#52Ancestors52Weeks...Week 20 Theme: Taking Care of Business....The Cummings were Silversmiths, Jewelers and Watchmakers By Trade: The Crawford Family Working Tree (Part 4 )

  Death Notice for Thomas Van Buren Cummings who died December 6, 1868. 

Found in family papers for the Crawford Family.  This was most likely in a Sacramento, California newspaper.  He was 28 years old. 

    In my previous post of February 25, 2024 I talked about the two marriage certificates I had for the Crawford Family.  One was for John Washington Crawford and Sarah Byerly and the other was for their daughter Sarah Elizabeth Crawford who married Franklin Hayes. Franklin and Sarah "Sallie" Hayes were my great great grandparents.  Both of those marriage certificates provided clues that helped me discover a connection to the Cummings family through Rebecca Byerly (or Byrley) Cummings.  Rebecca was most likely Sarah Byerly Crawford's sister or a very close relative.  This small snippet of newspaper (above) that I found in the Crawford papers also provided a clue that the Crawfords were somehow connected to the Cummings family.  Who were the Cummings?  Their various trades as silversmiths, jewelers and watchmakers helped me put together their family tree. 

   Let's go  back to Philadelphia first......

  The 1850 Census for the 2nd Ward (Moyamensing) in Philadelphia found Henry Cummings and his wife Caterina/Catherine (Jeffries) living with a Rebecca Byerly Cummings and her five  children: Thomas, William, George, Emma and baby Lewis.  Henry was 27 years old and was a silversmith.  I know from Rebecca Cummings' obituary that her husband William Cummings left Philadelphia for California during the 1849 Gold Rush and that she was pregnant at that time. She stayed with William's younger brother Henry back in Philadelphia.  This was the same Henry who witnessed Sarah Byerly and John Washington Crawford's 1848 marriage at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. This census information fits Rebecca's obituary.  William was away, Rebecca was living with his brother Henry, and she had given birth to baby Lewis by that time.  

  My working theory is that Henry Cummings, Sr. was father to William (b. 1820) and Henry (b. 1823).  There was a John B. Cummings that also lived in Philadelphia. All three were silversmiths.

   *William Cummings was a silversmith, learning his trade in Philadelphia and Boston per his obituary.  He married Rebecca Byerly in Philadelphia before 1840. He made his first trip to Sacramento, California in 1849 and then brought his family out west in 1851-52 and started a jewelry business on J Street with $50 to his name. 

   *Henry Cummings was a silversmith in Philadelphia and was originally buried at St. Paul's Episcopal Church grounds in 1891 with his wife Catherine and then reburied in Fernwood Cemetery after St. Paul's cemetery was abandoned. 

    *John B. Cummings was listed as a silversmith and jeweler working in Philadelphia in 1837 and 1841. He may have been a brother, or another Cummings relation.  I cannot find anything else definitive about him, but the jeweler and silversmith occupation fits with the other Cummings brothers' chosen vocations. 

By NMGiovannucci - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108697665

The back view with the remaining cemetery. 

   This is St. Paul's Episcopal Church today...the building now houses Episcopal Community Services.  It is located at 225 S. 3rd Street, Philadelphia.  It was just a few blocks away from Henry Cumming's house on Christensen Street where he was recorded living on  the 1880 Census. 

  

By ProfReader - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33768525

 The front view.  The church was built in 1761 and altered in 1830.  

 From Philadelphia to Sacramento.....

 From William's obituary I know that he and Rebecca had a total of 10 children and only three were alive at the time of his death: William, Louis and Benjamin. William died in 1891 in Sacramento.  I have pieced together the story of his family....

*Thomas Van Buren Cummings was born in Philadelphia the 18th of November 1840.  By the age of 19 he was living with his family in Sacramento and worked as a watchmaker; his skills as a watchmaker fit nicely with his father's jewelry business.  He died at the age of 28 and was buried in the Sacramento City Cemetery (obituary above). 

*William Cummings (Jr.) was born in Philadelphia August 5, 1842.  He worked in Sacramento and San Francisco as a jeweler.  He died in 1912 and was buried in Pacific Grove, California with his children and their families. 

*George Washington Cummings was born July 15, 1844 in Philadelphia and died November 21, 1870 at the age of 26. He worked as a jeweler with his brother Louis in San Francisco at one point. He was a resident of Sacramento at his death. 

