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Higher Office(s) Served: Senator

ALBERT BAIRD CUMMINS, Iowa's eighteenth governor, was born near Carmichaels, Pennsylvania on February 15, 1850. He graduated from Waynesburg College in 1869, studied law in Chicago, was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1875, and established a legal practice with his brother in Des Moines, Iowa. Cummins entered politics in 1887, serving as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, a position he held until 1889. After two unsuccessful bids for the U.S. Senate in 1894 and 1900, Cummins won the 1901 Republican gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor. During his tenure, legislation was enacted that regulated railroads and insurance companies; prison measures were restructured; and child labor laws were improved. Also, the distribution of railroad passes was eliminated; and the mandatory direct primary law was sanctioned. On November 24, 1908, Cummins resigned from the governor's office, to take a seat in the U.S. Senate. He served in the senate from November 24, 1908 until his death in 1926. He also served as senate president from 1923 to 1925. Governor Albert B. Cummins died on July 30, 1926, and was buried at the Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines, Iowa.

Sources:

Bartleby.com

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 2, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.