Clan William: Sarah Jane Vaughn Simmons Family

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson >  Henrietta Munson > Sara Jane Vaughn m Joel Simmons

My 3rd great grandfather Amos Munson's sister Henrietta Munson Vaughn, can be read about here.

The Vaughn's had a total of 13 children, not all surviving until adulthood. Daughter Sarah Jane was born 28 Dec 1840 in Trumbull County, Ohio She married Joel Simmons in 1856 after the Vaughn family had removed to Grant County, Wisconsin.

Joel Simmons was born in Pennsylvania, but was raised in his formative years in Ashtabula, Ohio. His family later removed to Grant County and then, Joel and family moved to Dresden Township in Chickasaw County, where they farmed. In the early morning hours of Feb 12, 1877, Joel died unexpectedly at home, leaving his wife and five children to mourn him. He was only 37 years old.

Mrs Simmons forged on for many years. Jane's last several years were lived at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Alice Sinderson (second wife of William Custer Smith), where she died Jan 19, 1915.

Their children were:

George Craft Simmons, born 20 Sep 1857 in Wisconsin, he moved with his parents to Iowa in 1860. He married Martha R Hinkley in Frederika on 25 Dec 1882. They had five daughters and one son, who died at age 13 of typhoid. George lived intermittently in Waterloo. His wife died in 1932. He died in 1940 in Waterloo.

Clara Jane Simmons was born 06 Sep 1859 in Wisconsin. She married David Nathan Hinkley, 04 Jul 1877, in Chickasaw County. The couple had four children before David's death on 16 Mar 1888. Clara married Nelson B Ross on 08 Nov 1903 in Fredericka. He died 13 May 1917. Clara died in 1946. Two of Clara's sons, William Moon and Roy Robert, both died within six months of one another in 1925, at young ages. Roy was a sales manager for the Iten Biscuit Co. in Oklahoma City when he had a ruptured appendix and died of complications at the age of 41. William died at 38 of complications of the flu, on 10 Mar 1925 in Eagle Grove.

Alice Simmons was born Aug 1862 in Fayette County, Iowa. She married her cousin Mary Ann Munson's widower, William Custer Smith, on 20 Mar 1893. Smith died two years later, the homestead was sold to Smith's children by Alice, and she received $2,040.She returned to Frederika and then married Englishman Arthur J Sinderson on 16 Aug 1898 in Chickasaw County. Arthur was born 01 Nov 1855 in England and died 29 Jan 1935. He was a laborer and lastly worked as a janitor before his retirement. The couple lived in New Hampton during their marriage. Arthur died 29 Jan 1935 and Alice died 05 Dec 1937. She celebrated her 75th birthday with the family in 1936, just months prior to her death. The Sindersons had no children.

On Sunday August 16, the Simmons relatives gathered at the Frederika park to celebrate the 75th birthday of Mrs Alice Sinderson of New Hampton. The weather was ideal and to add to the pleasure of the occasoin the Littel German Band of Hawkeye played all the afternoon. Everyone enjoyed it very much.

Those in attendance were: Mr & Mrs Fred Simmons, Alice Sinderson, Mr & Mrs Guy Hinkley, Eagle Grove; Mr & Mrs Cal Thompson and daughters, Millicent and Mary, Mr & Mrs John Carney and sons, Robert and Max, Mr & Mrs Everett Hartson and daughter Betty, Mr & Mrs Lester Simmons and children, Edith, Eldo, and Ruth; Mr & Mrs Carl Smith, and sons, Max, Bruce, and Roger; Lowell Carney, Waterloo, Mr & Mrs Frank Sherman, daughter Imogene, Mrs Clara Ross, Mr George Simmons, Mr & Mrs Neil Simmons.

Fredericksburg News, Fredericksburg, Iowa
Thursday, August 20, 1936

William Wallace Simmons was born 28 Jan 1863 in Fayette County, Iowa. He married Alice Carpenter on 23 Oct 1889 in Buena Vista. They had one son, Merle Phillip Simmons, Sr., on 03 Jan 1892. A successful businessman, William died suddenly on the streets of Yale, Oklahoma on 19 Jan 1915  where he'd gone on business. He was a resident of Oklahoma City. His wife died 13 Mar 1939 in Oklahoma City.

Fred Simmons was born 13 Dec 1872 in Chickasaw County. He married May Clara Gardner in 1896. They had three children: Lester Ralph, Neil Arthur, and Veva Pearl. The Simmons had farmed for many years and in retirement in May 1936, they moved to Fredericksburg, but then moved back to the farm in Mar 1937. His son Neil had intended to take over the farm, but that didn't work out. Neil and his second wife, Mary, owned a variety of restaurants and bars in the Frederika area. They were both killed in a 1961 auto accident. Fred died in June 1948. May died in 1968.

