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land. He was sold as a servant first to Thomas
Macnemara and then to Thomas Bordley (ca.
1683-1726). RESIDED: in Annapolis, Anne Arun-
del County. MARRIED first, on January 21,
1719/20, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Coursey
(1662-1707); granddaughter of Henry Coursey (ca,
1629-1695). Her brothers were Henry (1693-?);
Otho; and William (1703-1769). Her sisters were
Araminta; Juliana; and Mary. Her nephew was
Edward DeCoursey (ca. 1759-1827). Her niece was
Sarah Coursey, who married Robert Wright (1752-
1826). MARRIED second, by 1742/43 Margaret
Thomas (?-1804). CHILDREN. SONS: William (bap-
tised on February 28, 1719/20-died young); Alex-
ander (1721-1774), of Frederick and Baltimore
counties; William (1724-1793), of Annapolis, in
Frederick County by July 1751, a planter and at-
torney who was fined £25 during the Revolution
by the Frederick County justices for allegedly
drinking to His Majesty's health; Henry (1726-
1768), of St. Botolph Aldgate Parish, London,
England, a mariner; James; and David (?-1796), of
Anne Arundel County. DAUGHTERS: Elizabeth,
who married (first name unknown) Hamilton;
Mary (1742/43-?), who married John Dorsey (?-
1815), son of John Dorsey and wife Elizabeth;
Margaret; and Araminta (?-1824), of Frederick
County, who married in 1800 Capt. Ely Dorsey
(?-1821), son of Ely Dorsey and wife Deborah.
PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate; while a
servant to Macnemara and Thomas Bordley (ca.
1683-1726) Cummmgs said he had obtained some
knowledge of the law. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION.
Anglican, St. Anne's Parish, Anne Arundel
County. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: servant,
ca. 1716. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: lawyer, admit-
ted to the following courts: Anne Arundel County
in March 1718/19 (he was fined 100 pounds of
tobacco during March 1721/22 fer nonattendance
in court); Prince George's County in March
1718/19; Baltimore County in August 1719 (his
petition to be admitted was rejected, but no rea-
son was given); Court of Chancery by July 1720;
Provincial Court ca. 1722 or 1723 (he was fined
100 pounds of tobacco in October 1726 for nonat-
tendance in court); Prince George's County in No-
vember 1725 (took new oath required by law);
Prerogative Court in March 1725/26; St. Mary's
County by June 1729; Calvert County by August
1741; Frederick County by March 1748/49. PUB-
LIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House,
Annapolis, 1732-1734 (Laws 1-Cv; Accounts Cv).
OTHER STATE OFFICES: clerk, Lower House, July
1731 (served for Michael Macnemara); clerk, High
Court of Appeals and Errors, commissioned 1733.
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LOCAL OFFICES: clerk of Indictments, Prince
George's County, sworn 1720 and 1727; common
councilman, Annapolis, elected 1721; churchwar-
den, St. Anne's Parish, Anne Arundel County,
1721-1722; St. Anne's Parish Vestry, Anne Arun-
del County, 1732-1735; alderman, Annapolis, by
1740-1752. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PER-
SONAL PROPERTY: executed a deed of trust to his
son William transferring all his real and personal
property for the benefit of his creditors in 1751,
including 117 law books, 40 slaves, 1 black and 3
white servants, and silver plate. LAND AT FIRST
ELECTION: 778 acres in Anne Arundel and Prince
George's counties, plus 3 lots in Annapolis (all by
purchase or patent, including a one-half interest in
660 acres in Prince George's County patented with
James Edmondston). SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN
LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH:
gave 4,609 acres in Anne Arundel and Frederick
counties, plus 3 lots in Annapolis, by deed of trust
to his son William to be sold for the benefit of his
creditors in 1751, this being the total of his real
property; Cumming even offered to "surrender his
body which is Old Exausted [sic] and Impaired to
Satisfy his Creditors if required"; he requested
only that his son redeem the mortgage he had
taken out on his dwelling house and outhouses in
Annapolis from Philip Hammond (1697-1760).
WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: on March 11, 1752, of
an apoplectic fit near Lower Marlboro, Calvert
County, on his return from St. Mary's County.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV, £411.2.5 current
money (including 7 slaves, 2 servants, law books
and other books, 70 oz. plate, and a Tuesday Club
medal). All of his personal property, however, had
previously been given by deed of trust to his son in
1751 to be sold for the benefit of his creditors; FB,
£89.5.1. LAND: all of his real estate had been given
by deed of trust in 1751 to his son to be sold for
the benefit of his creditors; by 1770 some of Cum-
ming's creditors still had not been paid. ADDI-
TIONAL COMMENTS: in 1770 Alexander Gumming,
eldest son and heir-at-law of William, petitioned
the legislature for damages he felt were due him as
a result of the quartering of some of the king's
forces in his father's house in Annapolis in 1754.
The premises were left in a ruinous and shattered
condition, and had since been appraised and sold
at a lower price for the benefit of his father's credi-
tors. Alexander's petition was rejected by the
Lower House, which stated that there appeared to
be creditors of William Cumming who had not yet
received payment.
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