Peter L. Cunningham


Peter L. Cunningham was a one-term mayor of South Norwalk, Connecticut in 1883.
He was born in New York City on August 14, 1814. He came to Old Well, Connecticut in the spring of 1834.
In 1840, he organized the First Rifle Company of the Ninth Regiment, Fourth Brigade, C.S.S. He was its commander for several years.
In 1858, he was appointed colonel on the staff of Governor William A.Buckingham.
In 1861, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Eighth Connecticut Volunteers, but resigned the commission after four months with an honorable discharge. In that same year, he was
elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk. He was a member of the Military Committee of the Legislature of Connecticut. In that committee, he proposed that $3 million should be appropriated for the defense of the Union. That proposal was passed by both chambers of the legislature. Another $3 million would subsequently be approved.
From 1877 to 1879, Cunningham served on the South Norwalk City Council as its senior member. He served as mayor from 1883 to 1884.
He served as a director on the boards of the Central Nation Bank, the First National Bank, and the Norwalk Gas Company.

Associations

On April 22, 1899, Cunningham died suddenly while vising the Norwalk Hospital to view the building under construction. He fell while walking down a decline at the back of the building, and died shortly thereafter. The cause of death was believed to be apoplexy.