Cummins Family
Sarah J. Cummins was my great great grandmother whom of course I never met, since she died in 1919 and I wasn't born until 1948. She wrote a book that was published seven times and is still of interest to collectors of western Americana. Our family first find out about the book in the late 1960s and acquired several editions of it from Ye Galleon Press, where it was re-published in Fairfield, Washington, in 1968.
I'd have to say that without this little book, much of our family history may have been lost forever, as passing generations forget or distort or neglect to pass on information to the next generation in an effective manner. This is why I bothered to type out the entire text of this book on this website, in the event that the book itself goes out of publication or the few editions in print just get lost. The actual printed copy I possess is Copy No. 240 out of an edition of 483 printed copies. My mother bought several copies (perhaps 10?), when we first learned that it was in print.
The book rambles a little as Sarah seems to stumble with how to get out her story, but she finally does spit it all out, and quite a story it is! The writing style is very interesting, not what you would see in this day and age. The sentences are long and run-on. She spends a lot of time paying attention to detail that seems insignificant. She loves using superlatives--everything is wondrous, grand, monumental and wonderful--life is so enormous and fabulous to her. It makes me wonder if she ever faced a dull moment in her life. Well, maybe not...
Sarah J. Cummins
Autobigraphy and Reminiscences
Ye Galleon Press
Fairfield, Washington
1968