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Albert Cummins (center back row) with
other Civil War Veterans, May 27, 1914 in Coffey County, Kansas
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Early Colonial and Indian Conflicts
Robert Seeley, Gwendolyn's 9th great-grandfather, appointed
Lieutenant and designated second in command under Captain John Mason in
the of New Haven Colony Forces in The Pequot War. He was hit by an
arrow during the Mystic Fort Fight on 26 May 1637 and was severely wounded.
This battle took place just northeast of New London, CT. Eleven years
later in 1648 he was commissioned Captain of Artillery.
He remained a captain of the New Haven militia under the command of English
regular officers, Major Sedgwick and Captain Leverett during a military
dispute with New Netherlands and took part in the capture of Dutch Point
at Hartford CT. In 1862 Captain Seeley was
appointed chief military officer in Huntington, Long Island, New York to exercise and train
soldiers. Seeley Genealogical Society, 1997
George Squire, Gwendolyn's 8th great-grandfather, "sometime
prior to 1670 he was appointed Sergeant of the Fairfield Trainband (a
band of citizens trained as soldiers to supplement the regular army) or
Militia. This involved more than just drilling the men on the green
several times a year. He was in charge of the military stores of the town
and responsible for the preparedness of the community in the event of an
attack by the Indians, Dutch, or French." Descendants
of El Shandon Squyre
Nathaniel Seeley, Gwendolyn's 8th great-grandfather, in
November 1675, he was commissioned as Lieutenant, and was second in command of the Army of
Fairfield County in King Phillips War. He served as Captain in Fairfield Co.
Dragoons November 1675. He was killed in the Great
Swamp Fight at the village in what today is South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
Seeley Genealogical
Society, 1997
The Revolutionary War
Amos Sweet, Gwendolyn's 5th great-grandfather, private, 1778, in Capt. Elisha May's company, Col. John Daggett's Massachusetts
regiment according to Stocker.
Thomas Sweet, Gwendolyn's 5th great-grandfather, (1741-1830) enlisted as a private in the 9th company, Col. John Daggett's 4th regiment, which marched on the Lexington Alarm, and, 1778, was sergeant in Capt. Alexander Foster's company, Col. Thomas Carpenter's
regiment (The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Volume 59,
page 114.)
John Squire, Gwendolyn's 4th great-grandfather, served in the
Vermont Militia in the Revolutionary War under Capt. Ichabod Robinson and
Capt. Thomas Sawyer according to From
Cemetery to Tree (Sweet and Squire) and Descendants
of El Shandon Squyre
Samuel Wright, Gwendolyn's 4th great-grandfather, "was a soldier of the Revolution"
according to Stocker.
Isaac Brown, Gwendolyn's 4th great-grandfather, is listed in the 1840 Census as a Revolutionary War
veteran. According to DAR Lineage Books, Isaac Brown (1750-1845) enlisted in the New Hampshire State militia, 1775, in Capt. William Walker's company, Colonel Read's New Hampshire
regiment, General Sullivan's brigade. He received a pension for service.
Ernst Frederick Dumbauld, James' 4th great-grandfather, and his sons, Abraham,
James' 3rd great grandfather, and Peter, James' 3rd
great-granduncle served in the Revolutionary War. Ernst served as a Ranger on the
Frontier and Pvt. Westmoreland Co. Militia. (Sons of the Revolution
National #CA2903 and Daughters of the American Revolution National Number
271566).
Jacob Kreager, James' 3rd great-grandfather served as Pvt. and Sgt. under Capt Thomas Jones, New
Jersey [Jones is said to have organized the first Minute Man unit and
later was one of the men that organized the boats for Washington and his
men to cross the
Delaware]. Born November 17,
1753 Jacob died in 1843. He was buried in family plot near Gratiot, Ohio. Memorial
inscription "Revolutionary
Soldier" on grave marker. This stone is missing and the family plot is now
plowed farmland. The grave marker is said to be a standard county marker.
