Solomon Simmons (1757 - 1825)

Born 1757 in Johnston, North Carolina

Ancestors

Died 1825 at about age 68 in Giles, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Solomon was born after 1757 in Johnston County, Province of North Carolina. This would later be Wake County.

His parents were John Simmons and Dinah Herbert. His father inherited land in Virginia and sold that land in 1738. John Simmons then moved to Craven County, North Carolina.

Johnston County, North Carolina was created out of a portion of Craven County in 1746.

Solomon's father died in 1770 in Johnston County.

Solomon was left the remainder of the family plantation of Walnut Creek by his father's Will in 1770. His mother, Dianah and his older brothers operated the plantation until Solomon came of age. His brother Willis named Solomon as a legatee in his will. Willis died in 1771.

The Revolutionary War

Throughout 1775, North Carolina Whigs organized their resistance to the Crown. Provincial Congresses were called to order. Two months later, on April 12, 1776, the Fourth Provincial Congress passed the Halifax Resolves, officially endorsing independence from Great Britain.

War came to North Carolina in 1775. While the Simmons families were living in Wake County news came to New Bern in May that war erupted in the colonies with the confrontation between the local militia and British troops at Lexington Green in Massachusetts on 14 April 1775.

North Carolina representatives presented the resolves to the Continental Congress on May 27, the same day that Virginia offered a similar resolution.

In early 1776, British authorities planned to exploit the allegiances of thousands of Scottish settlers who lived along the Cape Fear River near Cross Creek (present day Fayetteville). Word was sent to the Loyalists to organize and prepare for a landing of British regulars along the coast. Soon hundreds of Highland Scots were enlisting in Tory regiments in the region and marching towards Wilmington. The Council of Safety acted swiftly to counteract their intentions, and on February 27, 1776,

Patriot troops intercepted and destroyed the Loyalist force at Moore’s Creek Bridge. Among those troops was the Wake County Militia and Lt. Col. Theophilus Hunter.

Solomon's brothers, John and Adam, had been in the North Carolina militia in the 1760s.

By July 4th of 1776 the Continental congress had met in Philadelphia and declared for independence from Great Britain. War raged on in the northern colonies and eventually came to the southern colonies.

No battles were actually fought in Wake County where the Simmons families lived. However Wake County patriots fought in major battles in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The North Carolina militia was also in the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina.

The Wake County Militia was at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.. This was not a victory for the patriots but Cornwallis lost so many men killed and wounded that he had to withdraw.

Solomon was living on the plantation in Wake County during this time. His brother John served in the North Carolina Militia and was wounded at the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina in 1781. Solomon's nephew, William was serving in the militia with his father John. William was also known as Isaac after his uncle Isaac Nutt.

With the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in Virginia in 1782 the war came to a close.

Life after the Revolutionary War

Solomon was married to Mary maiden name unknown before 1785. She died in 1848.

Solomon is on the 1790 census in North Carolina. The census indicates that he had a wife with 4 children. No record of his marriage has been found.

Solomon's mother died in 1790. Solomon was named as a legatee in his mother's will. He received her last 80 acres

The Wake County, North Carolina 1800 census still shows him and his family with 4 children. His sister Mary/Molly was also on the same page of the census.

763 1280 Simmons Solomon 2 1 1 1 . 4 3 . 1 . . 1 . 763 1281 Speight William . 1 . . 1 1 1 1 . 1 . 11 . 763 1282 Smith Lewis 1 . . 1 . 1 . . 1 1 . . . 763 1283 Simmons Molley . . 1 . . . . . 1 . . . .

Solomon received a land grant on 22 Feb 1804. The 1810 census shows no trace of him.

In 1796 Tennessee became a state, the first admitted from territorial status, with Knoxville as its first capital, John Sevier as its first governor, and Gen. Andrew Jackson as its first congressman.

The Tennessee General Assembly created Giles County in 1809 from from the southern portion of Maury County, land once part of North Carolina.

Sometime after 1804 Solomon and his family relocated to Giles County in Tennessee.

He is listed there on the 1820 census. Next to him is his son, Solomon Simmons Jr.

Solomon and Mary had four known children

1. Sarah
2. Solomon Jr.

Sources

• http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/wake/census/1800/pg0746.txt
• https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr26-0049

• North Carolina Probate Records, Johnston County, Will of John Simmons, 1770
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/e/i/M-S-Meinhart/GENE9-0013.html
• "United States Census, 1820," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLR-BSG : accessed 30 July 2019), Solomon Simmons Sr, Pulaski, Giles, Tennessee, United States; citing p. 17, NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 124; FHL microfilm 193,686.