Albert Winston LANG and Narcissus SIMMONS LANG
1869-1959; 1870-1944
Narcis and Albert are seen here with their two oldest children. Narcis is holding Evie (Knight), b. 1893; Albert is holding Iva, b. 1891. Photo would be circa 1894.
Image courtesy of Bob Ann Breland.
Ezra on base
Ezra on base, retouched
Ezra on base
Ezra on base, with background brought out
Ezra “Jodi” Simmons
Photos from Ethel Simmons Hennesy collection.
Ezra “Jodi” SIMMONS, 2nd son of Lucius Theodore SIMMONS and Annie (Knight) SIMMONS , was born 8 Feb 1913 at Washington Parish, LA.
Ezra served in WWII. He was in the 509th Parachute Infantry Batallion, which was the first American Unit to parachute into combat in Nov. 42. On Feb 29 19– he was taken prisoner and was a POW at the infamous Stalag 2B, where treatment was worse than at any other camp in Germany.
From http://darbysrangers.tripod.com/id64.htm
EVACUATION & LIBERATION: On 28 January 1945, POW received German instructions to be ready to evacuate camp at 0800 hours the following morning. Upon receipt of these instructions, the MOC set up a plan of organization based on 25-man groups and 200 man companies with NCOs in charge. On the day of the evacuation, however, POW were moved out of camp in such a manner that the original plan was (of) little assistance. German guards ordered POW to fall out of the barracks. When 1200 men had assembled on the road, the remaining 500 were allowed to stay in the barracks. A disorganized column of 1200 marched out into the cold and snow. The guards were considerate, and Red Cross food was available. After the first day, the column was broken down into three groups of 400 men each, with NCOs in charge of each group.
For the next three months, the column was on the move, marching an average of 22 kilometers a day 6 days a week. German rations were neither regular nor adequate. At almost every stop Sgt McMahan bartered coffee, cigarettes or chocolate for potatoes which he issued to the men. Bread the most important item, was not issued regularly. When it was needed most it was never available. The soup was, as a rule, typical, watery German soup, but several times POW got a good, thick dried-pea soup. Through the activity of some of the key NCO’s, Red Cross food was obtained from POW camps passed; by the column on the march. Without it, it is doubtful that the majority of men could have finished the march. The ability of the men to steal helped a lot. The weather was atrocious. It always seemed to be either bitter cold or raining or snowing. Quarters were usually unheated barns and stables. Sometimes they slept unsheltered on the ground; and sometimes they were fortunate enough to find a heated barn.
Except for one period when Red Cross food was exhausted and guards became surly, morale of the men remained at a high level. Practically all the men shaved at every opportunity and kept their appearance as neat as possible under the circumstances.
From time to time weak POW would drop out of the column and wait to be picked up by other columns which were on the move. Thus at Dahlen on 6 & 7 March, the column dwindled to some 900 American POW. On 19 March at Tramm, 800 men were sent to work on Kommandos, leaving only 133 POW who were joined a week later by the Large Kommando Company from Lauenberg. On 13 April the column was strafed by 4 Spitfires near Dannenberg. Ten POW were killed. The rest of the column proceeded to Marlag 10C, Westertimke, where they met the men they had left behind at Stalag IIB who had left on 18 February, reached Stalag 10B after an easy 3 day trip, and then moved adjacent Marlag 10C on 16 April. Westertimke was liberated by the British on 28 April 1945.
More on Stalag 2B can be found at the following links:
http://www.axpow.org/sidlovskyalbert.htm
http://www.rb-29.net/HTML/79SchumacherSty/13.05schum.html
Ezra received a Purple Heart.
He did not discuss his time as a POW, at least not with his family, and suffered for years with PTSD. He married a nurse, Juanita CRAIN, and settled down to fishing and alligator trapping in the bayou.
Juanita and Ezra had one child, Charles William Simmons, born 1946 Dec 20, who tragically died in Oct of 1965 in a work related accident.
Ezra is described as the fun uncle by nephews (sons of Jean Kearns) who visited him.
Ezra’s military enlistment:
Name: Ezra W Simmons
Birth Year: 1913
Race: White, citizen (White)Enlistment Date: 27 Jan 1942
Enlistment State: Florida
Enlistment City: Fort Lauderdale
Branch: Branch Immaterial – Warrant Officers, USA
Branch Code: Branch Immaterial – Warrant Officers, USA
Grade Code: Private
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil LifeEducation: Grammar school
Civil Occupation: Job Pressman (Printing press operator, job press. ) or Casting Machine Operator
Marital Status: Married
Height: 70
Weight: 166
Ezra’s POW citation:
Provided by David R. BERRY at the Genforum WWII Genealogy Forum, 23 Feb 2004.
SERIAL NUMBER 34230126
NAME SIMMONS EZRA W
GRADE PFC Private First Class
SERVICE CODE ARMY
ARM OR SERVICE INF Infantry
DATE REPORT: DAY 29
DATE REPORT: MONTH 02
DATE REPORT: YEAR 4 1944
RACIAL GROUP CODE WHITE
STATE OF RESIDENCE Undefined Code
TYPE OF ORGANIZATION Parachute Infantry
PARENT UNIT NUMBER 0509
PARENT UNIT TYPE Battalion/Training Battalion Combat/Special Troops
AREA 98 North African Theatre: Italy
LATEST REPORT DATE: DAY 11
LATEST REPORT DATE: MONTH 07
LATEST REPORT DATE: YEAR 1945
SOURCE OF REPORT 1 Individual has been reported through sources considered official. View
STATUS 8 Returned to Military Control, Liberated or Repatriated View
DETAINING POWER 1 GERMANY
CAMP Stalag 2B Hammerstein (99 work camps in vicinity of Koslin & Stolp) West Prussia 53-17David Berry notes: “Note that he was a member of the 509th PARACHUTE INFANTRY BATTALION about which I think you will be able to find a bit more history. This was the first American unit to parachute into combat (NOV42).”
* * * * * *
Name: Ezra W Simmons
Race: White
Residence State: 44Report Date: 29 Feb 1944
Latest Report Date: 11 Jul 1945Grade: Private First Class
Grade Notes: Second Lieutenant or Nurse or Dietitian or Physical therapy aide or Private First Class or Ensign or Second Class, Seaman
Service Branch: Army
Arm or Service: Infantry
Arm or Service Code: Infantry
Organization Type: Parachute Infantry
Parent Unit Type: Battalion/Training Battalion Combat/Special Troops
Area Served: North African Theatre: Italy
Detaining Country: Germany
Camp: 003
Status: Returned to Military Control, Liberated or Repatriated
Report Source: Individual has been reported through sources considered official.
The below photos of Ezra and his wife would have been taken at the time of a Hennesy reunion held in the 1970s.
Estus Simmons, tinted
Estus Simmons, original
Estus (Pete) Simmons
13 Dec 1908 – 14 Mar 1960
No indication of photographer, place or date. I would estimate 1930s. I added a touch of quick hazy color for definition. There are several rusted cans on the porch rail and I believe through the window one can see a bed with a metal frame.
Estus “Pete” SIMMONS, son of Lucius Theodore SIMMONS and Annie (Knight) SIMMONS was born 13 Dec 1908 at Washington Parish, LA. Estus married Genieva. They had one son, Denman. Estus was a carpenter. He died of tuberculosis 14 March 1960 at 52. He is buried at the Simmons Pope Cemetery in Washington Parish, LA.
NOTES FROM HISTORY OF (EAST) UNION BAPTIST CHURCH
1892-1992
Bob Ann Breland
On September 13, 1892, twelve of God’s consecrated ones joined themselves together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and formed Union Baptist Church. Those members were: W.A. Phelps and wife L.J. Phelps, I.M. Phelps and wife Anna A. Phelps, Albert W. Lang ,and wife Narcissus Lang, Jim M. Simmons and wife Mary P. Simmons, John C. Lang and wife Ruby A. Lang, Will P. Lang, and I.E. Phelps. From these, W.A. Phelps, J.M. Simmons, and W.P. Lang were appointed to prepare rules of decorum and an abstract of faith. Rev. Isaiah Allmand and Rev. J.M. Hutson acted as moderator and clerk.
The Lord blessed this group with two acres of land for a church building and cemetery given by J.M. Simmons. Construction soon began on a one room structure made of rough lumber given by church members. Windows were wooden shutters. Slab benches, made by members, kerosene lamps, and a wood heater provided comfort for these early Christians. The church began with a revival preached by J.M. Hutson. Twelve members were added to the services of the Lord as a result of this meeting.