Downtown Yale in the boom days

Clan William: Mystery Muddle: Who Is Alice Simmons?

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson >
Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson > Amos Munson > Henrietta Munson > Sara Jane Vaughn > Alice Simmons m William Custer Smith 

and...

...Freeman Munson > Amos Musnon > Mary Ann Munson m William Custer Smith 

Sometimes, if you work the brain too hard, it just shuts down. I've been working on trying to figure out who the mysterious Alice Simmons, second wife to William Custer Smith, was and where she came from. Yesterday, I accidentally ran across the solution to this mystery muddle in my very own family tree. Time, and perhaps a couple more county courthouse trips may bear me out.

Read about WC Smith's land here. Read about Amos Munson here (Mary Ann's father). And read about John Lorin Vaughn and Henrietta Munson (sister of Amos) here.

So, nutshelling my solution, it goes down like this: WC Smith's wife, Mary Ann Munson, daughter of Amos Munson and Mary Ann Kearney died in 1888 at the young age of 51. WC married again, but not until 1893 (still seeking marriage license) and he died in 1895. He married Alice Simmons.

Click image to enlarge

 I was unsuccessful in locating any Alice Simmons in Bremer or Butler counties during this time. I'm thinking widow woman with kids based on WC Smith granddaughter Alyce Smith Rasmussen's note. Maybe not so much old widow woman, but young spinster with no other options in front of her.

Amos Munson's sister, Henrietta Munson Vaughn, had a pile of kids and her daughter Sarah Jane married a fellow named Joel Simmons. Joel and Jane married in Grant County, Wisconsin, then Joel up and died at age 37, leaving her with at least five kids. Among those children was Alice A Simmons. They all lived in rural Chickasaw County around that time, near Dresden. Chickasaw, Butler, and Bremer counties all abut one another.

Alice was getting pretty long in the tooth and was single at age 31, which would have been her age at the time of marriage if indeed she was the bride. WC Smith, at that time, would have been 62. Not unheard of - old maid marries older gent.  They were cousins-in-law. And, after WC's death, she sold the farm to his kids and walked away with a nice settlement of $2,040. 

In 1898, THIS Alice Simmons, who is the daughter of Joel and Sarah Jane, is listed in the marriage record of Chickasaw County as Alice Smith. She married Arthur J. Sinderson, an Englishman. They lived in New Hampton for the remainder of their lives and had no children. Score, case solved.

1898 Marriage to Arthur Sinderson; has Alice Simmons Smith listed as name of bride

UPDATE: Written proof of the marriage of Miss Alice Simmons and Mr. William Smith was finally located in this brief item in the Waverly newspaper (a like item was also published in the Waverly Democrat the same day):

Clan William: The Vaughns of Trumbull County

Trumbull County

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson >  Henrietta Munson m John Lorin Vaughn

and...

James VAUGHN m Olive CABLE > John VAUGHN > John Lorin VAUGHN m Henrietta MUNSON

This is in relation to the sister of my 3rd great grandfather, Amos Munson, both children of Freeman Munson.

John Vaughn and his wife Betsey Burr (who is distantly related to Aaron Burr) were descendants of some of the earlier families of Fairfield County, Connecticut that included the Timothy Wheelers, the Andrew Cables, the John Burrs, and the Samuel Wilsons. Little is known about the origins of James Vaughn, John's father.

Olive Cable was married to William Jackson Meeker and had a number of children before his death in 1777. Olive remarried James Vaughn, with whom she had at least five children before his death in Fairfield County, Connecticut in about 1787.

John Vaughn, son of James and Olive, along with several of his half-siblings, sons and daughter of William Meeker and Olive, left for some fertile new farming land in Fowler, Trumbull County, Ohio in 1806:

     This township formerly known as Westfield, contains 16,500 acres.  It was purchased from the Connecticut Land company by Samuel Fowler, of Westfield, Massachusetts, and sold to settlers under his direction.  Titus Brockway was granted power of attorney to dispose of 10,000 acres.  Abner Fowler, brother of the proprietor, in consideration of services rendered in surveying this land, received 100 acres at the center of the township.
     The township was purchased by Mr. Fowler in 1798, for less than fifty cents per acre.
     Only five families settled in the township before 1805.  These were the families of Levi Foote, already mentioned; Lemuel Barnes, who lived one-half mile north of the center; John Morrow, at the center; Hillman Fisher, and Drake, who lived on the ridge.
      In 1806 seven families arrived from Connecticut, having left that State in the fall of the same year.  A month or six weeks later they arrived in New Connecticut.  These emigrants were Elijah Tyrrell and wife, nee Clarissa Meeker, with her brother, Justus, Daniel, Lyman, and William Meeker; John Vaughn and Wakeman Silliman.  They all settled in the southeast of the township in the vicinity of Tyrrell Hill or Tyrrell corners.

