Alfred Cumming papers, 1792-1889

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Summary

Creator:
Cumming, Alfred, 1802-1873 and Cumming, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Wells Randall), 1811-1867
Abstract:
Alfred Cumming was a Superintendent in the Office of Indian Affairs Central Superintendency, and later was appointed as Utah's second Territorial Governor, succeeding Brigham Young. This collection contains materials from the Cumming family dating back to the early 1800s, including the War of 1812; documentation from Alfred Cumming's role in negotiating a treaty on behalf of the US government with indigenous tribes from the present-day Blackfeet Nation (Montana); and materials from Alfred and Elizabeth Cumming's harrowing experiences with the Utah Expedition in 1857-1858, including detailed descriptions by Elizabeth Cumming of their travels and encounters with wildlife, winter weather, white Mormon settlers, and occasionally hostile indigenous tribes. There are also materials documenting Cumming's Utah governorship, including letters from Brigham Young; reports about Mormon emigration and settlements; communications regarding federal appropriations, US Army movements, and "Indian farms;" petitions and letters to Cumming from families seeking information about missing people, presumed to be in Utah; and administrative records documenting the Western American frontier of the mid-1800s.
Extent:
4 Linear Feet (3 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Language:
Material in English.
Collection ID:
RL.00273

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains materials from the Cumming family dating back to the early 1800s, with descriptions of Litchfield Law School and the War of 1812 by William Clay Cumming; materials from Alfred Cumming's mayoralty in Augusta, Ga., during a yellow fever epidemic; documentation from Alfred Cumming's role in negotiating a treaty on behalf of the United States government with indigenous tribes from the present-day Blackfeet Nation (Montana); and materials from Alfred and Elizabeth Cumming's harrowing experiences with the Utah Expedition in 1857-1858, including detailed descriptions by Elizabeth Cumming of their travels and encounters with wildlife, winter weather, white Mormon settlers, and indigenous tribes. There are also materials documenting Cumming's Utah governorship, including letters from Brigham Young, A. S. Johnston, William Medill, and Lewis Cass; reports about Mormon emigration and settlements; communications regarding federal appropriations, U.S. Army movements, and trade with indigenous tribes; petitions and letters to Cumming from families seeking information about missing people, presumed to be in Utah; and administrative records documenting the Western American frontier of the mid-1800s. Also contains Cumming's presidential appointments from Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan.

The early 19th century materials largely contain correspondence from William Clay Cumming to his parents, Thomas and Ann Clay Cumming. William writes about his experiences at Princeton College and Litchfield Law School, and describes his studies, living arrangements, and teachers, as well as his surroundings and the political climate in New Jersey. He writes later about his activities in the War of 1812, where he served as an officer in Florida and New York; he also describes an 1815 trip from New York to New Orleans.

By the 1840s, the collection's materials shift from William Cumming to documenting Alfred Cumming's mayoralty of Augusta, Georgia (1845-1847); his appointment as Superintendent and his 1855 negotiations with representatives of the Blackfeet tribes and management of other agents in the Office of Indian Affairs' Central Superintendency; and his appointment as Governor of the Utah Territory, expedition there in 1857-1858, and subsequent governorship until 1861. His correspondence, financial records, and journals reflect these official activities and include hints of discrepancies in his account with the federal government while Governor.

Cumming's work as an agent for the Office of Indian Affairs is documented in his journal and two letterbooks, recording his expedition to meet with the Blackfeet as well as notes and instructions from the Department of the Interior. The volumes also contain official proceedings of a commission to hold a council with Blackfeet representatives and other tribes.

Cumming's copies of presidential appointments are signed by Presidents Pierce and Buchanan. His correspondence from the Utah period includes both incoming letters and letterbooks documenting his outgoing communication, containing copies of his letters to government officials, James Buchanan, William Medill, Lewis Cass, A. S. Johnston, and Brigham Young.

