Jhilson Payne Cummins (1838-1918)

Portrait from "Freemasonry in Three Parts", 1903.

   A resident of several states during a life that extended nearly eighty years, Jhilson Payne Cummins was an Indiana native and Civil War veteran who served in local political offices in Iowa and Kansas before relocating to the Oklahoma Territory, where he was a probate judge and member of the territorial house of representatives in the early 1900s. Cummins was later a resident of California, where he died and is buried. The son of Daniel and Nancy Ellender (Collier) Cummins, Jhilson Payne Cummins was born in Jackson County, Indiana on November 26, 1838.

  While little information could be found in regards to Cummins' upbringing in his birth state, he is recorded as having attended school in Clear Lake, Indiana and at age 17 began a brief career as a school teacher in Elkinsville. In 1858 he married his first wife Nancy Emmons, who died just eight months later. In 1862 Cummins remarried to Sarah Lutes (1846-1883), with whom he had several children, including Nancy Emeline, Esther Eveline, Howard (1868-1896), Charlotte (1870-1914), Thomas (died in infancy in 1872), George Marion Arthur (1876-1921), James Payne (1878-1960) and Fred. 

   At the dawn of the Civil War Jhilson Cummins signed on for service, enlisting in Co. G of the 5th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. His service with that unit extended three months, and in 1863 reenlisted, this time serving amongst the ranks of Co. H., 120th Indiana Infantry. He was elected as First Lieutenant and would see action at the "battles of Atlanta, Campagne, Columbus, Franklin, and Nashville", and in 1865 was promoted to Brevet Major. That same year Cummins assumed the post of Judge Advocate for the North Carolina military district and was honorably discharged in January 1866.

   Following his return to Indiana Cummins engaged in the study of law and enrolled at the University of Indiana at Bloomington. He earned his bachelor of laws degree in 1867 and after being admitted to the bar relocated to Adams County, Iowa. Settling in the small town of Quincy, Cummins opened his practice and in 1869 won his first political office, being elected as Adams County auditor. He would serve in that capacity from 1870-75 and in the latter year removed to Minneapolis, Ottawa County, Kansas. 

  Within a few years of his establishing roots in Ottawa County, Cummins had become a leading citizen in his community, being a founder (and later president) of the Bank of Minneapolis, and later held the presidency of the Bank of Clay Center. He would continue his banking interests in Lincoln County in the late 1870s, founding the Bank of Lincoln County (noted as being the first such financial institution in that area), and as a man of means, devoted thousands of dollars for investment in the county. Tragedy would strike Cummins in 1883 when his wife of twenty years, Sarah, died aged 37. He remarried in the year following her death to Lenora Davis, about whom little is known. Following her death, Cummins became a three-time widower, and in January 1893 married for a fourth time, taking Malinda Pemberton Davis Benedict (1846-1934) as his wife.

  After turning over his interests in the bank to his head cashier in 1884, Cummins was appointed as a U.S. Commissioner for the Oklahoma Territory in 1889. Shortly after his settlement in Kingfisher County, Cummins was elected as the first probate judge for the county in 1890 and in 1894 won a second four-year term.

From the Hennessey Clipper, November 2, 1894.

   In 1902 Cummins returned to political life when he entered into the race for representative from Kingfisher to the Oklahoma Territorial legislature. His candidacy was reported on favorably by the Hennessey Clipper, which, in addition to touting his civil war service and judgeship, acknowledged him as 

"A man of legal attainments standing well at home and throughout the Territory, having the confidence of the public with large acquaintence over the Territory and among public men a pioneer resident and taxpayer, Judge Cummins possesses all the qualifications necessary for a first class legislator."

   Jhilson Cummins emerged victorious at the polls that November and took his seat at the start of the 1903-05 session. His one term in that body saw him named to the committees on Elections and Legislative Apportionment, the Judiciary, Insurance, Manufactures and Home Industries, Printing, and the Penitentiary and Reformatory. Cummins' term also saw him author a three-volume work on the history of Freemasonry, entitled "Freemasonry in Three Parts: Being a Sketch of Its Origin, Spread, and Object", published in 1903.

   After leaving office in 1905 Cummins continued to reside in Kingfisher and in 1912 was again a candidate for county judge of probate, losing out in the August Democratic primary. In 1914 he and his wife removed to Santa Rosa, California, where he resided until his death. In early 1918 his health began to fail and for several weeks following was confined to his bed, his death occurring on March 2, 1918, at his home. Cummins was survived by his wife Malinda and was later interred under a small military marker at the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery. 

From the Hobart Weekly Democrat Chief, March 18, 1918.