Even though they were off to a good start, circumstances kept meetings to once a month. The first pastor, Rev. E.M. Schillings, was elected in 1892 for one year and his salary was set at $40.00 per year. The first deacon elected was W.A. Phelps, already an ordained deacon from another church. Elected in 1893 were the first clerk, John C. Lang, and the first treasurer, John B. Simmons.
In 1895, the first Sunday School was organized with John Lang as superintendent. Two deacons, John Lang and J.M. Simmons, were ordained. Prayer meetings also began this year with the meetings held on Thursday nights. It was a service for young men only. These meetings resulted in seven men feeling the call to preach. They were the following: Martin, Lewis, Jasper, and Collie Alford, Charles Schultz (all Methodist), Frank Hutson, and Van Walker (Baptist).
Many people recall early years of the church without any musical instruments; however, beautiful voices sang the first song, “I’ll Go With Him All The Way”, led by the first song leader, John Lang. Later in 1905, an organ was purchased by the church, and Bettie Simmons Page became the first organist. The church became known as a singing church and many singing schools and singing conventions were held at the church from 1927 to 1940. A.A. Lang served as choir director during this time from 1920 to 1942.
A W.M.U. program was organized in 1925, with the encouragement of the pastor’s wife, Mrs. A.D. Muse. The first president was Mrs. Dudley (Sophia) Simmons followed by Mrs. C.F. (Aunt Rosa) Lang who was also mother of the church. Mrs. Amon (Emma) Lang, Vert Simmons, Julia Rebold, and Ella Stafford were faithful members. Later, Mrs. Dudley (Aunt Mamie) Simmons served as secretary for twenty-four years.
PASTORS
1892 E.M. Schilling
1895 Jim R. Reeves
1896 J.M. Hutson
1900 J.M. Cook
1902 J.E. Thigpen
1903
1904
1905 1907 Isaiah Allmand
1909 L.F. May
1910 C.S. Calendar
1913 R.L. Bunyard
1914 A.D. Muse
1920 W.R. Haynie
1921 Van C. Walker
1923 A.F. Davis
1926 W.A. Gill
1927 J.B. Hemphill
1928 V.C. Walker
1947 W.E. Sloan
Nov. 1948 Landrum Leavell
June 1951 A.V. Epperly
Aug. 1952 Carroll Bowman
Sep. 1955 Paul Brown
June 1956 Hollis Todd
Jan. 1957 Billy Ray Simmons (Associate)
July 1957 John 0. Hemphill
Nov. 1961 E.M. Fleming
Oct. 1964 Bobbie Hill Belcher
Sep. 1966 Fred Bookter (Interim)
June 1967 Wilmer Goodwin
Mar. 1969 Marvin Magee (Interim)
May 1969 Cecil Hubbard
Dec. 1972 Wayne Hart
Apr. 1975 Joe Jackson (Interim)
May 1975 Roger Wilkins
June 1981 Wilmer Goodwin (Interim)
Oct. 1981 Terry Blair
Dec. 1983 Ed Campbell (Interim)
Apr. 1984 Dale Wilson
July 1988 Farris W. Smith (Interim)
Apr. 1990 Charles D. Grant, Jr.
DEACONS
Sept.1892 John C. Lang (deceased)
Aug. 1895 Jim Simmons (deceased)
Aug. 1895 J.E. Lang (deceased)
1905 C.C. Johnston (deceased)
1908 A.A.Lang (deceased)
Mar. 1933 R.U. Stogner (deceased)
mar. 1933 Dudley Simmons (deceased)
Mar. 1933 C.W. Lang, Sr. (deceased)
June 1939 Alton Lang (deceased)
June 1939 Joe Purl (deceased)
June 1939 E.P. Jenkins (deceased)
Jan. 1948 Frank Johnson (deceased)
Jan. 1948 Hollis T. Lang
Nov. 1949 Therrell Simmons (deceased)
Nov. 1949 Eugene Simmons (deceased)
May 1952 Malcolm Simmons (deceased)
Feb. 1965 Dardanelle Durham (deceased)
Feb. 1965 Elmo Allmand (deceased)
Feb. 1965 Britt Simmons
Feb. 1970 Virgil Hamilton (deceased)
Feb …1970 Roy Lang (moved)
Oct.1, 1978 Carl McDaniel (deceased)
James Hucabee
Harold “Snuffy” Smith
James Frank Williamson
Wayne Skipper (moved)
June: 1991 Billy Morgan
S.S. DIRECTORS
1895 John C. Lang
1920 A.A. Lang
1942 Alton Lang Jones
1954 Alton Lang
1957 Malcolm Simmons
1966 Roy Lang
1968 Britt Simmons
1971 Imogene Hubbard
1972 Hollis Lang
T.U. DIRECTORS
1933 Emmett O’Quin
1934 E.L. Helton
1935 Discontinued
1955 Byrant Hucabee
l957 Dardanelle Durham
1958 Alton Lang
1959 Robert Earl Allen
1960 Elmo Allmand
1961 Lavada Allen
1964 Patsy Simmons
1965 Annie Allen
1966 Byrant Hucabee
1968 Nancy Rowley
1971 Holiis Lang
1972 Dorothy Parsons
1976 Iris Hucabee
1982 Ozzie Ford
1986 Dorothy Parsons
1989 Jim Waller
1990 Billy Morgan
1991 Joan Waller
CLERKS
Sept.1892 John C. Lang
Oct. 1893 Robert “Babe’ Simmons
Jan. 1897 W.F. Hutson
Oct. 1900 A.A.Lang
1915 I.W. Lang
1920 N.C. Reabold
1921 D.I. Reeves
1923 Alton Lang
1924 Eugene Simmons
Frank Johnson
1926 Byron Lang
1928 Ella Stafford
1929 Ellis Simmons
1932 Eugene Simmons
1935 Ethel O’Quin
1936-1945 Hollis Lang
1946 Elizabeth Lang
1947 Ray Lang
1949 Gladys Simmons
1950 Houston Rebold
1954-1965 Therrell Simmons
1965 Joyce Allmand
1969-1976 Clara Simmons
1976- Wyleene Williamson
TREASURERS
Oct. 1892 John B. Simmons
1920 D.I. Reeves
1921 Sam T. Simmons
1924 Ella Stafford
1925 Dudley Simmons
1928 R.U. Stogner
1932 E.L. Helton
1933 D.I. Reeves
1934 Dudley Simmons
1938 Milton Simmons
1940 Ollie Simmons
1943 Dorothy O’Quin
1944-1974 Hollis Lang
1974-1988 Patsy Skipper
1988- Sue Smith
1989-
ORGANISTS & PIANISTS
Nov. 1906 Betty Simmons
1907 Mollie Lang
1923 Irene Lang
1925 Vivian Reeves
1930 Myra D. Stogner
1933 Vivian Reeves
1934 Myra D. Stogner
1948 Ora Johnson
1954 Mary Nell Simmons
1957 Patsy Skipper
1964 Kitty Fleming (organist)
1964 Cheryl Jo Allmand (organist)
1965 Patsy Skipper (organist)
1965 Mary Simmons (pianist)
1965 Mary Anne Simmons (assit.)
1966 Mary Anne Simmons
1966 Clara Simmons (assit. organist & pianist)
1987 Joan Waller (assit. organist & pianist)
CHOIR DIRECTORS
Nov. 1895 John C. Lang
1920 A.A. Lang
1942 Alton Lang
1965 Hollis Lang
1968 Lonnie Wascom (paid)
1969 John Hemphill
1972 Billy-Ray. Simmons (paid)
1974 Alton Lang
1974 Roy Lang
1976 Gary Miller
Hollis Lang
1981 Kathern Miller
1982 Hollis Lang
1984 Carl McDaniel
1989 Philip Alford (paid)
1990 Danny Creel (paid)
1991 Janis Grant (paid)
Some notes from Bob Ann Breland: My Dad, Seldon Lang, was very disappointed that he didn’t find out about the 100th anniversary of the Union church until it was over. His parents, Albert W. Lang and Narcis Simmons Lang, had been charter members. He would dearly have liked to have been there, he found out a week too late. One of his cousins sent him a copy of the church history and these notes have been scanned from that copy. It is interesting to note the many Langs, Phelps’ and Simmons’ who have been involved in the history of this church.
