Alexander Cummings (territorial governor)

Alexander Cummings (November 17, 1810 – 1879)[1] was the third Governor of the Territory of Colorado from 1865–1867, serving as a member of the Republican Party.

Alexander Cummings
3rd Governor of the Territory of Colorado
In office
1865–1867
Preceded byJohn Evans
Succeeded byAlexander Cameron Hunt
Personal details
BornNovember 17, 1810
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Died1879
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Political partyRepublican
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnion Army
Rank Colonel
Bvt. Brigadier General
Commands19th Pennsylvania Cavalry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Alexander Cummings was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on November 11, 1810. Cummings was a newspaperman, who founded the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin and the New York World.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Cummings used his political influence to be appointed as a special purchasing agent for the War Department. Unfortunately, Cummings wasted much of his $2,000,000 budget, and was discharged for ineptitude and profiteering. After leaving the War Department, Cummings recruited the Nineteenth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry.

In February 1864, Cummings was made Superintendent of Colored Troops for the Department of Arkansas, and was brevetted to the rank of Brigadier General by President Johnson. U.S. President Andrew Johnson appointed Cummings the new Governor of the Territory of Colorado on October 17, 1865, to replace John Evans who resigned following the Sand Creek Massacre. Cummings served as Territorial Governor until April 27, 1867.

The 1866 election to replace Cummings (between Alexander Cameron Hunt and George Chilcott) was marked with scandal when it was revealed the votes had been illegally counted in Chilcott's favor.[2]

Cummings, meanwhile, became the collector of internal revenue for the Fourth District of Pennsylvania, and was nominated for Commissioner of Internal Revenue, which he lost. Cummings then went on to become the U.S. Consul to the then Kingdom of Hawaii, the role he occupied at the time of his death.[3]

Cummings died in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in 1879 and was originally buried in an unmarked grave in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[4][5]

See also

References
  1. Colorado State Archives
  2. "Alexander Cummings | Archives". www.colorado.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
  3. "Alexander Cummings | Archives". www.colorado.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
  4. Biographical Directory of American Territorial Governors
  5. Brevet brigadier generals in blue
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