Jennie Elizabeth (Simmons) Keefe (1901 - 1987)

Born 8 Dec 1901 in Barnwell, South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Daughter of Robert Simeon Simmons and Margaret Anne (Crouch) Simmons

Wife of John Owen Keefe — married 21 Dec 1938 in Dillon, Dillon, South Carolina

Descendants

Died 10 Oct 1987 at age 85 in Orangeburg, Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kathleen Parker [send private message]

Biography

Jennie (Simmons) Keefe was born in South Carolina.

Jennie was born on December 10, 1901 in Barnwell County, South Carolina to Robert Simeon Simmons and Margaret Anne Crouch.

Jennie Simmons was living in Black Mountain, NC in 1910 according to the Census of that year. Her father is listed as a merchant in a general store and her brother James, 12, works as a News Boy on the street. When her family moved back to Bamberg in 1912, she began attending Bamberg Graded School and is often mentioned in the paper as being on the honor roll. She graduated in May 1918 and was valedictorian. ^[1]

By the 1920 census, her family is living in Florence where her father is an agent for an insurance company and she as well as her siblings, Wilbur and Mabel, are in college. She graduated from Winthrop College with A.B. in Normal Music. In 1930, the census shows Jennie living as a boarder in a home and teaching in a public school. It is interesting to note that it was illegal for married women to teach in public schools in South Carolina. In December 1938, just a week after her mother passed away, she married John O Keefe in Dillon SC with just the preacher, his wife, and daughter in attendance.^[2] Jennie was supporting her mother before her death through her failing health. Three months later she gave birth to her only daughter. Jennie Simmons passed away in 1987 and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Florence, South Carolina. ^[3]

Jenny Keefe claimed she was taller but she was barely 5 feet tall. She wore a size 5 shoe and she loved shoes! She was very fair but in the 1940s she took medication that turned her skin blue which later became a grey-brown color. She had pretty green eyes and light brown hair. Jenny was a very sweet person who cared deeply for her students and they in turn loved her and kept up with her even after graduation. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ | The Bamberg Herald (Bamberg, South Carolina), 30 May 1918, Thu, Page 8
2. ↑ Marriage: "U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-current"
   The State; Publication Date: 1/ Jan/ 1939; Publication Place: Columbia, South Carolina, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/748595472/?article=2c05ee0c-12ca-4cd1-a23c-51625e30884a&focus=0.4973871,0.9010612,0.614766,0.9796144&xid=3398
   Ancestry Record 62116 #170001822 (accessed 8 December 2022)
   Jennie Simmons marriage to John Owen Keefe on 2 Dec 1939 in Dillon.
3. ↑ Burial: "U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current"
   URL: Find A Grave: Memorial #131874185
   Ancestry Record 60525 #108464914 (accessed 8 December 2022)
   Jennie Elizabeth Keefe burial (died in 1987) in Florence, Florence County, South Carolina, United States of America.
4. ↑ Memories of Elizabeth Keefe Parker, November, 2013.

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLSY-DLM : accessed 5 March 2019), Jennie E Simmons in household of Robert S Simmons, Black Mountain, Buncombe, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 18, sheet 16B, family 12, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1099; FHL microfilm 1,375,112.

• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6ZF-FZB : accessed 5 March 2019), Jennie Simmons in household of Robert S Simmons, Florence, Florence, South Carolina, United States; citing ED 47, sheet 18B, line 90, family 405, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1695; FHL microfilm 1,821,695.

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SPCC-6Y8 : accessed 5 March 2019), Jennie Simmons in household of William P Tennent, Florence, Florence, South Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 14, sheet 25B, line 52, family 579, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2196; FHL microfilm 2,341,930.

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4DQ-TT4 : 16 March 2018), Jennie E Keefe in household of John O Keefe, Ward 4, Florence, Florence Township, Florence, South Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 21-20, sheet 17B, line 79, family 369, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3808.

• 1950 Census: "1950 United States Federal Census"
  United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Florence, Florence, South Carolina; Roll: 5298; Sheet Number: 72; Enumeration District: 21-25
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62308 #43069473 (accessed 8 December 2022)
  Jennie S Kufe (17), wife, Commercial Teacher, in household of John O Kufe (49) in Florence, Florence, South Carolina, USA. Born in South Carolina.

• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JYH8-KMX : 19 May 2014), Jennie S Keefe, 10 Oct 1987; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

• Maternal relationship is confirmed by a 23andMe test match between Kathleen Parker and Beth Howle, second Cousins. Their most-recent common ancestors are Robert Simeon Simmons and Margaret Crouch, the great grandparents of Kathleen Parker and Beth Howle. Predicted relationship from 23andMe: Second Cousins, based on sharing 300 cM across 12 segments.

• Paternal relationship is confirmed by a 23andMe test match between Kathleen Parker and Beth Howle, second Cousins. Their most-recent common ancestors are Robert Simeon Simmons and Margaret Crouch, the great grandparents of Kathleen Parker and Beth Howle. Predicted relationship from 23andMe: Second Cousins, based on sharing 300 cM across 12 segments.