*Emma S. Cummings was born December 23, 1846 in Philadelphia, came to Sacramento with her family in 1852 and died in 1866 at the age of 20.  She was buried in the Sacramento City Cemetery.  

*Louis Broomall Cummings was born in Philadelphia October of 1849 and died in Sacramento in 1923 of accidental burns. He was buried in the Sacramento City Cemetery. Louis owned Cummings Sons Jewelry in San Francisco and was also a watchmaker. 

*Mary Cummings was born in Philadelphia in 1850, and was listed on the 1860 census when she was ten years old.  Her death date is unknown, but she was buried in the Sacramento City Cemetery. 

*Sierra Nevada "Sarah" Cummings was the first child born in California in 1852, and she was named after the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains which the Cummings and Crawfords had to cross to make it to Sacramento.  They came by wagon. 

*Benjamin Franklin Cummings was born in Sacramento in 1856 and died on April 14, 1893 of heart failure.  He was 37 years old. He worked with his brother Louis in San Francisco in the jewelry business.  He was buried in the Sacramento City Cemetery.  He witnessed my great great grandparents' wedding ceremony in San Francisco in 1881. 

*Alice Cummings was born in 1858 in Sacramento. 

*Nellie Cummings was born December 17, 1860. 

    Philadelphia was the largest silver market in America from 1760 to the 1820's and a center for silver manufacturing through the 19th century.  William Cummings was able to take his skills with him out west where he trained his boys and built a jewelry business that was very profitable and provided his family a comfortable living.  His son Louis opened up his own shop  'Cummings Sons' in San Francisco and employed his brothers at various times. William Jr.'s son William M. Cummings was listed on the 1930 Census as being a proprietor of a jewelry store in Pacific Grove, California, so it appears the family business was moved from San Francisco to Pacific Grove.  William M. Cummings son Russell Howard Cummings was listed on the 1940 Census as a watchmaker, and son Stanley was listed as a salesperson at Cummings Sons in Pacific Grove in the 1951 Directory. So, the Cummings were involved in this trade for over 100 years. 

  With the exception of William Jr., the entire Cummings family is buried in the Sacramento City Cemetery. 

 Sacramento City Cemetery, Lot 96

Find A Grave for William Cummings (1820-1891)

 Entrance to the cemetery

  The Byerlys and the Cummings families were true California pioneers, and it has been a fascinating journey learning about their lives.  I have added the Cummings family to our family tree.  Another branch!

#52Ancestors52Weeks...Week 9...Changing Names....The Crawford Wedding Certificates Provide Clues to the Name Cummings

   This week's theme is Changing Names...as I was going through files this week I came across two wedding certificates from the Crawford Family. Sarah Byerly changed her name to Sarah Crawford and her daughter Sarah Elizabeth Crawford changed her name to Sarah (Sallie) Hayes upon marriage. As I was looking closer at the documents, I discovered some valuable clues.....

   Wedding certificates are wonderful ways to find new clues when researching families.  The Crawford family not only kept two marriage documents, but recorded family marriages in the Crawford family Bible (see previous posts from January 2024). This was first time I had really looked closely at these wedding certificates. 

 The Marriage Certificate for John Washington Crawford of Philadelphia and Sarah Byerly of Philadelphia, February 23, 1848. 

10 1/2" X 8".  In our family collection. 

 Sarah Byerly became Sarah Crawford.    

 Their marriage was also documented in the records of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. They were married by J.A. Roche, Minister.  Ancestry.com

 This marriage certificate is the oldest original family document I have, and  dates from February 23, 1848.  It is still in good condition, and the ink has not faded much.  The embossing around the edges is beautiful.  I have just started researching the Crawford family, who lived in Philadelphia in the early 1800's. I can imagine how it must have been carefully folded up and put in the family bible when the family made their way west. 

  I found two names listed as witnesses on the certificate.  Since I had just gone through the family bible, these names sounded very familiar to me.  The first name was Henry Cummings. That name was familiar because John and Sarah's third child was named William Cummings Crawford.  Was Cummings originally a maiden name? Who was Henry Cummings and what was his relation to Sarah or John? 

  The second name was Cristian Byerly.  Was this a brother to Sarah? Maybe her father?  The spelling of Cristian is interesting also. The Byerly family was originally from Wurttemberg, Germany. Who was this Cristian Byerly?  John and Sarah's second child was named George Byerly Crawford. Sarah's maiden name was definitely used for his middle name.