Robert “Reuben” SIMMONS was born about 1820 to William Seldon SIMMONS. He is believed to have been born in NC, but he is also given as born in AL in the census, and Delores Tousineau reports that his son Middleton’s death certificate gives both Robert Reuben SIMMONS and Frances SMITH being born in West Virginia. James Madison’s death certificate states that his father was born in NC. (Source for James Madison info, posting by Betty at Rootsweb MSPIKE-L. 17 Feb 2001)
Delores Tousineau writes that her aunts say Robert married Frances SMITH in 1844 in Lowndes Co. AL. Frances SMITH was the daughter of Ward SMITH and Easter EVERIDGE. Ward SMITH’s mother was Cherokee.
Bob Ann Breland notes, “His birthdate on his tomb is 1819, which is incorrect. His name is also incorrect. There has never been any reference to him as Robert Simmons, but always as Reuben Simmons. We shall refer to him as both, however, since that is what is indicated on his tomb. (The tombstone was placed there many years after his death by his grandson, I.O. Lang, the son of Albert W. Lang and Reuben’s youngest daughter, Narcis Simmons Lang.)”
Bob Ann Breland further notes, “Descendants claim his father was William Seldon Simmons. The 1880 census gives Reuben’s father as having been born in North Carolina. Descendants claim he went to Georgia from North Carolina, then to Coffee County, Alabama. His parents have really been hard to track down, since Reuben was apparently the youngest child of an older couple, and courthouses in Alabama have been flooded and records destroyed…Frances Smith was the daughter of Ward Smith and Easter Everidge Smith, who came to Pike County along with her parents and the Murdock Wilson family. Murdock married Martha Smith, sister of Frances Smith Simmons, wife of Reuben. The Murdock Wilson and the Reuben Simmons’ families settled close to the Mississippi line in Pike County. Easter Everidge Smith was known as ‘Granny Ward’. Granny Ward had been crippled by a broken leg when she was thrown from a horse, and had to crawl to get around.”
Frances and Reuben had seven children:
Mary E. Simmons, Pike County, Miss., wife of J. M. Simmons made application for pension on her husband’s Civil War record. She and J. M. Simmons were married in Pike County on Dec. 22, 1864. Her husband enlisted in Pike County in Forrest’s Cavalry, Miss. Regiment.
An earlier application was filed in 1916 when Mary was 64, in which she reported herself as born in MS and was living in Pike Co., a widow of J. M. Simmons whom she married Dec. 22 1864. He resided in Newton County, MS when he enlisted in Forrest’s 4th Mississippi Regiment. He died in Magnolia, Pike Co., MS on 18 Feb 1913. He was living with his youngest son when he died.
James and Mary SIMMONS joined the Bala Chitto Baptist Church in 1873.
James and Mary had 9 children: William F., Austin, Robert T. “Babe”, James Marshall, David, Dudley, Samuel, Emma and Mary Elizabeth.
James J. LANG was a son of James Jefferson LANG and thus a brother to William Perry LANG, a daughter of whose married James Madison SIMMMONS above.
Mary Ann is buried in the Lang-Simmons Cemetery at Sheridan LA. James J. LANG is buried in the Union Baptist Church Cemetery at Magnolia. They had 6 children: Fannie, Monroe, Esco, Della, Mattie and Marjorie.
Robert is said to have had land in Alabama that he lost. Jean Kearns had heard a story that he was gotten drunk and signed away the land that Birmingham, AL is on. Delores Tousineau writes that her aunts had heard a story he once had land around Birmingham.
The family has thus far been located on the following censuses:
1850 ALABAMA COFFEE COUNTY CENSUS
NOTE: There are numerous SIMMONS and SMITHS and WILSONS in this Coffee County census. I will give a number of them.3. George WILLSON 50 NC
Harriet 30
Nancy Ann 13 GA
Giles P. 10 AL
Joseph T 5
Michael M 3
John D 1
…
14. William PETTIT 61 NC
Eliabeth 64
Samuel 29
Mary HUDLIN 28 GA
NOTES: http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=spizzy&id=I1381
15. John I. WILSON 40 NC
Nancy A. 34 GA
Frances A. 13
Mary J. 11
John S. 9
Georgia Ann 7 AL
Caroline 6
Elizabeth A. 4
Josephine 3
Alabama 6 mo.
…
20. Alfred SIMMONS 29 NC
Elizabeth 26 AL
James J. 4
Elizabeth 2
Martha C. 2
Isaiah JORDEN 24 GA
NOTE: Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland notes this Alfred married an Elizabeth BYRD in Pike Co. 19 Sept. 1844.
…
119/119 Bartholomew GIDEON 34 NC
Milly 23 GA
Frances A. 9 AL
Thomas SIMMONS 13 AL
Darcas SIMMONS 18 AL
George W. 2 AL
NOTE: Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland notes that Milly is Amelia MALONE and that a Darcas ELLIS was living as a domestic servant in the home of a Thomas W. SIMMONS in 1880. She notes Thomas SIMMONS as being a son of John SIMMONS at household 121.
…
121/121 John SIMMONS 40 NC
Keran 30 GA
William 12 AL
Jason 6
Mason 11 mo.
NOTE: Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland noted that Thomas SIMMONS in household 119 was a son of this John SIMMONS. She reported she didn’t know his parents, siblings or wife’s maiden name.
122. Andrew J. SIMMONS 29 NC
Mahala 21 AL
Elizabeth 3
William LZT 1
NOTE: Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland noted Mahala was Mahala HUTCHINSON, daughter of William Jason HUTCHINSON. He is given as probably a son of Levi SIMMONS at household 124. “In 1840 he had 2 sons in this age category.”
… 124. Levi SIMMONS 53 NC
Mary 40
Martha 16 AL
Alzeda 14
Levi 12
Emeline 8
NOTE: Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland noted that Andrew J. SIMMONS (household 122) who married Mahala HUTCHINSON is likely a son of Levi. Thomas W. in household 126 is also given as a son. Levi is given as likely being the Levi in Dale Co. in 1840 and Pike Co. in 1830.
125. Isaac HURST 41 SC
Jane 45
Lewis 14 AL
Pherobie 13
Thomas 11
King J. 9
Isaac C. 6
John T. 4
Quintillian 2 m.
Elizabeth McMATHAN 16
126. Thomas W. SIMMONS 21
Emeline 20
Ann SIMMONS 25 SC
NOTE: Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland noted Thomas is a son of Levi in household 124. Ann is given as probably being a sister.
162. William H. SMITH 37 GA
Tabitha A. 27 SC
John T. 9 AL
James J. 6
Susan E. 4
William I. 2
Frances C. 9 mo. f
Stephen WILLIAMS 57 NC
Susan B. 52 NC
Stephen J. 15 GA
… 202. Stephen CARLTON 45 NC
Sarah 36
Mallisee 17 GA
Mary E. 15
Martha J. 10
Nancy 8
Susan 6
Thomas 5
John 3
Rebecca 1
Moses SIMMONS 17
…
204. Robert P. BROOKS 31 GA etc.
205. Elizabeth BROOKS 50 GA etc.
206. James M. SMITH 38 SC
Mary 28 AL
Richard 6
Elizabeth 4
Washington 1
…
213. John A. SMITH 26 NC
Catharine 20 AL
Elizabeth 3 GA
214. Blake CARLTON 22
Mary 22
Shadrack CARLTON 70 NC
Catharine 65
John S. 24
S? 20 m GA
Catharine 16
…
218. James BAKER 60 NC
Fanny 45
Calvin SMITH 17 GA
Council BAKER 13
Mahala 8 AL
219. James AKRIDGE 39 GA
Sarah 26
Elbert 5 AL
James 4
Mary A. 1
…
231. David WILLSON 45 NC
?? 35 f
Johnathon 7 AL
William 5
Elizabeth 4
Caroline 1
…
233. Amelia BAKER 44 NC etc.
…
300. Stephen SMITH 44 SC
Margaret 34
David 15 GA
William 11 AL
Eliza 7 FL
Mary 5
Josephine 4 AL
William BROOKS 34 GA
301. Henry SMITH 55 SC
Sebella 62
John A. 34
302. William FREEMAN 43. GA
Sylvesta 38 etc.
