William Cumming State Historical Marker

William Cumming State Historical Marker

Located on the Forsyth County Courthouse Square, Cumming

(Text)

COLONEL WILLIAM CUMMING

 

The town of Cumming (incorporated 1834) is named in honor of

Col. William Cumming, distinguished Georgia, born July 27, 1788,

son of Thomas Cumming and Ann Clay, daughter of Joseph Clay,

of Savannah. William Cumming graduated from the College of New

Jersey at Princeton and studied law at Gould's Law School, Litchfield,

Connecticut. The War of 1812 brought him military prominence. Captain

of the Augusta Independent Blues in 1812, he was commissioned Major,

U.S.A., in 1813, and appointed Adjutant General of the Northern Army

the following year with the rank of Colonel. In 1815, however, he resigned

from the Army and the Board of War, on which he served. Although

in 1818 he was appointed Quartermaster General of the Army by President

Monroe and, in 1847, Major General by President Polk, he declined

both appointments and spent the remainder of his life in Augusta, where

he died February 18, 1863.

 

A series of duels in 1822 with Senator George McDuffie of South

Carolina received nationwide attention and illuminated the larger

political controversy between proponents of states' rights (Cumming)

and those favoring a strong central government (McDuffie).

058-3 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1962

Photo: Ed Jackson

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