52 Ancestors: #37 Nancy Ann SIMS abt. 1793-bet. 1860-1870

“The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.”

This is entry #37 in Amy Johnson Crow’s Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

#37 Nancy Ann SIMS abt. 1793-bet. 1860-1870

My fourth great-grandmother Nancy Ann SIMS (1793-the 1860s) was the youngest child of James SIMS (1754-1840)  and his first wife Phebe (1755-1794). Their marriage record, which would show Phebe’s maiden name, has not been found. Old family lore, which has not been substantiated, tells of James marrying his cousin. This has led many on a wild goose chase as they only considered that she may have been a SIMS. It is believed that they married before 1777 in Culpeper County, Virginia, as this is where James was known to have been living.

On the 18th day of February 1834, James SIMS personally appeared before the Justice of the Peace of Nicholas County (who happened to be his son William) and gave an oath and made his declaration to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed 7 June 1832 for service rendered during the Revolutionary War. In the statement, he told of his living in Culpeper County in June 1777 when he was drafted.¹

James Sims Revolutionary War papers (ancestry.com accessed 7 Oct 2011)

James SIMS and his wife Phebe had seven children before their youngest, Nancy Ann was born about 1793 in Bath County, Virginia.

◉ Sib 1: Jeremiah SIMS (1777-1824) was born on 24 May 1777 in Culpeper County, Virginia²
◉ Sib 2: Martin SIMS (1783-1853) was born about 1779 in Culpeper County, Virginia³
◉ Sib 3: William SIMS (1780-1854) was born on 6 November 1780 in Culpeper County, Virginia⁴
◉ Sib 4: Elizabeth SIMS (1782-1845) was born in 1782 in Culpeper County, Virginia⁵
◉ Sib 5: Edward “Ned” SIMS (1785-1852) was born on 7 June 1785 in Virginia⁶
◉ Sib 6: John SIMS (1787-1869) was born on 15 May 1787 in Virginia⁷
◉ Sib 7: Mary “Polly” SIMS (1788-1824) was born between 1788-1792 in Virginia⁸

On 17 December 1779, James and Phebe sold 118 acres of land in Bromfield parish, in the Great Fork of the Rappahannock River in Culpeper County, Virginia.⁹ The land had been acquired on 30 October 1762 by Jeremiah SIMS and left to his only child James.¹⁰,¹¹ It is not known if James and Phebe left Culpeper immediately for the area which would become Bath County, in 1790, where their youngest was born, or if they lived in different locations between 1780 and 1793.¹²

Baby Nancy Ann’s Mother Phebe Dies in a Tragic Accident

Nancy Ann’s mother Phebe died shortly before 22 January 1794 in Clifton Forge, Bath County, Virginia. Nancy Ann, who was seen as 66 years old in the 1860 census, was born in 1794 or earlier. It is more likely that she was born in 1793 and not during the early part of January 1794. Family tradition is that James’ wife was coming home from caring for a sick friend, fell from her horse, and drowned in the Jackson River. I cannot imagine the mother of a newly born baby leaving home to visit a sick friend. The story of the drowning has been verified with the coroner’s inquest report dated 22 January 1794, which includes the following statement: “Phebe was accidently drowned occasioned by the horse whereon she rode rearing and plunging and throwing her into the water.” There is no mention of who was traveling with Phebe when this happened.¹³

Coroner’s Inquest Report. photocopy of original courtesy of Rose Mary Sims Rudy (received per email 9 October 2001)

Coroner’s Inquest Report. photocopy of original courtesy of Rose Mary Sims Rudy (received per email 9 October 2001)

Transcript of the Coroner’s Inquest

Phebe Simms
Inquisition Taken
the 22nd of January
1794 Before John
Dean Gent. Coroner

Bath County to wit

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inquisition indented taken [illegible]
[illegible] in the County aforesaid on the twenty second day of January in the
year One thousand seven hundred and ninety four before me John Dean a
Gentleman and of the Coroners of the Commonwealth for the County aforesaid
upon view of the body of Phebe Sims late of said County then and there lying
dead; and upon the Oathes of Robert Armstrong Jr., William Morris, John Scott,
John Bird, Andrew Baurland, Thomas Barber, James Armstrong, Robert
McClintic, William McClintic, John Somwalt, Paul Harpole and
Adam Kimberlan, good and lawful men of the County aforesaid, who being
Jurors and charged to inquire on the part of the Commonwealth, when where how and
after what manner the said Phebe Sims came to her death, do say upon their
Oathes, that the said Phebe was accidently drowned occasioned by the horse
whereon she rode Rearing and plunging and throwing her into the water.
The witness whereof as well the aforesaid Coroner as the Jurors aforesaid
have in this Inquisition put their Seals on the day and year aforesaid
and at the place aforesaid.
John Dean                Robt. Armstrong
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Morris
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Scott
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Bird
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andr. Baurland
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Barber
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jas. Armstrong
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert McClintic
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William McClintic
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Johannes Zumqualt
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paul Harpole
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adam Kimberlan

