| Notes |
- . 1895 Jan 21. Wellington W Cummer, Cadillac, Michigan, Age 48 year, Height 5 feet 6 3/4 inches, eyes blue gray, Hair sandy, complexion light.
Wellington Willson was married to 3 October 1871 at Hersey, Osceola Co., Mich., to Mary Ada Gerrish; born 20 August 1853 at Lee, Penobscot Co., Me., daughter of Nathaniel L. Gerrish & Caroline Gatchell. Late residence, Jacksonville, Florida.
His early education was received in the district school near Toronto, & when his parents removed to Newaygo, Mich., in 1860....further schooling at Waterdown, Ontario & Bryant & Stratton Business College, Toronto.
His father operated a flouring mill in connection with his business as a farmer in Canada & continued in this industry for several years after coming to Newaygo. In connection with his grist mill, he gradually added lumbering operations ...
Moving rather rapidly to Croton, Mich., then in Cedar Springs, Michigan, the family settled in 1870 at Morley, Michigan where the Cummers really commenced their development as lumbermen. While located in Morley, he was married on October 3rd, 1871, to Mary Ada Gerrish, daughter of Nathaniel Lord Gerrish & Caroline Gatchell Gerrish of Hersey, Michigan.
Children:
Arthur Gerrish Cummer born 10 Oct 1783, married Ninah M Holden.
Waldo Emerson Cummer, born 31 December 1875; married Clara M. Cook.
Mabel Carrie Cummer, born 7 May 1882; married John L. Roe.
. 1887 Dec 14, Wed. - Shot at W W Cummer. Cadillac - It has just come to light here that W W Cummer of this place, a wealthy lumberman well known over the State while walking from the Muskegon River back to the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Cadillac Road early last week, was mistaken for Supt. Ashley & fired upon. He was alone & saw a man near Chapin's place fire several shotes in succession. The smoke floated between Mr. Cummer & the marksmen, so he believed the shots were directed at himself. Upon subsequent inquiry it was learned that the man who had driven Mr. Ashley, Mr. Cumme & others over to the Muskegon river was asked at Chapin's who the party were. He replied: "Mr. Ashley & some friends." It is presumed, judging from later developments, that this was a deliberate attempt to take Mr. Ashley'is life, mistaking Mr. Cummer for him.
Ref: Saginaw News.
. 1886 Mar 12, Mayor Cummer of Cadillac calls on all citizens to shoot at sight all unmuzzled dogs found on the streets for the next 20 days.
Ref: Muskegon Chronicle.
. 1888 Nov 20 - Mayor Cummer of Cadillac, has supposed he was a citizen, but now finds that he is not, nor was his father before him. He has therefore vacated the office to which he was elected last spring & a special election will be held to fill the place.
. 1888 Dec 12 - Wellington W Cummer, who resigned as Mayor of Cadillac because he thought he was not a full fledged citizen, was re-elected to that position last Monday.
Ref: Saginaw News.
. 1890 Feb 19 - Wellington W Cummer, of Cadillac, is off for Florida to look after his southern pine & to give his family a sun bath. Ref: Muskegon Chronicle.
* 1895 USA Passport Application: Wellington W Cummer, a Naturalized & Loyal Citizen of the USA apply for a passport for myself & Wife Mary Ada Cummer, bon Lee Maine, 20 Aug 1853., I was born at Toronto, Canada, 21 Oct 1846, emigrated on board the Delaware Ontario on 14 May 1860,
Resided 34 years from 1860 to 1895at Michigan., Naturalized citizen of US on 5 Nov 1888.
Description of applicant, Age 48, 5 feet 6 Inches, high & full forehead, blue gray eyes, medium straight nose, medium mouth, round but chin, sandy hair, light complexion, found & full face.
. 1895 Jul 27 - W W Cummer of Cadillac, passed through the city yesterday on his return from a trip to Europe & the Holy Land. [What 'city' was not referenced, but Grand Rapids is presumed. PJA] Ref: Grand Rapid Press.
. 1904 Dec 17, Bought Cummer Homestead. Larens W Wolcott has purchased of Wellington D Cummer of Jacksonville, Fla., the Cummer homestead at the corn of Fulter St & College Ave, the consideration being $14,000. The property has a frontage of 150 feed upon Fulton St & a depth of 265 feet on collage Ave.The residence is a large frame structure & is to be occupied by the purchaser as a home.
. 1907 Dec 13 - Burned to Ground - At 8 o'clock last night a big distillery in connection with the chemical works of the Cummer-Diggns Co. of this city was completely destroyed by fire....$100,000, partially covered by insurance. One of the 2 watchmen on duty in the distillery all night discovered a leak in one of the stills. He was using an incadencent light which he had lowered into the hole ...alcohol ignited ..forced the men to flee for their lives. The fire dept. had to run over a mile over a rough road & when the water was turned ton the flames, they had a headway that no volume of water could check.
