Cummins was born in North Carolina in either 1768 or 1770 to a wealthy Scotch-Irish American land owning family who had emigrated to America in the early 1700s. With ties across the Atlantic, his family owned lands in Ireland as well as America. When he was about 22 years old, he inherited land in County Down, Ireland, and removed there permanently. As aspiring apothecary, he attended medical college in Edinburgh & studied to become a doctor. After graduating he removed to Kildare to practice his apothecary trade.Miller 2003, p. 635.