Nancy Ann’s Brother Jeremiah is Accused of Causing Phebe’s Death

This was not the last that would be heard of Phebe’s death. Her oldest son Jeremiah SIMS was accused by John SCOTT of causing his mother’s death. His father James defended him and brought suit against Scott demanding damages of 100 pounds.¹⁴

Sir Please to Issue a Writ vs John Scott for saying my son
was the Dam son of a Bitch that Drowned his Mother
Col. C. Cameron                                              Jas. Sims

A Stepmother for Nancy Ann

James SIMS married Elizabeth COTTON on 25 October 1796 in Bath County, Virginia.¹⁵ During the first 4 or 5 years of their marriage, they did not have any known children. James was making plans to move to Kanawha County where, in 1800, he bought land “lying & being in the County of Kanawha Containing one hundred & twenty three acres on Gauley River above the Ferry.”¹⁶ This would later be the location of Swiss, Nicholas County, West Virginia, where all of the children of the second marriage were born.

◉ Half-Sib 1: James SIMS (1801-1860) was born about 1801 in Kanawha County
◉ Half-Sib 2: Margaret SIMS (1801-1840) was born between 1801-1804 in Kanawha County
◉ Half-Sib 3: Sarah SIMS (1804-1837) was born between 1804-1806 in Kanawha County
◉ Half-Sib 4: Mildred “Milly” SIMS (1806-1882) was born about 1806 in Kanawha County
◉ Half-Sib 5: Jane L. SIMS (1810-1880) was born about 1810 in Kanawha County
◉ Half-Sib 6: Charles SIMS (1815-1891) was born on 13 August 1815 in Kanawha County¹⁷
◉ Half-Sib 7: Dryden SIMS (1818-1880) was born about 1818 in Kanawha County
◉ Half-Sib 8: George Washington “Wash” SIMS (1821-1880) was born about 1821 in Nicholas County

Nancy Ann’s Siblings Marry Within Eight Years of Each Other

When Nancy Ann’s father James and her stepmother Elizabeth were beginning to have children, her older siblings were marrying:

◉ Martin SIMS married Susannah JOHNSON (1784-1840) on 28 March 1800 in Greenbrier County, (West) Virginia¹⁸
◉ Jeremiah SIMS married Sarah MILHOLLEN (1777-1838) on 26 November 1800 in Bath County, Virginia¹⁹. Jeremiah had not made the move with the rest of the family and would later move to Ohio.
◉ Elizabeth SIMS married John JOHNSON (1777-1861) on 2 June 1802 in Kanawha County, (West) Virginia.²⁰
◉ Edward “Ned” SIMS married Hannah Mary ROBINSON (1786-1858) on 8 August 1805 in Urbana, Champaign County, Ohio. ²¹
◉ William SIMS married Elizabeth WINDSOR (1784-1852), daughter of Jonathan Windsor, before 1805 in Kanawha County, (West) Virginia.²²
◉ Mary “Polly” SIMS married John FOWLER ( -1808) on 13 January 1808 or 28 February 1808 in Kanawha County, (West) Virginia (conflicting dates?).²³,²⁴ She was widowed during the year and then married Thomas HUGHES (1778-1853) on 25 August 1809 in Kanawha County, (West) Virginia.²⁵

By the time the enumerator came around visiting the families all of Nancy Ann’s siblings, except for John, were married. Her father James did not have a young lady of her age in his household. I’ve studied all of her siblings’ census listings and only her brother William, the oldest of James’ children living in the area, had a female of the correct age group.²⁶

1810 U.S. Federal Census > Virginia > Kanawha (ancestry.com)

1810 U.S. Federal Census
Kanawha County, (West) Virginia
Kanawha
Simms, William
Free White Persons – Males – Under 10: 2 (sons, William Jr. and Jeremiah)
Free White Persons – Males – 26 thru 44: 1 (William)
Free White Persons – Females – Under 10: 1 (daughter Nancy)
Free White Persons – Females – 10 thru 15: 1 (sister Nancy Ann)
Free White Persons – Females – 16 thru 25: 1 (Elizabeth)
Number of Household Members Under 16: 4
Number of Household Members Over 25: 1
Number of Household Members: 6

