Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Cumming Family Papers, Accession 6922-b, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Acquisition Information

These papers, 6922-b, 6922-d, 6922-e, 6922-f, 6922-h, 6922-h, 6922-i, 6922-k, 6922-l, 6922-m, 6922-n, 6922-p, 6922-r, 6922-s, 6922-u, 6922-w, 6922-ab, 6922-ac and 6922-ad, were donated to the Library by the Honorable Hugh S. Cumming, Jr., of Washington, D.C., on June 3, November 16, and December 30, 1985, and bear no restrictions

Funding Note

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Biographical/Historical Information

Biography

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Edwin Gilliam Booth was born on January 11, 1810, at " Shenstone , " Nottoway County , to Gilliam Booth and Rebecca (Hicks) Booth . At age ten he was sent to Winfield Academy in Dinwiddie County , where he began a friendship with Theodorick Pryor , who later became one of the most influential and successful ministers in southeastern Virginia . His chief preparation for college was at Oxford, North Carolina ; he matriculated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1824, (at the age of fourteen) after an arduous course in classics and mathematics. Subsequently, he studied law at Fredericksburg under the supervision of Judge John Taylor Lomax , a professor at the University of Virginia and a judge of the Court of Appeals ; and, although not a well-disciplined student, he was diligent in his quest for legal knowledge, and afterward returned to Nottoway County to practice law in the five southeastern counties of Virginia .

In 1833, he married Sarah Tanner Jones (May 10, 1811, -August 29, 1860) with whom he had five children: Edwin Gilliam Booth, Jr. , (February 27, 1839 -January 5, 1922); Archer Jones Booth (May 22, 1844 -November 22, 1864); Frances Rebecca Booth (December 17, 1846 -June 7, 1885); Sarah Tanner Booth (June 3, 1848 -September 23, 1865); and, William Travis Booth (July 12, 1850 -June 25, 1861).

Booth was known for his public spirit and devotion to politics, his activities for the welfare of man and for the promotion of Christianity. On August 30, 1838, he made a public profession of his faith in Christ, and was soon made the ruling elder in the Nottoway Church . In 1847, he was elected from the Nottoway District to serve in the Virginia Legislature for the 1848 and 1849 sessions, and took part in the revision and codification of the civil laws of Virginia . During the Civil War, he attempted to alleviate the miseries of military prisons by obtaining permission to assist friends in prison. He received permission from President Abraham Lincoln to pass through the blockade in April 1863, and dined with Lincoln and Davis over the month, by their invitations. In 1876, he erected the Old Virginia Building at the National Centennial Exhibition in Fairmont Park, Philadelphia .

Edwin Gilliam Booth, Sr. , passed away on February 13, 1886 in Philadelphia .

More information on Booth may be found in The Life and Character of Edwin Gilliam Booth by Henry Edwin Dwight (F230.B74).

Edwin Gilliam Booth, Jr. , was born on February 27, 1839, in Nottoway County to Edwin Gilliam Booth and Sarah Tanner (Jones) Booth . He attended Winfield Academy , Dinwiddie County , and was prepared for college by David Comfort , a Princeton graduate. He then attended Hampton-Sydney College for two years, graduating in 1859, and spent part of a session at the University of Virginia before enrolling in the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia where he graduated as a doctor of medicine in 1861.

During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate Army as a member of the Nottoway Cavalry in the G and E companies of the Third Virginia Regiment . His company fought at the Battle of Big Bethel on June 10, 1861. On May 1, 1863, he was commissioned as assistant surgeon in the Confederate Navy , and was a surgeon on the C. S. S. Selma during the Battle of Mobile Bay , where their fleet was defeated and the steamer was sunk on August 5, 1864. He was taken prisoner and sent to Pensacola , and later released on parole.

After the war he visited Europe , then returned to live at " Shenstone " until ca. 1886 when he moved to " Carter's Grove , " James City County. In October 1870, he married Clara Haxall Thomson of Jefferson County, West Virginia ; they had the following children: Lucy Almira Booth (July 15, 1871 -1960); Frances Rebecca Booth (October 1, 1873 -? ); Henrietta Edwina Booth (January 6, 1876-? ); Edwin Gilliam Booth, III (July 14, 1878 -? ); Clara Thomson Booth (July 10, 1880 -? ); John Thomson Booth (May 13, 1883 -? ); and, William Harris Booth (June 16, 1885 -? ).

In 1907, he settled in the old George Wythe home at Williamsburg , and was a member of the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary . He died at home on January 5, 1922.

