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 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN CUMMINGS 1821

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN CUMMINGS  1821-1899

(James 1780-1847, James 1759-1839, Oliver 1728-1810, Nathaniel 1699-1760, Nathaniel 1630-1700, Isaac 1677-)

  Benjamin Franklin Cummings was born the 3rd of May 1821, in Farmington, Kenebec, Maine. He was the second son of James and his third wife, Susannah Willard.

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His father, James, was a farmer by occupation and he taught his children early the value of hard work and thrift. James had very little when he started having his family but by hard work he became prosperous.

Benjamin had very definite views on life and religion as he grew to manhood. He had a feeling of distrust for all religions, so he practiced his own type. He even called himself an atheist for awhile. No church he knew incorporated what he thought an honest religion should have for its people. Therefore, when his father joined the Mormon Church, Benjamin held back for awhile and it was largely through the persistence and help of Elder Almon W. Babcock that he finally became convinced that here, indeed, was what he had been seeking. It is interesting to note Benjamin's thoughts as expressed in his journal, as he wrote it:

"My parents, neither of them were professors of religion before they became Latter Day Saints but as far as the principles of moral rectitude were concerned, they were enforced strenuously both by precept and example but their children were left to form their own notions of religion having no one to influence them.

"I had in my childhood as it were, embedded a kind of nominal belief in the existence of a supreme being who created all things, but I had no definite idea of his character or attributes. But when my mind became sufficiently matured to begin to look seriously into the matter I beheld such a babble of confusion with their six hundred three score and six denominations and sects, parties, creeds, quarreling and contending one with another each trying to build himself upon the ruins of all the rest that I became disgusted and concluded that they must all be wrong as God could not be the author of such confusion.

"Therefore I concluded that they must all be wrong as God could not be the author of such confusion. Therefore, I concluded that I would be as safe alone as to unite with any of them for all was uncertainty, one party having as good authority as another. But when Mormonism, as it was called, first made its appearance in our vicinity, my father went to hear a discourse by J. Boyington in 1837 which very much pleased him and soon after he borrowed a Book of Mormon and brought it home to read.

"As I became acquainted with its contents and some of the doctrinal principles, I naturally set them down in my heart as true, with all the native simplicity of a youthful mind free from the shackles and fetters that have for ages so strongly bound the greatest portion of Christendom. I received them as truths of heaven but not having an opportunity of getting more information concerning Mormonism, the first impressions soon wore off being young and giddy and fond of pleasures of life, and I became more acquainted with the world and the gross absurdities and inconsistencies pertaining to religion so contrary to every principle of reason and common sense as it naturally exists in the intelligent mind that I became more and more disgusted with it the more I saw and learned concerning it until there was such a chain of objections presented themselves before my mind ....

"I finally came to the conclusion that religion was all an illusion, that everything pertaining to revelation was false, that there was no God only as he existed in the imagination of man, and that there never was a prophet on the earth only as an imposter. Sometime in the fore part of winter there was an Elder by the name of Almon W. Babbit came along with his wife on his way to the eastern states. On learning that there were some brethren in the place he stopped and in the evening preached to a large congregation.

"I did not attend, but in consequence of the numerous eulogiums that I heard bestowed upon him the next day by the people of Sunbury as being the smartest man that had ever preached in the place, I thought that I would attend the next meeting as he had left another appointment. I did so accordingly and was not only surprised but highly pleased with his discourse as he preached several times more and I always attended and became more and more interested with the principles he taught.

"They were so different from anything that I had heard before. He presented the bible in such a different light from what I had been accustomed to look at it, and there appeared such order and harmony all through the principles he presented that my former opinions with regard to God and revelation began to totter ... I had almost become a convert. However, I was not one of those who could be induced to change their principles without a thorough and careful investigation.

"Therefore I continued during the winter to avail myself of every opportunity to inform myself of the Mormons and their principles until I became thoroughly convinced that they were the people of the most High. Accordingly the next spring, the 12th of April 1840, I was baptized and confirmed by Elder John Kempton."

Shortly after joining the church in 1840, James moved his family to Nauvoo where he felt he and his family would be better off by associating with the Prophet and other members of the Mormon Church. Benjamin worked with his father during the spring and summer of 1842 on their place in Nauvoo excepting for a short space because of ill health.

It is interesting to note his son, Horace's description of his father as recorded in his journal.