Richard Poundstone James' 3rd great-grandfather is listed
in the Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolutionary
War.
The War of 1812
James Cahoon, James' 2nd great-grandfather, was in the War of 1812, according to
the History of
Gentry and Worth Counties MO, 1892 p584
George Washington Kreager, James' 2nd grand uncle, served briefly in the war of 1812, once as a private in 1812, and once in 1813 as a Sergeant under his father-in-law
John Bartholomew.
Philip Poundstone, James' 2nd great-grandfather served as a Pvt.
in Captain Peter Hertzog's "Feyette Greenes" Pennsylvania Militia
Company in the War of 1812-1815. They marched from the Second Brigade
Sixteenth Division of Pennsylvania Militia into the service of the U.S. on the 8th day of November 1814
and were dismissed on the 22nd of November 1814, allowing nine days for
the return trip home, they were in service 24 days.
The Civil War
Albert Cummins, James' grandfather, Private
Ninety Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company A
Enrolled at Delaware, Ohio on August 4, 1862 and was honorably
discharged at Mobile, Alabama on the 7th day of July 1865. Received
a pension for rheumatism and claimed injury "while in the line
of his duty in the military service of the US at or near Spanish Fort near
Mobile Alabama on or about the 6th day of April 1865 was severely stunned
by the explosion of a shell of large caliber near him."
James A Sims, James' grandfather, Corporal First
Missouri State
Militia Cavalry, Company M. Enlisted July 12, 1863 at Lexington, Missouri, Mustered in August 22,
1863 Lexington, Missouri and was honorably discharged July 12, 1865 at Benton
Barracks, Missouri. All of the members of Company M came from
Worth and Gentry Counties. The 1st Cavalry's principle actions
involved the pursuit of guerrillas, but they did play a role in turning
back Major General Sterling Price's army in September 1864 at the battles
of Little Blue River, Big Blue River, Westport and Marmiton River.
In James' applications for a pension he states that he contracted a lung
condition in January 1864 while on a scouting expedition out of
Warrensburg. He is listed as absent without leave commencing April
21, 1865 (essentially after the war was over) but returned before being discharged
on July 12, 1865.
The Spanish-American War
James Alexander Cummins, James' uncle, Served in the Spanish-Philippine-China
War enlisting June 16, 1898 in Marion, Kansas and was discharged December
10, 1898 in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was in Company M 21st.
Volunteer Infantry. According to military records he was partially
disabled---weak kidneys and back from a fall.
World War I
Louis Jeral Sims, James' older brother, Private, Company 40 163 Depot Brigade and
Company 3 1 Shop Regiment Quartermaster Corp. Dates of
Service: Sept. 4, 1918 to Jan. 10, 1919. Place of Separation: Camp
Johnston.
Clarence Arthur Cummins, James' uncle, Private, Served in France one year and one
month. Dates of Service: October 20, 1917
to February 27, 1919.
World War II
Helen H. Mann, Gwendolyn's mother, WAC in the U.S. Army Surgical
Nurses Corp during World War II. Stationed in San Francisco.
Edwin W. Mann, Gwendolyn's brother, Sergeant, Served in the
Pacific in The 11th Airborne Division
and was awarded the Purple Heart.
(Note there is a family story that Edwin was wounded
and sent to a military hospital in San Francisco where Helen was a
nurse. Family members recall newspaper articles about the coincidence
but so far we have been unable to find copies.)
Albert F. Sims, James' brother, Private, Served in World War II.
(Note: Esther Sims, Albert's wife, stated that they got to
know each other at the Osage American Legion dances after the war. Esther was a widow whose
first husband, Robert Christiansen, died in World War II.)
George C. Sims, James' brother, served as an officer in World War II.
Post War and Vietnam
Eric Sims, James and Gwendolyn's son, served in the U.S. Navy and the
U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.
Cort Sims, James and Gwendolyn's son, Spec 5, 1970 to 1972, served in the
U.S. Army, 551st Military Police Company, Fort Polk, La.
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