"THE SIMPSONS"

RICHARD SIMPSON, wife unknown, died in Guilford County, (now Rockingham County) North Carolina, on December 24, 1793.  [Handwritten note points to this date and says "will probated".]  According to his will, which was probated in that county, his heirs were listed as being:

    sons - Thomas, Richard, and Nathaniel

    dau. - Elizabeth (Knight), Jane (Marcelliot), and Elanor (Hicks)

    step dau. - Elizabeth (Carroll)

    gr. dau. - Elizabeth Rees Hicks

                    Elizabeth Simpson d/o Thomas

    gr. sons - Nathaniel s/o Thomas

                    Richard s/o Thomas

                    Peter Ryan s/o Richard

                    William s/o Richard

                    Richard s/o Richard

 

RICHARD SIMPSON, apparently the son of Richard Simpson, listed above, died November 20, 1802.  His will probated in Rockingham County, North Carolina, listed his heirs as follows:

    wife - Selah

    sons - William, Peter, Richard, and James

                [Handwritten note points to Richard and James and says "moved with their mother to KY".]

    dau. - Pharby, Ellanor, and Anna

 

PETER SIMPSON, son of Richard and Selah, was born in Guilford County, North Carolina in 1742.  On September 22, 1795, he married Elizabeth Cuningham, daughter of Joseph Cuningham.  Peter and Elizabeth had at least one son, Thomas C.  They both died in Cannon County, Tennessee, years unknown.

 

THOMAS C. SIMPSON, son of Peter R. and Elizabeth, was born October 6, 1796, in Guilford County, North Carolina.  He migrated with his parents to Warren County, Tennessee, in the very early 1800's.  On June 4, 1817, he married Nancy Moreland, daughter of William Moreland.  Nancy having been born November 12, 1794, in Carter County, Tennessee.

        Thomas and Nancy resided in Warren County, and after its formation DeKalb County, until 1853.  While in this area he held several local offices, including trustee for his district.  On March 5, 1838, he and several others met to set up the government of the newly formed DeKalb County.  DeKalb County having been formed from parts of Warren and several other surrounding counties.

        After coming to Missouri in 1853, and homesteading a goodly sized farm, with the help of his sons, he again became active in politics.  He was elected to the Missouri Legislature, and served two consecutive terms, from 1855 to 1859.  While serving in the legislature, he introduced the bill creating Howell County.  During the Civil War, he remained active in public affairs at the county level.  He, along with several others, hid the county records from the Union Army, as the county was known to be in sympathy with the Confederacy.  After the war, he remained active in county politics, having been too old to serve in the military of the Confederacy, he was one of the few qualified men in the county eligible to hold office.

        Thomas' principal occupation in life was farming.  his far, located about four miles northeast of Alton, Missouri, was passed on to his son Wright at his death.  Part of this farm is today owned by Wright's youngest son, Lewis Simpson.  One of his business ventures, along with his won, Thomas, had been to build the original mill at what is now called Greer Spring.  They sold the mill to Captain Greer sometime after the war.

        Thomas died March 19, 1873, and is buried at Alton, Missouri.  [DW - Bailey Cemetery]  Nancy having died in December of 1855.

        The children of Thomas and Nancy were as follows:

1. Sally

2. Peter Rine (see separate text)

3. William

4. John

5. Thomas

6. Richard

7. Logan

8. Betty - married Lemuel Braswell

9. Wade

10. Wright - married Samantha Cates

PETER RINE "P.R." SIMPSON, eldest son of Thomas C. and Nancy Simpson, was born January 9, 1821, in what is now DeKalb County, Tennessee.  In 1853 he brought his young family to Missouri, and located some distance east of his father, on Eleven Points River near the mouth of Little Hurricane Creek.  There he engaged in a successful farming and milling operation. 

        During the war, P.R. served as captain of his own company, in Foster's Regiment, McBride's Brigade, Army of the Confederacy.  His mill was burned to the ground in 1863, by Union Troops, for its use as a Confederate Recruiting Station.  He was apparently captured on October 5, 1863, at Evening Shade, Arkansas, by forces under the command of major James Wilson, Third Missouri State Militia Cavalry.  However, he was not imprisoned, but exchanged for union Prisoners of War.

        After the war, he returned to continue his successful farming operation.  he died May 5, 1897, and is buried at Wilderness Cemetery.  Thus becoming the first of at least five generations, known to me, to be buried there.  P.R. was a man of many talents.  Aside from farming, milling and military service, he was a self-taught lawyer and doctor, and an ordained Methodist Preacher.  The one thing he seemingly was not successful at was domestic life.  He was married four times.  His wives and children were as follows:

   1)  P.R.'s first wife was Janie Farrell, whom he married in Tennessee.  She had been born in Tennessee, about 1823, and died in Oregon County, July 28, 1868.  The children were:

1. Thomas M. "P-Tom" - born in Tennessee, august 18, 1842.  P-Tom held the position of County Surveyor, and laid out the first Alton to Doniphan Road, through what is now Wilderness, Missouri.  he was married to Nancy a. Nicholson, and died August 27, 1898.

