Looking for Simmons from Baden, Germany, son Lafayette W born 1832, Ohio

Question

Does anyone have information on SImmons family, migrating from port cities through Ohio before 1832, and into Bartholomew County Indiana in the 1850's?  Lafayette W Simmons ( 1832-1918) ists his father as born in Baden, Germany.

Lafayette married Mary Ellen Chambers, granddaughter of Joseph Chambers, in Bartholomew, Indiana in 1857.  They had sons named John Hamilton, Charles Henry, Ralph Ellsworth, and Banjamin F.. Family lore indicates they were Scots-Irish or Welsh.

Any clues would be McL appreciated

Comments

There are a few resources on emigration from Baden, but one needs to know the location, and also, Since Simmons is not a German name, something indicating what name to look for.

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Thank you.  I'm guessing I will need to search backward from Bartholomew County, Indiana, where Lafayette married Mary Ellen Chambers, or from 1832 in Ohio, where Lafayette was born.

I don't know anything about European History to explain why Baden, Germany would intersect with someone of Scotch-Irish, or Welsh decent.

I am pinning my hopes on information relating the Chambers and Simmons families to each other in Indiana and before.

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There was a letter written to William Chambers about 1925, referenced in his writings in Trails of our Ancestors.  The letter was written by Luella Wolff of LaFontaine, Huntington, Indiana and contained information about the Chambers genealogy, as well as the Gibbs, Carter, and Simmons familiea.

 The history claims that the familie traveled into Canada from New Jersey, and thence into Ohio and Indiana.  Some were involved in the French and Indian wars and the War of 1812..  jUst hoping to reach someone else who is acquainted with this group of immigrants.

Answer 1

The first Union officer who was killed in the Civil War was named Ellsworth, so Lafayette Simmons may have decided to name one of his sons, Ellsworth as did many others in honor of officer Ellsworth. 

Ellsworth Simonds

United States Census, 1910

Name	Ellsworth Simonds
Event Type	Census
Event Date	1910
Event Place	Mt Carmel Ward 4, Wabash, Illinois, United States
Gender	Male
Age	40
Marital Status	Single
Race	White
Race (Original)	White
Relationship to Head of Household	Son
Relationship to Head of Household (Original)	Son
Birth Year (Estimated)	1870
Birthplace	Illinois
Father's Birthplace	Illinois
Mother's Birthplace	New Jersey
Sheet Letter	A
Sheet Number	11

HOUSEHOLD	ROLE	GENDER	AGE	BIRTHPLACE
Mary R Simonds	Head	F	83	New Jersey
Ellsworth Simonds	Son	M	40	Illinois
Lyde Oldham	Niece	F	53	Illinois
Floss L Oldham	Niece	F	13	Illinois

CITING THIS RECORD

"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKF3-C6S : accessed 14 April 2016), Ellsworth Simonds in household of Mary R Simonds, Mt Carmel Ward 4, Wabash, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 179, sheet 11A, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,374,344.

 

Comments

Lafayette had a son, Ralph Ellsworth, b 1863 in Bartholomew, IN..He later moved with the family to Wright County, MO.

The possibility of the German, ‘Simonds’, for “Simmons’, might be helpful.

The only references I have for Lafayette’s childhood  are the family Bible page that says he was born in Montgomery, Ohio; and a document showing he was indentured as a poor boy 1839, in Shelby County, IN.  So sad that there seem to be no records of how he became a ward of the court.

A couple census records show his father was born in Baden, Germany, but family believed they may have been Welsh, or Scots Irish????? Still hope to find a connection between his surname and that of his wife’s family, ‘Chambers.’

Thanks for any leads!

Linda Hutcherson Simmons

Answer 2

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Simmons&GSiman=1&GScid=2170297&GRid=48359330&

Pvt Lafayette W. Simmons

Birth:	Mar. 15, 1832 Ohio, USA
Death:	Jun. 18, 1918 Missouri, USA
19th Indiana Infantry, Company H    Family links:   Spouse:   Mary Ellen Chambers Simmons (1842 - 1916)*    Children:   John Hamilton Simmons (1860 - 1940)*   Charles Henry Simmons (1860 - 1949)*   Ralph Elworth Simmons (1863 - 1943)*   Mary Loretta Simmons Huffman (1866 - 1939)*   *Calculated relationship
Burial: Steele Memorial Cemetery  Hartville Wright County Missouri, USA
Created by: Cindy K. Coffin Record added: Feb 19, 2010  Find A Grave Memorial# 48359330

Comments

Son, Ralph Ellsworth "R. E." Simmons born half way through the Civil War. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-death-of-colonel-ellsworth-878695/?no-ist

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=147987404

Birth:	Aug. 8, 1863 Indiana, USA
Death:	Feb. 21, 1943 Seymour Webster County Missouri, USA
Family links:   Parents:   Lafayette W. Simmons (1832 - 1918)   Mary Ellen Chambers Simmons (1842 - 1916)    Spouses:   Luella Simmons (1866 - 1906)   Blanche Campbell Simmons (1885 - 1969)    Children:   Ray C. Simmons (1889 - 1890)*   Clyde R. Simmons (1891 - 1912)*   Dan Ellsworth Simmons (1911 - 1960)*   Mary Ellen Simmons Helfrecht (1917 - 2014)*    Siblings:   Charles Henry Simmons (1860 - 1949)*   John Hamilton Simmons (1860 - 1940)*   Ralph Elworth Simmons (1863 - 1943)   Mary Loretta Simmons Huffman (1866 - 1939)*   *Calculated relationship
Burial: Seymour Masonic Cemetery  Seymour Webster County Missouri, USA
Created by: Anonamouse Record added: Jun 17, 2015  Find A Grave Memorial# 147987404

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Thank you for the additional information regarding Ralph Ellsworth.  I'm not a good student of history so that was interesting. Perhaps I will find a cousin somewhere who has traced the line of Lafayette.  They must have been a patriotic family.

I know the men were Masons, and also there were some connections later to the oil drilling business, first in  Pennnsylvania, then in Oklahoma.