Biography

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

See entries from: Who Was Who In America , Volume II, 1943 -1950, page 139; Who's Who in America , 1984-1985, 43rd edition, Volume I, A-K, pp. 723-724; the National Cyclopedia of American Biography , pp. 279-280, and the obituary for Hugh S. Cumming, Jr. from the November 26, 1986 "Washington Post."

Scope and Content Information

Scope and Content

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Cumming Family papers consist of ca. 53,100 items (23 Hollinger boxes, ca. 8 linear shelf feet), 1777-1778, 1806 (1820-1977) 1984, including correspondence, financial and legal papers, newspaper clippings, photographs, bound volumes, writings, printed material, and miscellaneous related items pertaining to the life and activities of Dr. Hugh Smith and Lucy Booth Cumming , Sr., and their son, Ambassador Hugh S. Cumming, Jr. , (1900-1986), and his wife, Winifred Burney West , as well as other family members. Also present are papers relating to the Booth Family .

Dr. Cumming (1869-1948) was Surgeon General of the U. S. Public Health Service from 1920 to 1936; Ambassador Cumming (1900-) was a career diplomat and served primarily in Europe and Indonesia from 1933 until his retirement in 1963.

The majority of the collection is chiefly correspondence dealing with family, professional, and diplomatic matters. In addition, Ambassador Cumming maintained extensive files containing additional correspondence, photographs, reports, memoranda, notes, and other related materials regarding his public and personal activities.

The collection has been divided into three subgroups: I. Booth Family Papers, II. Papers of Dr. and Mrs. Hugh Smith Cumming, Sr. , and III. Papers of Ambassador Hugh Smith Cumming, Jr. There are various series and subseries within each subgroup. A more detailed description of the papers, especially biographical and organizational information, can be found later in this guide, under each subgroup. The descriptions were compiled by Robin D. Wear (Subgroup I), T. Sharon Defibaugh (Subgroup II), and Ervin L. Jordan, Jr. (Subgroup III). This collection contains 6922-b, 6922-d, 6922-e, 6922-f, 6922-h, 6922-h, 6922-i, 6922-k, 6922-l, 6922-m, 6922-n, 6922-p, 6922-r, 6922-s, 6922-u, 6922-w, 6922-ab, 6922-ac and 6922-ad.

SUBGROUP I BOOTH FAMILY PAPERS

SCOPE AND CONTENT

This subgroup of the Cumming Papers pertains chiefly to the Booth family , and consists of ca. 270 items, (Boxes 1 and 2), encompassing the years 1814-1978. Included are correspondence, legal papers, and photographs of the Booth family ; and biographical and genealogical information in the form of correspondence, notes, copies of family documents, and printed material concerning the Booth and allied families such as Armistead , Thomson , Throckmorton , Gilliam , Rootes , Bernard , and Terry .

Correspondents include Rebecca Hicks Booth , Robert Henry Booth , Edwin Gilliam Booth , and the latter's children, Edwin Gilliam Booth , Archer Jones Booth , Francis Rebecca Booth , and Sarah Tanner Booth , as well as Clara Haxall Thomson Booth , Lucy Almira Booth , Hugh Smith Cumming , Charles J. Cabaniss , and William Cabell Rives .

Edwin Gilliam Booth 's two older sons fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side in Virginia . Archer Jones Booth wrote to his father from Clark County , and to his grandmother from a camp near Fredericksburg mentioning long marches and various campsites. Edwin Gilliam Booth, Jr. , wrote to his father from a camp near Yorktown (June 5, 1861), discussing camp life, the hardships of warfare, and their hopes that President [Jefferson] Davis would send an additional 25,000 men; and, later writes from the C. S. Steamer Selma off Mobile, Alabama (April 13, 1864) mentioning the occupation of Vicksburg by Yankees, the defense of Richmond , and news of Archer's regiment and an anticipated battle.

Other letters of interest include those from E. C. Cabell to Edwin Gilliam Booth (November 22, 1846 and November 14, 1847) concerning a controversy between Booth and his brother, Archer, and the Bank of Florida ; two letters from William Cabell Rives to Edwin Gilliam Booth (July 5, 1858 and November 24, 1862); and a lengthy letter from Edwin Gilliam Booth, Jr. to his sister, Frances Rebecca Booth , from Paris, France (February 5, 1866).

Scope and Content

SUBGROUP II PAPERS OF DR. AND MRS. HUGH SMITH CUMMING, SR.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

This subgroup of the Cumming family papers includes papers of Dr. Hugh Smith Cumming, Sr. (1869-1948) and his wife, Lucy Booth Cumming (1871-1960), and contains ca. 825 items, (Boxes 3-7, 4 Hollinger boxes, 3.5 linear shelf feet), 1897-1956. They consist of correspondence, memoirs, essays, speeches, invitations, printed items, photographs, legal papers, bound volumes, and oversize items.

