Cummins, Henry, 1840-1901.

Henry Cummins (1840-1901) was a resident of Eugene, Oregon, a refugee from his father's farm. His father, William M. Cummins, had come to Oregon in 1853 and settled in Lane County.

Henry attended school for a time, worked in a bookstore, set type and did job printing in the office of the People's Press and later for the State Republican, worked on a survey expedition under Dr. A. W. Patterson up the Deschutes River in 1861, was appointed assistant clerk in the state Legislature (House) in 1862, and studied law.

He left Oregon in 1863, went to Washington, D.C., and is said to have been involved with some of Hinton Helper's schemes. He was attracted to spiritualism, phrenology, phonography, handwriting schools, atheism, water cures, vegetarianism, and geology. He founded a Pantheon of Science in Eugene and was a member of the Infidel Association of America. He read widely and indiscriminately.

From the guide to the Henry Cummins letters and papers, 1858-1863, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)