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Note: N20 There is a Revolutionary War pension file of 61 pages at the National Archives for John and Margaret Simmons of New York. Documents signed by John Simmons and his testimony in response to questions from a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Monroe County, Ohio in 1833 establish the following facts. John was born in New York City on October 24, 1761 and he had a page from his father's bible to prove this. While residing in Haverstraw, Orange County, New York, he enrolled in a New York militia unit in Clarkstown, Orange County in 1788 and he served for two years under Captain Onderdunk. The militia answered "alarms" and guarded the west shore of the North (later Hudson) River between Tappan and Paulus Hook. Later, in 1781 or 1782, he enlisted in a regular unit in Clarkstown and served for six months. After the war he lived for 20 years in (what became, out of Montgomery County) Chenango County, New York. Then he moved to Pennsylvania. At the time of his pension application in 1833 he was living in Jackson Township, Monroe County, Ohio. He reapplied for a pension in 1835 when he was a resident of Wheeling, Virginia.
[Note: "The precinct of Haverstraw was created in 1719 when it was separated from Orangetown. Haverstraw then included the present day towns of Clarkstown, Ramapo and Stony Point. Haverstraw became a town in 1788. Clarkstown and Ramapo became separate towns in 1791 and Stony Point became a town in 1865. The location of Haverstraw was important to the defense of the colonies in the Revolutionary War because of its place on the banks of the Hudson, the main artery of trade between New York City and Albany and the dividing line between New England and other colonies. The Shore guard was organized in Haverstraw to repel british or Tory landings along the Hudson. The Shore Guard lit signal fires on top of High Tor to warn neighboring communities of danger." (From Town of Haverstraw website)]
Documents in the pension file signed by Margaret Simmons in 1855 establish the following facts. Her maiden name was Harbison. She married a man named Moffit. [A supporting certificate states this was H. A. Moffit, and that the marriage was in Washington County, Pennsylvania.] As Margaret Moffit she married John Simmons on February 12, 1824 in Ohio County, Virginia. [There is a supporting marriage certificate showing the marriage on that date and in that location of Margaret Moffit to John Simmons.] She said that John died on May 19, 1843 at Wheeling, Virginia.
In 1835 an agent for Simmons in Wheeling, Mr. Atkinson, wrote the War Department of Simmons' behalf to expedite the pending pension application and Atkinson said that Simmons had resided in Wheeling for more than a year, that before that he had kept a public house in Cannonsburgh on the road from Washington to Pittsburgh and that Simmons had a brother who served as a clerk in an government office in Washington.
A letter in the pension file dated in the 1890's from Daniel Howe Simmons to the War Department stated that he was a son of John Simmons. Daniel requested facts about his father's service and mentioned that his father served General George Washington, implying direct service. Daniel said his mother was Margaret Simmons and that she died at Little Washington, Pennsylvania about 1866. A response from the War Department stated that John Simmons served under Captain Onderdack and Col. Hays.
Captain Jacob Onderdonk served in Hay's Regiment of New York militia from Orange County between 4 April 1778 and 9 August 1780. [Price & Associates]
"Since his (Simmons) first recorded child was baptized in New York City in 1784, it has been assumed he married after his discharge from the regular service in about 1782." [Price & Associates]
"Research on Mary, the [first] wife of John Simmons, Jr. (1761-1843) has come to the conclusion they were married about 1780 and possibly while John was still in the Army. This narrows their place of marriage to New York or New Jersey." [Price & Associates]
"Evidence that John Simmons had a wife prior to Lucy Cunningham comes from Revolutionary War sources. John Simmons is mentioned in Nelson B. Tiffany's <i>Revolutionary War veterans, Chenango County, New York</i> . . . Tiffany's work is based on service, pension and DAR records. He listed John Simmons' wives as Mary Nelson, Lucy Cunningham, and Margaret Harbison. The DAR Patriot Index lists these same wives. . . The membership applications for two people who joined the DAR on John Simmons' service were obtained from the DAR Library in Washington. . . . Both applications list Mary Nelson as John Simmons' first wife, but neither offers documentation." [Price & Associates]
"The Simmons were members of Trinity Anglican Church in New York City. The following items of interest were found in the published baptismal registers . . . 17 July 1784 Baptism of Catherine, daughter of John and Mary Simmons Witnesses John Dutton Crimshier, Elizabeth Simmons, and Hannah Dalley . . . 7 August 1785 Baptism of Catherine, daughter of John and Maria Simmons, born 17 June 1785 Witnesses Samuel, Catherine, and Elizabeth Simmons . . . 15 February 1786 Baptism of Sarah Simmons Barber, daughter of Silas and Catharine Barber, born 3 January 1786 Witnesses John and Mary Simmons . . ." I note that John's mother was originally Catherine Dally. . . a John Dutton Crimshire . . . was an attorney who the year before the baptism was resident in Philadelphia. Crimshire also appears to have had a close association with the Simmons family in the affairs of Trinity Church, New York City." [Price & Associates]
In the 1790 census for New York there is a John Simons in the West Ward of New York County, 1 white male 16 and over, 2 white males under 16 and 3 white females. This exactly fits the makeup of John's family.
