Letter from G. E. Valley Jr. to Professor Harold Hancock setting out the evidence that Martha Rebecca Cummins married Clayton Ringgold and had children: Schoch's Ringgold in the United States, the "Mary Cavender Legacy papers", a 1907 Smyrna clipping about his mother and Helen Cummins Ringgold, and Marian Steuart's account.

[Notebook p. 104. Copy of GEV's typed letter to Professor Harold Hancock, page 1, pasted in.] GEORGE E. VALLEY, JR. 607 MAIN STREET, CONCORD, MA 01742 617 369 5692

September 24, 1986

Professor Harold Hancock Otterbein College Westerville Ohio 43081

Dear Professor Hancock:

Many thanks for your section about John Holliday Cummins. I am particularly glad to have exact dates for his two daughters Martha and Mary.

There is both documentary and oral evidence that Martha had children, and that she was married before having them:

A) Page 105 of Mildred Schoch's Ringgold In The United States, which outlines the data on William Charles Clayton Ringgold, gives:

"m. 4th Martha Rebecca Cummins, aged 35, on 4-13-1875, in Balto. County, and cites "Administrative papers--Kent Co. Del. 1921.

they had:

*Helen Cummins Ringgold--Admin. papers Kent Co. Del. 1950 Clarence Ringgold -- Admin. papers Kent Co. Del. 1934 Cummins Ringgold -- no dates, no citation.

(It was from this information that I concluded that Martha Rebecca was born in 1840; glad to have the correct date!)

B) On the bottom of page 3 of the document that I call the "Mary Cavender Legacy papers", we have the following:

"John H. Cummins left 4 children, Mary C., who is still living, Rebecca Cummins who is now dead, John R. Cummins who is still living, and Thomas Cummins who is dead. Rebecca Cummins left two children: Clarence Ringgold and *Helen Ringgold." (Since Thomas Cummins died in 1923, and Clarence Cummins according to the previous reference died in 1934, we date the Cavender paper as having been written between 1923 and 1934. The paper says that "Rebecca is dead", therefore she died before 1923; that checks both our sources that she died in 1921. But we now have two sources that say she had children, and one that says she married Clayton Ringgold when she was 35, in 1875.

C) Moreover my own mother visited Smyrna to meet the family, in 1907, and I have a clipping from the Smyrna paper to the effect that the "Misses Edith Ringgold Cummins (my mother) and *Helen Cummins Ringgold" enjoyed the previous week sightseeing in Philadelphia. Moreover my mother talked about *Helen Cummins Ringgold, who befriended her.

[Notebook p. 105. Page 2 of the letter to Hancock.] Harold Hancock 2 G.E.VALLEY

Thus we now have three independent sources testifying that *Helen Cummins Ringgold did indeed exist.

D) Finally, in phone conversations, Marian Steuart (who is a Ringgold) has told me about Clayton Ringgold and his family. (Clayton's mansion stands only about a mile from her house in Stevensville.) Seems that after his death, Martha took her children back to Smyrna, (the date would be sometime prior to 1889) the property having been left to Clayton's sons by an earlier marriage. Martha and her sister Mary enjoyed legacies bequeathed by their grandfather Edward Ringgold.

I can only imagine how Frances D. Cummins might have come to the erroneous belief that Martha Rebecca Cummins never married.

Please let me know what you find out.

Next week I expect to start writing about John Holliday Cummins and Rebecca B. Ringgold (Whose middle name was certainly not Blackiston!). There is somewhat more to be said than Mrs. Cummins uncovered; she seems never to have consulted the voluminous literature of the Eastern Shore.

I note that the information on your page 189 correctly repeats the dates for Robert Hanson Cummins already given incorrectly on page 177.

If you think I might help you by writing to your Blax, let me know her address.

Sincerely yours, [signed] George George E. Valley, Jr.

Printed on September 24, 1986, FILE VLCMG6