There are also four scrapbooks, with clippings and other published accounts: one documenting Cumming's Augusta mayoralty, particularly the yellow fever epidemic; two documenting the Utah Expedition and his governorship, including exaggerated and negative depictions of Mormon culture and religion; and one dating from the 1860s with clippings about the American Civil War and its aftermath in Georgia.

This collection contains two sets of letters with item-level description: first, a set of letters to Cumming from Brigham Young, relating to Cumming's entry into Salt Lake City and his work to temper the tension between Mormon residents and US Army and federal officials. Second, there is a series of letters by Elizabeth Wells Cumming to members of the Cumming family, particularly Alfred's sisters Anne and Sarah; these offer Elizabeth's personal account of the Utah Expedition, describing the arduous trip; destruction of supplies and land by Mormon militia; her activities and health; her dispute of media reports of the situation; beautiful scenery and frontier conditions; and her initial impressions and encounters with Mormons, including Mormon women, upon entering Salt Lake City.

Biographical / historical:

Alfred Cumming was a white American public official who served as Territorial Governor of Utah (1857-1861). He was born on September 4, 1802 in Augusta, Georgia, and served as Mayor (1836-1837) during the city's first yellow fever epidemic. After the Mexican-American War, he joined the federal government as an "Indian agent" in 1853, eventually rising to be Superintendent of the Central Superintendency responsible for managing government relations with indigenous tribes. In this capacity, he travelled to what is now Montana and was the principal federal negotiator of the 1855 treaty with the Blackfeet nation, establishing the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

In 1857, Cumming was appointed by President James Buchanan to serve as the second Territorial Governor of Utah, which was then led by Brigham Young. Utah's Mormon population was widely disparaged in the American press, and as the leader of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, Brigham Young had become a threat to federal authority. Along with appointing Cumming, President Buchanan sent a US Army detachment, commanded by Colonel Alfred Sidney Johnston, and newly appointed federal officials, including Judge Delana Eckels, to Utah. Also present on this trip was Cumming's wife, Elizabeth Wells Randall Cumming, whose letters serve as a thorough and insightful documentation of what is now called the Utah Expedition (1857-1858).

Though the group left Missouri in September 1857, their trip West took several months and included a long winter with little food near Fort Bridger, in what is now Wyoming. Fearing an invasion and persecution, Young had directed his local militia to disrupt the group's movements; along with bad weather, the Army's supply convoys and lands for grazing were destroyed.

In spring 1858, Cumming and other officials (including go-between Thomas Kane) negotiated with Young, who finally allowed Cumming to enter Salt Lake City. They found the city largely empty of residents, as Young had directed Mormons to evacuate. Cumming was fairly successful in quieting the situation, and Young received him as the new governor. The Army and the rest of the party arrived in Salt Lake in August 1858, and Cumming was officially elected by Utahns and served as Governor until May 1861. His term was largely focused on establishing and reinforcing official and administrative systems for the Utah Territory, and he tended to advocate governmental moderation concerning Mormon practices such as polygamy, in contradiction to many of his more conservative military officers and judges.

After the end of his governorship, Cumming returned to Washington, DC. His return to Augusta was postponed by the American Civil War, but he eventually arrived there in the summer of 1864. Elizabeth died in 1867; Alfred died on October 9, 1873.

Sources cited: Peterson, Charles S. "Alfred Cumming," entry in Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994. https://historytogo.utah.gov/alfred-cumming/

The Genteel Gentile: Letters of Elizabeth Cumming, 1857-1858. Edited by Ray R. Canning and Beverly Beeton (Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah. Library. Tanner Trust Fund), 1977.

Acquisition information:
The Alfred Cumming papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as gifts in 1933 and 1940.
Processing information:

Processed by Rubenstein Library staff, 1989; re-processed and description revised by Meghan Lyon, 2025.

Arrangement:

The Alfred Cumming papers are arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

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The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Alfred Cumming papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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