Thomas Cummings

Thomas Cummings was the nineth of ten children born to John Cummings of South Carolina and Rachel Ann Canarda of Tennessee. In 1842, the couple met, married, and were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The family lived in Nauvoo and then in Iowa. It was when they lived in Pottawattamie County that Thomas was born.

With a desire to join other Saints in the Great Salt Lake Valley, the family joined the Uriah Curtis Company in 1852 to journey west. The company departed June 28, 1852.

Exhaustive travel conditions, disease, injury, lack of food and medicine, premature birth, and extreme weather were some of the greatest threats to pioneers. Cholera, a bacterial disease caused from contaminated water, infected many of the travelers. While traveling west, Thomas died and is buried along the Mormon Trail.