Hon. Theodore E. Cunningham
T E Cunningham was born in Wayne County, Ohio, Oct. 31, 1830. In January, 1832, his parents, William Cunningham and Anna (Ewalt) Cunningham, removed to this county from Knox County. He married Elizabeth S. Hyatt, who was born at Hyattstown, Md., March 1, 1832. Her parents, Philip and Rispa Hyatt, removed from Maryland to Knox County, Ohio. Children of T. E. and Elizabeth Cunningham: William H., Blanche, Harold, Thomas N., Louis H., and Theodore. Children of William and Anna Cunningham: Anna S. Tingle, W. H. Cunningham (deceased), Elizabeth H. Watters, Clementine C. Brice, John N. Cunningham, Sarah V. Morris, and T. E. Cunningham. Children of Philip and Rispa Hyatt: Luther Z. Hyatt, Ann S. Holland, Susan Chapin (deceased), Hammond Hyatt, Joseph H. Hyatt, Elizabeth S. Cunningham, Columbia Hyatt (deceased), John T. Hyatt (deceased), Caroline Cassel, Olive Smith, Columbus D. Hyatt and Maria Tarr.
From 1875 Historical Atlas of Allen County, Ohio, by H. H. Hardesty & Co. Publishers, Chicago.
Probably no citizen of Lima has passed off the active scene of life within the last quarter of a century, who possessed in higher degree the different qualities which command respect and encourage admiration and personal affection than the late Theodore E. Cunningham, who for many years was one of the leading members of the bar. Few men of his profession have left a more lasting impress upon the community. He was born October 31, 1830, in Wayne County, Ohio, and died April 16,1889, at Lima, Ohio, age 59 years. His parents were Dr. William and Anna (Ewalt) Cunningham.
Mr. Cunningham came of a combination of Scotch, Irish, and French stock. Archibald C. Cunningham, his paternal grandfather, came to Ohio in 1821 from Washington County Pennsylvania, taking up a large tract of farming land in Wayne County. His son William turned his attention to medicine and in January, 1832, came to Allen County, settling in the locality and among the straggling cottages which then represented the now thriving and important city of Lima. Here he, too, soon had a home, building his log cabin on what is now the southeast corner of the Pubic Square. He became a well-known practitioner and a man who was as highly considered for his professional skill as he was for his sterling traits of character.
Dr. William Cunningham married Anna Ewalt, who was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, being a descendant of an old Huguenot family which once owned estates along the Rhine. Seven children were born to Dr. and Mrs. Cunningham, three survivors of these being: Eliza, a resident of Lima, wife of Josiah Williams; Clementine, wife of W.K. Brice, and Sarah B., wife of George Morris, of Putnam County, Ohio.
Theodore E. Cunningham attended school at Lima until about 16 years of age, when he was apprenticed to the printing business, entering the office of the Kalida Venture, which was under the editorial management of James Mackenzie. He remained three years with this journal, and then came to Lima as associate editor of the Lima Argus, which in 1852, in partnership with William C. Tompkinson, he bought. This paper previously had been owned by Mathias H. Nichols and at that time was the only newspaper printed in the town. In 1854 he retired in order to take up his law practice, having been admitted to the bar in 1852, following the completion of his law studies with the firm of Nichols & Waldorf. he was succeeded on the Argus by Thomas M. Robb, who continued the paper until 1855 when Mr. Cunningham and a Mr. Poland took possession of the office. After a year, during which period they conducted the paper under the title of the People's Press, Mr. Cunningham retired entirely from connection with the publication.
In the meantime he had entered into a law partnership with Mr. Waldorf, which continued until 1860, when he was commissioned a member of the Board of Enrollment of the Fifth District of Ohio and attended to these duties through the period of the Civil War. In politics he was a Democrat. In 1866 he was elected a delegate to the Philadelphia convention, and in 1873 he was elected from Allen County as a member of the Ohio State Constitutional Convention. The able manner in which he here represented his constituents is a matter of history. He entered into political contests with the courage of his convictions and fought long and well, even when he foresaw defeat. He was long considered one of the ablest members of the Lima bar, not only on account of his native ability and intellectual force but also for other qualities. He was a man magnetic presence, an orator who could hold his audience spellbound and a conversationalist whose slightest effort brought new and entertaining views to light. Then he was so genuine. When he gave the clasp of friendship, he meant it, and even when, in course of conducting a case, his facts and arguments bore heavily on his opponent, there was no personal malice and no professional arrogance. He was a man of refined, scholarly tastes, an incisive writer and a man of wide reading. To him those in need of advice of sympathy naturally turned and, without consideration of financial obligation, none was ever turned aside. In 1855 Mr. Cunningham was married to Elizabeth Hyatt, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, who died February 5, 1904, aged 72 years. To them were born six children.
Hon. William H. Cunningham, now filling the responsible and honorable office of judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Allen County, is a son of Hon. Theodore E. Cunningham, the subject of this sketch. He was first elected to his present position in 1898 and was reelected in 1902. He has every qualification for able work at the bar and is regarded as an honor to the bench and bar of Lima. He is noted for the fair and impartial decisions that have characterized his service on the common pleas bench. Judge Cunningham read law in his father's office and was admitted to the bar in 1876, beginning at once the practice of his profession in Lima. He is a strong Democrat and no man in Allen County or this section of the State stands higher in the estimation of his fellow - citizens than he. In his fraternal relations he is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, an Elk and a Red Man. His wife whose name before marriage was Emma L. Funk, died in 1888, leaving one son, Allen, who is now engaged in business in Texas.
From History of Allen County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, Part 1, Edited & Compiled by Charles C. Miller, Ph. D.; Richmond & Arnold, Publishers, Chicago, 1906