Nancy Ann’s absence in her father’s household lead earlier researchers to assume she married in 1810. This was not the case. Before she would marry it was her brother John’s turn. John SIMS and Mildred HUNTER (1790-1850) were married by Edw. R. HUGHES on 13 April 1811 in Kanawha County, (West) Virginia.²⁷

Nancy Ann Marries at about 21 Years of Age

Close to the end of the War of 1812 (18 Jun 1812-24 Dec 1814), Nancy Ann SIMS married William JOHNSON Jr. in Kanawha County, (West) Virginia, on 15 October 1814.²⁸  They soon started a family and by 1839 had eleven children:

◉  1. Nelson JOHNSON (1815-1855) was born about 1815
◉  2. Huldah JOHNSON (1817-1880) was born about 1817
◉  3. Alexander JOHNSON (1819-1887) was born on 10 June 1819²⁹
◉  4. Mary JOHNSON (1820-1898) was born on 20 August 1820³⁰
◉ 5. John B. JOHNSON (1823-1902) was born on 23 December 1823³¹
◉ 6. Amy JOHNSON (1825-1904) was born on 4 November 1825³²
◉ 7. Lewis JOHNSON (1828-1845) was born on 6 March 1828.³³ He died 31 August 1845 of typhoid fever.³⁴
◉ 8. Elizabeth JOHNSON (1829-1833) was born about 1829. She died at the age of 4 years of flux.
◉ 9. William Hunter JOHNSON (1832-1899) was born on 27 July 1832³⁵
◉ 10. Nancy JOHNSON (1835-1915) was born in August 1835³⁶
◉ 11. Morris Houston JOHNSON (1839-1845) was born on 21 January 1839. He died 11 August 1845 of typhoid fever.³⁷

In 1824, Nancy Ann lost two of her siblings. Her oldest brother Jeremiah, who had gone to Ohio soon after his marriage, died on 12 January 1824 in German Township, Clark County, Ohio. He was buried in Callison Cemetery in that township.³⁸ Her youngest sister Polly, who had married Thomas HUGHES, died leaving 4 young children. It is very likely that she died in childbirth as her youngest was born about the time that she died.³⁹

After their tenth child Nancy’s birth in August 1835, named after her mother, William and Nancy Ann’s children began to marry. At the time they had only nine living children as four-year-old Elizabeth had died of flux about 1833.

◉  Nelson JOHNSON married Elizabeth HUGHES (1817-1900) on 14 September 1837 in Fayette County, (West) Virginia⁴⁰
◉  Mary JOHNSON married David Alexander MILLER (1820-1871) on 13 December 1839 in Fayette County, (West) Virginia⁴¹
◉  Huldah JOHNSON married Robert INGRAM (1819-1902) about 1841 in Fayette County (West) Virginia⁴²

Another marriage that took place around this time was that of Nancy Ann’s brother Martin who was recently widowed. Martin SIMS married Margaret “Peggy” HUGHES (1801- ) on 6 June 1840 in Fayette County, (West) Virginia.⁴³

Typhoid Fever Epidemic in 1845

Nancy Ann’s sister Elizabeth, wife of John JOHNSON, died 1 June 1845 in Fayette County, (West) Virginia. She has a marker at Johnson Cemetery in Kincaid.⁴⁴ Their father James SIMS died between 12 August 1845 and 10 March 1846 in Swiss, Nicholas County, (West) Virginia.⁴⁵,⁴⁶

A typhoid fever epidemic is said to have been raging in 1845. This infectious, often fatal, febrile disease caused by the typhoid bacillus which is usually introduced with food or drink came to plague the JOHNSON family. The disease usually seen in the summer months, and characterized by intestinal inflammation and ulceration, quickly took two of Nancy Ann’s youngest boys. Morris Houston died on 11 August and Lewis followed him 20 days later on 31 August.⁴⁷

Nancy Ann’s husband William JOHNSON died on 18 December 1845 in Loup Creek, Fayette County, (West) Virginia. He was buried in Nichols Cemetery on Loop Creek, also seen as Nichols Hollow Cemetery, Robson.⁴⁸

Following these deaths, the family moved on and there were several more marriages:

