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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
CUMMINGS, Homer Stille,
Lawyer, Orator.
One who knows Homer S. Cummings,
of Stamford, intimately has said of him:
"By sheer ability, perseverance and hard
work, he has risen from a struggling
young lawyer to be a leader of the bar of
Connecticut. In the higher courts he has
been counsel in many of the most impor-
tant causes tried in the State and adjoining
jurisdictions, involving large mone-
tary interests and important questions
of law. He has also appeared in the
United States Supreme Court and other
Federal courts in many parts of the
country."
On July i, 1914, Mr. Cummings was
appointed State's Attorney for Fair-
field county, an office which he still re-
tains, and the duties of which he dis-
charges with marked ability.
The following quotation from a tribute
paid by Mr. Cummings to one of his pre-
decessors in the office of State's Attorney
is peculiarly applicable to himself. "As a
trial lawyer. . . he adhered to the highest
traditions. He sought for the truth that
justice might be served, and desired no
unjustifiable conviction. The rights of
the innocent were safe in his hands ; only
the guilty had reason to fear. . . He was
eager that every fact and circumstance
should be scrutinized, so that the great
power of his office should not in the least
degree be directed toward oppression."
Mr. Cummings served three terms as
mayor of Stamford, being elected upon
the Democratic ticket, and could not
have been chosen to that office without
the support of a large number of Repub-
lican voters. The messages he wrote to
the Common Council attracted Statewide
attention. The reorganization of
the police and fire departments and the
acquisition of Halloween Park are among
the many constructive accomplishments
of his administration. He had vision to
see that future citizens of Stamford
should have a public park with a frontage
on Long Island Sound. With tenacity
of purpose he led this movement and did
not hesitate to dissolve a tie vote both
in the Common Council and in the Board
of Appropriation ; and when the succeed-
ing administration sought to rescind the
vote, he, without remuneration, carried
the case to the highest court in the State,
which fully sustained his position. (See
Bohannan vs. The City of Stamford, 80
Conn. 107). For a number of years
(1903-11), Mr. Cummings was president
of the Board of Trade, and through his
efforts many important enterprises were
established in Stamford.
The name Cummings has been variously
spelled, and tradition says that Scotland
was the original home of the race, one
branch of which was known as the "Red"
Cummin, and another as the "Black"
Cummin. The former is the branch to
which the ancestors of Homer Stille
Cummings belonged and this fact seems
to indicate their possible descent from
John Cummin, regent of Scotland, and
rival of Robert Bruce for the crown of
that kingdom.
Hezekiah Cummings, grandfather of
Homer Stille Cummings, was descended
from ancestors who were of Bennington,
Vermont. He, himself, lived at Akron,
New York, which was, perhaps, his native