William Simons & Eliza Jane Brown

Special thanks to the Frank Simons family who did much of the research on the early history of the Simons family, to Mary Anne Kershner who researched through the LDS files and to Marina Bresba who researched The Chautauqua County Poor Farm

The first Simons ancestor whose history we have is William Simons. He was born on December 24, 1830¹ in Ellery Township, Chautauqua County, NY son of Eli and Margaret Simons. Eli Simons was listed on the 1830 U.S. Federal Census living in the Town of Harmony which is located south of Lake Chautauqua. His age is listed between 20-25. A female resident between 20-25 (presumably Margaret, his wife) and a female child between the age or 0-5 (Hannah) are listed in the same home. Through later census of William we learn that Eli was born in Connecticut.

           The earliest record that we have of William Simons is his admission as a child to the Chautauqua County Poor Farm on April 9, 1833. [A brief history of the poor farm can be found here.] The notes from the Poor House admissions book list Margaret Simons (age 33), a native of Herkimer County, NY, along with Hannah Simons (age 6), Williams Simons (age 2) and Silas Y. Simons (age 2 months and 4 days) all of Ellery, NY. They were brought by James Newbury.    It is presumed that Eli must have died some time in late 1832 or early 1833, leaving the family destitute. Notes from the Poor House admissions states "One light suit of clothes each was the only property they brought with them. The amount certified for transportation [was] $4.15.^"2

            In November 1835, at the age of 8, Hannah Simons was bound out to John S. Yates of Ellicott, NY.³   In June of 1840, Margaret Simons was discharged with her children⁴ but was readmitted nine months later, in March of 1841, from the town of Arkwright, NY this time with four children⁵ (Hannah likely back with the family at this time as well as a new baby). Only three months later, in June of 1841, Margaret Simons and child (the new baby) absconded with Jonithan [sic.] W. Downing.⁶ This child was probably the child of Margaret and Jonithan Downing. Margaret and Jonithan later had two more children, one of whom was Jonithan W. Downing, Jr. It is unknown what ultimately happened to Hannah, and our only records of Silas are of his discharge in 1843 at the age of 10. ⁷

            William, left behind by his mother, lived at the Poor Farm for nine years, from the

age of two until eleven, with the respite of nine months in 1840-41 when his mother took him, his brother and sister to the town of Arkwright, presumably to live with Jonithan Downing. On April 26, 1842 at the age of eleven, William Simons was discharged from the Chautauqua Co., Poor Farm.⁸ The next verification of his life is his marriage in Lowville, Pennsylvania to the daughter of a Mr. Moses Brown who was farming a short distance north of the hamlet of Lowville, in Venango Township, Erie County, PA. There is speculation that Moses Brown, needing the help of a strong lad to help carry out the farm work, sought out a strong, healthy boy at the poor farm and brought him to Lowville Moses and his wife Mary Brown had seven children, in 1842, but they were still too young to contribute to the labour of the farm at this point. This could account for William being in Lowville eight years after his departure from the Chautauqua Farm. However this is not confirmed and it may be that by the age of eleven William Simons left on his own to seek work. (In The History of the Big Bend Country p. 310 under an article on William Franklin Simons, in reference to our subject William Simons it states "the father moved to Pennsylvania when a young man.")

            On November 17, 1850 William Simons married Eliza Jane Brown, eldest daughter of Moses and Mary Wilson Brown, in a wedding officiated by Jas. Wilson, esquire.   William and Eliza Jane continued to live in Lowville and raise their family, probably working on the Brown family farm, even after Moses’ death in 1861.

            In 1864, three years after the death of Moses Brown, and one year after the death of the last male heir who might have continue to farm the land, William Simons bought the Brown estate from the remaining heirs. It is not known when Mary Brown, Moses' wife, died, since the date is not recorded on her tombstone. Perhaps she had died just prior to William Simons’ purchase of the land. In any case, she is not listed among the grantors of the land for the 1864 sale.

            William and Eliza Jane Simons continued to live just north of Lowville, in Venango Township, Erie County, PA, for six more years. While living in Lowville they had ten children. On April 16, 1870 William and Eliza Jane sold their 74 acres of land in Venango Township for $2000 (approximately $27 an acre) and moved west to Nebraska, where William staked a homestead claim. It was there that their youngest child, Louella, was born. The children of Eliza Jane Brown and William Simons were eleven:

Jonithan Downing Jr., William’s half brother, also homesteaded in Nebraska, close to William in Saline County. Jonithan was killed about a year after he filed on his homestead and so William and his sons, Edwin and Levander, worked the homestead until the requirements had been satisfied. When the Simons attempted to obtain the patent on this land, one of the neighbours objected, resulting in a trial in the Court of Saline County. It is from the records of this trial we learn that Jonithan W. Downing, Jr., and William Simons were half-brothers through their mother, Margaret, and that William’s father was Eli Simons.