◉  John B. JOHNSON married Mary Ann SETTLE (1821-1896) on 14 July 1846 in Fayette County, (West) Virginia⁴⁹
◉  Amy JOHNSON married Charles McClung HUFFMAN (1826-1913) in 1849 in Kanawha County, (West) Virginia⁵⁰
◉  Alexander JOHNSON married Isabella HUGHES (1827- ) before June 1849. He was living in Fayette County at the time of the 1850 census with his wife Isabella and their daughter Lucinda.⁵¹

Nancy Ann Moves to Sissonville with her Single Children

The 1850 census was enumerated as of 1 June 1850. Nancy Ann, her son William Hunter and her daughter Nancy were missed on this census. Family tradition is that they moved about 1849 from Nancy Ann’s farm in Fayette County to Grapevine in Kanawha County after the death of Nancy Ann’s husband and their father. Nancy Ann’s oldest son Nelson, a cabinet maker, had moved to Madison County, Missouri, before the 1850 census but would return to Kanawha County where he died in 1855.⁵²

Once Nancy Ann was settled in Kanawha County the last of her children married:

◉  Nancy JOHNSON married William B. MARTIN (1831-1920) on 7 September 1853 in  Kanawha County, (West) Virginia. Nancy’s brother William proved the mother’s consent on oath.⁵³
◉  William Hunter JOHNSON married Louisa Lavinia SAMUELS (1839-1884)  on 26 October 1856 in Sissonville, Kanawha County, (West) Virginia⁵⁴

Nancy Ann’s brother John SIMS, whose wife had died after the 1850 census was enumerated, married(2) Elizabeth NEAL, a widow, (1794-1861) in Sept/Oct 1850 in Kanawha County, (West) Virginia.⁵⁵

In the years that followed Nancy Ann lost three more of her siblings: Edward “Ned” SIMS died on 31 March 1852 in Cass County, Missouri, and was buried in Orient Cemetery in Harrisonville;⁵⁶ Martin SIMS died after 1 September 1853;⁵⁷ and William SIMS died on 15 October 1854 in Nicholas County, (West) Virginia.⁵⁸ Only Nancy Ann and her brother John remained.

Nancy Ann lived with her youngest living son, William Hunter JOHNSON, and was seen in his household in 1860. Next door was her son Alexander and a few households away was her daughter Amy HUFFMAN.⁵⁹

1860 U.S. Federal Census > Virginia > Kanawha > Sissonville > HH #787 and #788

1860 U.S. Federal Census > Virginia > Kanawha > Sissonville > HH #784

By 1870 we no longer find Nancy Ann SIMS with any of her children. It has been said that she died in the 1860s in the Poca District, Kanawha County, West Virginia.⁶⁰ She may have predeceased her last living sibling, John SIMS who died on 15 October 1869 in Kanawha County, West Virginia.⁶¹

Nancy Ann (SIMS) JOHNSON was survived by her children Huldah INGRAM, Alexander JOHNSON, Mary MILLER, William Hunter JOHNSON, John B. JOHNSON, Amy HUFFMAN, and Nancy MARTIN. She was also survived by five of her eight half-siblings: Milly SETTLE, Jane DARLINGTON, Charles SIMS, Dryden SIMS, and Wash SIMS.

This Post was Updated on 13 September 2022: Missing source citations were added, images were scaled, and some corrections were made to the text and format.

Concerning the title of this post (14 September 2022): On her marriage record and the 1860 census, my 4th great-grandmother’s name was Nancy Sims and Nancy Johnson. The descendant who submitted the Sissonville A Time to Remember article cited gave her name as Nancy Ann Simms. No record has been found with the middle name Ann.

© 2014–2022, copyright Cathy Meder-Dempsey. All rights reserved.