303. Calvin H. YORK 43 SC
Elizabeth E. 27
Patrick H. 11 GA
Francis B. 8 AL
Matilda J. 4 FL
Richard J. 3 AL
Mary E. 1
Mary Ann SMITH 64 NC
Mary BROOKS 22 SC
304. Benjamin FREEMAN 39 TN etc.
…
316. Nicholas WILSON 25 GA
Teresa 27
William A. 3 FL
Rebecca 56 GA
…
420. G. T. SYLVESTER 33 SC
Martha G. 27 GA
William G. 9 AL
Frances V. 7
Narcissa E. 2
John B. SIMMONS 23 GA
…
472. John SIMMONS 57 NC
Lydia 43
Sarah A. 16 AL
Mary J. 14
Thomas J. 10
Francis A. 7 f
Amanda R. 4
William I. 2
NOTE: Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland noted this SIMMONS is probably observed in the Elba District of Dallas Co. in 1840, the children’s ages matching. …
511. Harvy B. MILLER 52 SC etc.
512. John SMITH 30 GA
Dorca A. 22 AL
Delissa 14 GA
Melvanna 12
William 3 mo. AL
513. Lemuel FLANINGHAM 46 SC
Elmer 52
Winney 15 AL
Celia 13
William 11
Iven BROOKS 14
515. David DONALSON 54 SC etc.
John MILLER 21 GA
516. Mary E. SMITH 37 SC
Synthia A. 18 AL
John 16
Jackson A. 9
Minor J. m
Stephen A. 4
…
588. Charles WARD 55 NC
Mary 45
Roselle 16
Benjamin C. 14
Ann 9 AL
William H. 7
NOTE: http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=gplatt&id=I311
588. Wiley WILKERSON 30 GA
Emily J. 25 AL
William 4
Adam 2
Francis M. SMITH 21
…
594. Mary WARD 40 GA
James M. 19 AL
Michael W. 14
Millberry J. 11
595. James WARD 38 NC
Eliza 25 AL
John J. 10
Mary J. 8
William E. 7
Hezekiah 3
…
628. Samuel W. SIMMONS 29 AL
Susannah 30 GA
Samuel M. 4 AL
James J. 3
NOTE: Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland noted that he is a son of Isaac SIMMONS in household 643. He married Susannah STEWART 13 August 1844 in Pike Co. In 1860 they were in Holmes Co. FL.
629. C. H. KYSER 31 SC
Nancy 21 AL
Sarah E. 1
James BELL 15 GA
Jackson RICE 22 SC
630. Bazel BUZZBEE 29 SC
Elizabeth 27
Emmanuel 5 AL
Joshua 4
Newton 2
…
638. John KYSER 83 SC
Barbery 65
Jacob 22 AL
Mary 17
Daniel 15
Elizabeth RICE 20
(GENFORUM KYSER posting by Amy Bryant gives as a daughter of John and Barbery, Clarissa Harlow KYSER who married Green Berry Wilbur BAILEY. Had a son Green Berry BAILEY. John and Barbery also had Philip KYSER who is shown at household 650 in the census. She gives her great grandmother as Carrie Bell KYSER-DRIGGERS whose father was Wylie DRIGGERS, a horse trader. Mother was Itella.)
NOTES: Ann Hood wrote in a 4 Jan 2001 posting that the KYSERS in the census at that time are one of her family lines; that she wasn’t exactly sure how the RICE family fit in but she suspected “John KYSER (KISER)’S daughter oldest (sic) daughter may have married a RICE.” An Alfred BOYD was close to the family and she notes that the idea that “Alf was a Boyd leads me to believe that Reuben may have been part of William B. Simmons family, another group of Simmons, possibly related, who were in Dale County 1850 census, but moved to the other end of Coffee County, around Elba, by 1860. Someone in their family married a Boyd. They were a more ‘educated’ ground of Simmons and had a lot to do with the development of the town of Elba.”
639. W. B. BOYETTE 35 SC
Julia 22
Benjamin ENGLISH 3 AL
NOTE: A Bennett BOYETTE lives a couple house away from Ward SMITH and Frances SIMMONS (daughter of Reuben in the next household) in the 1850 Covington County Census. He was married to a Fatama UNDERWOOD.
http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:1779868&id=I82894660 has “Bennett J. Boyett born 1818 in Georgia. Died June 29, 1862 in Winn Parish, LA. Killed by a man named Mad Dog Smith.
640. Reuben SIMMONS 28 NC
Frances 26 AL
James M. 5
William S. 2
NOTE: Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland noted that Reuben had 60 acres of land listed in Coffee County.
641. John SMITH 46 SC
Nancy 30
William 15 AL
John 12
Amanda 10
Eliza 6
Duncan 4
Neal 2
642. Thomas DAVIS 25 SC
Martha 34
William RICE 26
James WALKER 22 GA
643. Isaac SIMMONS 57 NC
Lydia 60
NOTE: Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland noted that Isaac SIMMONS was in Dallas Co. AL in 1830 and then in Pike Col AL in 1846. He had a wife and 2 son in both censuses. Gardner B. (household 644) and Samuel W. SIMMONS are his sons.
644. Gardner B. SIMMONS 25 AL
Margaret 23 SC
Malissa 7 AL
Rebecca 4
Lydia 2
(NOTE: Parents of Gardner were Lydia NEELY b. 1803 Elba Coffee Co. AL m. Isaac SIMMONS in 1824, Elba, Coffee Co. AL.) Ann Hood 1993 communication to Bob Ann Breland noted that Gardner was a son of Isaac in household 643, and that in 1860 he was in Holmes Co. FL.
645. George BODIFORD 40 NC
Elizabeth 18 GA
646. Loveless SMITH 44 m SC
Sarah Ann 25 GA
Joanna 9 AL
James H. 6
John S. 5
(NOTE: Sarah Ann was Sarah Ann EDWARDS b. 1822-23, daughter of James Harvey EDWARDS and Sinai MCMICHAEL. Sarah and Loveless were married Sept.27,1839 according to Rena (email message 23 Nov 2002). Parents of John Harvey EDWARDS were David EDWARDS Dinwiddle Co. VA m. Elizabeth SPEARS. Rena writes that Loveless SMITH was born in SC to a John and an Elizabeth(?) and that John and Elizabeth had about 13 children. John is 80 and living with Loveless in the 1850 census. Loveless was later married to a Martha, possibly Johnson.)
647. Eliz. H. SMITH 80 SC
Caroline RICE 18 AL
Adaline 16
Irvin 16
648. Ashfield JOHNSON 52 GA etc.
NOTES: http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=klloyd77&id=I562 b. Greene Co. GA. married Elizabeth ASHFIELD.
649 Thomas SESSIONS 35 SC
Frances 30 NC
Mary 12 GA
Milly 6 AL
650. Philip KYSER 24 AL
Vastia 24 GA.
Narcissa 1 AL.
(NOTE: Genforum KYSER posting by Amy Bryant gives Philip as a son of John and Barbary KYSER, who live on the other side of Reuben SIMMONS. Philip married Vastia DAVIS. Gives Philip as b. abt. 1826 KY.)
651 Samuel SMITH 51 SC
Martha 39 GA
Asia 20 m. AL
Catharine 15
Martha 15
Alfred 10
Edmond 8
Zylphia 5
652. Frederick BUZBEE 58 SC
Sarah 48
Elizabeth 23 GA.
Hulda 22
Lucinda 20
Frederick 17
Thomas J. 15
Elizabeth 78 NC
Louisa 4 GA
(NOTE: Genforum postings by Jackie Buzbee Davis gives Frederick as born possibly in Edgefield Co. A brother was William b. 1795 Lexington Co. Parents were Elisha BUZBEE b. abt. 1765 in Johnston Co. NC and Elizabeth. Amy Bryant gives her great grandfather’s sister, Eula KYSER, marrying a Franklin Walker BUZBEE. August 14 1999 GENFORUM posting.)
…
811. Nicholas SMITH 41 GA
Jane 40
Alfred 17 AL
John 13
Jane 10
Sampson 7
Nicholas 3
Alvinia 1 mo.
1860 MISSISSIPPI NESHOBA COUNTY CENSUS
Pg. 656 “High Hill”
821/844 R. SIMMONS 37 farmer no real estate personal estate was $260 NC
Francis 35 AL
James M. 14
Mary A. 8
Charles M. 4 MS
Murdock M. 6/12
822/849 Robert GREEN 31 farmer b. NC $400 $120 NC
Winne 23 b. GA
William C. 10
Enoch T. 8
Sarah J. 6
Mary C. 4 b. MS
John S. 8/12
D. A. HENDERSON 24 farmer b. MS
NOTE: On the next page is a Joseph Morrow 58 b. SC with family born in AL. from the age of a 22 year old child. And an A. J. SMITH 28 b. SC with wife Elizabeth 24 and Margaret 2 and Marth A. 6/12 b. MS.