  After some sleuthing,  I was found a Rebecca Byrley (spelled differently) on Ancestry.com.   She had married William Cummings in Philadelphia in 1839.  She and William came to Sacramento in 1849.  Together, they had 10 children.  One child was named Benjamin F. Cummings (keep this name in mind for later....).  Could Rebecca be Sarah's sister or another female relation? William's obituary states that his brother was Henry Cummings.  Could this be the Henry Cummings that signed the marriage certificate?    

 

 

Henry Cummings marriage registration for October 5, 1848.  He married Catherine Jeffries in the St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.  They were married by the same minister as Sarah Byerly and John Washington Crawford.  These two couples were married 7 months apart, in the same church, by the same minister.  Ancestry.com

The marriage license of Robert Franklin Hayes and Sallie Elizabeth Crawford February 19, 1881. (front)

Sarah (Sallie) Elizabeth Crawford became Sallie Hayes. 

The document measures 12" x 13 1/2".  In our family collection. 

  

The back of the marriage certificate provides some wonderful clues! 

     The back of this marriage certificate is a bit hard to read, as the ink is fading.  It states that the residence of Robert Franklin Hayes was 10 Elgin Park, and he was 26 years old.  Sallie Elizabeth Crawford lived at 40 1/2 Zoe Street and was 24 years old.  Then, we get to witnesses.....the first witness to the marriage was written as B.F. Cummings, who lived on Kearney Street, San Francisco.  I checked the 1880 census, and he did live on Kearney Street, and was a jeweler. He lived with his brother Louis B. Cummings who was also a jeweler.  B. F. was none other than Benjamin Franklin Cummings, son of William Cummings, who was married to Rebecca Byerly.  By the 1900 census, Benjamin was living with his mother Rebecca, who was born in Pennsylvania, and whose parents were born in Germany.  Sarah Byerly was born in Pennsylvania, and her parents were born in Germany (Wurttenburg). I believe Sarah and Rebecca were either sisters or close relatives. Sarah obviously had strong ties to the Cummings family through this marriage. 

  The next witness on the marriage certificate was K. McCorrick. She lived at 42 1/2 Zoe Street and was probably a family friend.  She was found living next to the Crawfords on the 1880 census as Kate McCorrick, and was 19 years old.  She lived with her mother.  

 This is William Cummings' obituary, shared by a Find A Grave contributor:

"Death Summons Comes to Another Pioneer--William Cumming the Latest Victim of the Fell Destroyer--"

"Death continues to knock at the doors of the old Pioneers, with a steady and relentless hand.  This morning the fire bell tolled out the news of the death of William Cummings, the pioneer jeweler, who passed away at his residence, on Eighth street, between H and I, at 4:45 A.M.  Deceased was born in Philadelphia on March 21st, 1821.  He learned the trade of a silversmith and pursued that vocation in Philadelphia and Boston.  During the gold excitement of 1849, however, he joined the William Penn Mining Company and came to California, arriving in San Francisco just in time to celebrate the Fourth of July, 1849. After spending a few days at the Bay he came up the Sacramento in a schooner and went to Willow Bar, where he engaged in mining.  The William Penn Company soon collapsed, however, and Mr. Cummings came to Sacramento, having but $50 with which to start in life.  He formed a partnership with a man named Hastings, and they were in the jewelry business together about two years.  Then Mr. Cummings went into the jewelry business for himself at 408 J street, where he remained for eighteen or twenty years. Mr. Cummings was married to Rebecca Byrley, in Philadelphia, in 1839.  They had a family of ten children, of whom only three are alive-William, Louis and Benjamin-all of whom are jewelers in San Francisco. Mrs. Cummings still survives.  Mr. Cummings retired from business some years ago, having an income that would keep him comfortable.  He was a member of the order of Red Men and an Exempt Fireman.  He always led an exemplary life, and was a most devoted husband and father, and true friend.  He was especially popular with his fellow Pioneer, and one of them said this morning, with tears in his eyes: 'William Cummings was in every respect a good man; I had as great regard for him as though he had been my brother.'  Mr. Cummings had been in failing health for some years, but death came suddenly and painlessly at the end.  His funeral will take place to-morrow afternoon at 4 o'clock.  The Pioneers will assemble at their hall at 3:30 0'clock, and march from there to the Red Men's Hall."

-Sacramento Evening Bee, 15 July 1891

  This memorial also links William Cummings to Henry Cummings, 1823-1891 of Philadelphia. He was originally buried at St. Paul's Episcopal Church and later moved to Fernwood Cemetery, along with his wife Catherine Jeffries.  

