Edwin Cunningham (diplomat)

Edwin Sheddan Cunningham (July 6, 1868 – January 20, 1953) was an American diplomat who served for many years in China, retiring as United States Consul General in Shanghai.

Edwin Sheddan Cunningham
Consul General of the United States, Singapore
In office
1912–1914
Consul General of the United States, Hankow
In office
1914–1919
Consul General of the United States, Shanghai
In office
1919–1935
Preceded byThomas N. Sammons
Succeeded byMonnett Bain Davis
Personal details
Born(1868-07-06)July 6, 1868
Maryville, Tennessee
DiedJanuary 20, 1953(1953-01-20) (aged 84)
Maryville, Tennessee

Early life

Cunningham was born July 6, 1868, in Maryville, Blount County, Tennessee, the son of Major Ben and Jane Ann (Sheddan) Cunningham.[1][2]

He graduated from Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee, and received an LL.B. from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.[3] Following graduation he worked in a law publishing house in Rochester, New York and then practiced law in Maryville from 1896 to 1898.[4]

Career

In 1898, Cunningham was appointed consul to Aden, Arabia, and transferred to Bergen, Norway, in 1903. In 1906, Cunningham became consul to Durban, South Africa, and from 1910-1912, he served as consul to Bombay, India. Cunningham also served as United States consul-general to Singapore from 1912 to 1914.[3]

He served as consul general to Hankow, China, from 1914-1919 was then appointed consul-general in Shanghai, serving from 1920 to 1935. He was Chairman of the Court of Consuls between 1924 and 1925. From June 1926 he served as the dean of the consular corps.[1]

In 1930, he was admitted to the bar of the United States Court for China on 25 August 1930 by Judge Milton D. Purdy.[5]

He retired at the end of 1935 at the age of 67 having gone past the normal retirement age of 65 at the special request of the United States Secretary of State, Cordell Hull.[2]

Honours

In 1932, Maryville College awarded him an honorary LLD and the University of Michigan conferred an honorary Master of Arts in 1938.[2]

Marriage
Flag of the United States at half mast mourning Rhoda Cunningham at the entrance to US Consulate, Shanghai in 1934.

Cunningham married Elizabeth Rhoda Israel (who went by the name Rhoda) on November 14, 1911 in London, England.[1] Rhoda died in 1934 in Hangzhou, China and a funeral service was conducted in Shanghai on April 7, 1934 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Shanghai.[6] She was cremated and interred in Bubbling Well Cemetery in Shanghai. She was subsequently buried in Grandview Cemetery in, Maryville, Tennessee in 1947.[7]

Death

Cunningham died at his home in Maryville, Tennessee on 20 January 1953 and was buried in the same plot as his wife, Rhoda.[7]

References
  1. Cunningham's profile in Men of Shanghai p. 99
  2. E.S. Cunningham, Ex-Consul, 84, Dies, The New York Times, 23 January 1953, p. 20.
  3. University of Michigan, Student profile
  4. "American Consul is Admitted in Impressive Ceremony", The China Press, August 26, 1930
  5. American Consul General is admitted member of bar in impressive ceremony", The China Press, August 26, 1930
  6. The China Press, Sunday April 1934
  7. Gravestone for Mr and Mrs Cunningham in the cemetery.
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