823/850 W. A. WATKINS 34 farmer personal value $416 b. NC
Sarah 40 b. AL James 14 b. MS Mary A 12 Malcolm 9 Roxanna 4 Andrew J 1
824/851 G. (or J.) M. WILSON 38 farmer real estate $800 personal $1174 b. AL
Hannah C. 39 SC
John M. 10 b. MS
Andrew J. 6
Mary A. J. 4
Anderson WATKINS 16 farmer
NOTES: http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=gelem&id=I1893. John Mills WILSON married Hannah CARTER. John MILLS WILSON’s mother is Jennet NELSON WILSON. John’s sister, Sarah Ann married a WATKINS (see household 823). 825/852 Jennet WILSON 69 housekeeper $200 $5210 SC
A. J. WILSON 33 farmer $460 or $260 and $1660 AL
Jane NELSON 22 MS
826/853 W. P. SANDERS 52 $4800 $7332 GA
Margaret and family
1870 MISSISSIPPI PIKE COUNTY, HOLMESVILLE
pg. 125
27/27 LEGGET John 39 farmer $4000 $1670 b. MS and Mary and family
SIMMONS Robert F. 22 student b. MS
28/28 LEA Mingo 55 (b) farmhand b. GA
Catherine 25 (b)
Delilah 17 (b) domestic servant wife b. MS
29/29 LEA Alexander 27 (b) farmhand b. MS
Gormelia 22 (b)
Jefferson 2 (b)
infant 3/12 (b)
30/30 JAMES Philip 34 (b) farmhand
Louisa 40 (b)
and family
31/31 JAMES Letty 28 (b) laborer and family
31/32 SIBLY Joseph 24 (b) farmhand
32/33 SIMMON Reuben 49 farmhand $100 personal prop. b. AL
Frances 45
Mary 16 b. MS
Charles 13 b. MS
Stephen 11 b. MS
John 7 b. MS
infant 7/12 b. MS
33/34 SIMMONS James 26 farmhand $300 personal prop. b. AL
Mary 22 b. AL
James 5 b. MS
John 2 b. MS
34/35 WARD Mary 37 b. MS
? 15 (female)
Joseph 9
35/36 FRIED David W. 59 and Matilda and family farmer b. TN
36/37 MCCLENDON Charles 55 (b) (and Mourning (b) and family) farmhand $15- b. VA
37/38 ? John (b) (and Charlotte and family) farmhand $150 b. MS
38/39 SIMMONS Miriam 34 farming $300 $200 b. MS
Nancy 9
Mary 7
John 4
Martha 3
Benjamin 15
39/40 SIMMONS William 40 farmer $2500 $1220 b. MS
Martha J. 33
William 17
Wright 15
James 9
Fanny 8
Alexander 7
Angeline 5
Thomas 4
Elizabeth 3
Willis 7/12
REEVES ? Nancy 14
George 17
40/41 BRUMFIELD Richard 27 (b) farmhand
41/42 SIMMONS Thomas 33 farmer personal value $350 b. MS
Sarah 21 b. LA
John T. 3 b. MS
Richard 2
Mary 10/12
SANF? Dicy 23 laborer
42/43 SIMMONS John R. 55 farmer $775 ? b. MS
Margaret 49
Richard J. 17
Jesse 15
Margaret 12
Haman 10
43/44 CHENY Philip 37 (b) farmhand (and family)
44/45 SIMMONS John D. 29 farmer RE value $100 personal $700 b. MS
Margaret B. 29
Sarah 8
Benjamin F. 6
Margaret 4
Julia J. 2
WOOD Mary E. 15
etc.
pg. 127 B 58/61 WILSON Robert farmhand 25 $100 b. AL
Sarah 23 b. MS
Laura 2
? 2
Murdock 7/12
(Note to self: I only went through a portion of the census, pages 170-188 of 298)
1880 MISSISSIPPI PIKE COUNTY, DISTRICT 37
pg. 339 (page 15 at ancestry.com)
125/126 SMITH William 37 farmer b. AL father b. SC mother b. GA
Josephine 30 can’t read or write b. MS. father b. GA mother b. MS
Adaline 10 can’t read or write, been in school b. MS
Henry 8 been in school
Minnie 6
Lethaann 5
Francis (male) 3
Willie or Wallie b. Jan.
126/127 SIMMONS Reuben 60 Farmer can’t read or write b. NC parents b. NC
Frances 59 can’t write b. AL father b. SC mother b. GA
John 16 Farm hand can’t read or write b. MS father b. NC mother b. AL
Narcissus 10 maimed or crippled, can’t read or write b. MS
127/128 SMITH Ward 81 Farming b. SC parents b. SC
Easter 77 can’t read or write, b. GA, parents b. GA
128/129 SIMMONS Steve 22 farmer b. MS father b. NC mother b. AL
Clarinda 22 b. MS parents b. MS
Esco 7/12 b. NOV
Robert and Frances are buried at the Union Baptist Church Cemetery in Pike Co., MS. Frances was the first person buried there and has the oldest date of birth of anyone buried there. (Source: Delores Tousineau) The Union Baptist Church Cemetery is 5 miles 3ast of Magnolia. The tombstone data reads: Robert SIMMONS, 1819-1903; Frances SIMMONS, 1820-1898.
Bob Ann Breland relates:
Incidently, I don’t know where the name Robert (for Reuben) came from, but my father’s oldest brother, Iva Lang, had the tombstones made. He was the oldest child in my Daddy’s family, so he might have known something Daddy didn’t know about Reuben’s name. I’m sure he knew his grandfather, even though he would have probably been a child when Reuben died. I’m also pretty sure he didn’t just draw that name out of a hat. He was a pretty concise fellow. But everything I have ever found names him as Reuben.
I don’t know if it is included in any of the material that you have but there is a pretty funny story about my grandmother and her daddy.
Reuben traveled about a good deal visiting with his children. At the time, my grandmother and grandfather (Narcis and Albert) were living in Pike County. Reuben came to Sheridan to visit with his son Murdock “Steve” and while he was here, Reuben died. Murdock and others of the family who lived here buried him up at the Nobles Cemetery at Pine. It was freezing cold, and soon after the burial, the ground froze.
Meanwhile my grandmother, up in Mississippi, who was definitely a daddy’s girl and the baby of her family, was grieving herself to death. She was pregnant with a set of twins (I don’t know if it was the first set or the second set, but dates will tell us) and she couldn’t come. She cried day and night until my grandfather came to Louisiana with a wagon to bring him back to Pike County.
They had to build a fire on top of the frozen grave to thaw the ground so they could dig him up. They then transported him back to Pike County where he was buried in the Union Baptist Church Cemetery.
This was probably as illegal then as it is now, but it apparently made my grandmother happy to bring him back home.
Frances SIMMONS
1820 – 1898
Photo contributed by Delores Bateman Tousinau
Frances SIMMONS
1819 – 1903
Photo contributed by Delores Bateman Tousinau
East Union Baptist location of graves of Frances and Robert SIMMONS
SOURCES:
Census data
Bob Ann Breland
Delores Tousineau
Frances Smith Simmons
Frances Smith Simmons
1820 to 18 Oct 1898
Greatgrandmother of Ethel Simmons Hennesy, wife of Robert Reuben Simmons. Frances’ father, Ward Smith, was 1/2 Cherokee through his mother. It’s believed by some that she may have been also Chatha (Choctaw) through her mother’s mother’s side of the family.
So many early photos were portraits made at the time of a person’s marriage, I’ll assume this was the same for the Simmons. However, as they were married about 1844 it seems like an early date.
Note that clothing and jewelry has been sketched in over the original attire.
Image courtesy of Bob Ann Breland
Fun fooling around with the image.
Frances Simmons, tinted
Robert Reuben Simmons
Robert Reuben Simmons
abt. 1820 – 1903
Robert Reuben was the greatgrandfather of Ethel Simmons Hennesy, husband of Frances Smith Simmons.
This is the photocopy off which I was to work in reconstructing an image of Robert Simmons.
Image courtesy of Bob Ann Breland. I played with it a little below.
So many early photos were portraits made at the time of a person’s marriage, I’ll assume this was the same for the Simmons. However, as they were married about 1844 it seems like an early date.
See this photo of George and Martha Knight and one of James “Jockey Jim” Knight for the same drawn in clothing.
“William Simmons, thought to be William Seldon Simmons, although we have found no records to verify it, had at least two sons. Robert ‘Reuben’ Simmons and ‘Jim’ Simmons and probably several (maybe three) daughters.
