#52 Ancestors - Week 20
Prompt - Travel
Simmons Homestead in Franklin, West
Virginia
Pendleton County, West Virginia |
As we drove down West Virginia Hwy
220 south out of Franklin in the county of Pendleton, the view was
beautiful. We drove along the south
branch of the Potomac River with the river to the east and high bluffs just off
the road to the west. The County of
Pendleton is engulfed with the Appalachian Mountains with the Allegheny range
to the south west and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east. The south Potomac River cuts a small valley
through the eastern part of the county. We were told the Simmons homestead was
almost 10 miles south of town. The road made twist and turns with the river
flowing close to the road at times and then off to the left a quarter mile or
so. Homes were scattered along the road with those on the right up close to the
road and those to the left off in the small valley. We were looking for the
Simmons Cemetery that was northwest of the house close to the road. We drove
ten miles and then eleven. Turned around and traveled back finally catching a
glimpse of a two-story brick house off to the east. As we drove by there was a
small driveway that wandered through some shrubs and small trees and then
opened to the brick home. We slowed down and pulled into the drive. We could
see a small flat wooden bridge with planks to drive your car across that led up
to the house. I thought to myself, I
will walk across that bridge, but no way was I going to sit in a car that drove
across it! The house had a flagpole and a US flag was flying but no other signs
of life existed. There were no cars or pickups like most homes in the area. Then
we noticed the fence. Off to the south east was a fence with a double gate. No
drive but a small footpath. We got out of the car and followed the path that
led us to a small cemetery with about 25 stones. Yes! This was the Simmons
Cemetery.
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Simmons Home built in 1812 and remodeled in 1932 |
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Simmons Cemetery seen from Highway 220 |
Captain Henry Simmons who was born in
1760 and died in 1824[1]
built the brick house but was not buried in this family cemetery. His son,
Henry Simmons II, born 1798 and who died in 1868 was buried there with his wife
Rachel Simmons.[2] Captain Henry Simmons acquired the land from
his father[3],
Leonard Simmons Sr, who was born about 1730 in Germany and died about 1808 and
is assumed to be buried on the property. Leonard Sr deeded the middle part of
his farm to his son Captain Henry[4]
who built the two-story brick home about 1812.
Captain Henry Simmons had seven sons. Henry his fourth son received the
part of the farm with the brick home.[5]
His fifth son, my direct descendant, Peter Simmons, received the middle part of
the farm[6]
that he farmed for 20 some years and then sold it and moved to Ritchie County
200 miles east of Franklin in the early 1850’s.
Henry Simmons' tombstone on the left and his wife Rachel Simmons on the right Buried in Simmons Cemetery in front to the Simmons' home |
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Simmons Home built in 1812 and housed Stonewall Jackson in May 1862 Henry Simmons III on the horse and his wife Mary at the door photo taken about 1892 |
Margaret Simmons wife of Edward Simmons showing me the china and the bed that Stonewall Jackson used when he stayed at the home in May 1862 Photo taken July 1997 |
My first trip to the Simmons house
was when we traveled to Pendleton County, West Virginia the summer of
1997. Then in 2010, the Pendleton County
Historical Society had their summer meeting at the Simmons House with a tour of
the house and property. I met several
Simmons cousins at the meeting and a Simmons cousin that lives in the area gave
a history of the family and the house. The pictures of the rooms inside the
house are from that trip. The historian mentioned that a portion of the barn
was built in 1788 and would be 130 years old this year. The family also
believes that the earliest ancestor, Leonard Simmons Sr, who died in 1808 and
his son, Henry Simmons, who died in 1824 are probably buried out beyond the
barn in an old family plot that has no markers. After seven generations of
Simmons family members owning the home it was sold in the 1990's for the first
time to someone outside the family who purchased it for hunting property. The house still stands along the south branch
of the Potomac and will be 208 years old this summer in 2020.
[1] Grave Register Pendleton County, West Virginia 1977, The
Pendleton County Historical Society, Inc. / 1977, p 13.
[2] Ibid. p 13; Find A Grave, Memorial
# 31684395 (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31684395/henry-simmons)
[3] FamilySearch.org. West Virginia,
Pendleton County Will Book, v.3, 1808-1816, pages 45-46, Image 30. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-C998-W6?i=29&cc=1909099&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQJD5-NQ7W)
[4] Ibid
[5] Ancestry.com. West Virginia,
Pendleton County, Wills and Probate Records, Vol 2-4, 1801-1858, pages 87-90,
images 408-409. (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/9087/004715566_00408/435279?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/familytree/person/tree/12129622/person/1675302522/facts/citation/902268534744/edit/record#?imageId=004715566_00409)
[6] Ibid
[7] Find A Grave, Memorial # 31684395,
Henry Simmons
[8] Interview of Mrs. Edward Simmons, August
1997, home across the road from the Simmons home and Simmons Cemetery. She
showed me the china and bed that Stonewall Jackson ate and slept in while at
the house.
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