William and Eliza Jane remained in Nebraska for approximately thirteen years. During this time, a number of their children grew up and left home. Winfield left as a young man and was not heard from again. George and William Franklin (Frank) ventured to California in 1875 or 1876. The rest of the children, Edwin, Harriet, Emma, Van, Fred and Peter and Luella, all moved out west with their parents in approximately 1883.⁹

George Simons

family

Frank Simons

family

Harriet Simons Galivan

family

Levander Simons

family

Peter Simons

family

By 1883, George and Frank had moved from California to the Brents area of Lincoln County, WA (what is today known as Creston) and had invited their parents to do the same. And so William and Eliza Jane sold their land in Nebraska and ventured west with their children. Since William had taken out a homestead in Nebraska, he was not eligible to do so again in Washington Territory. And so, Eliza Jane applied and was granted homestead rights on land located on the edge of the canyon north of the town of Creston and not far from the homesteads of their sons George and Frank. William and Eliza Jane continued to live and work on the land for over two decades.

Edwin acquired a quarter section of land adjacent to the property of his brother George. He was never married. He was shot in the head by one of the neighbour boys [Bill Jump] while he was forking hay down from the loft in the barn. He was later committed to Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake where he died in 1918 at the age of 62.

Four Generations (clockwise)

William Simons,

granddaughter Olive Simons Thornberg,

son George Simons,

great-granddaughter Myrtle

George had married Elizabeth Jeannette Apperson in California and they moved to Washington to raise their family. Frank travelled with George to California and then Washington, where he married Mary Jump Spencer. Harriet married Henry Galivan and had five children: Thomas (1881), Francis (April 28, 1883), twins Charles and Annie (March 9, 1885), and Barbara (April 31, 1887). Emma married Henry Daley. They had eight children: David (1881), Luella (1883), Albert (1885), Rubin (1886), Henry (1889), Ellen (1891), Nelly (1894), and Annie (1896). Levander acquired a farm in the area and married Mary B. Swank on November 26, 1897. They had two children: Leona (1892) and Myrtle B. (1899). The couple then divorced and Levander married Percilla Addie Prayther on November 6, 1901. Their children included Curtis, Eugene (1902), Melvin (1905), Nola (1908), Lucile (1913), Nettie (1918), and Floyd (1923). Fredy also acquired land in the area. He committed suicide by hanging himself in the barn on Christmas Eve of 1914. He had been planning to spend Christmas with brother Frank and his family and had even purchased presents for his nephews and nieces. There was no apparent reason for this rash act but there is speculation that he may have been suffering from an acute migraine headache which he frequently had. Fredy was never married. Peter and his wife Emma also acquired land in the area. They had seven children: Fred and another boy just a little younger, Anna Mae, Harley, Leo, Dorothy and Betty. Louella married Robert Grinstead, a neighbouring farmer, and together they had Aurora and William F. Their farm was next to the Mountainview school and so school children would collect water daily from the Grinstead home to supply water for the school.

William Simons died on May 24, 1906 at 75 years of age. "A pioneer of this county, [he] ... committed suicide Thursday by hanging himself at his home, where had had lived since coming to the state about 23 years ago. No reason could be given for the rash act, as his health had been very good and he had taken unusual interest in things about the farm this spring. He leaves a wife and nine children, all but one residing in the immediate vicinity of his home. Besides the above, he leaves 41 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. The funeral was held at the house on Friday and a large concourse of relatives and friends accompanied the remains to the Sherman cemetery where he was laid to rest. Reverend Woods of Creston conducted the service."¹⁰

Eliza Jane continued to live on the farm until just a few years before her own death. She had moved to Opportunity where her two youngest children, Peter and Louella, had both retired.

"A former resident and pioneer of the Creston community, Mrs. William Simons, passed away at Spokane on January 3, 1914.... She was married at her childhood home to William Simons, November 17, 1850. In the early eighties they settled on their homestead near Creston where she lived until a few years ago, moving from there to Opportunity. Mrs. Simons was the mother of eleven children, eight of whom are still living. Besides the eight children still living there are 47 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. The remains were brought to Sherman for burial. Funeral services were held the 5th [of January].

"The life of Mrs. Simons was one of devout faith in God and His word, of which she was a faithful student. That abundant faith in her maker, together with her husband’s cooperation, enabled her to raise her large family to be honest, upright children. Her simple faith is the greatest gift she could leave her loved ones. The mother, in her office, holds the key of the soul; and she it is who stamps the coin of character, and makes the being who would be a savage, but for her gentle care, a Christian man. They crown her queen of the world. Those of her children who were able to attend the funeral were: Mrs. Grinstead, of Opportunity, Mrs. Daly of Creston, her son Peter of Opportunity, and Frank and Fred of Creston."¹¹She is buried alongside her husband in the Sherman Cemetery, WA.

William Simons

Born Dec. 24, 1830 - Died May 1903

Eliza J. Brown

Born Oct. 19, 1830 - Died Jan. 3, 1914

Remember man as you pass by

As you are now, so once was I

As I am now, so must you be

Prepare for death and follow me.

¹ Records from the Chautauqua County Poor Farm admissions book indicate William's date of birth to be January 21, 1830. This does not match, however, with his tombstone. It is the latter that we are choosing to follow.

³ Admissions Book, Chautauqua County, NY Poor Farm, 1835 (November 10), page 28.

⁷ Admissions Book, Chautauqua County, NY Poor Farm, 1843 (August 27), page 127.

⁸ Admissions Book, Chautauqua County, NY Poor Farm, 1842 (April 26), page 107.