MANNING, S.C. — South Carolina is remembering Congressman Elijah E. Cummings after an official from his office announced his death Thursday morning.
Even though he did not live in South Carolina, he has strong ties to the Palmetto State.
“I am so very proud of everything Elijah has done," Cummings' cousin Mamie Conyers Lemmon said.
Representative Cummings has represented Maryland's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1996.
“This is the birth place of his mother and father," Lemmons said sitting in her home in Manning.
Lemmons still lives in Manning, Cummings never lived in the Palmetto State, but his parents livedhere before they moved to Baltimore.
"You know he came from humble beginnings and just to see he has flourished, attended Howard university and became a lawyer, and just think his parents were share croppers," Lemmons said. "He has risen from humble begins and is now a big icon in Washington.”
Last time Lemmon saw her cousin was in 2014. Lemmon said she remembers him as humble family man and hopes others learn from his legacy.
“You don’t have to be at the top of the food chain sort of speak to rise and do great things," Lemmon said. "He fought a good fight even to the end and we will miss him.”