---

1. “U.S. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900,” index and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1995/), citing original data: Records of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.(NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls), S > Sidway, James- Smith, Daniel > Simrall, Alexander- Sinclear, Samuel > images 217-244 of 1164 > Pension Application File SR19464 for James Sims > images 220-224 > declaration of service (accessed 7 October 2011). ↩
2. Fridley, David, Descendants of James Sims 1754 – c1845 (http://www.fridley.net/fridley/), Family Group Sheet of Jeremiah Sims (https://www.fridley.net/sims/p257.htm#i12813), birth date is calculated from his age at death on his tombstone. “Jeremiah died 19 January 1824 in German Twp, Clark Co, OH, at 46 years of age. His tombstone records his age as 46 yrs., 7 mos., 26 days. His body was interred in Callison Cemetery in German Twp, Clark Co, OH.” (https://web.archive.org/web/20050418113120/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/3458/Townships/German/Callison.htm : accessed 8 September 2022). ↩
3. The Kanawha County personal property tax lists for 1797 to 1800 were missing at the time of filming. In 1801 Martin and his father James (3 tithables) were on the list. Martin was 21 years or older. As he married in 1800 and would have had to be 21 to marry without permission, he was likely born 1778-1779, after Jeremiah and before William. ↩
4. Peggy Nichols (email), Old Simms Cemetery (aka Sims Family Cemetery), Beech Glen, Nicholas County, West Virginia, email from Peggy Nichols to Paul Guttman (deceased) dated 25 June 2001; forwarded by Guttman to Cathy Meder-Dempsey on 25 February 2002. The email includes a list of the graves recorded in the cemetery by Peggy’s sister in June 2001, Gravemarker of William Sims Sr., born 6 Nov 1780, died 15 Oct 1854, Gunsmith. ↩
5. David Fridley, Cemeteries and Gravestones (https://www.fridley.net/cemetery/cemeteries.htm), all photos by David Fridley, unless otherwise noted, Gravemarker (shared) of John B Johnson 1777-1861 and Elizabeth S Johnson 1782-1845 in Johnson Cemetery, Kincaid, Fayette County, West Virginia. (https://www.fridley.net/cemetery/johnsonjb.htm : accessed 15 June 2012). ↩
6. Find A Grave, database and images, (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8468087/edward-sims: accessed 9 September 2022), memorial page for Edward Sims (7 Jun 1785–31 Mar 1852), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8468087, citing Orient Cemetery, Harrisonville, Cass County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Tracie Shrader Smith (contributor 47750453); Originally Created by: HSH (contributor 46595319) on 4 Mar 2004; Photos by Richard Parker (contributor 47021994)added on 27 May 2011. ↩
7. I have had John Sims’ date of birth in my family tree since before 2002 when I wrote the biography of his father James Sims. The source for his being born on 15 May 1787 may be buried in old emails received from a group of Sims researchers who helped gather information for the biography. ↩
8. 1820 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7734/), citing Fourth Census of the United States, 1820 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls, NARA Roll M33_130, image 389, Virginia, Nicholas, page 205A, sheet 153, lin 11, Thomas Hughs ‎(accessed 21 February 2018). The inferred wife of the head of the household was aged 26-44 years and therefore born before 1794. She would have been born between 1787-1793 between John and Nancy. The estimated birth is about 1788-1792. ↩
9. Culpeper County Court, Deed books, 1749-1901 ; index to deeds (grantor and grantee), 1749-1913 ; general indexes to miscellaneous liens, 1922-1960 (database with images), FamilySearch, Microfilm of manuscript and photostat at Culpeper County courthouse, Culpeper, Virginia, Deed books H-I, 1775-1779 > Deed Book H > pages 475-477 > images 260+261 of 623.  Land Deed James Sims to Martin Nalle 118 acres. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSY6-Q32M-V?i=259&cat=415030 : accessed 4 June 2021). ↩
10. Ibid., Deed books D-E, 1762-1769 > Deed Book D, pages 547-550 > images 297-299 of 769. 1762 Land Deed two Elly couples to Jeremiah Sims(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKW-G8P4?i=296&cat=415030 : accessed 4 June 2021). ↩
11. “Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983,” (index and images), Ancestry, citing original data of Virginia County, District, and Probate Courts, Culpeper > General Index to Wills, Vol 1, 1749-1930 > image 488 of 787 > pages 466-467.  (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9085/images/007644387_00488 : accessed 4 February 2018). ↩
12. Personal property tax and land tax lists of Culpeper, Botetourt, and Bath counties need to be checked. ↩
13. Before 1995, Rose Mary Sims Rudy hired Constance Corley Metheney, the professional genealogist who located the coroner’s report. Bath County, Virginia records, Coroner’s Inquest Report. Photocopy of original courtesy of Rose Mary Sims Rudy, a descendant of James SIMS and Elizabeth COTTON through their son James SIMS Jr. (received 9 October 2001). ↩