John had three children by his first wife [Mary] who were surviving when he married his second wife Lucy Cunningham, nee Morris, in 1792. The three children were John, Samuel and Elizabeth. Lucy had three Cunningham children, David, Elizabeth and Robert. This information is from a 1793 deed to a lot in what would become Chenango County in 1798. [This was one of the 19 lots his John's father John purchased in 1793 in "Town 16" along the Umadilla River in Montgomery County. There is evidence that John began advertising the other lots for sale in August 1795.] [Chardavoyne, p. 13.] [Deed dated April 2, 1793 from John Simmons the Elder of the City of New York, Innkeeper, and his wife Catherine, to John Simmons the Younger, and his wife Lucy, at present of the same city.]
The registers of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia: Marriages 1792 Jan 8 John Simmons - Lucy Cunningham. [Price & Associates]
"In 1793, John and Lucy . . . were living in the City of New York. In his Revolutionary War Pension [application] John . . . stated that he had lived in Chenango County, New York for twenty years after the war before moving to Pennsylvania. . . . John and Lucy sold their land in New Berlin, Chenango County, New York in 1812/1813. . . . Calculating backwards, that means that they moved there about 1792/1793 - corresponding exactly to when John's father deeded them the land there." A county history says that John and his brother Stephen came to Chenango around 1800. [See "Early settlers in the Town of New Berlin (#16) of Original Twenty Towns" taken from <i>1874 History of Chenango & Madison Counties, NY</i> by James H Smith; pub. 1880 (this history states that New Berlin was formed from Norwich, April 3, 1807; name changed to Lancaster May 9, 1827; original name was restored March 22, 1822): "about 1800 John and Stephen G. Simmons, brothers, natives of New York City."] [Price & Associates]
"John Simmons and Stephen G. Simmons were brothers, and their native place was the city of New York. Their father was a wealthy citizen, and the owner of the several lots in New Berlin and Columbus known as the Simmons lots among the early settlers of those towns. John Simmons, in the beginning of the first settlement of New Berlin, came up from the city and settled on his father's lot 75, adjoining the Anderson lot on the north, and his brother, Stephen G., about the same time, settled on his father's lot 78, adjoining the Burlingame lot on the south. Mr. John Simmons, and his brother, Stephen, found that a city education was not adapted to the agricultural pursuits of backwoodsmen, however, they were both robust, strong young men, floundered along, clearing up their farms and raising crops as best they might. Mr. John Simmons, after making some improvements, sold his farm to Mr. Thomas Steere, a Rhode Island farmer, who emigrated from that state with his brother-in-law Charles Harris, who purchased the north part of said Simmons lot, and Steere the south part, except a piece of land on the east end of said lot adjoining the river, which Simmons had previously sold, to Levi Blakeslee, and also a piece on the west end of the lot which Simmons had sold to Jeremiah Goodrich. Mr. Steere and Mr. Harris were practical farmers, and brought the Simmons farm into a good state of cultivation. . . . Stephen G. Simmons sold his farm and moved west many years ago. It is now owned by Mr. A. J. Barney, a respectable farmer. No member of the Simmons family now remains in New Berlin, and the Simmons property, both in New Berlin and Columbus, has long since passed out of the family." [Historical Sketches - - of Old New Berlin by John Hyde, 1876 (published in 1907 by Unadilla Valley Historical Society)]
"A deed . . . is essential to understanding John Simmons' three marriages and is worth repeating here. On 2 April 1793, John Simmons "the elder" of the City of New York, innkeeper and Catherine his wife, deeded 290 acres of land in New Berlin, Chenango County, New York to John Simmons "the Younger" and Lucy, his wife, also residing in the City of New York. . . . The deed was to John <i>and</i> Lucy and provided for their children in the event of the death of John. The deed specifically mentioned John's children John, Samuel, and Elizabeth Simmons and Lucy's children Robert, David, and Elizabeth <i>Cunningham</i>. The implication the deed is that Lucy's maiden name was not necessarily Cunningham; these children were probably hers by a Cunningham husband previous to John Simmons." [Price & Associates]
"Robert Cunningham (who had married Lucy Morris) . . . was born about 1763 in Philadelphia and was lost at sea in 1791. His wife [was] daughter of Thomas Morris [and she] was born about 1767 in Oxford, Maryland. They were supposed to have been married about 1783 in Philadelphia. . . . Lucy . . . was said to have married secondly, in 1792 at Philadelphia, to John Simmons . . . ." [Price & Associates]
John benefitted from his father's 1794 Will: "to my children, William, John, James, David, Stephen Gifford and Catharine all my lands, tenements, hereditaments and estate, real and personal, being in Hanover Row, Portsmouth Common, in England, equally to be divided among them", and "after my two children [referring to Stephen Gifford and Catharine] become of age, and after the decease of my wife, I bequeath the residue to all my children and their respective heirs; in case any of my children shall die before a division of my estate, leaving lawful issue; such issue shall stand in and be in the place of the parent so dying and take share of part which such parent was entitled; when such division of my estate is made, all sums of moneys as may appear to have been paid and advanced to my sons John and David, by me shall be deducted from their perspective shares; in case any of my children are in distress and want assistance my executors may advance such money as they think proper; authorize my executors to sell and dispose of any or all parts of my estate. I appoint my wife, my sons William and James, executors."
