Mary Hannah (Packer) Cummings (1839 - 1912)

Born 20 Jan 1839 in Mauch Chunk Borough, Carbon, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Charles Henry Cummings — married 7 Apr 1885 in Mauch Chunk Borough, Carbon, Pennsylvania, United States

Died 29 Oct 1912 at age 73 in Mauch Chunk Borough, Carbon, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import.^[1] It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Name

Name: Mary Hannah /Packer/^[2]

Birth

Birth:

Date: 20 JAN 1839

Place: Mauch Chunk^[3]

Death

Death:

Date: 21 OCT 1912^[4][5]

Note

Note: #N249

Note N249

Name given as Mary Packer Cummings in

Had erected, in 1886, Packer Memorial Church on the L.U. campus.

Mary was born on January 20, 1839, the third oldest of seven Packer children. A bit of a bohemian, Mary was a great patroness of the arts. She was quite fond of art, music and literature as her acquisitions from her travels will reflect.

By 1885, Mary, who was single and 46 years of age, was the only member left in the immediate family. Women were viewed as second-class citizens, but their rights had been greatly expanded after New York’s passing of the Married Women’s Property Act of 1848 which many states had effectively mirrored. In order to gain control of her father’s fortune, Mary decided it was time she married. This entered into the picture Mr. Charles Cummings.

Charles was a close family friend who worked for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Mary was very intelligent, and definitely ahead of her time: husband-to-be Charles signed a pre-nuptial agreement - the first pre-nuptial agreement to be filed in Carbon County, Pennsylvania! It stated Mary would receive the home, the property and more importantly, the family fortune. In return, Charles would receive 0,000 dollars in Lehigh Valley Railroad stock. They were married on April 7, 1885. Mary retained the title of Mrs. while inheriting the family fortune - and a half million dollars - which made her the wealthiest woman in the United States; second in the world just behind Her Majesty Queen Victoria of England. Mary and Charles divorced in 1893. Charles would eventually remarry Sarah Ormsby. Remaining the close family friends that they were, Mary named Charles, Sarah and their family in her will.

Mary was vacationing in Cape May, New Jersey in August of 1912 when she fell ill. She entered into rest on October 29, 1912 at the age of 73, passing away peacefully in her sleep. She was the only child to see the 20th Century. An interesting fact, in Mary’s lifetime, she saw 22 states come into the Union.^[6][7]

Marriage

Husband: Charles Cummings

Wife: Mary Hannah Packer

Marriage:

Date: 1885

Divorce:

Date: 1893^[8][9]

User ID: 575FAAE5AA8A443F8B297941B559247410E0

Sources

1. ↑ Packer-634 was created by John McVey through the import of Packer-506.ged on Jan 3, 2014. This comment and citation can be deleted after the biography has been edited and primary sources are included.
2. ↑ Source: #S103
3. ↑ Source: #S21 Page: p. 10
4. ↑ Source: #S102 Page: p. 84
5. ↑ Source: #S103
6. ↑ Source: #S15 Page: p. 6
7. ↑ Source: #S103
8. ↑ Source: #S102 Page: p. 84
9. ↑ Source: #S103

• Source: S102 Type: Book Author: Drury, John H. and Joan Gilbert Periodical: Images of America, Jim Thorpe (Mauch Chunk) Publication: Arcadia Publishing, 2001
• Source: S103 Type: Web Site Title: Asa Packer Mansion URL: http://www.asapackermansion.com/history.html Date: Sept. 21, 2007
• Source: S21 Type: Book Author: Yates, W. Ross Periodical: Asa Packer, A Perspectve Publication: Lehigh University, 1983