SIMMONS: Most of the Simmons children lived relatedly normal lives. There was one exception.
Stephen was the most tragic figure among children of John and Catherine. He was baptized in Philadelphia, but probably born in rural Burlington Co., New Jersey. He joined his brother, John Jr., as sales agent for the nearly 5000 acres in Montgomery Co., NY about 1794. [The area where the Simmons brothers settled became New Berlin, Chenango Co., NY]
Stephen served in the military for three years. According to the U.S. Army Register of Enlistments, he was a lieutenant of dragoons from 9 July - 4 Sept.1797. He then served as regimental paymaster in Tennessee until 13 November 1800, when he was arrested and tried at a General Courts Martial in Philadelphia. Stephen was then dismissed from service.
Stephen returned to New Berlin after his Courts Martial where he married Levana Elliot [?] in 1806. They had six children: Catherine, James, David, Ellen, Bathsheba and Lavina.
The family moved to Wayne Co., Michigan in 1825. There Stephen purchased a decrepit tavern in the forest along the main immigrant trail. He also farmed.
In June 1830 Stephen returned from a week-long trip to Detroit [attending a court case involving a contract dispute] and accused Levana of having an affair with a stagecoach driver. He subsequently got drunk and beat his wife to death. Stephen was tried for murder in Detroit and hanged on 24 September 1830. It was the first hanging in Detroit since 1821 and the last. Stephen and Levana were buried on the tavern property in unmarked graves. The children had left the Michigan Territory by 1834.
No comments:
Post a Comment