CUMMINGS, Asa, clergyman, born in Andover, Mass.. 29 September 1791 ; died at sea, 5 June 1856. He was graduated at Harvard in 1817, and during 1819-'20 was a tutor at Bowdoin, meanwhile studying at Andover theological seminary. In February 1821, he was ordained and became pastor of the Congregational Church in North Yarmouth, Maine, holding that charge until 1829. Physical infirmities compelled him to relinquish preaching, and he accepted the editorship of the" Christian Mirror," at that time the organ of the Maine missionary society. Some years later, owing to conflicting opinions on the slavery question, concerning which the Maine missionary society was unwilling to take positive ground, the paper became his personal property, and he continued in editorial control of the "Mirror" until the close of 1855. A few months later he sailed for Aspinwall, on a visit to his daughter and for the benefit of his health. On the return voyage, soon after leaving the isthmus, he died. He published a "Memoir of Dr. Edward Payson" (Boston, 1846).