1890 Buchanan and Delaware Counties History pgs. 363-367
CUMMINGS SANBORN is a New Yorker by birth, but a
descendant of New
England
ancestry. His people have been New Englanders for generations, being originally
of English extraction. The line upon his father's side, at least, has been
preserved unbroken for nearly three hundred years, running back to the first
one of the name who ever set foot upon American soil. The line is as
follows-Cummings Sanborn, the subject of this notice, born in the town of Norfolk,
St. Lawrence county, N. Y., January 7, 1824, a son of Ebenezer S., born in
North Haverhill, N. H., July 28, 1789, and died at Louisville, St. Lawrence
county, N. Y., July 14, 1848, being a son of John, who was born at Hampton
Falls, N. H., November 23, 1747, who was a son of Ebenezer, born at Hampton
Falls, N. H., July 25, 1712, who was a son of Enoch, born at Hampton Falls, N.
H., in 1685, who was a son of John, born at Hampton Falls, N. H., in 1647, who
was a son of Lieutenant John, born at Hampton Falls, N. H., in 1620, who was a
son of John Sanborne, born in Derbyshire, England, in
1600. Mr. Sanborn's mother's maiden name was Hannah Morey, a daughter of Israel
Morey, a native of New Jersey. She, however, was born at Orford, N. H., April 25, 1792, and died in Brasher Falls,
St. Lawrence county, N, Y., November 4, 1854.
Ebenezer S.
and Hannah (Morey) Sanborn were the parents of eight children, of whom the
subject of this notice is the fifth, the others being-John, born at Percy, N.
H., October 16, 1813; Susan, born at Percy, N. H., March 22, 1815; Israel M.,
born at Norfolk, N. Y., December 2, 1818, and died April 25,
1846; Ebenezer, Jr., born at Norfolk, N. Y., October 24, 1821; Elizabeth H.,
born in Norfolk, N. Y., May 28, 1826; Moody M., born at Norfolk, N. Y.,
April 28, 1829, and died at Ludington, Mich., November 13, 1879, and one that
died in infancy. Only two of these are now living, John, the eldest, and
Cummings, whose name heads this sketch. Most of them, however,
reached maturity, married and died leaving families. It is
worthy of note that the eldest sister, who was married to Samuel Shoen, became the mother of eighteen children and furnished
to the Union army during the late war seven sons, three of whom gave up their lives
on the battle field.
Cummings
Sanborn was reared on his father's farm in St. Lawrence county, N.Y., and
received the rudiments of an ordinary English education from the neighboring
district schools, spending the greater part of his time, however, in the
arduous labors of the farm, attending school only about one or two months out
of the year. He followed farming till he was twenty-five years of
age, quitting it in
1852 on account of a failure of health and going at
that time to Saratoga Springs, N. Y., where
some time afterwards he was appointed manager of
the Saratoga Water Cure, and remained there till
1861. Having married in the meantime, and being desirous of settling in a new
country, he resigned his position at the "Springs" and came
that year to Iowa, locating in Earlville, Delaware county. He
has been a resident of this county since, residing first at Earlville and
afterwards at Manchester. He has been
variously engaged, and has been the incumbent of a number of public
offices. For the first two years after settling in Earlville he was
engaged in the hotel business. In the meantime he was elected justice of the peace of his township, then
township supervisor, and in 1864 received the appointment of
postmaster. In 1867 he was elected to the State
legislature from Delaware county,
and re-elected in 1869, serving two terms. In 1870 he bought the Sun office at Earlville,
and the following year moved it to Delhi, then the county seat, and changing
the name to that of the Delaware County Recorder operated it there for two
years. Selling out the Recorder office in 1872, he moved to Manchester, and in July, 1873, bought the Manchester
Press, which he conducted for two years, selling
it in July, 1875. In 1876 he was elected justice
of the peace for Delaware township, an
office he has held now for more than fourteen years, having been re-elected
regularly every two years. He was
mayor of Manchester for
four years. For some years past he has been engaged in the real estate,
collection and insurance business. Mr. Sanborn has been
fairly successful in his business pursuits, the chief drawback
to his complete prosperity having been his disposition to give to the public
service the benefit of a larger share of his time and efforts than is
consistent with the full measure of success in a
worldly way. While connected with the press he labored long
and earnestly in the interest of his adopted county, displaying its advantage
to the outside world, inducing immigration,
encouraging the influx of capital and the starting of new
industries, not to mention the chronicling of the daily and weekly doings,
local, state and national, and performing
the thousand and one other labors that fall to the lot of the country editor.
He has been no less active and no less conscientious in the discharge of the
duties of the several offices which he has filled, displaying in these the same
superior sense of duty and the same thoughtful solicitude in meeting the
obligations imposed on him as a citizen and as a public official. His retention
in some sort of public office almost continuously since locating in the county
is the best evidence of the indorsement his public
career has met with at the hands of
his fellow-citizens. In politics he is a republican, having
cast his fortunes with the great war party on its
organization, and having steadily adhered to its teachings since.
Mr. Sanborn
has been twice married, marrying first, February 28, 1860, while a resident of
New York, taking as a companion Miss Martha A. French, who was born in
Clarendon, Rutland county, Vt., October 25, 1822. This lady graduated in the
first class of ladies that ever graduated from the Eclectic Medical College, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and practiced her profession for fifteen years prior to her death.
After the death of his first wife, he married again November 4, 1875, his
second wife being Mrs. Ann M. Dunham widow of Francis W. Dunham, she being a
native of Bakersfield, Vt., born December 17, 1835. To the
latter has been born one child, a son, who died
in infancy. No children were born to
the former union.
Mr. and
Mrs. Sanborn are zealous members of the Congregational church, and active in
all church work, and generous contributors to all charitable purposes.
Back
to Biographies
Back to Main Page
Back to Iowa AHGP
Back to AHGP