William Simpson
Contributed by Edith
Martin Young
Great-granddaughter of William Simpson
July 1999
WILLIAM SIMPSON was a
Cpl. in Company E, 9th Tennessee Calvary, Bennett's Regiment, Morgan's Brigade.
William returned home safely. While a member of Morgan's Brigade, he met Marion
Jasper Brizendine. When they returned home, Marion introduced William to his
sister, Emily and they were married on August 3, 1865.
It is believed that
William built a log cabin on his father's property in 1865 and later bought the
land from Aaron Sanford. There are copies of the original deeds for the
purchase of 113 acres in 1869 and 50 acres in 1871 from Aaron Sanford. Later,
20 acres were bought from J. M. Rippy in 1877 and 9 acres from R. I. Beasley in
1906. The cabin still stands today and the exciting news is that Phil and Bev
Pritchard, my daughter and son-in-law, are in the process of purchasing 77
acres of the original property. The cabin is in need of repair, but hopefully,
we will be able to preserve it for a few more years. This was the beginning of
the legacy that has passed down for four generations to the descendants today.
Emily died on May 16,
1868, cause unknown. There was no known record of the place of Emily's burial.
In 1994, a group of Brizendine family members were cleaning the old Brizendine Family Cemetery near Portland,
Tennessee and found the broken marker for Emily. She
had been buried with her parents. A new marker was purchased for Emily.
My grandfather, ROBERT
LEE SIMPSON, was born on September 15, 1866 and was the only child born to
William and Emily.
William was married the
second time to Mary Equals on November 26, 1868. Mary and William had six
children:
Eldon Ira born November 9, 1869 died
in 1941 married Alice Cornwell
Laura Neal born July 9, 1871 died May 11, 1947 married Bill Woodard
Joe E. born May 9, 1873 died Nov. 24, 1946 married Nora Hodges
Alonzo Sanford born Aug. 21, 1874 died October 25, 1940 married Cora Fleming
Elizaberth F. born Feb. 12, 1876 died February 14, 1949 married John Lambert
Emily Callie born May 31, 1879 died October 1906 married Woodson Wallace
Again, after Mary died,
William did not spend much time without a wife. No doubt this was out of
necessity since there were so many children. On March 20, 1881, he married
Leona Alice Doss. To this union were born five children.
James Coleman born May 19, 1882 died
Oct. 16, 1968 married Callie Fleming
Nettie Belle born March 16, 1884 died April 7, 1948 married Cleveland Holmes
Noah born February 28, 1890 died April 1971 married Zela Parker
Martha Elzar (Mattie) born April 25, 1892 died May 30, 1971 married 1) Charlie
Durham 2) Willie Dalton
Eslie Bryan born Dec. 1896 died August 21, 1968 married Myrtle Barber
William was known for his
ability as a carpenter and blacksmith. Charles Ray Durham tells that his
mother, Aunt Mattie Durham, remembered exactly where the blacksmith shop stood
on the property down by the creek. There were rooms at each end of the big
porch that had been added to the front of the house. Aunt Mattie told stories of
sleeping in one of the rooms. Methodist Circuit Riders often used one of the
rooms for overnight lodging. People came for miles around for his services as a
blacksmith.
I have two hickory
bottomed chairs that Grandpa made for my mother, Gertrude Simpson, when she and
Daddy married. Dewey Holmes, a great grandson, remembered that William made all
of the original pews for Mt. Vernon Church. Two of those pews are at Heritage
Acres, my farm home.
Edna Gray Reddick
remembers visiting in the Simpson home as a young girl and sitting on the big
front porch, one of the many additions to the original log cabin. Additions
made to the cabin have long since deteriorated and been torn down. I remember
visiting the O'Neals who owned the property when I was a teenager. At that
time, the kitchen and porch on the back of the house were usable and in good
condition. The cabin still stands, sturdy and determined to speak of an era
long gone. What joy it is to be a part of Phil's and Bev's purchase of the
property that is so meaningful to so many people. Bev is William's great, great
granddaughter.
William died on January
7, 1909 and is buried in the Mt. Vernon Cemetery. He was a long time member of Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church
having joined and was baptized in 1887. He was a most
respected person in the community. Alice died on July 16, 1932 and is buried in Mt. Vernon Cemetery.
