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Update
James Simmers
William Simmers
Henry Simmers
Civil War
Simmers 1 to 84 JohnSimmers 85 to EndRecord Summary8 C Bernard16 Charles J.45 Henry56 Jacob Abraham88 Joseph92 Joseph Ritner103 Nathanial P112 Robert May130 William Martin|
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| Where’s Henry ??? (born Sept. 23, 1845 in St. Clair, Schuylkill Co., PA; died Nov. 16, 1896 in Taylor, Williamson Co., Tx) Henry was the next to last child born to James and Catherine Simmers. The Cambria County Cyclopedia indicated that Henry was in the Civil War, a fact confirmed with the muster records obtained from the National Archives in Washington. The Cyclopedia also stated that he went to Texas to work on the railroad. There is no record of a Henry Simmers in the Texas Census index for 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920. The last Census record for Henry was the 1870 Federal Census for Schuylkill County PA showing Henry married to Eliza with two children, Emma and Mary. Henry and Eliza are living next door to the Gradwells in St. Clair when the 1870 Federal census was taken. He does not show up again in the PA Census. This is the kind of dead end that needs luck to get around. The "luck" came in the form of a Harry SIMMERS from the Social Security Death Benefits records. The records indicated that Harry was born in Texas in 1903. I sent for the death certificate ( the people at the Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics were great). Guess what!!! Harry’s father worked on the railroad and was born in Pennsylvania - but his name was Nicholas. A starting point. A search of the Federal Census for Texas uncovered a Nicholas Simmers in the 1910 Census for Harris Co., TX and 1920 Census for Brazoria Co., TX. This provided the names of the children and a bonus, Nicholas was living with his sister Mary SOHMER. This also provided SOHMER children names. Additional birth and death records were ordered from Texas. They all tied together with one record listing the father, Nicholas as born in Pittsburgh PA in 1873. One of the children, Benjamin Lewis Simmers was born in Louisiana and had his SS number issued there. I checked the Phone Disks for Simmers in Texas and found a Ben L. Simmers in Lubbock. After a lot of trepidation (called fear of rejection) I called Ben. He turned out to be easy to talk to and most important, interested. He confirmed that his grandfather was Nicholas Simmers. He also put me in touch with other cousins in Texas. I sent Ben a package of information and with Ben contacting his circle of Simmers for information, he returned a package that all but clinched the connection. In addition to his immediate family, birth locations and dates of the children of Nicholas, and some very interesting letters, Ben provided a list of Nicholas Simmers’ sisters - EMMA, MARY, and KATY. Emma and Mary matched with the 1870 Census from PA for Henry. Finding Katy was harder. She married a man named DUKE. With no first name and DUKE a common name in Texas and no certainty that they were in Texas circa 1900-1920 finding Katy took a little luck. This luck came in the form of a message posted on the Internet by BRENT KOYM. Brent was searching for a link between Katy Simmers who married BEDFORD BROWN DUKE and Henry Simmers. Brent provided the DUKE link and I was able to provide the Henry Simmers link. In conversations with Andy Simmers, he indicated that Henry was married two or three times. Records that Brent Koym obtained from Louise Chestnut indicated that he was married three times. Based on the circumstantial evidence, Henry’s first wife was Eliza Mary Gradwell. This is based on the 1870 Federal Census of St. Clair. Schuylkill County. Henry and Eliza are listed age 23 and 22 respectively with children Emma age 2 and Mary age 5/12. The name Nicholas for Emma and Mary’s brother was a mystery for quite a while. This started to clear up based on a conversation with Louise Chestnut. She said tha her grandmother’s name was Elizabeth Cunningham and that the Cunninghams had come over on the same ship as the Simmers. Henry’s sister Mary who was born on that ship married a Nicholas Cunningham. I suspect that this was Elizabeth’s older brother. This could explain the name Nicholas. This would make her Henry’s second wife. The final confirmation on Nicholas Simmers came from Andy Simmers. He found the Cemetery record for Nicholas, listing him as: Nicholas H. Simmers born: 3/31/1873 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania died: 10/16/1940 Parents: father Harry Simmers, mother unknown I found Martha Simmers (Mattie Garbitt) listed in the 1900 Federal Census for Tx. as a cook. She listed five children all living. There are six not five. I did find an Andy SIMMERS in Fayette Co. in the 1900 Texas Census, living in a boarding house and working on the Railroad. He was born in PA in March of 1871 and is listed as married. It does raise the question of his family since Andrew is the given name of one of Nicholas’ sons. It is possible that he is related. One additional thought has to do with Henry’s younger sister, Elizabeth. The Cyclopedia lists her in Latrobe PA in circa 1895. Did she travel with Henry on his way to Texas and then decide to stay in the Pittsburgh area? Why did she leave Schuylkill County? Did her mother die? Then a lucky break. I have been collecting the vital records of the SIMMERS in Cambria Co., PA and on one, the marriage application of Joseph SIMMERS to Annie WURM, Joseph and Annie were listed as 1st cousins and her parents names were Anthony and "Lizzie" - the missing Elizabeth. I have since found Anthony and Elizabeth in the Census with their 13 children. I still believe that Elizabeth started west with Henry and met Anthony along the way, possibly in Pittsburgh. Another investigation for another time. Most of my effort now is to put all of the information in order and write a narrative that is a little more interesting to read. There are still some mysteries: · Did they stop in West Virginia? They were incorrectly listed as born there. · What happened to the last two daughters born to Henry · Was Mattie Garbitt, Henry’s third wife the mother of these ? · Is the Andy Simmers related and who was his wife and where did she live? · Where is Henry buried? · Where is Nicholas buried? · Are there other "cousins" in Texas? Some recent asnswers to the above questions. What happened to the last two daughters born to Henry? Henry’s two daughters, Margaret and Jennie married. Margaret married an William Eule and moved to California. As far as I can find they had no children, are not listed in the SSDI. Jennie married a man named Hanke. I have her death certificate and she is listed in the SSDI. Was Mattie Garbitt, Henry’s third wife the mother of these ? Yes Mattie was Henry’s third wife. His second wife was Ellen O’Brien listed as the mothe of Jennie on her death certificate. Another interesting trail that needs investigation is "who is the Nicholas SIMMER that shows up in the Schuylkill Co., PA St. Boniface RC Church records at the baptism of daughter Elizabeth and who are Jacob, Peter and Nicholas ZIMMER that show up in the 1850 Census for Schuylkill Co.? Are Nicholas SIMMER and Nicholas ZIMMER one in the same? Are Peter and Jacob ZIMMER related? I believe that all of these are possibilities but difficult ones to prove. Message posted by Brent Koym |
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