The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
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From Logan International Airport: Continue to Airport Rd - Departure Level. Get on MA-1A S. Continue on MA-1A S. Drive to Tremont St, .2 miles
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Author: George Abbott Lipphardt Sr.
Andrew Cunningham was born in Boston on 16 February 1760. On 16 March 1774, he was appointed usher and assistant at the South Writing School, and his copybook, dated 25 February 1774, which is in the possession of the family, is in a fine and elegant style and shows him to have been a remarkable penman.
During the American Revolution in 1777, he was a Private in Captain Mayo's Company, Colonel Brooks's Regiment, and was on duty with the American troops at the Cambridge Arsenal.
In early life he was a merchant, but in 1799 became Secretary of the Massachusetts Mutual Fire Insurance Company, a position he held till his death, and he was a well-known figure among the old Boston merchants who were in the habit of spending a portion of each day 'on change' and in the Insurance offices. Like his father, he was interested in the old fire companies and was for many years one of the Fire Wards and the Secretary of the Board. There is a large black and white reproduction of a painting of him in the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts Museum, on the 4th floor of Faneuil Hall, Boston. They have pictures of many of the previous officers, proudly displayed across the upper edge of the walls. He is shown as Major Andrew Cunningham, 1793.
He joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company on 4 August 1786 and was Commander of the Company in 1793. He was Adjutant of the Boston Regiment, 1787-89, Quartermaster of the First Division Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, 1789-1793, and Deputy Quartermaster General, 1794-1801.
He was twice married; first, to Mary “Polly” Lewis, who died on 9 May 1809. He married a second time to Abigail Leonard.
His son, Joseph Lewis was 1st Lieutenant of the Dedham Minutemen and served on the Lexington Alarm. He was active in town affairs and served as a fireward for several years. He was the third sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1788, first Sergeant in 1795, Lieutenant in 1789, and captain in 1793. He was adjutant of the Boston regiment from 1787 to 1789; quartermaster of the First Division, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, from 1789 to 1793, and deputy quartermaster-general from 1794 to 1801. In the later part of his life, he was engaged in the insurance business, being secretary and treasurer of the Massachusetts Mutual Fire and Marine Insurance Company from its organization, March 2, 1798, until his decease. He died at Elm Hill, Roxbury, in August 1829, aged sixty-nine years."
Andrew died at Elm Hill, Roxbury, on 29 August 1829, and was buried in the Old Granary Burying Ground, Boston. In their book, Codman and Wyman list an Andrew, from Roxbury, May 20, 1829, ae. 69 y. Tomb 128. His tombstone can be found at the north end of the Old Granary Burying Ground, Boston, attached to the side of the Athenaeum. If you stand in front of the tomb of Patriot, Paul Revere, you can see Andrew’s tombstone about 30’ behind it.
Fun facts:
The Old Burying Ground Cemetery in Boston is the only cemetery where three signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried: Sam Adams, John Hancock & Robert Treat Paine.
Andrew Cunningham is a maternal 1st cousin to President John Adams.
Andrew Cunningham is my 4th great, grandfather.
Sources:
Hughes, Thomas Patrick, American Ancestry: Giving the Name and Descent, in the Male Line, of Americans Whose Ancestors Settled in the United States Previous to the Declaration of Independence. A.D. 1776. Vol. V. New York, Albany: Joel Munsell's Sons, 1890. "Andrew of Boston, b. there Feb. 16, 1760, d. there Aug. [sic], 1829, pres. of an insurance company, commander of Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co., his portrait is now in armory of that company, Faneuil Hall Boston.”
Codman, Ogden, and Wyman, Thomas Bellows, Gravestone Inscriptions and Records of Tomb Burials in The Granary Burying Ground, Boston, Mass., Massachusetts. Salem: The Essex Institute, 1918.
Roberts, Oliver Ayer, History of The Military Company of The Massachusetts Now Called The Ancient And Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, 1637-1888, Massachusetts. Boston: A. Mudge & Son, 1897, Vol. II, page 202.
Massachusetts Revolutionary Rolls, xxi., pp. 99-101.
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