314. (i.) MARY ANN CUMMINS⁴, was born circa 1832 in New Jersey, died unknown. She lived with her widowed mother in Hope Townsip, Warren County, New Jersey in 1850. Mary Ann married after 1850, John W. Snyder (Kern 1938; 1850 United States Federal Census, Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 435B).

In 1860, an African American man named Heary also lived with the family. He was illiterate and gave no last name for the census (it is written as unknown). He gave his age as 60, which places his birth in about 1800. Heary was born in New Jersey before the state passed their gradual emancipation law in 1804. However, he was not listed as a slave in the census, as were some of the other African Americans who also lived in the township in 1860. G.C. Angle was the census enumerator. When Angle visited the household of Abram Pearson (or Pierson) on 9 July 1860, he noted that Catherine Kingsberry, age 64, was a slave and that Mary Kingsberry, age 14, was not. Angle also enumerated the Cummins household. There is no notation in the census that Heary was a slave. As Angle was a resident of the area, he would have known if Heary was the Cummins's slave. As there is no slave status notation in the census, it is probable that Heary was a free man. He worked for the Cummins as a farm laborer (1860 United States Federal Census, Hope Township, Warren County, New Jersey, pages 12 and 22). Efforts to locate Heary in the census before 1860 have proved futile.

In 1840, there were 38 free blacks living in Hope Township, 24 men and 14 women. All of these individuals were under the age of 36. Most of the freed men and women lived in 16 households which were headed by whites. Only three households were headed by black heads of household, those of William Richards, John Huff and William Abbott. The three households included a total of 15 individuals. According to the 1840 census there was one slave living in Hope Township. This was a male between the ages of 36 and 55, who lived in the household of John Quick. This inidivdual was born between 1785 and 1804, before the 1804 gradual emancipation law was enacted. The 38 free blacks in the township were, with the exception of one woman, all born after 1804. If they were born to a slave mother, young women born after 1804 would have been freed upon reaching the age of 21, while young men were freed at the age of 25. The one woman in the census who was over the age of 36 was a free black woman between the ages of 55 and 100 (born 1740 through 1785), who lived in the household headed by William Richards (a free black).

There 16 white households which included free blacks are summarized in table 3. Eleven of the households include only a single free black inidividual. The majority of these are free black males, five between the ages of 0 and 10 and 3 between the ages of 10 and 24. Three of the individuals were females, two between 24 and 36 and one between 10 and 24. The males were probably hiring out as farm hands or laborers, while the young women probably worked as domestic servants. Five of the white households included two or more free blacks. These were the Albertson, S. Blair, Tinsman, Read and Freese households. At least three of the groups of free blacks living in these white households appear to be inidividual family units. In the Albertson household there was a woman between 24 and 36 and male between 10 and 24. In the Tinsman family there was a male between the ages of 24 and 26 and woman between the ages of 10 and 24. Given the ages it is very possible that these two groups were young couples in their twenties. In the Samuel Blair household ther lived what appears to be a mother (24 to 26 years of age) and her two young children (0 to 10 years of age). She probably worked as a domestic servant for the Blairs. The Read household was the only white head household where there were more African Americans than whites in residence. The whites were Isaac and his wife and one of their children. The four free blacks included 2 males between 10 and 24, a female between 10 and 24 and a male between 0 and 10. The census indicates that four members of household were engaged in manufacture. Whther this group represents a family, or individual employees is still up to question. The final household, that of Susan Freese, included a free balck male between 24 and 36 and one between 0 and 10. Again this may be two unrelated inidividuals, or it may be a father and son, or two brothers.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Lavina Read was the first child and daughter of David Read and Anna Middlesworth. She was born 22 August 1805 (Kern 1938). She married John Cummins, Sr. before June 1832. John petitioned the Orphans Court of Warren County during the June 1832 Term for the division of the real estate of his late father-in-law, David Read. The petition was presented "...on behalf of his wife Lavina Cummins one of the heirs at law of David Read...". At the time of David Read's death, only Lavina and her brother Isaac Read were of age, the other siblings (Joseph, Sally, Ellen and Jackson) were all minors (Warren County Surrogate Court Records, Orphans Court Minutes, Liber 1, folio 236). John Cummins does not appear on the 1850 United States Federal Census. Lavina appears on the census as the head-of-household with two children. The household was visited on 11 September 1850. It was the 709^th dwelling and 742^nd family visited. No real estate value for Lavina's holdings is given in the census. As John Cummins, Sr. is not on the census, it is assumed that he died before 1850. The household in 1850 consisted of:

(United States Federal Census, page 435b). Lavina lived near two of her brothers and her mother in 1850. Her house was the 709^th visited. Her brother Isaac S. Read and mother Ann Read lived in dwelling number 712. Brother Joseph M. Read lived in dwelling number 715. Dwelling number 708, which was presumably next to Lavina's house, was occupied by Martin F. Read and his family (ibid.). Martin was Lavina's first cousin, the son of Samuel Read.

Lavinia died on 7 January 1864 and was buried in Union Brick Cemetery, Blairstown Township, Warren County, New Jersey (Kern 1938). The burial place of John Cummins, Sr. is unknown.