"Father was over six feet tall and weighed about 200 pounds. He was ‘as straight as an arrow' up to the time of his death, due probably to his military training. He was light-complexioned, had blue eyes and curly hair which, however, came out quite early, leaving him very bald. He always wore a full beard, and had withal a pleasing countenance.

"He was the possessor of a fine, deep intellect, and had the power to express his thoughts in clear and forceful language. While of a decidely retiring disposition, he was always a prominent and active member of the community in which he lived. He was a great admirer of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and never entertained the least doubt concerning the divinity of his mission.

"While decidedly serious in his disposition, he had a keen sense of humor and could enjoy a good joke, and tell a witty story effectively. For his time he had a fair education which he improved upon as years went by, and was a well-informed man. He was very conscientious in attending to all church duties, family prayers, attending church services, payment of tithing, working in the church, going on a mission, etc."

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Benjamin accepted a call to a mission in the Eastern States where he labored until the news of the martyrdom of the Prophet and Patriarch reached him. With other Elders he returned immediately to Nauvoo and participated in the trying scenes that took place after that great crime.

When the Saints decided to leave Nauvoo, James told his family that they would join with the Saints for the trip West. They began their preparations to leave. Because of financial problems which had arisen earlier, James Willard was not able to raise sufficient funds to move without selling their property. This, as history relates, was not easy for the Saints to do, but James was finally able to dispose of his property for a nominal sum in the spring of 1846. It was only sufficient to purchase an "indifferent" outfit.

On the 9th of July 1846, the family bid farewell to the home they had come to love and started west. They had endured the torment that had come to the Saints who had to stay awhile in Nauvoo after the first group left, until they were able to obtain the means to leave. They reached Winter Quarters by the end of August and there they remained until July 1847.

In his journal, Benjamin tells of the sickness that was endured by the members of his family during the coming year. During the spring of 1847, James and his wife, Susannah, along with Benjamin and Alva, became very ill with scurvy. They laid in the same room unable to help each other. James Willard, a son, had escaped the sickness and he was able to help the sick plus take care of the rest of the children. Father James died the 28th of March 1847, while his wife had died on the 28th of February, 1847.

Benjamin and Alva eventually regained their health and by July arrangements were made for Benjamin, Alva and their sister, Mary, to go westward, while the balance of the family, James Willard and his family and his sister Fanny, should go at a later date when they had been able to get the necessary equipment. Benjamin and brother and sister left on the 14th of July, 1847 with one wagon, 2 yolk of oxen and 2000 pounds of "loading goods".

Being a carpenter by trade, Benjamin proved to be a valuable member of the company on the long trek west, repairing wagons, and helping to build bridges, etc. They joined the company presided over by John Smith in Daniel Spencer's company of "fifty". They reached the valley September 21, 1847 after a long and painful journey. On the way west, his sister, Mary, married Brian W. Nowlin. This was the first company to arrive after the one led by Brigham Young.

Benjamin was ordained a Seventy and was in the 10th Quorum in Nauvoo. He was set apart as senior president of the 38th Quorum of Seventy at Ogden, Utah on December 30th 1853, by President Joseph Young, and he held that position until he was ordained a High Priest by Joseph E. Taylor on February 24, 1894, in Salt Lake City. As a carpenter and millwright, he helped to build some of the first houses and sawmills ever built in Utah. On arriving from Nauvoo, he lived in Salt Lake several years and then moved to Ogden where he served as county recorder, assessor and collector, sheriff and colonel in the militia. He also taught a military school and played a fife in the military band.

A quote from his son's journal:

"The first thing that father did, after providing temporary shelter, was to plow a piece of ground and plant two bushels of seed wheat which he had brought with him. The next spring he planted several bushels of seed corn, but it had been so damaged by dampness in the wagon that little of it grew.

Benjamin and his family had eaten most of the damaged portion which he knew would not germinate, to keep hunger away. The lack of growth of the corn was a great disappointment, causing them to live on half rations for an entire year. He said he was not really free from hunger until 1850."

Benjamin was one of the first group of missionaries called to open the Salmon River Mission to the Indians, acting as president part of the time. In the early fifties and while on the mission, he "ran the level" for the first irrigation ditch ever made in Idaho. An incident of this mission was related by Elder Levi W. Richards, showing conditions at that time and the character of the men who had to meet them. "One of the Elders, Bailey Lake, had been killed by the Indians, who were quite hostile.
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