[1][2] Cumings left college to enlist in the 105th Ohio Infantry Regiment on August 20, 1862.

He was assigned to the staff of colonel A. S. Hall and later served under brigadier general Edward H. Hobson.

[1][2] He engaged in producing and refining oil for Day & Company and later with the firm Hunter & Cumings.

He was president of Tidioute Savings Bank and director of the Warren Trust Company.

He was a charter member of the Colonel George A. Cobham Post of the Grand Army of the Republic and served as its first commander.

He served as commander of the Pennsylvania department of the Grand Army of the Republic from March 1895 to 1896.

They had six children, Harriet Emily, Charles Andrew, Henry Harrison Jr., Sarah Charlotte, Ralph Hunter and Laura Frances.