Collection ID: LMC 1239
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Collection context

Summary

Abstract:
The Cumback mss., 1835-1904, consists of the correspondence of Indiana congressman Will Cumback, 1829-1905.
Extent:
2 Boxes and 1 folio
Language:
Materials are in English .
Preferred citation:

[Item], Cumback mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

William Cumback, 1829-1905, was a lawyer and congressman from Indiana. He was born near Mount Carmel, Indiana, and completed his education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and at the Cincinnati Law School. He moved to Greensburg, Indiana in 1853 where he began to practice law. He was elected to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1857) as a representative for the state of Indiana, but he was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection in 1856. He served as a paymaster in the Army during the Civil War and as Lieutenant Governor of Indiana in 1868.

Scope and Content:

The Cumback mss., 1835-1904, includes correspondence with prominent political figures, army officers, lawyers, poets, journalists, and personal friends.

The letters deal with national and state politics, 1854-1897; elections, 1856, 1860, 1880, 1884, 1896; army finances, 1864; slavery question as it related to Kansas, 1855; governorship of Montana, 1864; governorship of Idaho, 1870; minister resident to Portugal, 1870; position as a member of the cabinet of a Mexican mission, 1897; and efforts of friends to nominate John Addison Porter for governor of Connecticut, 1898. Included are also land grants, 1835-1856; commission as a lieutenant-colonel, 1865; certification of election to Congress, 1854; certificate of election to the Indiana Academy of Science, 1889; resolutions favoring prohibition and opposing the further extension of slavery by the Decatur County Democratic party; and a book of autographs of President Franklin Pierce, members of his cabinet, members of the Senate, and members of the House of Representatives of the 34th Congress, 1856. Among the correspondents are Timothy Patrick Andrews, Benjamin William Brice, Samuel Bryan, Will Carleton, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Howell Cobb, John Coburn, Schuyler Colfax, Neal Dow, Hamilton Fish, James Glover, Jr., Horace Greeley, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, William Steele Holman, Joe D. Howland, Samuel Porter Jones, Abraham Lincoln, John Uri Lloyd, William McKinley, John McLean, Louis Theodore Michener, J.D. Mooney, Oliver Perry Morton, Meredith Nicholson, Godlove Stein Orth, Alfred Pleasonton, John Addison Porter, John Sherman, William Tecumseh Sherman, Edwin McMasters Stanton, Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Thomas DeWitt Talmage, James Maurice Thompson, John Palmer Usher, and Lewis Wallace.

In addition, the collection contains printed speeches by William Cumback.

Acquisition information:
Acquired: 1952
Processing information:

Processed by Craig Simpson.

Completed in 2014

Arrangement:

Materials are arranged chronologically.

Physical location:
Lilly - Folio; ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility)

Online content

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Cumback mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@iu.edu