Edward Joseph Cummings (1894–1935)

The Short Life of a WW I Veteran

Let me tell you about Edward Joseph Cummings. Brynn and Fallon, he is your great-great-grandfather: your dad Anthony’s father, Michael, is the son of Edward’s younger daughter, Marion L. Edward was born on February 15, 1894, in West Springfield, the eldest child of William Cummings and Margarett C. Cummings. When Edward came along, West Springfield was a working-class town shaped by rail lines, river commerce along the Connecticut River, and the steady growth of nearby Springfield’s industries. Families like the Cummingses lived close to jobs, schools, and extended kin, which made for the close-knit neighborhoods that were so typical of turn-of-the-century New England. Edward grew up in West Springfield during a time of rapid industrial change. By the 1900 census, when he was six, he was living at home with his parents. His younger sister, Anna May, was born in 1899. He grew up in a community where mills, machine shops, and print works gave work to men and boys alike, and it was not unusual for teenagers to go to work early. By 1910, when he was just sixteen, Edward was already working as a press feeder. That was a physically demanding job, and it put him right in the middle of the industrial labor force. The work suggests printing or manufacturing, where feeding sheets into presses took strength, attention, and long hours. It was an early taste of adult responsibility, and it likely shaped his practical outlook and his work ethic. In 1917, as the United States entered World War I, Edward was living in Westfield, and he was still unmarried. On September 22, 1917, he entered the U.S. Army with serial number 294058, and he was assigned to Company 12 of the 151st Depot Brigade. The 151st was based at Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. A depot brigade received new soldiers, trained them, and sent them on as replacements to units headed overseas. In the spring of 1919, just after the war ended, Edward departed from Bassens Docks in Bordeaux, France, which points to overseas service, or to postwar transport connected to the huge movement of American troops and personnel coming home. He was discharged on May 12, 1919, after about a year and eight months in uniform. We know his enlistment and discharge dates because they are written by hand on the application for his veteran’s headstone. On September 13, 1920, Edward married Mary Genevieve Cullen in Springfield, and that began a new chapter rooted firmly in that city. Springfield in the 1920s was a bustling industrial center, and Edward found steady work there. Their family grew with the birth of their daughter Rita Constance in January 1923. Several years later came another daughter, Marion L., born in 1928. By 1930, Edward had become a fireman, a job that carried respect and public trust. He was the head of his household, and he balanced a dangerous, physically taxing profession with family life in the early years of the Great Depression. Firefighting in those days took courage and resilience, with limited equipment and long shifts. It says a lot about Edward’s commitment to public service and to the safety of his community. Edward Joseph Cummings died on January 31, 1935, at just 40 years old. His life was cut tragically short. He was laid to rest at St. Thomas Cemetery in Springfield, the city where he had built his adult life, his career, and his family, and an application was filed for a government headstone honoring his World War I service. His life was brief, but it is the story of many New England men of his generation, shaped by early labor, wartime experience, devotion to family, and service to the communities they called home.
Sources
Conflicting records
  • Wedding date: this page gives Sept. 13, 1920; a Springfield Daily Republican item of Aug. 12, 1920 announced the wedding for Sept. 6, 1920. Not yet resolved (the Massachusetts marriage record would settle it).
  • Elder daughter’s middle name: this page gives “Rita Constance”; the 1935 obituary of Edward J. Cummings lists “Miss Rita M.” Not yet resolved.
  • Edward J. Cummings’s death year: the 1935 death notice and the 1951 wedding report (“the late Mr. Cummings”) support 1935; the 1987 obituary of his widow says he died in 1955. The contemporaneous 1935 record is preferred here.