from The History of Hendricks County (Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1914)--pages 353-356
Among the most successful citizens of this county who rank high in personal attainment, is the gentleman whose name heads this paragraph, a man whose expert services have been requisitioned in thirty-two states of the Union and who had conferred honor and dignity upon the locality where he resides in Lincoln Township, Hendricks County, Indiana. Charles A. Cummings, the well-known builder of bridges, is also one of the leading farmers of this county, owning an excellent farm of one hundred and twenty acres in the township mentioned above, where he engages in general farming, assisted by one of his sons. Mr. Cummings has attained to his enviable position through unflagging perseverance and boundless enterprise and among other characteristics which have contributed largely to his success is that rare ability to use men so as to subserve his purpose and at the same time assist them.
Charles A. Cummings was born on April 24, 1859, in Botetourt County, Virginia, the son of William and Maria (Boose) Cummings, the former of whom was born in Bath County, Virginia, and while it is not definitely known, it is believed that his parents were both natives of Scotland. Maria Boose, mother of the subject, was born in Botetourt County, Virginia, the daughter of natives of Germany who had first settled in Pennsylvania and from there went into Virginia, where they lived out the remainder of their lives. William and Maria Cummings lived their lives in Virginia, where they were engaged in farming. Their son Charles, the subject, remained with them until about twenty-one years old and then, in 1880, went to Springfield, Ohio, where he had a brother. He engaged in agricultural work for a short time, and then his brother, Douglass B.L. Cummings, who was engaged in the steel bridge construction business, took young Charles A. into partnership and so began his career in that line of work in which he has proved so proficient. They went to Peoria, Illinois, where they continued in their chosen business and after about two years went to Indianapolis. This was in the spring of 1883. The year previous, while in Peoria, the subject had been united in marriage with Emma Sweat, a native of that city and the daughter of James B. and Elizabeth (Hines) Sweat. The father was a native of Maine and the mother had been born in Ohio. After their marriage they had gone to Peoria County, Illinois, and engaged in farming, where they lived the remainder of their lives. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Sweat enlisted for service, and while at the front took sick and died. His widow, mother of Mrs. Cummings, passed away at her home in Illinois in 1908. After coming with their wives to Indianapolis, the Cummings brothers associated themselves with W.B. Bassett, C.L. Rose and W.W. Winslow, forming what was known as the Indianapolis Bridge Company. For about two years they made combination iron and wooden bridges and in about two years built a factory at the Bee Line tracks near East Michigan Street. Here for about ten years they engaged in the manufacture of steel and combination bridges and then turned their attention to steel bridges exclusively, Mr. Cummings acting as superintendent of the plant most of the time. They also took contracts for bridges, which they made and erected. About the year 1893 their company was succeeded by the Indiana Bridge Company and then the subject and his old associates separated, each carrying on bridge contracting independently of the others. Mr. Cummings took the contract for the erection of the Kentucky Avenue bridge over White River in the city of Indianapolis. This was in 1894, during the time Coxey and his 'army' made their famous march. In accepting the contract for the erection of the bridge, Mr. Cummings had agreed to use local workmen as much as possible and the unemployed came to him in such numbers and were so wild for work that the police department was called upon to disperse the crowd. There were times when there would be fully two thousand men looking for employment in the construction of the bridge and at that time laborers were paid only sixty cents a day. Now the cheapest labor he employs costs thirty cents per hour and some of his laborers make as much as four dollars per day. The year previous to the construction of the Kentucky Avenue bridge, Mr. Cummings and his brother took the contract for the erection of the bridge over the Ohio at Wheeling, West Virginia, and resting on the island midstream. For awhile, Mr. Cummings was associated with David Braden on several bridge contracts. It was David Braden after whom the subject's youngest son was named.
It was in the year 1897 that Mr. Cummings came to this county and purchased land, setting himself up as a farmer. He first purchased one hundred and twenty acres in the southwestern part of Lincoln Township and at one time owned as much as two hundred acres. However, he has disposed of different tracts until he now owns the same amount with which he first started. He still continues the bridge business and in addition has his farm home, where the family have been reared. There are four children, Delmar, Effie, Wands and Braden. Delmar was born in 1883 and married Ethel Frisbie. He lives on a farm near his father, and has two children, Clayton and Gertrude. Delmar was associated with his father in the bridge business until about two years ago when he became superintendent of erection for the Central States Bridge Company of Indianapolis. Effie, who was born in 1886, is the wife of Edgar Hufford and has two children, Marshall and Walter. Wands, born in 1888, married Blanche Kennedy and lives near his father. They are the parents of two children, Russel and Lloyd. He is engaged in farming. Braden, the youngest of the family, was born in 1894 and remains at home as the assistant of his father, both in conducting the farm and in carrying on the work of bridge erection.
Mr. Cummings' fraternal affiliation is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has been a member since 1888, and both he and his wife are members of the White Lick Presbyterian Church. The family is among the leading ones of the township, broad-minded, of advanced ideas and delightful to meet. Mr. Cummings' business has taken him all over the United States and he thoroughly enjoys travel, but the trip he considers most enjoyable of all was one it was his privilege to take in 1912. He had been engaged in bridge work in Georgia and the Carolinas and Mrs. Cummings had been with him a great deal of the time. In the fall of that year they started to drive home in a buggy, leaving King's Mountain in North Carolina. They arrived at Danville, this county, seventeen and one-half days after, having crossed eight mountains and encountering some roads so rough it was necessary to hold the horse up. Roads were often only wide enough for one vehicle and passing would have been impossible. Mr. Cummings is a man of unusual strength of character and ability, one who impresses his individuality upon the locality honored by his residence. By a life of consistent action and thought, he has earned the high standing which he now enjoys and it is a pleasure to give him representation in a work of the scope of the one at hand.