Jeff: Looks like we all have missed you. Please put me on the list to purchase your Simmons book when it becomes available. Thanks, Janie Briner ----- 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 > > ______________________________