Tag Archives: Simmons

John Emery Wixsom

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John Emery Wixsom
b. 16 March 1864, Fayette County, Indiana, to Smith and Rebecca (Carver) Wixsom
d. 16 May 1945, Holland, Lucas County, Ohio

m. 22 October 1890
Doretta “Dora” Damschroder
b. 27 January 1871, Elmore, Ottawa County, Ohio, to Christopher H. and Mary Ann (Freese) Damschroder, Jr.
d. 20 January 1960, Holland, Lucas County, Ohio

Children with Doretta Damschroder:
• Ralph Louis (1893-1964) married (1) Edith Simmons, (2) Clara Leonhardt
• Clarence Emery (1896-1978) married Dorothy Marie Downs
• John Edgar (1898-1948) married Catherine Neiling
• Nellie Lee (1902-1974) married (2) Orrin Downs
• William Allen (1906-1945) married Ethel Ruth

John lived in Antioch (now Andrews), Huntington County; Peru, Miami County; and Ft. Wayne, Allen County, Indiana, before emigrating about 1905/6. His family had lived in Blackford, Wabash, and Madison counties before buying land in Huntington County. He went to Wood County, Ohio, and ran a quarry above North Baltimore. He then went to Kentucky to work in the oil fields and later came back to Lucas County, Ohio. He had also worked on the Wabash Railroad.

Submitted by:
Elizabeth Wixsom Pero May
Toledo OH

Lucinda Opal Smith

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Lucinda Opal Smith
b. 17 February 1896, Nottingham Township, Wells County, Indiana, to Harvey and Mary (Marker) Smith
d. 18 July 1971, Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma

m. 16 May 1914, Canalou, New Madrid, Missouri
William Simmons
b. 3 November 1891, Carleston, Mississippi County, Missouri
d. 31 October 1969, Ada, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma

Children with William Simmons:
• Velma May
• William Theodore
• Twylo Florence
• Kenneth Francis
• Zelma Maxine
• Rozella Lavon
• Lester Wayne
• Treva Darlene
• Loile Dale
• Shirley Doile

Lucinda left Nottingham Township, Wells County, Indiana, by 1907. Although she was married in New Madrid County, Missouri, her license was issued in Scott County.

Submitted by:
Darlene Jeannette Scott Shawn
Norman OK

Harvey A. Smith

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Harvey A. Smith
b. 12 April 1873, Balbec, Jay County, Indiana, to Thomas and Amanda (Sarber) Smith
d. 14 July 1938, Frisco, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma

m/1. 9 December 1895, Portland, Jay County, Indiana
Mary Leticia Marker
b. 1873, Wells County, Indiana
d. 1898, Indiana

m/2.
[–?–]

Children with Mary Leticia Marker:
• Lucinda Opal married [–?–] Simmons

Children with [—?—]:
• Shirley A. (a son)

Harvey lived in Wells, Blackford, and Jay counties in Indiana until about 1920, when he left the state.

Submitted by:
Darlene Jeannette Scott Shawn
Norman OK

Jefferson Simmons

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Jefferson Simmons
b. 20 January 1860, Pike or Dubois County, Indiana, to Jefferson and Elizabeth (Kinder) Simmons
d. 25 January 1907, New Madrid County, Missouri

m/1. 25 November 1884, Warrick County, Indiana
Sarah R. Isaacks
b. 1863, Pigeon, Warrick County, Indiana
d. 2 May 1898, Como, New Madrid County, Missouri

m/2.
[–?–]

Children with Sarah R. Isaacks:
• Alford/Alfred
• Henry
• William “Bill”
• Hattie married [–?–] Duty

Children with [—?—]:
• Tom
• Jerrie married [–?–] Berg

There were five other children but they all died young.

The family lived in Dubois, Pike, Spencer, and Warrick counties in Indiana before leaving the state in 188l.

Submitted by:
Darlene Jeannette Scott Shawn
Norman OK

Joseph Isaacks

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Joseph Isaacks
b. April 1841, Warrick County, Indiana, to Jesse and Sarah A. (Berry) Isaacks
d. 27 April 1903, Bernard, Mississippi County, Missouri

m. 18 May 1862, Gentryville, Warrick County, Indiana
Elizabeth R. Barker
b. June 1841, probably Hancock County, Kentucky
d. 23 February 1913, Bald Knob, White County, Arkansas

Children with Elizabeth R. Barker:
• Sarah R. married [–?–] Simmons
• Valentine P.
• Phebe J. married [–?–] Heath
• Jesse C.
• Mary E. married [–?–] Cartes
• Furrenda V.
• Minna D. married [–?–] Hipp
• Mina A. married [–?–] Hardin
• George Harvey

Joseph left Indiana in 1888.

Submitted by:
Darlene Jeannette Scott Shawn
Norman OK

Stephen Nineveh Harmon, Sr.