“William apparently died before Robert ‘Reuben’ and his wife, Frances Smith Simmons, came to the Mississippi Territory via Alabama from North or South Carolina.
“My father, Seldon Albert Lang, was supposed to be named for his Grandfather Simmons. He was supposed to be William Seldon Lang, but through error, he was named Seldon Albert, after the grandfather and his own father, Albert Winston Lang. Whoever registered the birth made the mistake, and he was stuck with it. His mother told him about the mistake, and Seldon Albert named his first son William Seldon Lang for his mother’s Grandfather, William Seldon Simmons. That’s why we assume that was his name.
“The Langs and Simmons have always been great story tellers, and my father remembers this tale about Grandpa William Simmons and his son, Jim, which was told and re-told in the family many, many times as he was growing up, along with other tales of the past.
“It seems Grandpa William Simmons had bought three slaves from another plantation and shortly after arriving at his home with them they ran away, and it was assumed they had returned to the plantation where they were purchased.
“My father doesn’t remember where this plantation was, presumably in Alabama, only that it was far enough away that when William and his son went to retrieve their slaves they had to spend the night.
“At the end of a meal there, they were all served coffee. Jim hastily drank his, while his father was taking his time, waiting for his to cool.
“All of a sudden, Jim grabbed his chest with both hands and started screaming that a burning pain was searing his insides. He fell to the floor dead.
“Although it is possible Jim died with a heart attack, the family story goes that it was planned for the two men to be poisoned to keep them from retrieving the slaves, as they were very valuable and worth killing for. William didn’t drink his coffee and Jim did. It was assumed that the poison was in the coffee. With no help to return the slaves, William returned home without them. It isn’t known if he ever went back for them.
“The only other story my father remembers being told about William and his son, Jim, was a deer hunting story that stayed in his mind because he is also a deer hunter.
“It was not a memorable story except to a deer hunter, of a hunt in the snow, when Jim came across a huge buck standing in the snow. His father, William, gave him specific instructions on how to shoot the deer from the distance they were away–where to aim for a correct shot. They only gone one shot as their gun was a muzzle loader. Jim dropped the deer in the snow with one shot.”
Supplied by Bob Ann Breland
According to Bob Ann Breland’s father, Seldon Albert LANG, William SIMMONS was a Master Mason and was almost surely from North Carolina. Her father also said that William SIMMONS had slaves who were accomplished workmen, and that he often took them to Charleston, S.C. to work at the port there. He said said also that William SIMMONS was some sort of official, such as a senator or a legislator or at least an attorney, because his mother often said that “he went to make the law”. However, Bob Ann Breland’s mother, who also heard Narcis SIMMONS (daughter of Robert “Reuben”) say these same things, thought she was referring to either a brother or an uncle, not her grandfather.
Bob Ann’s grandmother (Narcis) always said that her grandfather, her father’s father, had a plantation on the Pea River, and that it was where the town of Elba was created.
She had a copy of the deed for her father’s property for many years, and finally turned it over to an attorney to investigate as to her rights. The lawyer disappeared and was never heard from again, along with her deed. I don’t know if there was any connection, but she grieved about it until she died. She said her father only had one brother, and that he was ‘educated’. His parents tried to get Reuben to go to school, too, but he would play hooky and go hunting and fishing. As a result, he didn’t get an education. But as I say, these family stories have a way of getting distorted in the telling.
Grandmother was always high on her family, as they apparently had some standing in the community in Alabama and Mississippi. She always thought she married considerably beneath her family, although she loved my grandfather very much.
She had a brother who was very wealthy, according to the standards of that day. He had a store in neighboring Mississippi, and his family was quite well to do. His name was John Benjamin Simmons.
My father recalls vividly being told about Grandpa Reuben’s nephew who was his same age. His name was Alfred Simmons, called “Alf”, both were 29 in 1850 and the two were inseparable as children, and were hunting and fishing buddies. They were both also married in 1844. It would be interesting to learn if he followed his uncle to the Mississippi Territory.
Supplied by Bob Ann Breland
Minutes of the 34th annual session of the Bogue Chitto Baptist Association, Pike County, Miss., list the death of Reuben SIMMONS in the Sept. 23, 24 and 25, 1903 edition. He was a member of Union Baptist Church (located about seven miles from Magnolia, Miss.)
In the 30th annual session of the Bogue Chitto Baptist Association, the death of Francis (Smith) SIMMMONS is listed. This was printed Sept. 23, 24, 25, 1899 for the session. It was also printed in the semi-weekly Gazette.
Francis SIMMONS, born Aug. 1, 1824 in Lowndes County, Ala. She married Reuben SIMMONS in 1844. She joined the Methodist Church at 18, but connected herself with the Baptist Church at Line Creek, Amite County, Miss. and finally moved her membership to Union Church in Pike County, Miss. She died Oct. 18, 1898. Funeral services conducted by Elder J.M. Hutson. She leaves an aged and afflicted husband, four sons and two daughters.
In this same 30th annual session, Sept. 23-25, 1899, is listed the death of I.M. (Marshall) PHELPS. I.M. PHELPS died February 24, 1899. He was born in Alabama January, 1821, moved to Mississppi and married Miss Caroline PARKER. After she died, he married Mrs. Annie Land (Lang) in Feb., 1865. He was baptized in fellowship with the Bala Chitto Church by Elder E.M. Schillling in 1873. In 1892, he drew his letter and organized with Union Baptist Church. He leaves an aged and broken-hearted companion and seven children.
Minutes of the 32nd session of the Bogue Chitto Baptist Association, meeting Sept 21-23, 1901, lists the death of Sarah Phelps LANG.
Sarah LANG, whose maiden name was PHELPS, was born in Newton County, Miss. Nov. 30, 1853 and died July 30, 1901. She married W.P. (William Perry) LANG on Sept. 20, 1868. She united with Bala Chitto Baptist Church in 1872, was baptized by Rev. E.M. Schilling, drew a letter from Bala Chitto and came in the constitution of Union Church. She leaves a husband, 6 children and 3 sisters.
William Seldon SIMMONS had at least 2 sons, Robert “Reuben” born about 1820 in NC or AL, and “Jim”, and maybe 3) daughters. One daughter may have married a man named Barber.
SOURCES:
Census data
Bob Ann Breland
Delores Tousineau
Murdock Middleton SIMMONS
and
Louisa Clarinda THIGPEN
Murdock Middleton “Steve” SIMMONS was born 4 Oct 1863 in Mississippi, 5th son and 6th of 7 children of Robert “Reuben” SIMMONS and Frances (Smith) SIMMONS.
Robert married Louisa Clarinda THIGPEN. Louisa was born 7 Sept 1857 to James THIGPEN and Mary ELizabeth (Kennedy) THIGPEN.
Granddaughter Ethel Lorena only gave as M. M. “Steve” on a genealogy sheet. She gave him as born in 1868 and that he came from “near Magnolia, Mississippi?” which would be Pike County.
M. M.’s tombstone in the Lang-Simmons’ Cemetery gives him as born 4 Oct 1863 but he is observed in the 1860 census already aged 6 months. He was the 5th son and 6th of 7 children of Robert “Reuben” SIMMONS and Frances (Smith) SIMMONS.
Ethel Simmons Hennesy further stated on her grandfather that he “farmed all his life. Settled in Sheridan, LA and buried on Home Place.” She gave him as dying 21 April 1936.
Bob Ann Breland states, “Murdock Middleton Simmons, called Stephen in the census and “Steve” by his family, was born Oct. 4, 1863, died Apr. 21, 1936. (Census gives birthdate as 1859.) He was named for Murdock Middleton Wilson, his uncle. Murdock Wilson was married to Martha Smith, a sister to Frances Smith. The Wilsons came to Mississippi with with Reuben and Frances Simmons. “Steve”
married Clarinda Thigpen, born Sept. 7, 1859, died Aug. 29, 1907.”
Middleton and Louisa had 9 children:
Louisa Clarinda Thigpen SIMMONS died 29 Aug 1907 at 49. She is buried at the Simmons-Pope Cemetery in Washington Parish LA.
After the death of Louisa, Murdock married (2nd) Ophie Ginn POPE, born 14 Marcy 1879, died 6 April 1941. She is buried at the Lang-Simmons cemetery.
Ophie had been married before to Ernest L. POPE and had 4 children:
The 1880 census.
Supervisor’s Dist. No. 3
Enumeration Dist. No. 37 ?
Schedule 1 – Inhabitants in 1st District, Beat 1, in the County of Pike, State of Miss.