Correspondence forms the largest series of the papers; there are letters of congratulation to Dr. and Mrs. Hugh S. Cumming concerning the birth of Lucy Cumming , 1897, and Hugh S. Cumming, Jr. , 1900, as well as letters of condolence regarding the death of Lucy Cumming in 1898.

Letters from Hugh S. Cumming, Sr. to his wife, Lucy, 1900-1938, were usually written during his absences from home due to work connected with his appointments to the U.S. Public Health Service (1894-1920) and as Surgeon General (1920-1936); they contain references to his inspection and quarantine duties, departmental gossip, family news, and personal observations about the various places that he visited. Notable topics include: the endorsement of the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service by the American Medical Association (July 13, 1905); the case of an insane Russian alien (November 12, 1911); Lucy's appointment to the Sanitation Committee (November 15, 1912); Surgeon General Rupert Blue 's and Cumming's chances of an assignment in Philadelphia (August 17, 1912), and his Virginia Survey and other inspection work along the Atlantic Seaboard , especially of sewage systems and oyster beds (1914-1915). The majority of Dr. Cumming's letters to his wife were written during his service in Europe , 1918-1920, where he visited and inspected ports of embarkation, evacuation points, departing ships, and camps used by the American forces in France for evidence of epidemics or disease. He also represented the United States in 1919 at the Cannes conference which organized the League of Red Cross Societies and headed a medical mission to Poland . Topics in this group include: post-war conditions in England (December 20, 1918); American University Union in Europe (December 29, 1918); abominable conditions at the American camp at Brest, France (January 9, 1919); effects of shelling on the ruins at Rheims, France (February 9, 1919); typhoid fever outbreak at Rotterdam, Netherlands (February 20, 1919); Red Cross Conference at Cannes (March 20, 1919); chances for an enduring peace (March 28, 1919); work on a committee on preventive medicine and hygiene and a subcommittee on Public Health Laboratories (April 3-23, 1919); and comments on the high cost of food and its affect upon the morals of civilians in Europe (April 24, 1919). These letters, in general, describe Cumming's itinerary while in Europe , including England , France , Belgium , Poland , Spain , Italy , Greece , and Turkey , his duties of inspection, and the appearance of post-war Europe .

Letters to Lucy Booth Cumming include the following topics: a sketch of the life of Archer Jones Booth , (an uncle of hers) as a Confederate soldier, by James F. Epes (November 26, 1903); Leake and Haxall genealogy (October 21, 1905); Thomson genealogy (March 29, 1914; [February 9, 1934]; November 15, 1929); Cabaniss genealogy (September 27, 1933) and photographs of celebrities attending the Lausanne Peace Conference (December 26, 1922).

Lucy Cumming also corresponded with her mother, Clara Booth , and sister, Henrietta Wise , while residing in Yokohama, Japan , (1906), and while visiting her husband in Europe in 1919-1920.

The miscellaneous correspondence of Hugh and Lucy Cumming contains: a copy of Charles J. Hatfield 's comments introducing Hugh S. Cumming at the University of Pennsylvania (October 20, 1930); copy of Mrs. Cumming's comments in a prologue to a series of radio broadcasts regarding the health of young people for the Committee on Periodic Health Examinations (January 12, 1932), and a copy of Herbert Hoover 's letter of appreciation to Cumming about his work in the Public Health Service (February 25, 1933).

Dr. and Mrs. Cumming's letters to their son, Hugh S. Cumming, Jr. , generally contain family news and descriptions of trips undertaken in connection with Cumming's work as Surgeon General, with occasional references to Dr. Cumming's viewpoints amd opinions, including the technical meeting of the Commission on Nutrition (May 24 and 31, 1937) and his opinion of his successor, [Thomas] Parran (May 12, 1939).

The letters of Winifred Burney (West) Cumming (1907-1978) to Lucy B. Cumming , 1948-1956, furnish a varied picture of the life of the wife of a diplomat and her responsibilities in the work of an embassy. These letters were written while her husband, Hugh S. Cumming, Jr. , (1900-1986) was stationed in Sweden , Russia , and Indonesia . Two letters in particular (March 5 and 19, 1951) describe the city of Moscow , its living conditions, and the Lubianka prison , which was near the Cumming's Moscow quarters.

