James Cunningham, Son & Co.
Carriages, Autos, etc.

James Cunningham was born in 1815, County Down, Ireland to Arthur and Ann (Austin) Cunningham. His father died when James was young. James older brother moved to Canada about 1824 and the rest of the family moved to a farm near Cobourg, Ontario in 1831. James began learning carpentry as early as 1832. He traveled through Rochester in 1833 and settled in Rochester in 1834 where he was was first employed in the shop of Norman Jewell, a manufacturer of post coaches. Shortly afterward he entered the employ of Hanford & Whitbeck, whose carriage shop was on the west side of State Street. In 1838 he formed a partnership with J. W. Kerr and Blanchard Dean, under the firm name of Kerr, Cunningham & Co., which conducted business in the old Hanford & Whitbeck shop. The partnership only lasted a few years when Kerr and Dean pulled out of the business and James Cunningham assumed all the debt. He was able to grow the business all by himself.

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