Enumerated on the 9th and 10th day of June
W. L. Tate
339
(page 15 at Ancestry.com)
126/127 SIMMONS Reuben w m 60 md. Farmer (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) can’t read or write b. NC parents b. NC
w f Frances 59 wife md. Keeps house can’t write b. AL father b. SC mother b. GA
w m John 16 son single Farm hand (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) can’t read or write b. MS father b. NC mother b. AL
w m Narcissus 10 daughter single At home maimed or crippled, can’t read or write b. MS
127/128 SMITH Ward w m 81 Farming (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) b. SC parents b. SC
1880 MS PIKE CO DISTRICT 38
Page no. 16D
Supervisor’s Dist. No. 3
Enumeration Dist. No. 37 ?
Schedule 1 – Inhabitants in 1st District, Beat 1, in the County of Pike, State of Miss.
Enumerated on the 10th day of June
W. L. Tate
(page 16 at Ancestry.com)
Easter wf 77 wife md Keeps home (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) can’t read or write, b. GA, parents b. GA
128/129 SIMMONS Steve wm 22 md farmer (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) b. MS father b. NC mother b. AL
Clarinda wf 22 wife md Keeps house b. MS parents b. MS
129/130 LANG James wm 25 md farmer (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) can’t write b. MS father b. MS mother b. MS
Maryann wf 28 wife md Keeps house b. AL father b. NC mother b. AL
Fannie wf 5 daughter sg Attends school b. MS father b. MS mother b. AL
Monroe wm 3 son sg At home b. MS father b. MS mother b. AL
Esco wm 7/12 b. Nov At home b. MS father b. MS mother b. AL
130/131 LUIN Joseph black 55 and Maitann ? and household
131/132 ALLEN Emperor? black 60 and Mary 60 and household
132/133 Nancy BALL black 49 and Jane PIGOT black 15 and household
133/134 ALLEN Wiliam 28 and Elizabeth 20 and househhold
134/135 ALLEN Celina 17 and Permelia 20 and household
135/136 JONSON Arrena 36 and SELLERS Ella 16 and household
136/137 LANG Columbus wm 28 farmer (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) can’t read or write b. MS parents b. MS
Elizabeth wf 23 wife md. Keeps house b. MS parents b. MS
Rosa wf 3 daughter s. At home b. MS parents b. MS
Aman wf 1 son sg. At home b. MS parents b. MS
1880 MS PIKE CO DISTRICT 38
Page no. 16D
Supervisor’s Dist. No. 3
Enumeration Dist. No. 37 ?
Schedule 1 – Inhabitants in 1st District, Beat 1, in the County of Pike, State of Miss.
Enumerated on the 10th day of June
W. L. Tate
340
(page 17 at Ancestry.com)
137/138 PHELPS Isiah wm 30 md. Farming (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) can’t read or write b. MS (rest illegible as page dark)
Maryanne wf 35 wife md Keeping house can’t read or write b. MS (rest illegible as page dark)
Athenson ? wm 12 Son sg At school attending school can’t read or write b. MS (rest illegible as page dark)
Roberts wm 7 Son sg At home attending school b. MS (rest illegible as page dark)
Ida wf 3 Daughter sg At home b. MS (rest illegible as page dark)
Ada A. wf 8/12 b. Sept. Daughter sg At home b. MS (rest illegible as page dark)
BROWN William T. wm 18 Stepson sg Farm hand (appears to be) (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) can’t read or write b. AL (rest illegible as page dark)
138/139 THIGPEN James wm 47 md. Farmer (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) b. MS (rest illegible as page dark)
Elizabeth wm (error) 24 m. House keeper can’t read or write b. LA (rest illegible as page dark)
Edna wf 16 daughter sg Field hand can’t write b. LA (rest illegible as page dark)
Julia wf 13 daughter sg Works in Field (check mark in number of months unemployed during year) can’t write b. MS (rest illegible as page dark)
Nancy wf 11 daughter sg. At school can’t read or write b. MS (rest illegible as page dark)
I have looked and looked and looked and can’t find any of these Simmons or Lang families in 1900.
The 1910 census.
Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: Police Jury Ward 5, Washington, Louisiana; Roll T624_534; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 134; Image: 400.
36/36 SIMMONS M> M. 48 married 2nd time 0 years b. MS parents b. AL farmer
Ophia wife 33 married 2nd time 0 years, 3 of 4 children surviving b. MS parents b. AL
John son 16 b. MS parents b. MS
Frances daughter 12
Jewell 10 b. LA
James son 8
Macie daughter 1
Children not remaining children very long, it looks like Ophie’s son Dick, may be working as a servant (I can’t find her eldest daughter):
Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: Police Jury Ward 5, Washington, Louisiana; Roll T624_534; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 134; Image: 397.
14/14 KNIGHT James W. 53 married once 30 years b. LA father b. LA mother b. MS
Canninniger? (some impossibly long name) wife 48 married once, 4 of 6 children surviving b. LA father b. LA mother b. AL
Irene daughter 15 b. LA parents b. LA
Pope Dick servant 10 b. MS parents b. MS
JENKINS Delia M. granddaughter 1 b. LA parents b. LA
The 1920 census.
1920 LOUISIANA WASHINGTON PARISH CENSUS EXTRACT
pg. 8B
340/340 SIMMONS Lucius own 36 b. MS parents b. MS farmer
Annie 31 b. LA parents b. LA
Ethel 14 b. LA
Estus 12
Izra or Ingra son 10
Esra 6
Loyd 3 and 5/12
341/341 SIMMONS Murdock own 59 b. MS father b. AL mother b. AL
Opha 49 b. MS parents b. MS
James 17 b. LA parents b. MS
POPE Maxie daughter 16 b. MS parents b MS
The 1930 census.
1930 Police Jury Ward 5, Washington Parish, Louisiana
223/230 SIMMONS Steve Head O m w 74 m. at 18 b. MS parents b. MS Farmer, General Farm
Ophia wife 52 m. at 15 b. MS parents b. MS
223/231 BRUMFIELD illegible head R 28 md at 24 b. MS parents b. MS Printing Operator, Printing
Marie wife 24 m. at 21 b. LA parents b. MS
Gwendolyn Daughter 1 and 5/12 b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
224/232 Thomas JOHN and Minnie
225/233 POPE Richard C. O 28 md at 19? b. MS parents b. MS Farmer, General Farm
Linda 28 md at 19? b. LA parents b. LA
Charles 8 b. LA
Ray 5 b. LA
Ernest 1 and 3/12?? b. LA
226/234 HINES Jason and Lizzie
227/235 LANG Albert Head R 60 md at 19 b. MS parents b. MS Farmer, General Farm
Narsis Wife 50 md at 19 parents b. SC
Seldon Son 18 b. LA parents b. MS Farm Laborer, General Farm
230 SMITH Hubert Head R 23 md. at 19 b. LA parents b. LA Painter, Painting
Fannie wife 25 md at 20 b. LA parents b. LA
Betty Jean Daughter 3 b. LA parents b. LA
Lucius Theodore SIMMONS and Annie KNIGHT
Lucius (also given as Lucious) Theodore SIMMONS was born 29 Dec 1883 in Franklinton, Washington Parish, LA to Murdock Middleton SIMMONS and Louisa Clarinda (Thigpen) SIMMONS. He was the the 1st son and 2nd child of 9 born to Middleton and Louisa.
Lucius married Annie KNIGHT, b. 22 Feb 1888 at Sheridan, LA., daughter of Marian (Marion) Isaac KNIGHT and Frances A. BRELAND. The two were married at the home of her parents. Molly BRELAND and Dan COOPER are given as having been attendants.
Lucius and Annie had 7 children:
Ethel (Simmons) HENNESY wrote of Lucius that he was a farmer and carpenter and that he owed and operated a saw mill.
Lucius Simmons is described as a “farmer, miller” by Jean Kearns, a granddaughter.
“I respected (almost feared) Grandpa Simmons, but I never really felt a love for him like I did Grandpa Hennesy. He was a very good man, very religious and very stern, who enjoyed sitting on the front porch with his Chihuahua in his lap arguing political or religious issues with some of his cronies. I never saw him express or demonstrate affection toward his family. He was uneducated but very intelligent, was a hard worker, and Daddy says he was a persuasive orator in labor meetings at the paper mill in Bogalusa where they both worked at one time. He was generous, giving land to whomever of his children wanted to build near him. He was too generous with two of his sons, giving them money over and over again to get back on their feet after they had lost their jobs because of drinking. I’m sure his generosity was his way of expressing love. They would always use it to buy more alcohol! He seemed to never learn. Their drinking was a burden to the whole family.