This was written on Rebecca's Find A Grave memorial:

"Rebecca (nee Byrley) and William Cummings were the parents of 10 children.  William traveled to California during the summer of 1849 to search for gold, leaving his pregnant wife and 4 young children living in Philadelphia with his younger brother Henry.  Rebecca and the children reunited with William in California within the next two years.  Eight of her children predeceased Rebecca, as did her husband."  

    I  wondered what brought John Washington Crawford and Sarah Byerly to California all the way from Philadelphia.  They were in Sacramento by October of 1856, when Sarah Elizabeth (Sallie) was born.  Did they come with Rebecca and her children before that?  That would be around 1851, 1852, right after the 1850 census that showed the family still living in Philadelphia.  Records show that Henry stayed in Philadelphia the remainder of his life.  Did these two families come together?  This seems very plausible to me! Of course there are areas that need more research. What was the family connection to St. Paul's Episcopal Church?  And who was Cristian Byerly? 

  Even though women changed their surnames through marriage, many times they passed down their maiden names as middle or first names in their children.  The surname Cummings was also used as a middle name,  and must have had a special significance to Sarah. Using the marriage certificates, the family bible, and a little sleuthing on genealogy sites I believe I have come up with another branch of this family.  They are buried in the Sacramento City Cemetery in Old Sacramento.  Time for another visit to the cemetery!

 William and Rebecca Cummings are buried in the Sacramento City Cemetery, 1000 Broadway, Sacramento, California.

Find A Grave

                      John Washington Crawford m. Sarah Byerly

                                                                    I

                     Sarah Elizabeth (Sallie) Crawford m. Franklin Hayes

                                                                    I

                                  Lester Hayes m. Emma Lavinia King

                                                                    I

                              Margaret Elizabeth Hayes m. Harold Hansen

                                                                    I

                                        Margaret Hansen m. Dale Boothby

                                                                    I

                                                                  Me

#52Ancestors52Weeks....Week 2.... Origins....The Crawford Family Working Tree (Part 3)

  Who were the Crawfords? 

Sarah Byerly Crawford (probable)

Picture embossed with Sacramento in bottom right hand corner. Picture taken in the 1860's.

  John Washington Crawford married Sarah Byerly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 23, 1848.  Sarah was born to parents who came from Wurttemberg, Germany;  John's father was born in Pennsylvania and his mother was born in Ireland according to the 1880 Census.  The Record of Marriages for St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia states that Sarah was born in Lancaster City, Pa.  John worked as a laborer in Philadelphia on the 1850 Census, and after coming to Sacramento by wagon worked as a drayman there by 1860. He was listed in the 1861 directory as living on G Street.

The Crawford family was complete by the 1860 Census, with Mary, George and William born in Pennsylvania and Sarah having been  born in California. These names and ages all correspond to the entries in the Crawford Family Bible. 

 Sarah Elizabeth Crawford (probable); in 1863 she would have been 6 years old. The off the shoulders dress and ringlets date this photo to the early 1860's. 

The S.V.R.R. was the Sacramento Valley Railroad, the forerunner to the Central Pacific Railroad.  As constructed, the Sacramento Valley Railroad ran from the Sacramento River levee at Front and "L" Street in present day Old Sacramento and terminated at Folsom. On February 22, 1856, the first train operated over the entire 22.9 mile line.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_Valley_Railroad

It looks like John was driving a dray (a low flatbed wagon without sides pulled by either horses or mules) that was used to transport goods to and from the railway. 

 The Great Flood of 1862 Sacramento California www.redlandsdailyfacts.com

 

    November of 1861 dropped heavy snow in the Sierras and December saw a rise in temperatures which melted the snow.  Then, storm after storm struck the west coast in January 1862 setting up conditions for a mega flood. Sacramento, the state capitol, was underwater as much of the central valley became an inland sea. Towns, farms and ranches were wiped off the map, and the state experienced a tremendous loss of cattle. After the waters receded, Sacramento began a program of raising entire city blocks with dirt transported from the river banks and the work was not completed until 1873.  I wonder if this event precipitated the move to San Francisco after 1870. The city the Crawfords lived and worked in must have been a scene of chaos for quite some time and I can't imagine the living conditions they experienced in the aftermath of the flooding.  They stuck it out until 1867 when John Crawford was registered in the Sacramento County Great Register.  The family was still in Sacramento in 1870 when they were registered in the 3rd ward on the census.  John was working as an express driver. 19 year old George was working as a news vender. 

