Osmond Richard Cummings (May 17, 1923 – January 15, 2013) was an American author and historian. He published several histories of railroad systems in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

Life and career

Cummings was born in

Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...

, the son of Orrin Cummings and Mary Audley. He lived in the Newburyport–

Amesbury Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settle ...

area for over thirty years. He graduated

Amesbury High School Amesbury High School is a coeducational public high school in the city of Amesbury, Massachusetts, serving as the primary high school for students from Amesbury and, South Hampton, New Hampshire, along with also drawing some students from other par ...

in 1940, then attended

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...

, for two years. He graduated from the Bentley School of Accounting and Finance in

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, th ...

, in 1948. Cummings worked as a reporter for the ''

The Daily News of Newburyport ''The Daily News of Newburyport'' is an American daily newspaper covering northeastern Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. The newspaper is published Monday through Saturday mornings by North of Boston Media Group, a subsidiary of Community Newspa ...

'' between 1948 and 1956, before joining the ''

New Hampshire Union Leader The ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' is a daily newspaper from Manchester, the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. On Sundays, it publishes as the ''New Hampshire Sunday News.'' Founded in 1863, the paper was best known for the conse ...

'' in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Hamp ...

. He was the newspaper's

copyeditor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...

up until his retirement in 1987. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Cummings served for three years in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

, and in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for around a year during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Cummings was a member of the Manchester Post 79, American Legion, Washington Lodge, 61,

Free and Accepted Masons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. He was also a member of the Manchester Historic Association, the Boston and Maine Historical Society, the Boston Street Railway Association, the Central Electric Railfans Association, the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society and the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. He wrote and had published numerous titles on the histories of

street railway A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

systems in

, and was a member of the New England Electric Railway Historical Society. He also owned the

Seashore Trolley Museum Seashore Trolley Museum, located in Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, is the world's first and largest museum of mass transit vehicles. While the main focus of the collection is trolley cars (trams), it also includes rapid transit trains, ...

Kennebunkport, Maine Kennebunkport is a resort town in York County, Maine, York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,629 people at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Portland, Maine, Portland–South Portland, Maine, Sout ...

, and served on its board of trustees.

Death

Cummings died on January 15, 2013, aged 89. His ashes were scattered at the Seashore Trolley Museum; he has a memorial headstone in New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in

Boscawen, New Hampshire Boscawen is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,998 at the 2020 census. History The native Pennacook people called the area ''Contoocook'', meaning "place of the river near pines". In March 1697, Hanna ...

Selected bibliography

* ''The Biddeford and Saco Railroad'' (1956) * ''Atlantic Shore Line Railway: its predecessors and its successors'' (1957) * ''Portland Railroad: Part I, historical development and operations'' (1957) * ''Portland Railroad: Part II, Rolling stock, carhouses, power supply'' (1959) * ''Waterville, Fairfield & Oakland Railway Company'' (1965)

References

External links

Cummings, O. R. (Osmond Richard)
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cummings, Osmond Richard 1923 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians Historians from Massachusetts Writers from Massachusetts Bates College alumni United States Navy personnel of the Korean War United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II American Freemasons