buried at Hill Church Cemetery, New Buffalo, Perry County, Pennsylvania. He married, second, likely at Perry County, Penn., MARY HART, daughter of HUGH HART and MARY ARD HART, b. 17 Oct 1804 at Academia, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, d. 1 May 1890 at Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. She is buried at Wildwood Cemetery, Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.
Submitted family trees often divide the children six children of Dr. William Cummin, making it appear as if these were two individuals with separate or distinct families. All of the children (Issue 1-6) are listed as heirs of their grand-uncle, THOMAS STINSON, mentioned above, inheriting through their deceased paternal grandmother, ISABELLA (STINSON) CUMMIN.
Issue with first wife:
1.) THOMAS STINSON CUMMIN, b.13 June 1833 at Perry County, Pennsylvania, d. 23 Jan 1889 at Marion, Marion County, Ohio. He married LAVINIA ROBINSON HART, daughter of Hugh Hart, Jr. and Prudence Robinson, and a granddaughter of HUGH HART and MARY ARD. Lavina Hart Cummin was a first cousin to her husband's half-siblings by his father's second wife, her father's sister, Mary Hart Cummin.
2.) REBECCA CUMMIN, b. 6 Sep 1833 at Liverpool, Perry County, Pennsylvania, d. 4 Nov 1910 at Marion, Marion County, Ohio. She married 10 Oct 1861 in Marion County, Ohio, Robert J. Beatty.
3.) MARGARET "Maggie" CUMMIN, b. 16 Nov 1835 at Liverpool, Perry County, Pennsylvania, d. 25 Aug 1919 at Marion, Marion County, Ohio. She married on 10 Oct 1861 in Marion County, Ohio, John E. Leonard, the same day as her older sister Rebecca.
Issue with second wife:
4.) HUGH HART CUMMIN, b. 25 May 1841 at Liverpool, Perry County, Pennsylvania, d. 12 Aug 1889 at Cresson Springs, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. He married, 24 Jun 1869, at Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, Charlotte White.
5.) MARY A. CUMMIN, b. 1 Jun 1842 at Liverpool, Perry County, Pennsylvania, d. 30 Dec 1931 at Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. She married, 15 Oct 1874, at Montgomery County, Ohio, Henry Watson.
6.) ROBERT IRVIN CUMMIN, b. 7 Jul 1845 at Liverpool, Perry County, Pennsylvania, d. 30 Aug 1907 at Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. He married, 15 Jun 1881 at Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, ELLEN PEARSON CURCH, daughter of Gaylord Church and his wife Ann Bevan Pearson. Ellen Pearson Church was a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Howland through her father. He is listed as a minor at the time of the settlement of the estate of his uncle, Thomas Stinson, and under the guardianship of a presumed maternal uncle, Joseph Hart.
Conclusion:
This attempt successfully established the origins of this Irish-American clan by definitively confirming the Stinson connection, identifying Isabella (Stinson) Cummin as a sister to the prominent Thomas Stinson of Juniata County.
Key documentation, including the Royal Belfast Academical Institute record and the 1861 estate settlement, has pushed the family line back to William Cummin, Sr., of Aughnacloy, Upper Tyrone, and confirmed Isabella had eight siblings—James, Robert, John, Sarah, Nancy, Mary Ann, and Jane. These findings resolve previous genealogical ambiguities. Moving forward, the focus must shift more to the Stinson family in Ireland.
Future research should prioritize locating the parents of this large sibling group by utilizing the names of Isabella's seven brothers and sisters to search surviving Irish records (parish registers, land, and taxation records) within County Tyrone, seeking to anchor the Stinson origins one generation further back. Note on Orthography: Given the prevalence of the single 'n' spelling (Cummin) in the earliest primary sources, this spelling is maintained in the genealogy, although the variant Cummins (with 's') appears in some later records and public references, a common occurrence in Irish-American families.
Sources Consulted:
Archival and Print Sources
Juniata County, Pennsylvania. Court of Common Pleas. Naturalization Record for Robert Cummin, 4 Dec 1832.
Juniata County, Pennsylvania. Court Documents (1861). Affidavits and Power of Attorney regarding the Estate Settlement of Thomas Stinson.
New York Public Library. Colonial and Revolutionary Lineages of America. Vol. 16. New York: American Historical Society, Inc.
Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI). Academic Record for William Cummin, Royal Belfast Academical Institute.
Steuart, Robert S. Colonel George Steuart and his wife Margaret Harris. Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott, 1907.
Digital Resources
FamilySearch. (Specific documents pertaining to the original Thomas Stinson proceedings, as cited in the text). The last image needs to be cited correctly from FamilySearch.
Citation for the above images: "Mifflintown, Juniata, Pennsylvania, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSNP-S3WS-K?view=fullText : Nov 30, 2025), images 154 and 157 of 281; Juniata County (Pennsylvania). Recorder of Deeds. Image Group Number: 008085582
FindAGrave.com. (Information referenced for burial details of Thomas Stinson and family members at Adams Cemetery).
No comments:
Post a Comment