History of Trumbull & Mahoning Co., Ohio, Vol. II published by H.A. Williams & Brother, 1882; Trailing Through Tyrrell, 125 years Ago by the Tribune Trailer, & taken from Western Reserve Chronicle, Sept. 25, 1878  

John married Betsey Burr, daughter of  Jesse Burr and Sarah "Sally" Wilson, had their bans of marriage read on 07 Mar 1805 at Trinity Church in Southport, Connecticut. (And, yes, Betsey is distantly related to former US Vice President, Aaron Burr through the immigrant, Jehu Burr)

Once they arrived in Fowler, they all set about cutting roads and building homes in the southwest corner of the township at Tyrrell Hill or Tyrrell Corners (named for Clarissa Meeker's husband Elijah Tyrrell) while their wives and children spent their time at the home of  Joel Hummason in Vienna. One of Joel's relatives later married John's son Miles Munson. Once established, this group was integral in the early development of the town.  The first school was taught in the cabin of Wakeman Silliman. Clarissa's husband Elijah built the largest cabin (a full 18 x 24 - colossal by the day's standard) and produced scythes. Daniel Meeker was one of two men who built the first mill in 1807. Justus was the first miller when the flour mill was built.

John Vaughn and Betsey had at least nine children. Among those children was John Lorin Vaughn. John Lorin married Henrietta Munson, of neighboring Vienna, Trumbull County and daughter of Freeman Munson and Margaret Gregory in 1833.  In 1850, the Vaughns lived in Pierpoint in  Ashtabula County. At that time, they had seven surviving children. Sometime between 1853 and 1856, they moved on to Platteville, Grant County, Wisconsin. Their youngest surviving child, Amos Joel was born in Platteville in 12 Nov 1856. Sons Freeman and Orion remained in Wisconsin and ultimately went to war as volunteers with the Wisconsin 33rd Infantry Regiment beginning in 1862. Read about them here.

John Lorin and Henrietta Munson moved to Fayette County in 1863. And, this would be there home for the remainder of their lifetimes. 

Children of John Lorin Vaughn and Henrietta Munson:

1. Corporal Freeman F Vaughn, born abt 1834, Trumbull County, Ohio; died 26 Aug 1864 at Jefferson Barracks, St Louis, Missouri of injuries received in battle. 

2. Rose Anna Vaughn, born abt 1836, Trumbull County, Ohio; died unkown

3. Corporal Orion Squire Vaughn, born 09 Jan 1838 in Trumbull County, Ohio; died 03 Mar 1920, Winneconne, Winnebago, Wisconsin. 

4. Sarah Jane Vaughn Simmons, born 28 Dec 1840, Trumbull County, Ohio; died 16 May 1920, New Hampton, Chickasaw, Iowa. 

5. Elizabeth A Vaughn, born abt 1841, Trumbull County, Ohio; died between 1912-1920 (there is some indication that she had some type of disability)

6. Arminda, born abt 1846, Trumbull County, Ohio; death unknown

7. James Lester Vaughn, born 03 Jan 1849, Trumbull County, Ohio; died 14 Dec 1918, Randalia, Fayette, Iowa.

8. Frederic Vaughn, abt 1851, Trumbull County, Ohio; died unknown

9. Charlotte Vaughn Fox, born 14 Jan 1853, Trumbull County, Ohio; died 21 Sep 1934, Buchanan, Iowa, USA

10. Amos Joel Vaughn, born 12 Nov 1856, Platteville, Grant, Wisconsin; died Sep 1947, Randalia, Fayette, Iowa.

11-13. Unknown Vaughns who either died as infants or as young children between
census reports (3). 

Note: At the time of Henrietta's death, seven of her children were living. I have information on Orion, Sarah, Elizabeth, James, Charlotte, and Amos being alive, but am unsure who the seventh living child would have been. 

John died on 05 Aug 1887 in Fayette County. Henrietta lived on until 07 Apr 1905 where she died at the home of her son James in Randalia.

The mystery of their burial is most likely solved. The obituary for Henrietta indicates she joined her husband and two of her children at the Lima, Iowa cemetery. According to the sexton for the cemetery, the records indicated that there were six plots bought in the name of Vaughn & Yaste (searches have not located anyone with the Yaste name in the area). The six plots are in line but there are no stones. Sexton believed that there might have been stones at one time, but during that era, stones were often made of limestone and wore down and broke frequently and could have been removed. The cemetery records are full of holes, so there is no actual record of their burials. I believe, however, with strong certainty, that they are buried there.

Lima, Iowa Cemetery. The entire line in front of the bush is Vaughn-owned plots