Michael & Mary Ellen Simmons 50th Anniversary

SIMMONS, DORSEY, LINDSAY, MUNTZ, HANSON, EDWARDS, MURPHY

Posted By: Rich Lowe (email)
Date: 8/13/2002 at 17:15:49

This record was recopied from original Bible Record under the date of March 10th, 1913.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SIMMONS FAMILY

Searching back through the records of the past, we find a family of humble mountaineers; industrious, energetic and law abiding, living from the product of their flock, and in a land as this great land of ours, all men are created free and equal. This family was headed by Phillip Simmons and to him we trace the origin of the Simmons Kin. The country that claims his birth is the small but honored Republic of Switzerland. About the year 1780 Phillip Simmons and Family bid farewell to friends and their Alpine Home, joining the western crusade of home seekers coming to America, they settled in Pennsylvania on the banks of the Susquahanna River. Here they lived until the year 1800; when Mr. and Mrs. Simmons were called to the better land. Now the family affairs fell upon the eldest son, John, who had a large family to support. To find homes for his children he emigrated to Virginia where he resided but a short time, not being accustomed to living in a country where men were bought and sold. He, therefore, determined to push into the wilds of the Northwest Territory which had been opened for settlement and in this territory slavery had been forever prohibited. After many weeks of weary traveling the wanderers approached the banks of the Great Miami River. Here they pitched their tents until a suitable place could be found for settlement. Finally a site was chosen and the Simmons Block-House erected, near the present city of the City of Piqua, Ohio. This party was among the first settlers in western Ohio. John, the oldest son, enlisted as a soldier and was sent to Fort Dearborn, taking his wife and child with him. While there a second child was born, being the first white child born in what is now the great city of Chicago. On the 15th day of August, 1812, the Indians attacked Fort Dearborn. All within the fort were killed save the wife and youngest child of Corporal John Simmons. Those two were taken prisoners by the Indians, remaining with them for some time when they were exchanged for other prisoners. From last report the Heroins [sic] of Fort Dearborn were living in a pleasant home in Southern California. A brother to Corporal John Simmons was Adam Simmons whom we are proud to state as being the grand father of the older generations among us here today. Adam Simmons lived a quiet and prosperous life in the good old state of Ohio, rearing a large family consisting of seven boys and six girls. Of this group, Jacob was the oldest and we honor him as being the Father and Grandfather of a large number present at this Wedding Anniversary. Jacob Simmons and Family came to Iowa in 1857, where he departed this life seven years later. His family was composed of eight children, two girls and six boys. Their names are as follows: Pricilla, Mary, Michael, David, Adam, Robert, Jacob, and Thomas . . . Michael being the oldest and Thomas the youngest. Of this group six are living, Robert and Mary having passed to the Great beyond some years ago.

GOLDEN WEDDING

This couple whose Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary we are celebrating this 19th day of May were born in Ohio; Mr. Simmons in Miami County in 1832 and his Better Half in Shelby County in 1835. They spent their childhood days on the home farm, nine miles east of the Great Miami River. As years sped by this couple became fast friends and in the City of Sidney, the County Seat of Shelby County, on the 19th day of May, 1853, occurred the wedding of Mr. Michael Simmons and Miss Mary Ellen Dorsey; this day of 1903 being the fiftieth year of their wedded life. When the wedding ceremony was completed they returned to the Dorsey Home. At this time Grandfather Dorsey had quite a field of corn to be planted and it was planting corn in this field where Michael and Mary Ellen spent a portion of their honeymoon. After this extensive wedding tour they settled down in Miami County, where they lived one year. Moving then to Union City, Indiana, where they resided until the fall of 1857, when they joined their father’s party starting in search of new homes west of the Mississippi River. On their journey many incidents of interest happened but I shall not detain you in relating them. Crossing the Mississippi at Alexandria they journeyed on until the town of Milton, Iowa, was reached. At this place they met a family of old acquaintances whom had preceded them to this new country: Mr. Davis Duncan and Wife. They spent the first winter in Iowa near Milton but as Spring opened up, they chose for their permanent home what is now a part of Vernon Prairie; Michael and David living in a house which stood near the present site of Story Chapel. Their Father purchased the farm where Jacob Muntz now resides. We are told that the two older brothers of the family had some trying hardships to contend with. Dollars were as plentiful to them as raindrops from a cloudless sky. Their beds consisted of forked stakes for the bedposts and for slats, small saplings with one end stuck between two logs in the wall while the other end extended to a railing on the inside. David, however, was better fixed than this. He went to a sale and bought a bedstead but on bringing it home and putting it together he found it was to [sic] feeble to stand alone. But by placing it in the corner of the room and propping it thoroughly made it to answer its purpose. No doubt, it was looked to by the family as a valuable piece of furniture. The first crop they raised in Iowa was almost a total failure. They did manage to raise enough corn to keep them in cornbread until the next crop could be harvested. About this time we find Aunt Jane Simmons putting in application for a set of false teeth; having worn natural set to the gum from eating so much hard cornbread. Whether this statement is correct of not you can find by asking her. I received it from standard authority. After the first year prospects grew brighter and these Ohioans began to think Iowa as prosperous as their native state. At the death of Grandfather Simmons, which occurred in 1864, Michael bought the home place where he resided until 1889 when he moved to Farmington. Here we find this aged couple enjoying the earnings of their former hardship and labors. To this union was born a family of thirteen children, eleven of which survive.

William F. – Farmington, Iowa [William Frank Simmons]
Sarah B. Lindsay – Lodi, Nebraska [Sarah Belle Simmons Lindsay]
Alonzo D. – Oklahoma City, Okla.
Ida J. Hanson – Oconto, Nebraska [Ida Jane Simmons Hanson]
Josephine Muntz – Vernon Praire [Josephine Simmons Muntz]
May E. Edwards – Vernon Praire [Eliza May Simmons Edwards]
Ella K. Murphy – Mulhall, Oklahoma [Catura or Katurah Ellen Simmons Murphy]
John W. – Cushing, Okla. [John Waldo Simmons]
Michael C. – White Oak, Ia. [Charles Michael Simmons, Jr.]
Addie N. – Farmington, Ia. [Ada Nora Simmons]
Clyde G. – Farmington, Ia. [Clyde Granville Simmons]

Mary Frances and Emma Alice
having left us in their infancy.

This is a complete copy of composed and read at the Golden Wedding Anniversary back in 1903.

[Michael & Mary Ellen Dorsey Simmons were my gg-grandparents. I would like to hear from anyone with info on this line. - Rich Lowe richlowe@web-iowa.com ]