This collection also contains the typescript of Dr. Hugh S. Cumming 's personal memoirs, beginning with his birth on August 17, 1869, in Hampton, Virginia , and ending with his last day at the Pan American Sanitary Bureau on February 1, 1947, and Lucy Cumming's memoirs of her childhood in Nottoway County, Virginia .

Other items of note include two speeches of Hugh S. Cumming, Sr. , "Toast at Tennis Club" (N.D.) and "Address at the opening session of the Septima Conferencia Sanitaria" (November 1924), and a Power of Attorney re the estate of Lucy B. Cumming 's grandfather, Edwin G. Booth , " Beechwood " in York County, Virginia , (June 19, 1919). The collection also contains a diary and date book of Lucy Booth Cumming ; a pictoral record of the Medical Conference held at Cannes, France , (April 1-11, 1919) at the invitation of the Committee of Red Cross Societies ; a scrapbook of Hugh S. Cumming, Sr. , containing academic diplomas, official certificates, honorary degrees, appointments, photographs, newsclippings, obituaries, etc.; Lucy Cumming 's membership certificate in the United Daughters of the Confederacy ; and a charcoal-and-chalk profile sketch of Hugh S. Cumming, Sr.

Scope and Content

SUBGROUP III PAPERS OF AMBASSADOR HUGH SMITH CUMMING, JR.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

This subgroup consists of ca. 5,200 items (Boxes 7-23, ca. 4.5 linear shelf feet), 1777-1778, 1806, 1820, 1861-1892, 1907 (1931-1977) 1984, correspondence, photographs, financial and legal items, newspaper clippings, tape recordings, bound volumes and miscellaneous items relating to Hugh S. Cumming, Jr. , a career diplomat. These papers are chiefly comprised of personal and diplomatic correspondence. Topics of interest in the subgroup include: Cumming's life as a diplomat in Moscow , Stockholm , Paris , and Indonesia ; European economic conditions, 1939-1945; the University of Virginia ; American activities in Iceland and Greenland before and during World War II; diplomacy, family and personal matters; and involvements in civic and professional organizations.

As a diplomat, Cumming corresponded with several prominent contemporaries, especially his fellow diplomats, but the majority of their letters are concerned with routine matters. The correspondence was written in various places: Austria, Belgium, China, Cuba, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Liberia, the Netherlands, Poland, South America, the Soviet Union, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Among the noted correspondents are: Dean Acheson ; Joseph W. Alsop ; John A. Blatnik ; Daniel J. Boorstin ; John Stewart Bryan ; Harry F. Byrd, Jr. ; Richard E. Byrd ; Bernard P. Chamerlain ; Virginius Dabney ; C. Douglas Dillon ; Thomas N. Downing ; Allen W. Dulles ; John Foster Dulles ; Homer Ferguson ; J. Allen Frear, Jr. ; Douglas Southall Freeman ; J. William Fulbright ; Wilson D. Gillette ; Joseph C. Grew ; Christian A. Herter ; Lou Henry Hoover (Mrs. Herbert Hoover); Cordell Hull ; Herschel V. Johnson ; Walter Lippman ; Henry Cabot Lodge ; John O. Marsh, Jr. ; Christopher C. McGrath ; David C. Mearns ; L. Quincy Mumford ; Stanley F. Reed ; Eleanor Roosevelt ; Elliot Roosevelt ; Dean Rusk ; Hugh D. Scott, Jr. ; John W. Snyder ; John Sparkman ; Maurice Stans ; Edward E. Stettinius, Jr. ; Potter Stewart ; Robert Taft, Jr. ; Edward Thye, Jr. ; Harry S. Truman .

In addition, there are references to: Edwin Barclay ; Chiang Kai-shek ; Andrei Gromyko ; George Kennan ; Hunter Holmes McGuire ; Raoul Wallenberg .

Cumming's correspondence, 1907-1984, relates to his life and career and includes letters from and to his wife, his mother, relatives, friends, and colleagues. There are several letters congratulating him on his marriage to Winifred Burney West (1907-1978), 1935, as well as her letters to members of her family, 1930-1932 and 1951-1952, while she was living in the American Consulate in Hankow, China , and in Moscow where her husband was counselor to the American Embassy. In these letters, which were primarily addressed to her brother-in-law, Frank A. West , she discusses her social and personal activities. The letters contain references to contemporary events and individuals such as: executions taking place near the American Consulate in Hankow , January 30, 1931; the U.S.S. Panay's attempt to pay ransom to secure the release of a kidnap victim, February 27, 1931; Chiang Kai-shek , December 16, 1930; May Day celebrations in Moscow , May 11, 1951; and meeting Andrei Gromyko , November 11 and 18, 1951. Her Moscow letters were signed "jed."

