An Illustrated History of Central Oregon, Western Historical Publishing Company,
Spokane, WA. 1905, pages 334-335.

THOMAS J. CUNNING is a retired citizen of Hood River. He and his wife have a
very lovely residence on the top of the hill from which they have a surpassing
view. They are well to do and popular people and have hosts of friends.      

Thomas J. was born in Ohio, on November 8, 1838, the son of Edward and Jane
(Officer) Cunning, natives of Maryland and Ohio, respectively. The father
followed carpentering and his parents came from Ireland. The mother descended
from Scotch-Irish people, who were natives of Pennsylvania. Our subject was
raised and educated in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and after completing the high
school course, learned the miller's trade. In 1861, he enlisted in Company K,
Twenty-fourth Ohio Infantry, and served until June, 1865, when he was honorably
discharged at Washington, D.C. For eight months he was detailed to handle stock
in the quartermaster's department. He was under almost constant fire for the
years of his service, and honorably did the part of the brave defender of the
nation's flag. He participated in the battles of Green Brier, Cheat Mountain,
Murfreesboro, Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, all of the engagements
before Corinth, and in all of those participated in by the Army of the
Cumberland. He was at Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain and many others, with
skirmishes too numerous to mention. In many of these, Mr. Cunning was in
imminent danger and once his clothing was riddled with bullets but he never
suffered a wound and was active from the time of his enlistment to the day he
was mustered out. After the Rebellion was put down, he returned to milling in
Ohio, and in 1869 moved to Missouri where he lived for twenty-five years and
followed milling. He was postmaster for four years at Mt. Moriah, Harrison
county, Missouri, and owned a mill for six years. During the whole twenty-five
years of his residence in Missouri, he was school director and prominent in
politics and educational matters. In 1895, he came to Hood River, and since
coming here has been mostly retired although devoting some attention to buying
and selling real estate and loaning money.      

In October, 1865, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, Mr. Cunning married Mary Kinsey,
who was born in Baden, Germany, and the daughter of John Kinsey, a native of
Switzerland. She died on October 4, 1889, at Mt. Moriah, Missouri. On February
24, 1894, in Mt. Moriah, Mr. Cunning married Mrs. Agnes Markham, the daughter of
Platt and Amanda C. (Lathrop) Blount, natives of New York and descended from old
New England families. The father's father is a patriot of the Revolution. Mrs.
Cunning's parents settled in Wisconsin before it was a state and did much
excellent pioneer work there. Mr. Cunning has two brothers, John D., Captain of
Company G, Fifty-first Ohio in the Civil war, and William E. Mrs. Cunning has
two brothers, Luke D., a veteran of Company D, Seventh Wisconsin, in the Civil
war, and Jerold L., and one sister, Amelia Green. Mr. Cunning has the following
named children: Thomas O., a railroad man in Texas; Rosa, wife of Charles
Linthicus, Boise, Idaho; H. Alton, living in Hood River; Emma, wife of Frank
Butler, a stockman at Boise, Idaho; and Arthur, at home. Mrs. Cunning has one
son, Claude E. Markham, living on the west side. Mr. Cunning's mother's brother,
David Officer, while attending a free soil meeting in Ohio was killed by a man
whom he was ejecting from a church building on account of creating a
disturbance. One of the Officer family was a preacher and missionary to Africa.
Mr. Cunning is a member of the G.A.R., and one of the substantial and affable
men of the town.

*******************

Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2005 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. 
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.