2. Nancy - married a Whitten, she being born about 1843.

3. John - born about 1845, died July 28, 1867. He was married to Josephine Weldon.

4. Richard L. - see separate test

5. Lucinda - born about 1850, married a Hollis.

6. Sara J. - born about 1852, married a Smith.

7. William - [Handwritten "Belle"] born November 13, 1854, in Missouri, buried at Alton (Smith Cemetery)

2) On July 26, 1855, P.R. married Elanor Elizabeth Faulkenberry, in Oregon County.  She having been born in Tennessee, about 1823.  Their children were:

1. James Woodridge Waites Simpson - born about 1857, died 1917.

2. Martha - born about 1860, married Henry Reaser.

3. Jesse - born about 1861, married Sophie Whitten.

4. Peter Lemuel - born December 28, 1864, died March 29, 1901.  He was married to Willie M. Parvin, born April 29, 1868, died February 14, 1935.

5. Margaret - born about 1865, died early in life.

3)  On June 4, 1877, he married Serena Boze, a widow.

 

4)  P.R.'s fourth wife was Emaline Reaser, she having been born in Tennessee, about 1821.

 

RICHARD L. "DICK" SIMPSON, son of P.R. and Jane Simpson, was born January 26, 1848, in DeKalb County, Tennessee.  He came to Missouri with his mother and father in 1853.  I have no record of his first wife [Handwritten note:  Sarah Dees}, but he had one son by her, Robert l. "Lee" (see separate text).  His second wife was M. Caldonia "Doney" Jones, born about 1857, in Tennessee.  They were parents of the following:

1. William T. - Born January 24, 1874, died April 20, 1929.  His wife's name was Maggie, she having been born October 24, 1856, and dying in August of 1921.

2. Martha - born in 1876.

3. James R. - born april 24, 1879, died August 23, 1949.  J.R. was married to Elizabeth Mullis, she having been boarn February 15, 1879, and dying March 15, 1958.

4. Andy - born in January of 1882, married his brother Frank's widow, Ruth.

5. Jesse - born in August of 1884, and married a woman named Eulah.

6. John - born in July of 1877 [1887], was married to Mamie Jones Simpson, widow of his nephew, Wesley Richard.  Lived in New Mexico.

7. R. Walter - born in March of 1890, died in 1946.  His wife's name was Mary, she having been born in 1895, and dying in 1970.

8. Frank - born in October of 1891, was married to Ruth Haynes White.  She being born in 1894, and dying in 1973.

9. Bessie - born in January of 1895, married to Jim Boze.

10. Arthur C. - born August 24, 1898, died September 21, 1899.

11. Mattie - married Arthur Larimore, and lived in Washington.

ROBERT L. "LEE" SIMPSON, son of Richard L. Simpson, was born in Oregon County, on July 29, 1868.  Lee married Sarah Jane "Janie" Jones, born in Missouri, in May of 1875.  Janie was a nieces of Lee's stepmother, Doney.  They had the following children:

1. Wesley Richard - born in March of 1889.  He was killed working in the timber, his widow married his uncle, John Simpson.

2. Riley - born in January of 1890

3. Oscar - born in July of 1892, his wife's name was Daphin.

4. Ava - born in August of 1895, she married Frank Fox.  Frank died in 1979, but Ava is still living, making her the oldest Simpson known to me at this writing.  [DW - I am confident that Ava is no longer living, so I included her name.]

5. Callie - born in March of 1898.

6. Lonzo Miles - see separate text.

7. Sada - born March 6, 1906, married Roscoe McDowell

8. Alma - married Frank Parker

9. Arthur Mac - born December 12, 1908, died September 28, 1966.  He married Bid Neal, who preceded him in death.

10. Wilson -

11. John -

12. Mattie -

13. V. Harry - born 1909, died 1913.

Lee died on December 26, 1939, Janey followed in 1941.  They are both buried in Wilderness Cemetery.

 

LONZO MILES SIMPSON, son of Lee and Janey Simpson, was born October 22, 1899, Oregon County, Missouri.  He was married to Maude Barbara Oesch, on March 9, 1918, at Wilderness, Missouri.  Maude was the daughter of Godfred and Delacey Oesch, having been born February 22, 1898.  To this union were born:

 

1. LIVING SON

2. LIVING DAUGHTER

3. Eugene Lon - Born March 26, 1923, near Fremont, Missouri.  He first married Lula Cunningham, and after her death, LIVING.  He died Febrary 8, 1977, and is buried near Willow Springs, Missouri.

4. LIVING DAUGHTER

5. LIVING SON

6. Edward Lewis - born September 6, 1928, died in infancy.

7. LIVING DAUGHTER

8. LIVING DAUGHTER

Lon died October 9, 1932, and Maude May 21, 1957.  They are both buried at Wilderness Cemetary.

 

"THE SIMPSONS"

(Appendix)

 

Church records in Ann Arundel Parish [Handwritten note:  Parish scratched through and "County" written above it.], Maryland, circa 1670, indicates two brothers, John & Thomas Simpson.  Their fathers name being Thomas, no indications of previous ancestry.  According to parish records, Thomas, the son, married Elizabeth Withers.  These being the oldest Simpson I have found in our direct lineage.  [DW - This appendix is typed on a separate page.  I am not sure what the link was here to the first RICHARD SIMPSON in this family history.  This does not seem to be information that is consistent with others who have researched this lineage.]

 

 

Typed family tree charts follow the appendix.  Those are not being recreated here and do not appear to contain any information not already included in this family history.  - Denise Woodside

 

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©2005  Denise Woodside - Storyteller and Webmaster - My Simpson Family