Sometime after 1870 the family moved to the bustling city of San Francisco where an 1876 Voter Registration list showed John Washington Crawford as well as George Byerly Crawford and a William Cummings Crawford working as draymen and teamsters and living on Freelon Street. 

  An 1880 Voter Registration list shows John Washington working as a drayman living at 40 1/2 Zoe Street, George Byerly Crawford working as a teamster  living at 40 Zoe Street, and William Cummings Crawford working as a drayman and living at 541 Fourth Street.

The current location of Zoe,  Freelon and 4th  Streets...several blocks away from Oracle Park.  Imagine that! Home of the San Francisco Giants...our favorite baseball team. 

A large condominium complex now sits in the vicinity of where the Crawfords lived. 

 

 The 1880 Census is quite interesting and may answer the question of who William and Etta Crawford belonged to;  it also brings up another question....who was James Crawford, listed as a son, working as a teamster and living with his parents John and Sarah along with two children listed as step-son (William) and step daughter (Etta)? James was marked as divorced.  The ages correspond for John William and Henrietta Crawford listed in the family bible. The age corresponds for William, as does his occupation and birth state.  Did William Cummings Crawford go by James? The fact that the children were listed as step children is also confusing.  I was unable to find any more information on Mary Virginia French in the records available on line and she appears to have vanished, possibly having remarried after the divorce.  I believe William was living in the vicinity of his parents in June of 1880, or with his parents. His children were present at the home of their grandparents and William was mistakenly enumerated as James. 

 An 1888 Voter Registration List shows William Cummings Crawford working as a teamster and  living on Park Avenue.  I couldn't find a Park Avenue, but Park Street is just .03 miles from Zoe Street. This was most likely his home.  William's son William disappears in the records, but Etta may have stayed in the area, as a Miss Etta Crawford was listed in the S.F. Directory in 1900 as working as a stenographer and living on Ellis Street. This is the same information on the 1900 Census. After 1896 William was listed in the Fresno Voter Registrations as living in Merced and working as a laborer.  It looks like he moved to the Fresno area after that, and the last record for him was the 1907 City Directory for Fresno, California.  

  Mary Amelia Crawford married Francis M. Thompson in 1867 and the family was found on the 1880 Census living in Walla Walla City.  That would explain Hattie's birth in 1883 listed in the bible as Spokane Falls Washington. The family had obviously moved around in that area. But, they were back in San Francisco by 1886 when Hattie died. Francis died in 1898 and Mary died in 1903.  Son Edward died in 1967 in Santa Clara and daughter Mabel died in 1962 in Napa. 

  George Byerly Crawford married Sarah Christina Maddox in Sacramento in 1873 and they were still living there by the 1880 Census.  They eventually had 4 children: 

   *Emma Mason Crawford (the only child of George and Sarah to be recorded in the bible) was born in Broderick County which was a former town in Yolo County, California, and now forms a part of West Sacramento.  She was born in 1874. 

   *Varena J. Crawford was born in 1878 in San Francisco, lived in the Berkley area and died in 1956. 

   *George Dudley Crawford was born in 1881 and lived in the Bay Area where he died in 1977.  I share DNA with his grandson, as does AuntieJ and several cousins.  We share a large portion of Scottish DNA which could be a clue to origins further back in time. 

  *Clarence Raymond Crawford was born in 1890 in San Francisco and died very young at the age of  34 in 1925, in San Francisco.  

  Sarah Elizabeth Crawford was born on the 17th day of October, 1856 and was my great great grandmother.  I will add more about her life with Franklin Hayes in later posts.  I also have more Crawford pictures which I am trying to date and identify.  

  I'm so thankful that we have the Crawford Family bible. Finding family records written in bold and sometimes faint handwriting by several unknown  and known hands brings this family that much closer. I can now try to go back even further...to Wurttemburg....to possibly Scotland!  

 Relationship Reference:

Me:--Margaret Hansen Boothby--Margaret Elizabeth Hayes Hansen--

The parents of Margaret Hayes Hansen were Emma Lavinia King Hayes VanDuzer  and Lester Franklin Hayes.

(they had three daughters: Dorothy, Francis and Margaret)

The parents of Lester Hayes were Sarah (Sallie) Elizabeth Crawford and Franklin Hayes

The parents of Sallie Crawford were John Washington Crawford and Sarah Byerly of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, married in 1848.