In the 1810 census for Chenango County, in New Berlin, there is a John Simmons, with 2 sons and 3 daughters; John and an older woman are both in the 45+ age category.
There are deeds for Chenango County land [parts of Lot 75] naming John Simmons and Lucy his wife of New Berlin, either as grantors or grantees, dated in the years from 1811 to 1815.
June 1817- in z newspaper from the Pittsburgh area: "a horse had been stolen from John Simmons who offered reward for its return--- John Simmons 3 mi. east of Canonsborough". [from Annie Simmons Eldredge]
There is an 1820 deed for Chenango County land showing John Simmons as grantor and identifying him as "John Simmons, farmer, of Dearborn County, Indiana. In the 1820 census for Dearborn County, there are two John Simmons. One (Hanover Twp.) is in the 45+ category, with a female in the same age category. The other (in Logan Twp.) is between 26-45 with two females under 10 and 1 female 16-26. Dearborn County is in southeastern Indiana just west of Cincinnati.
There is an 1823 deed for Chenango County land showing John Simmons "late of Pennsylvania. The deed was executed by John in Montgomery County, New York, the resident of the grantee. It is likely that John had moved from Dearborn County to the Wheeling, Virginia area where he remarried in 1824.
"As a date and place were known for the marriage of John Simmons to Margaret Harbison, 12 February 1824 in Wheeling, Virginia, this marriage record was sought. A marriage record was located on the same date for John Simmons married to Margaret Moffit." [Price & Associates]
In 1833 when John made his declaration seeking a Revolutionary War pension, he resided in Jackson Township, Monroe County, Ohio, which is southwest of Wheeling. It took almost two years before John perfected his pension application. A Certificate of Pension was issued at Pittsburgh, with a number of 30345 - $27.33 to commence on 4 March 1834 at Auglaize, St. Clair County, Ohio.
John moved to Wheeling in about 1834 and finished his days there.
In the 1840 census index for Wheeling's Ward 5, Ohio County, Virginia: John Simons.
In 1855, Margaret made a Widow's Claim for Bounty Land. The application was witnessed by Richard Hukill and David Hukill of Campbell County, Kentucky, dated May 28, 1855 and taken before notary A. W. Johnson and Clerk James H. Parker. The claim asserted that Margaret, aged 60 years, of Campbell County was the widow of John Simmons of Wheeling, Va., that her husband was a soldier under Captain Underchurch in the N.Y. militia commanded by Col. Hays in the War of the Revolution, that she married him on Feb. 12, 1824, that her maiden name was Harbison, that he died in 1843, and that he was a pensioner on the Ohio pension roll at the rate of $27.33 per annum under the act of June 7, 1832. She signed with her mark. One sixty acres of land in Cass County, Iowa was granted to her pursuant to this claim pursuant to the Scrip Warrant Act of 1855. The title was transferred on May 1, 1860 to Margaret Simmons, widow of private John Simmons, Revolutionary War. [Cf. BLM GLO on-line database.] The "land patent image" refers to General Land Warrant No. 19919 and identifies the 160 acres by this metes and bounds description: the SW 1/4 of section 11 in township 75 of Range 30 W., in the District of Lands subject to sale at Council Bluffs, Iowa.
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