Letters of interest include several from Mr. and Mrs. Cordell Hull , 1933-1950; Walter Lippman discussing the case of Raoul Wallenberg , December 8, 1947; a thank-you letter from Eleanor Roosevelt , June 13, 1950; Richard E. Byrd regarding his efforts on behalf of the U.S. Antarctic Service , August 21 and December 27, 1941; and President Harry S. Truman 's appointment of Cumming to the personal rank of Minister while serving as deputy chief of mission and counselor of the embassy at Moscow , August 14, 1951; condolence letters, 1948-1949, regarding the death of his father, Hugh S. Cumming, Sr. , and of his mother, Lucy Booth Cumming, 1960 .

Correspondence from Cumming's diplomatic service, 1926-1964, includes copies of correspondence with the State Department , a report on economic and political situations in Nazi Germany , November 15, 1939, and an incomplete report of an assassination attempt against Liberian President Edwin Barclay which involved the use of medicine men and magic, 1934, as well as several confidential reports and related papers pertaining to his service in Latin America , Europe , and Asia .

The subject files, 1934-1984, comprise the largest section of the collection; arranged alphabetically by name or subject, they contain correspondence and related papers pertaining to Cumming's civic and professional activities. These include appointments and efficiency reports, papers regarding members of the Cumming family , the Alibi Club , the John Foster Dulles Oral History Project at Princeton University , Bath County Community Hospital , the National Cathedral Association , the State Department , Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired (DACOR) and other similar subjects.

Correspondence and files regarding the University of Virginia include the Raven Society , the Hugh S. and Lucy Booth Cumming Memorial Fund , the O.W.L.S. Society , and others. As a consequence, he corresponded with several members of its faculty, students, and staff such as Julius P. Barclay , Edmund Berkeley, Jr. , Colgate W. Darden, Jr. , Ernest H. Ern , Arthur P. Gray III , Frank L. Hereford, Jr. , William H. Runge , B. F. D. Runk , Edgar F. Shannon , and John Cook Wyllie .

The photographs, 1918-1961, pertain to: life at the Virginia Military Institute in 1918, U. S. Coast Guard activities in Greenland during 1941; the first commerical flight between Reykjavik, Iceland , and Washington, D.C. Of special interest is a 1923 photograph of Cumming as a park ranger in Mesa Verde National Park , Colorado , and four photographs of Richard M. Nixon during a visit to Indonesia as part of his 1953 Asian tour.

Bound volumes, 1777 -1778, 1806, 1820, 1850-1892 and 1941, include a scrapbook regarding Sunday School conventions in Albemarle County, Virginia , 1868-1875, a journal containing entries regarding the issuing of military rations, 1777-1778; and a 1866-1868 diary and commonplace book of Diana Whiting Smith Cumming , a school teacher and resident of Hampton, Virginia . Also present is Cumming's diary of his official trip to Greenland during 1941.

Other items of interest include: passsports of Hugh and Winifred Cumming, 1922-1947; invitations, a 1909 school report, guest tickets to the 1924 Democratic National Convention ; three 1913 visitor passes to public viewing galleries in Congress from Bird McGuire , James P. Clarke , and Claude A. Swanson ; two tape recordings of Cumming interviews, 1954 and 1969; an article by him regarding Liberia , February, 1937; three pages from the New York Daily Tribune, April 23, 1861, with references to the early phase of the Civil War, a 1940 Cumming article on the U.S. Antarctic Service ; and a pass for Cumming as an official observer at a nuclear test explosion ("Diablo") in Nevada during 1957.

Arrangement

Organization

ORGANIZATION

This subgroup of the Cumming Papers is divided into three series: I. Correspondence and Legal Papers; II. Genealogical Papers; and, III. Photographs and Printed Material. The folders in the first series have been arranged chronologically. The folders in the second series have been arranged in alphabetical order by family name. The series entitled "Miscellaneous" contains photographs and printed material, with folders in alphabetical order.

Organization

ORGANIZATION

The papers of Dr. and Mrs. Hugh S. Cumming, Sr. , are arranged chronologically and have been arranged in five series: 1) Correspondence; 2) Memoirs; 3) Miscellaneous Papers; 4) Bound Volumes; and 5) Oversize Items.

Organization

ORGANIZATION

This subgroup is divided into three series: I. Correspondence, II. Photographs and Miscellaneous, and III. Bound Volumes. Series I is divided into five subseries of correspondence: general, chronological, alphabetical files, topical files, and subject files. Series II contains photographs followed by miscellaneous folders. Folder headings have been modified as necessary and the material has been arranged chronologically within each series.