William Cumback (March 24, 1829 – July 31, 1905) was an American lawyer and Civil War veteran who served one term as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1855 to 1857.

Biography

Born near

Mount Carmel, Indiana Mount Carmel is a town in Springfield Township, Franklin County, Indiana, United States. The population was 86 at the 2010 census. History Mount Carmel was founded in 1837. The town took its name from the Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church. A post ...

, Cumback attended the common schools and was graduated from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He taught school two years. He studied law at the Cincinnati Law School. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Greensburg, Indiana, in 1853.

Congress

Cumback was elected as an Indiana People's Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1856. He resumed the practice of law.

Civil War

He was appointed a paymaster in the Army and served throughout the Civil War. He served as member of the State senate in 1866. The 16th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana in 1868.

Later career and death

He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1869. President U.S. Grant nominated Cumback as the

U.S. Minister to Portugal Bilateral diplomatic relations between the United States and Portugal date from the earliest years of the United States. Following the Revolutionary War, Portugal was the first neutral country to recognize the United States. On February 21, 1791, ...

in 1870 but he declined the appointment. He served as a United States revenue collector from 1871 to 1883. He also served as a trustee of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination for governor in 1896. He died in Greensburg, Indiana, July 31, 1905. He was interred in South Park Cemetery.

Legacy

William Cumback is the namesake of the community of Cumback, Indiana.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumback, William 1829 births 1905 deaths People from Franklin County, Indiana Indiana Whigs Opposition Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana Lieutenant Governors of Indiana Indiana state senators People of Indiana in the American Civil War United States Army paymasters People from Greensburg, Indiana Miami University alumni DePauw University people 19th-century American politicians Members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni Indiana lawyers