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Stephen Nineveh Harmon, Sr.
b. 29 April 1820, Monroe, Clark County, Indiana, to Stephen Harmon
d. 9 July 1889, Lincoln, Dallas County, Missouri

m. 31 October 1838, Lexington, Scott County, Indiana
Rosanna Smith
b. 28 January 1822, Kentucky
d. 21 January 1911, Lincoln, Dallas County, Missouri

Children with Rosanna Smith:
• William R. (1839-1840)
• Mary Ann (1841-1872) married Stephen “Jessie” Osborne
• Sarah J. (1843-1847)
• Jabez Edward (1845-1879) married Mary Ann Quigley
• Almira Jane (1847-1896) married Henry Gray True
• Emily Ellen (1850-1916) married Henry Coatney
• Phelina Elizabeth (1852-1923) married James Knox Polk Simmons
• John W. (1854-1917) married Sarah Quisenberry
• Hulda Catherine (1858-1911) married James Berry Cox
• George W. (1859-1863)
• Union Victoria (1862-1863)
• Stephen Nineveh (1864-1932) married Mary Elizabeth Stidham

Stephen was in Scott County, Indiana, about 1840, but by about 1850, he had returned to Clark County. He remained there until he emigrated in 1855.

His Civil War pension record (#554671) shows that he served in Company G, 14th Regiment M.S.M. Volunteers. His marriage license is with the pension papers and provides a death date for both he and Rosanna.

Submitted by:
Thelma Harmon Cowan
Snohomish WA

Cleta Naomi Kuhns

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Cleta Naomi Kuhns
b. 31 December 1923, Ripley County, Indiana, to Oscar Franklin Kuhns
d. 18 June 2004, San Francisco, California

m. 13 November 1945, Polk County, Iowa
Wilby Lee Simmons

Cleta was born in Ripley County, Indiana, but little is known of her family before that. After her father died in 1931, she and her brothers and two sisters were sent to the Brightside Orphanage in Plymouth, Indiana. They stayed there for about four years and then were scattered into various group home and foster families.

Cleta and her siblings, Eugene Willard, James Lowell, Elsie Rose, and Mary Christine lost track of each other. Only after Cleta’s death did more details of her life become available to the descendants of these orphans.

Cleta attended Washington Township Grade School, Ripley County, Indiana, graduating with an 8th grade diploma on 9 Jun 1938. A Mrs. Dale Smith signed her report cards as her guardian. Her teenage diary, which has been passed down to descendants, is filled with typical memories of a teen in high school — bad hair days, first love and broken heart, listening to the Hit Parade and going to moves and the local fair with friends. Cleta graduated from Holton High School, 24 April 1942 and began her first job at the REMC office in Osgood which lasted until 1945.

On 26 Feb 1945, Cleta enlisted in the WACS and was stationed at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. Later that same year, 13 November, she married Wilby Lee Simmons, but they divorced on 15 October 1948. The couple had no children.

The military became her family. She served 23 months with the U.S. Constabulary Force at Heidleberg Military Post in Germany. She also served in Korea and Viet Nam. In the 1950’s she conducted WAC recruiting at Fort Preble, Boston, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine.

Cleta received a Joint Service Commendation for meritorious service from 17 February 1961 to 29 November 1963, Joint Task Force Four, Atlantic Command, Fort Monroe, Virginia. A second Joint service Commendation Medal for meritorious service was awarded her while assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency from January 1964 to Novembers 1966.

She is buried in Section 1, Site 1336 of the National Cemetery in Gustine, California.

Submitted by:
Anita Smith Jarman
Trenton NC

John W. Simmons

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John W. Simmons
b. June 1873, Sharpsville, Tipton County, Indiana, to John T. and Edith (Crousore) Simmons
d. 15 September 1909, The Philippine Islands

m. about 30 June 1903, The Philippine Islands
Antonina Del Rosario
b. about 1874, The Philippine Islands
d. 1943, The Philippine Islands

Children with Antonina Del Rosario:

  • James W. (1902-1941 married Sergia Beltrano
  • Goldie (1904-bet. 1985-1993)
  • Idadel (b. 1906)
  • John W., Jr. (1908-1943)

The Simmons family arrived in Indiana during the mid-to-late 1840’s. James M. and Hester Jane (Moore) Simmons settled in Howard County, Indiana, where their eldest son John T. Simmons married Edith Crousore, the daughter of Jacob and Anny (Ice) Crousore, in 1849. The couple had eleven children, the youngest of whom was John W. Simmons. John and Edith moved to near Sharpsville, Tipton County, Indiana, in 1867. John was born there in 1873. His mother died in 1877 and his father in 1909. John headed west sometime prior to 1898.

John W. was a resident of Washington when the Spanish-American War erupted in 1898. He enlisted as a private in Company C of the 1st Washington Volunteer Infantry at Camp John R. Rogers near Tacoma on 1 May 1898. The regiment was sent to Manila, The Philippines, in late October. The unit saw action throughout the first half of 1899 before returning to the States in August and being mustered out on 32 October 1899.

John re-enlisted and was serving with the U.S. Army Hospital Corps at Fort Vancouver in June of 1900. By November of that year, he was back in Manila.

During his first tour, Pvt. Simmons met Antonina Del Rosario and the couple was reunited upon his return. The couple married and had five children. One son, a twin to eldest son James, died at birth.

John W. died in September 1909, a little more than a month after his father passed away back home in Sharpsville. Antonina remarried a friend of her late husband and spent a few years living in Nebraska. After the marriage failed, she returned to The Philippines. Her youngest son, John, Jr., died fighting for the Philippine Resistance against the Japanese during WWII.

Although John W. Simmons never returned to the States, several of his grandchildren and greatgrandchildren did. They immigrated in 1977 and have made John’s homeland their own.

Submitted by:
Terry D. Prall
Arcadia FL
E-mail: tprall@desoto.net