2024 - Origins
Origins of Nancy Ann Simmons' Families
As a family researcher, it
is not uncommon for someone to ask, "Where is your family from." And
I usually respond, "What part of my family? " My father's Simmons, Rexroad, Michael, Moyers, Huffman, Propst, Voeglin, Heavener, and Arbogast families are all German but other families are also French, English, and Scottish. My mother's Martin, Larkins, Cronin, and Stackpole families are Irish, but other families are English, and a wee bit of German.
To find your family's
origins you must find the immigrant ancestor. To find my father's Simmons immigrant
ancestor I had to research back many generations. My father's Simmons family is from Germany, but I had to research back seven generations to reach my
5th great-grandfather, Leonard Simmons, to find that he was born in
Germany.
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| Pedigree Chart Nancy Simmons to Paul Simmons to Walter Simmons to Andrew Simmons to Peter Simmons to Henry Simmons to Immigrant Leonard Simmons; my 5th great-grandfather from Germany |
Leonard Simmons was born about 1738 in Germany. At this point, I am still searching for the name of his village. Leonard Simmons was on the South Branch of the Potomac River in Virginia by 1753 and claimed 257 acres of land. My father's immigrant great-grandfather, William Henry Leeton, was born in 1839 in France, and his wife, Margaret Newland was born in 1845 in West Virginia but her immigrant parents, William Newland and Elspeth Hall, were born in Scotland.
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| 1880 U.S. Federal Census Wood County, West Virginia Immigrant - Leeton, Henry 41 born in France, father born in France, mother born in France Leeton, Margaret, 35, wife, born in WV, father born in Scotland, mother born in Scotland Henry and Margaret are my great-great-grandparents |
My father's mother is June
Elizabeth Putman. I have traced the Putman line to 1747 in Culpeper County,
Virginia, and from there back to Thomas Putnam born in 1646 in Chesham,
Buckinghamshire, England. June Elizabeth Putman's grandmother was Catherine
Deck who comes from German stock. I have traced the Deck family back to
immigrant, Johannes Nicholas Deck, my 6th
great-grandfather
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| Pedigree Chart Nancy Simmons to Paul Simmons to June Putman to Cora Wilson to Catherine Deck to Jacob Deck to Christian Deck to Johannes Heinrich Deck to Immigrant- Johann Nicholas Deck; my 6th great-grandfather |
Turning to my mother’s
family, we have a dominance of Irish origins since her maternal grandparents,
Denis and Bridgette (Stackpole) Cronin were both born in Ireland in the late
1850s. They both emigrated from Ireland to Detroit, Michigan in the 1880s.
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| Pedigree Chart Nancy Simmons to Josephine Martin to Mary Cronin to Denis Cronin and Bridget Stackpole Dennis Cronin born in County Cork, Ireland; my great grandfather Bridget Stackpole born in County Kerry, Ireland; my great grandmother |
My mother's paternal
grandfather was Francis Arthur Martin, and his grandparents, Edward and Julia
Martin were born in Ireland and married in 1829 in Kilmactranny Parish, Sligo
County, Ireland. They emigrated from Ireland to Wayne County, Michigan in 1843.
Since they are of the protestant faith, they are most likely Scotch-Irish.
But Francis Arthur Martin's
maternal grandmother was Margaret Ann Davis, and she leads us back eight
generations to immigrant Thomas Rogers, a Mayflower passenger who was born in England and
married in 1597 in Northamptonshire, England.
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| Pedigree Chart Nancy Simmons to Mayflower Ancestor Nancy Simmons to Josephine Martin to Edward Martin to Francis Martin to Elizabeth Larkins to Margaret Davis to Deborah Stephens |
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| Cont. Pedigree Chart Nancy Simmons to Mayflower Ancestor Robert Stephens to Thomas Stephens to Josiah Stephens to Remember Tisdale to Anna Rogers to John Rogers to Immigrant Mayflower Ancestors - Thomas Rogers; 11th great grandfather from England |
Based on my research,
my origins are strongly Irish with heavy English and German lineages. There is
also a small percentage of Scottish and French through my father's line.
I have tested my DNA with
Ancestry and love their circle graphs. According to Ancestry's database, my
father's origins are predominantly from England and Northwestern Europe, then
from Germanic Europe, Sweden & Denmark, Scotland, and a trace of Wales. My
mother's origins are over 50 % from Ireland, then England and Germanic Europe.
The circle graph on the right shows my origins from Ireland, England, Germanic
Europe, Sweden & Denmark, Scotland, and a trace of Wales.
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| Ancestry.com Circle Charts of Origins Father's origins from England & Northwestern Europe, Germanic Europe, Sweden & Denmark, Scotland and Wales Mother's Origins from Ireland, England & Northwestern Europe, and Germanic Europe My origins from Ireland, England & Northwestern Europe, Germanic Europe, Sweden & Denmark, Scotland, Wales |
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| My Origins Ireland, Great Britain, Scotland, France, Germany, Norway and Denmark |
My disclaimer on my
research is that I have not been able to trace back far enough to find the
source of my origins from Sweden & Demark or Wales as revealed in my DNA. But based on my research, I can state my
origins are Ireland, England, Germany, Scotland, and France.