14. The case in Judgment – Simms vs Scott was located in a file of old law cases for 1795 by Constance Corley Metheney, a professional genealogist. Mrs. Metheney sent photocopies of the original records to Rose Mary Sims Rudy in August 1995. In the cover letter, she wrote, “This does verify that the wife of James Simms had drowned and in this case it seems that John Scott had accused the son, Jeremiah Simms.” This is in reference to previous work Ms. Metheney did for Ms. Rudy, i.e. coroner’s inquest report for the death of Phebe Sims. ↩
15. The marriage bond for James Sims and Elizabeth Cotton was signed 25 October 1796, surety Enock Cotton, and with Benjamin Cotton consenting for his daughter Elizabeth. The witnesses were Enock Cotton and Shadrick Cotton. No minister return was filed. I’m sure I received this information from one of the Sims researchers I was in contact with 20 years ago but failed to include the source. I have not been able to locate the record(s) online. I suspect Rose Mary Sims Rudy may have been the one to get the record using a hired researcher, Constance Corley Metheny, who with Eliza Warwick Wise, authored Bath County Marriage Bonds and Ministers Returns 1791-1853 for the Bath County Historical Society, Inc. in 1978. Contains marriage bonds, consents, and/or ministers’ returns from 1791 to 1853, copied from the records in the Court House of Bath County, Virginia. ↩
16. Kanawha County (West Virginia), County Clerk, Record of deeds, 1790-1946 (images), FamilySearch, (126 microfilm reels of original records at the Kanawha County courthouse, Charleston, West Virginia), Deed books, v. A-B 1790-1804, image 206 of 468, Deed Book A, p 91. 1800 Land Deed John and Frances Jones to James Sims.(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSG6-FSQG-6?i=205&cat=56556 : accessed 6 February 2018). ↩
17.   Paul Guttman, a scan of a photo of the grave marker was received per email on 18 May 2002, grave marker in Simms Memorial Church Cemetery, Swiss, Nicholas County, West Virginia for Charles Sims listing these dates: Aug. 15, 1815–Apr. 26, 1891. ↩
18. Larry Heffner, email dated 10 August 2004 in reply for request of information on the marriage papers of Martin Sims and Susanna Johnson in the archives of the Greenbrier Historical Society ↩
19. Metheny and Wise, Bath County Marriage Bonds and Ministers Returns 1791-1853 (Bath County Historical Society, Inc. 1978). ↩
20. Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, History of Fayette County, West Virginia 1993 (Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, 310 Oyler Avenue, Oak Hill, WV 25901,1993), pg. 33 col. 1. Personal copy bought 2000. This source lists Nicholas County. This may be the present-day Nicholas County area but, at that time, it was likely Kanawha County. ↩
21. “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013,” database with images, FamilySearch, Champaign > Marriage records 1805-1819 vol A > image 14 of 67, page 1, entry 3 (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-91Q2-L7?cc=1614804&wc=Q6SP-7NJ%3A121344901%2C121344902 : accessed 20 February 2018). ↩
22. The estimated year of marriage was calculated using the oldest child’s age (1860 age 55). In a land deed dated 15 July 1820, William Sims’ wife is named Elizabeth. William Sims is referred to as the son-in-law of Jonathan Windsor in the Revolutionary War Pension Application File R11703. He was visited on by District Attorney Washington G. Singleton in 1835 while investigating Windsor’s application. ↩
23. West Virginia Vital Research Records Project (database and images), West Virginia Division of Culture and History citing county records in county courthouses, West Virginia (A collaborative venture between the West Virginia State Archives and the Genealogical Society of Utah to place vital records online via the West Virginia Archives and History Web site accessible at https://archive.wvculture.org/vrr), West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, image 215, Kanawha County marriage records, page 74, entry 3, John Fowler and Mary Sims 13 Jan 1808. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00215.jpg : accessed 9 September 2022). ↩
24. Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, image 75, Kanawha County marriage records, page 9, last line, John Fowler and Mary Sims 28 Feb 1808 married by Edward Hughes. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00075.jpg : accessed 9 September 2022). ↩
25. Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, Kanawha County marriage records, image 215, page 74, line 19, Thomas Hughes and Mary Fowler 25 Aug 1809. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00215.jpg : accessed 11 September 2022). ↩
26. 1810 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7613/), citing Third Census of the United States, 1810 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C. NARA microfilm publication M252, 71 rolls, FHL 0181429, roll 69, image 405, Virginia, Kanawha, Kanawha, page 129, sheet 207A, line 25, William Simms. ↩
