Cummins, Timothy, House
E of Smyrna, Smyrna, DEThe Timothy Cummins House is a well-preserved example of a dwelling house that was constructed by wealthy planters during the last quarter of the eighteenth century. However, the house has many features that are more typical of the early-eighteenth century. This combination of stylistic elements from the entire range of architectural traditions of the eighteenth century makes the house eligible under Criterion C as a significant example of the conservative nature of central Delaware architecture. The house is both fashionable and outdated for its construction period of the early-1780's. The use of Flemish bond on the facade and the Georgian floor-plan indicate a concern that the house be modern, but the tall narrow windows and the small it-story kitchen wing are elements that would be "old fashioned" by the 1780's. The house is also a good example of the intensive use of the land in Duck Creek Hundred as the population increased during the eighteenth century. The plantation is typical of the type of farm operation created by the rising middle-class population in central Delaware after the end of the Revolutionary War. The original plantation occupied a few hundred acres and was crowned with a substantial brick dwelling.
Timothy Cummins (1757-1823) was the son of a prosperous innkeeper and planter, Daniel Cummins (1736-1797). In 1780, Timothy married Rachel Pennington. Two of Timothy's brothers, John and George, were successful businessmen and landowners but Timothy appears to have preferred the life of a gentleman farmer. When his father died in 1797, he owed him a large sum of money that was to be deducted from his inheritance. At his own death in 1823 he had a personal estate of $3,942.
His will states that his wife was to have a life interest in the plantation and that at her death it would become the property of his son, Daniel Bell. Daniel married his cousin Mary Ellen Cummins in 1839. Her brothers, George W. and Daniel J., were the owners of Woodlawn and Glen Fern, respectively. Daniel Bell Cummins did not occupy the land but used it as a tenant farm. He was a banker and merchant in Philadelphia. The land was sold out of the family in 1906. This pattern is repeated fairly often in Duck Creek. During the nineteenth century, tenancy, increased as the landowners, became involved in mercantile operations and left their home plantations in the care of managers.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.