Re. Flint Journal Newspaper.
. 1909 Nov 2, Tues: Give A Fine Site Mr. & Mrs. Bertsch Woman's Hospital Benefactors. Donors Are Modest Cummer
donors are Modest, Cummer Eight Acres at East Fulton & Carlton, Proposed Loa against residuary legacy may provide money for new buildings.
Through the beneficence of Mr & Mrs Christian Berishch, the Woman's Home & Hospital association only temporarily will be confined to its cramped outgrown & insufficient quarters on Bostwick St...yesterday recorded deeds in the office of the register of deeds transfers of the ideally beautiful Cummer property at E Fulton St & Carlton Ave.
Ref: Grand Rapids Press, (abbreviated).
Obituaries
. 1909 Dec 27: Dies in the south, W.W. CUMMER, CADILLAC'S BENEFACTOR, PASSES AWAY.
CADILLAC, DEC 27: A telegram received here announces the death Saturday night of W. W. CUMMER OF Jacksonville, Fla., millionaire manufacturer & philanthropist, who had been closely identified with Cadillac for years & who had extensive interests here. Heart trouble, from which he sought relief in Germany & other foreign countries, cause death. Funeral services will be held in Jacksonville, Tuesday & Cadillac business men will suspend business for a time in observance of the funeral. Mer. Cummer was 63 years old. One daughter survives.
. 1909 Dec 29 - Mourn for Cummer, Cadillac Business Men Close during His Funeral (Special to the Evening Press, Cadillac, Dec 29:
With flags from municipal & county buildings aft half-mast, business houses & several of the large mills were closed yesterday afternoon from 2:30 to 3:30, while the funeral of Wellington W Cummer, millionaire lumberman, was being held at Jacksonville, Fla. Memorial service were held in the First Congregational church, Rev E J Millington paying a tribute in sermon to the memory of the former citizen of this city. Deceased was once mayor of Cadillac & served several terms as alderman. He was prominent in business & politics & made many bequests to charities.
Ref: Grand Rapids Press. - - - [1]
- The Hummers of Riverside
Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Ninah Cummer, Wellington cummer.
Wellington Cummer. photo credit: The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
The Cummer family already had significant lumber holdings in Michigan & Virginia when Wellington Cummer moved his family, including sons Arthur & Waldo, from Cadillac, Michigan to Florida in 1896. When the men of Cadillac queried why they were moving to Jacksonville, the answer they received was, “to turn boys into men.”
One of the Cummer Lumber Company sawmills, circa 1900.
In truth, as the pine forests in Michigan became exhausted, the firm found a field for its energies in Florida. Here the business was carried on in the name of the Cummer Lumber Company. Cummer bought up vast tracts of cypress & long leaf pine forest, eventually becoming the largest landowner in the state.
To haul lumber & phosphate from Cummer operations in Georgia, the company constructed the Jacksonville & Southernwester Railway, a railroad nearly 100 miles long. Sons Waldo & Arthur formed the Cook-Cummer Steamship Line & built a mill and phosphate shipping facility north of the city that employed 1150 workers in 1906.
Michigan architect William Williamson designed this palatial home for Wellington & Ada Cummer, which was built in 1902 at a cost of $25,000. The white & yellow home featured four massive columns, highly detailed portico, & a one-story colonnade wrapping around the Georgian Revival Style structure. There were huge reception rooms & a vast wine cellar.
During the Great Fire of 1901, the Cummers opened the third floor of their home to some destitute families that had nowhere else to stay. Cummer died Christmas Day, 1909, & his subsequent funeral was said to have been one of the largest held in the city’s history.
Although sons Waldo & Arthur were able businessmen, it was Arthur’s wife, Ninah, who is responsible for the Cummer family’s most lasting legacy. Active in several charitable groups and a leading light of Riverside society, Ninah also was an avid gardener & knowledgeable collector of European treasures, from a 16th century polyptich, to Meissen porcelain, Old Master portraits, Russian icons & snuff boxes of lapis lazuli. When she passed on, Ninah willed that her home, with its stunning gardens & cultural treasures, be turned into a museum. The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, built on the site of the home of Arthur & Ninah Cummer, opened its doors November 10, 1961. The Cummer Museum isn’t the only Cummer legacy still standing. Waldo Cummer’s first home, purchased from Riverside developer Edward Cheney, was moved to its present location in 1911. this charming, elegant & well manner home, now 140 years old, is all that remains of Riverside in its infancy.
Ref: Jacksonville Historical Society, 2011.
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1846 - 1909 (63 years)