27. WVCulture.org, West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, image 215, page 74. line 22, John Sims and Mildred Hunter, 13 Apr 1811. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00215.jpg : accessed 9 September 2022). ↩
28. Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, image 215, Kanawha County, Marriage Records, page 74, line 16, William Johnson and Nancy Sims 15 Oct 1814. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00215.jpg : accessed 20 January 2020). ↩
29. The source of Alexander’s date of birth is unknown. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has the source for the 10 June 1819 date of birth. ↩
30. Luella Loving Lowther (1929-2019), William Johnson Jr.-Nancy Ann Sims Family Group Sheet, supplied by Lowther, Klamath Falls, OR, 2019. This sheet offers only a list of materials used, with no specific documentation for any piece of data. Publications used were checked with the likely source for dates of birth, marriage, and death (that could not be confirmed with other sources) coming from the Family Group Sheet of Johnson supplied by Dreama J. Blevins Stewart (1943-2012). ↩
31. William Sydney Laidley, History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative Citizens, Richmond Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1911; pg. 979, Article on Julian M. Johnson, great-grandson of William Johnson and his wife Amy. (https://archive.org/details/historyofcharles00laid/page/978 : accessed 8 Oct 2015). ↩
32. See Note 30, supra. ↩
33. Ibid. ↩
34. Ibid. ↩
35. Laidley’s History, page 820-821, article on W.S. Bean. (https://archive.org/details/historyofcharles00laid/page/821/mode/1up : accessed 1 September 2022). ↩
36. 1900 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/), citing Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication T623, 1854 rolls, Roll: 1762; FHL microfilm: 1241762; West Virginia, Kanawha County, Mairs, Enumeration District 59, sheet 22B, household 328-329, line 56-58, William B. Martin and wife Nancy (born Aug 1835) (accessed 1 September 2022). ↩
37. See Note 30, supra. ↩
38. Dorene Carse, read by her in July 1997, Callison Cemetery, German Township, Clark County, Ohio, Jeremiah Sims, 19 Jan 1824, aged 46 yrs., 7 mos., 26 days (https://web.archive.org/web/20091020165339/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/3458/Townships/German/Callison.htm : accessed 11 September 2022) ↩
39. WVCulture.org, West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 495643, image 49, Re-Index and Copy of Marriage Record No. 1 Nicholas County, line 11, 24 Feb 1825, Thomas Hughes and Nancy Kincaid, married by Jno. Campbell. (http://images.wvculture.org/495643/00049.jpg : accessed 26 August 2022). Note: Thomas Hughes, the widower of Mary Sims. ↩
40. Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 196, Fayette County Marriages, page 13, 4th entry, Nelson Johnson and Elisabeth Huse married on 14 Sep 1837 by John Johnson. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00196.jpg : accessed 24 April 2022). ↩
41. Sissonville A Time to Remember, The Sissonville Historical Awareness Committee of the Sissonville Village Association, compiled and edited in 1988 (online images scanned by Linda Secco with permission of The Sissonville Historical Awareness Committee at http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvkanawh/Sissonville/index.html), page 108, article on the Miller family (pages 106-109) (http://sites.rootsweb.com/~wvkanawh/Sissonville/hphphp186.jpg : accessed 25 December 2002) ↩
42. No marriage record has been found. Robert and Huldah are both reflected in their father’s 1840 census listing. It can be assumed they married after the enumeration and before the birth of their son Vincent in about 1842. The marriage has been estimated at about 1841. Geraldine Dempsey Workman wrote in 1995, “Robert and Hulda’s marriage record cannot be found since pages are missing from the Marriage book at the courthouse.” The death records of Mary Elizabeth Ingram and Richard Edward Ingram list their mother as Hulda Johnson. ↩
43. WVCulture.org, West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 198, page 17, Martin Sims and Margaret Hughes married 6 June 1840 by E V B__g (illegible). (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00198.jpg : accessed 2 September 2022). ↩
44. The marker for John B. Johnson and his wife Elizabeth Sims was placed by descendants who contributed to the cost. Elizabeth is more likely buried on Laurel Creek in Nicholas County where the family was living at the time of her death. ↩
45. Nicholas County (West Virginia), County Court, Order books, 1844-1928 (images), FamilySearch, (11 microfilm reels of original records at the Nicholas County courthouse, Summersville, West Virginia), DGS 7617649, Film 1639161, Vols. D,E,D 1844-1871, p 41, image 55 of 840. 1845 James Sims exempt from levies on 12 August 1845 (left page, last entry), (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9V1-FJB6?i=54&cat=99534 : accessed 7 February 2018). ↩
