Jeff, Put me on the list to purchase on of these books. Ken Carrico kencarrico@gci.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Jeff Carr (by way of Nedra Dickman Brill <brillnd@pacifier.com>) <jeffc@regionten.org> To: <WVPENDLE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 4:05 PM Subject: Simmons Hi group, Knowing that I have been writing a new Simmons genealogy, Nedra Brill forwarded to me the recent volley of Simmons messages, asking about the Leonard Simmons who married Mary Vandale. As has already been stated, the previous publications about the Simmons' have them woefully confused. I have been working to delineate the Pendleton Simmons', down to the 1850 Census. The book is just about completed; I hope to have it off to the publisher in the next month or so. While not proven, I do think that I have accurately placed this Leonard in the Pendleton family. I believe him to be Leonard Simmons III, son of Leonard Jr., and grandson of Leonard Sr. Discussing the evidence supporting the identification of his parentage is difficult, short of rewriting his father's, Leonard Simmons Jr., narrative from the book. I will try to give a thumbnail sketch of how this goes. First, on p. 290 of Morton's "History of Pendleton County," the "A" Simmons family is that of Leonard Sr. His #3 child, the Leonard Simmons who married Catherine Smith, was NOT the son of Leonard Sr., but rather of George Simmons Sr. However, I do believe that Leonard Sr. DID have a son named Leonard, but has heretofore never been identified. In the personal property tax lists, he was occasionally called "Jr." (though, so was Leonard of George Sr.!). This REAL Leonard Jr. died just a few months before his father in 1808; thus, at a glance, the court proceedings look like just one estate. However, upon closer examination, each had a different set of administrators and appraisers. This real Leonard Jr. had wife named Elizabeth, and probably the following children: Christina, Henry, Sarah, Mathias, Nicholas, Margaret, Barbara, John, and Leonard. Of these, Henry, Nicholas, Barbara, and John are proven; the rest have circumstantial connections, most notably that nearly all of them settled outside of Pendleton County. In addition, several of them were bound out by the Pendleton Court around the time when Leonard Jr. died. His widow Elizabeth remarried Lewis Curtner in 1816 in Greenbrier County. The first child baptized at Wilfong's Church in Pendleton was a Leonard Siemon, on January 1, 1807; his father was also named Leonard, and his godparents/sponsors were yet another Leonard Simmon and wife. Given that the Leonard Simmons (m. Mary Vandale) of Roane County was reportedly born Jan. 1, 1806, this seems certain to have been his baptism; either he was bapt. on his 1st birthday, or his family remembered the wrong year of his birth. The Leonard Simmons (m. Cath. Smith) of George Sr. did NOT have a son named Leonard who lived to adulthood, so he cannot have been the father of this child in this baptism. Nor could it have been Leonard the son of Capt. Henry Simmons; that Leonard m. Polly Mefford in 1805, and left the state within 10 years, so it is VERY unlikely that he had a son Leonard who returned to WV. This leaves only the real Leonard Jr. (m. Elizabeth -) to have been the father of the baptized child in 1807. In addition, it would make sense for his own father, Leonard Sr., to have been the sponsor of the baptism. As mentioned earlier, Leonard Jr.'s widow, Elizabeth, remarried in Greenbrier County. The Leonard who married Mary Vandale (and did so in Greenbrier County), first appeared as an independent tithable/taxpayer in the tax lists in 1828, in Greenbrier County; this first appearance (usually at age 21) matches perfectly with an 1807 birth, as suggested by the church record cited above. The next year, Lewis Curtner (Leonard III's step-father) was the last person visited by the tax collector on one day, while Leonard Simmons was the first person visited the next day, thus suggesting possible proximity. Lastly, Leonard (m. Mary Vandale) named his last son "Nicholas," probably after his older brother, who had remained in Pocahontas County, which had been formed from several counties, including a portion from Greenbrier County. That Leonard Simmons of Roane County's family recalled that he had come from Cave, WV (near Franklin), is consistent with his having been born of the Leonard Simmons Sr. family, as they were the ones who had settled on the upper South Branch; around 1800, the other Simmons were still living over on the upper South Fork, and would not have been remembered as "from Cave." I will send out a notice when the book is ready . Jeff Carr Charlottesville, VA