Mary Hannah Packer Cummings (1839-1912)
Mary was born on January 20, 1839, the third oldest of seven Packer children. A bit of a bohemian, Mary was a great patroness of the arts. She was quite fond of art, music and literature as her acquisitions from her travels will reflect.
By 1885, Mary, who was single and 46 years of age, was the only member left in the immediate family. Women were viewed as second-class citizens, but their rights had been greatly expanded after New York’s passing of the Married Women’s Property Act of 1848 which many states had effectively mirrored. In order to gain control of her father’s fortune, Mary decided it was time she married. This entered into the picture Mr. Charles Cummings.
Charles was a close family friend who worked for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Mary was very intelligent, and definitely ahead of her time: husband-to-be Charles signed a pre-nuptial agreement - the first pre-nuptial agreement to be filed in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It stated Mary would receive the home, the property and more importantly, the family fortune. In return, Charles would receive $100,000 dollars in Lehigh Valley Railroad stock. They were married on April 7, 1885. Mary retained the title of Mrs. while inheriting the family fortune - $54 and a half million dollars - which made her the wealthiest woman in the United States; second in the world just behind Her Majesty Queen Victoria of England. Mary and Charles divorced in 1893. Charles would eventually remarry Sarah Ormsby. Remaining the close family friends that they were, Mary named Charles, Sarah and their family in her will.
Mary was vacationing in Cape May, New Jersey in August of 1912 when she fell ill. She entered into rest on October 29, 1912 at the age of 73, passing away peacefully in her sleep:
Mrs. Mary Packer Cummings died at her home at Mauch Chunk on Tuesday morning. Mary Packer Cummings was born in Mauch Chunk, January, 20th, 1839, and this town has been home to her all her life. Educated privately, her affection early centered upon work for the Church and through all the years, it received personal and financial support in no small measure. The last of the Packers, she left a record which is in keeping with the best traditions of a family prominent in affairs in the Lehigh Valley and beyond its borders for three-quarters of a century. Her benefactions were many, playing a large part in the lives of those active in religious, philanthropic and educational work in different parts of the world, but it was at Sayre, South Bethlehem and in her home town and vicinity that especially her interest was shown…Mrs. Cummings has been ill and confined to her room since her return from Cape May, about the middle of August, and the seriousness of her illness was recognized, but hope was had that she would withstand the attack…The funeral will be held in St. Mark’s Church on Friday afternoon at 2:30 (o’clock) ~ As published in The Mauch Chunk Democrat, November 3, 1912
The only Packer child to see the 20th Century, Mary saw 22 states come into the Union.
Photograph Courtesy of Ava M. Bretzik, Director & Historian, The Asa Packer Mansion Museum