46. Ibid., DGS 7617649, Film 1639161, Vols. D,E,D 1844-1871, p 69, image 69 of 840. Letters of administration granted and appraisement order for the estate of James Sims decd at 10 March 1846 court session. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9V1-FJY6?i=68&cat=99534 : accessed 7 February 2018). ↩
47. See Note 30, supra. ↩
48. See Note 30, supra. ↩
49. WVCulture.org, West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 209, Fayette County Marriages, page 39, entries 13 and 26, John B Johnson and Mary Ann Suttle, married 14 July 1846 by M. T. Bibb. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00209.jpg : accessed 3 May 2022). ↩
50. 1850 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8054/), citing Seventh Census of the United States, 1850 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M432, 1009 rolls, Roll: M432_954, image 172; Virginia, Kanawha County, District 29, sheet 84B, lines 29-31, household #1239-1254, Charles Huffman (accessed 11 June 2018). A mark was made in column 10 indicating that the couple was married within the year. No marriage record was found. ↩
51. Ibid., Virginia, Fayette County, District 14, sheet 365B, lines 7-9, household 455-455, Alexander Johnson household (accessed 11 June 2018). The column for married within the year is not marked, therefore they married before June 1849. ↩
52. Ibid., Roll: M432_405; image 491; Missouri, Madison, image 89 of 124, sheet 241A, lines 16-23, HH #462-462, Nelson Johnson (accessed 11 June 2018). ↩
53. WVCulture.org, West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, image 306, Registry of Marriage Licenses, Kanawha County/Record of Marriages Returned, line 95, license 27 Aug 1853, William Martin and Nancy Johnson married 7 Sep 1853 by Warwick Briscoe. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00306.jpg : accessed 3 May 2022). ↩
54. Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, image 343, Registry of Marriage Licenses for Kanawha County, 25 Oct 1856, William H. Johnson and Louisa Lavinia Samuels, line 99. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00343.jpg : accessed 3 May 2022). ↩
55. Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, image 263, Kanawha County minister’s returns, page 171, John Fowler and Elizabeth Lilly married by William Martin, a minister of the Gospel of the Baptist Church. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00263.jpg : accessed 19 May 2018). ↩
56. Find A Grave, database and images, (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8468087/edward-sims: accessed 24 June 2012), memorial page for Edward Sims (7 Jun 1785–31 Mar 1852), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8468087, citing Orient Cemetery, Harrisonville, Cass County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Tracie Shrader Smith (contributor 47750453); Originally Created by: HSH (contributor 46595319) on 4 Mar 2004; Photos by Richard Parker (contributor 47021994) added on 27 May 2011. ↩
57. Virginia Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery (Nicholas County), “Order books, 1818-1860,” browse-only images,  FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1130223?availability=Family%20History%20Library), citing microfilm of original records at the Nicholas County Courthouse in Summersville, West Virginia, Film 1651838, DGS 8219492 > Order book, v. A, 1818-1834 — Order book, v. B, 1834-1849 — Order book, v. C, 1850-1860 > Order Book C, page 129, 1 Sep 1853, Martin Sims vs Elisha Williams (cause dismissed). (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSGX-HB7Q?i=580&cat=1130223 : accessed 13 September 2022). This is at this time the last mention I have found for Martin Sims. ↩
58. Peggy Nichols (email), Old Simms Cemetery (aka Sims Family Cemetery), Beech Glen, Nicholas County, West Virginia, email from Peggy Nichols to Paul Guttman (deceased) dated 25 June 2001; forwarded by Guttman to Cathy Meder-Dempsey on 25 February 2002. The email includes a list of the graves recorded in the cemetery by Peggy’s sister in June 2001, Gravemarker of William Sims Sr., born 6 Nov 1780, died 15 Oct 1854, Gunsmith. ↩
59. 1860 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/), citing Eighth Census of the United States, 1860 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls, Roll: M653_1356, FHL Film 805356, Virginia, Kanawha County, page 113, lines 21-25, household 788-788, William Johnson (accessed 5 June 2018). ↩
60. Sissonville A Time to Remember, “The Burgess & Martin Families of Sissonville,” submitted by Lura C. Robinson Baldwin, page 63. ↩
61. WVCulture.org, West Virginia Deaths, 1804-1999, FHL microfilm 460366, image 58, Kanawha County, Register of Deaths, page 44 (stamped, double-page spread), line 33, John Simms, 15 Oct 1869, Brownstown, age 82, no parents listed, born in Virginia, informant A. G. Walker. (http://images.wvculture.org/460366/00058.jpg : accessed 19 May 2018). ↩