“Grandpa built a church on some of his property across the highway from their home because there was not a church nearby and he would preach there when they were without a preacher. The church still stands and my Uncle Jim and his family are active members there. There is a Simmons cemetery on some of his land where his mother, father, uncles, aunts, both Grandma and Grandpa and their four sons and two grandsons are buried.”
MY PERSONAL PROFILE AND FAMILY OF ORIGIN, by Jean (Hennesy) Kearns, November 20, 1991.
Jean says Lucius believed women shouldn’t be schooled and didn’t permit Ethel to continue in school past the 8th grade. He hid her schoolbooks.
Though some of the sons had problems with alcohol, Jean says they were also the most “fun” of the family. Would take them to buy treats etc.
Annie was about 17 and Lucius was about 22 when Ethel was born.
Annie was 20 and Lucius was 25 when Estus was born.
Annie was 25 and Lucius was 30 when Ezra was born.
Annie was 27 and Lucius was 32 when Lloyd was born.
Annie was 29 and Lucius was 34 when George was born.
Annie was 32 and Lucius was 37 when their sixth child was born.
Annie was 35 and Lucius was 40 when their seventh child was born.
Annie Knight is also given as having been born in the Franklinton area. The Sheridan siting as the place of birth is from the Foil/Simmons Genealogy.
Jean Kearns writes of Annie (Knight) SIMMONS:
“I remember Grandma Simmons as being sad, seldom laughing, very self-giving. I loved her. I felt sorry for her. Her life seemed so hard, but my mother says she never complained about anything and never said a bad word about anyone. I often wondered if she was grieving over the death of George, her son, who died in his early twenties from a tick bite. I know she worried about her two sons who literally drank their lives away. And, there was always an undercurrent of tension between Grandma and her father. Grandpa Knight, her father, was a very successful, well-to-do farmer, and my mother feels that he almost disowned Grandma when she married Grandpa Simmons, a poor man…
“I looked forward to going to Louisiana every summer so I could spend time there with Grandma, after whom I was named, and my mother’s youngest brother and sister, Jim and “Cooter.” There seemed to always be children my age there too. They must have been great nieces and nephews who lived nearby and came to visit when we were there. I really don’t remember who they were. I do remember playing in the pastures, drinking water from the spring down in the woods, drawing water from the well on Grandma’s back porch, and going to the creek every afternoon for the coldest swim in the world. We would walk to the store at least twice a day to buy some candy or a drink. At that time I had no idea that the store had once belonged to Grandpa Hennesy.
“I loved the days at Grandma’s, which began with hot buttered biscuits covered with huckleberry preserves and thick, rich cream which she made especially for me, she said. But I dreaded for night to come. The house was large, with four bedrooms, but there were never enough beds for the children, so we slept on pallets on the living room floor. That was fun, until all the lights were out and everyone went to sleep. Then the strange noises (snoring, wheezing and outdoor farm noises) would begin and I would lie there in the dark knowing that I would never live to see another huckleberry biscuit.
“I always wondered why Daddy never stayed with us at Grandma and Grandpa Simmons’ house. He would visit for a short while and then say he had to go on to Franklinton to visit his family. I remember that Mom would get irritated with him about this sometimes. As I gathered information for this paper, Daddy, now 88 years old, told me that he never felt that Grandpa Simmons liked him or wanted him around. In fact, Grandpa had wanted Mom to marry Uncle Jewel, Daddy’s brother, rather than Daddy, and he never really accepted Daddy as part of the family. I find it ironic that it was Daddy who bought Grandpa’s farm to help them live comfortably in their old age with the guarantee that it was their home as long as they lived. I wonder if Grandpa ever realized what a wonderful man Daddy was..”
MY PERSONAL PROFILE AND FAMILY OF ORIGIN, by Jean Kearns, November 20, 1991.
Lucius SIMMONS Died 9 Sept 1963 in Bogalusa, LA. He was abt. 80. Annie died 1 Sept 1961 in New Orleans, LA. She was abt. 73. Bob Ann Breland gives them as buried in the Lang Simmons Cemetery at Sheridan which was on part of their property; it is now behind what used to be their old homestead. US Gen Web archives has Lucius and Annie as buried at the Simmons/Pope Cemetery in Washington Parish, LA. Located in Ward 5, Washington Parish, LA., in the Sheridan Community, north of the Franklinton-Bogalusa Hwy. Off Hwy. 10 on the Pope Road.
SOURCES:
Jean Kearns
Ethel Simmons Hennesy
Bob Ann Breland
Cemetery records
1920 LOUISIANA WASHINGTON PARISH CENSUS EXTRACT
pg. 8B
340/340 SIMMONS Lucius own 36 b. MS parents b. MS farmer
Annie 31 b. LA parents b. LA
Ethel 14 b. LA
Estus 12
Izra or Ingra son 10
Esra 6
Loyd 3 and 5/12
341/341 SIMMONS Murdock own 59 b. MS father b. AL mother b. AL
Opha 49 b. MS parents b. MS
James 17 b. LA parents b. MS
POPE Maxie daughter 16 b. MS parents b MS
Lucius and his family are living next to his brother John Benjamin SIMMONS.
State of LA
County: Washington
Township or other division of Country: Police Jury Ward 5 (part of)
Enumeration District No. 59-15
Supervisor’s District No. 8
Enumerated on 13 April 1930
Enumerator, Mazie Bateman
Sheet no. 8A
237
138/142 NOBLES T. C. rent 21 married b. parents b. LA farm laborer
Bertha 16 married
139/143 SIMMONS John B. Head O lives on farm mw 37 md 24 can read and write b. LA, Salesmn at Filling Station, (unable to tell if wage or owns), working, WWI vet, farm #122
Daisy wife fm 31 md. 20 can read and write b. LA parents b. LA parents b. LA, Teacher at Public School, wage, working
Quinton wm son 10 sg. school can read and write b. LA parents b. LA
Kermit wm son 9 sg. school b. LA parents b. LA
Clay wm son 6 sg. school b. LA parents b. LA
140/144 SIMMONS Lucious T. Head O lives on farm wm 46 md 21 can read and write b. MS parents b. MS, Farmer of General Farm, Owns, not a veteran, farm #123
Annie wife wf 42 md 17 can read and write b. LA parents b. LS
Ezra son wm 17 sg can read and write b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA, Farm Laborer on General Farm, wage, working
Loyd son wm 14 sg school can read and write b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
Fannie Lee daughter wf 10 sg school can read and write b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
Jimmie son wm 7 sg school b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
140/145 SIMMONS Desre Head R $2 wm 20 md 19 can read and write b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA, Factory worker at Box Factory, wage, working
Vergie wife wf 17 md 16 can read and write b. LA parents b. LA
141/146 PASSMAN Oscar Head R, wm 45 md 31, can read and write, b. LA, parents b. LA, carpenter, carpenting, wage, working, not a veteran, farm #124
Francis Wife wf 34 md. 21 can read and write b. LA parents b. MS
Emilea Daughter wf sg. 11 school can read and write b. LA
Johnnie Son wm 8 sg. school b. LA
Margurite Daughter wf 6 sg not in school b. LA
Lerue Son wm 3 sg not in school b. LA
Janice K. Daughter wf 7/12 sg. not in school b. LA
142/147 LANG Ivy Head Owns wm 39 md 18 can read and write b. MS parents b. MS farmer on General Farm, Owns, not a veteran, farm #125
Dellia Wife wf 37 md 16 can read and write b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
Alton Son wm 19 sg can read and write b. LA Farm Laborer on General Farm, no pay
Vernal Son wm 17 sg school can read and write b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
Alfred Son wm 15 sg school can read and write b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
Lora Daughter wf 11 sg school can read and write b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
Kenneth Son wm 10 sg school can read and write b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
Odie Daughter wf 8 sg school b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
Wyman Son wm 6 sg not in school b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
Masel Daughter wf 4 and 6/12 sg not in school b. LA father b. MS mother b. LA
143/148 CRAIN Calvin 50 married at 19
Tina 47 married at 16
J. L 18
Katie 13
144/149 O’QUINN Latimore
Vergie
Curtis D.
CRAIN Hezzie
145/150 KNIGHT James W. Head own wm 73 married at 23 can read and write, b. LA father b. LA mother b. MS farmer on General Farm, owns, working, not a veteran, farm #128
Canonizer Wife wf 68 married at 18, can read and write b. LA father b. LA mother b. MS