Irene (Simmons) Tupper (abt. 1817 - 1890)

Born about 22 May 1817 in Aylesford, Kings, Nova Scotia [uncertain]

Wife of Benjamin Foster Tupper — married 20 Mar 1836 in St Mary's Church Auburn, Nova Scotia

Descendants

Died 13 Dec 1890 at about age 73 in Nova Scotia [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Hollis Bartlett [send private message] and Marie Chantigny [send private message]

Biography

Irene's birth, marriage and death are given in the Tupper Genealogy by Eleanor Tupper, 1976: She was born May 22, 1817. She married Benjamin Foster Tupper on March 20, 1836 at St. Mary's in Auburn, Nova Scotia. She passed away December 13, 1890. A list of the Tupper children is also found in this reference. No parents are given for Irene. No source is given for the date of birth or death.

In a transcript of the church records (see sources for online transcript), Irene's birth is given as April 17, 1814 and baptism in July, 1818

First option: We originally thought that Irene's parents were Benjamin Simmons, Jr. and Mary Hooper, daughter of Ezekiel and Mary Wilson. ^[1]

A second option for parents would be Benjamin Simmons and Maria (Mary?) Hooper, daughter of Jonathan Hooper and Mary Messenger. This also fits with the written family tradition. (Hooper Genealogy p. 20) Mary Messenger, Maria's mother, was also listed on the family tree, without clearly connecting lines. The following reference has Maria married to Edward Casey on October 3, 1820 at All Saints Anglican, Granville, Annapolis, Nova Scotia: [Maria Hooper Edward Casey] This seems to rule out the second option.

A third option: Alexander Simmons and Mary Hooper.

Wilson in his history of Digby County gives Mary Hooper's husband as Alexander Simmons. In the Hooper Genealogy by Cole and Hooper, her husband is given as ______ Simmons.

Our written tradition gives Benjamin Simmons' parents as Rebecca Harrington and Benjamin Simmons.^[2]. In 1910, according to the federal census, Rebecca Harcourt (Tupper) Downey was living in the same household as Hollis and his parents. It seems reasonable that she would have known and supplied the names of her grandparents.

My parents, Bill Nally and Beck Bartlett Nally, spent a summer in Nova Scotia searching for confirmation of this, but found no evidence either way. So far, I have not been able to confirm that the Simmons who married Mary Hooper is Benjamin, the son of Rebecca Harrington and Benjamin Simmons. There is evidence that Alexander Simmons married this Mary Hooper.

Irene, Daughter of Alexander and Mary (Hooper) Simmons: In fact, there seems to be some evidence in the transcript of the records of St. Mary's Church^[3]. The birth and baptism of Irene, daughter of Alexander and Mary (Hooper) Simmons does not match exactly that of the Irene who married Benjamin Tupper, as described in the Tupper Genealogy. No sources are given for the dates in the Tupper Genealogy. However, this is the only Irene Simmons listed in the church baptism and census records.

The children of Alexander Simmons and his wife Mary are listed as Rebecca, Irene, Benjamin, Alexander, Margaret, Thomas, James Leonard, Ezekiel, John Wilson, Mary Eliza, William Allen. The following may be grandchildren, living with Alexander and Mary Simmons: Wesley Sleep, Henrietta, Eric Sylvestis [or Sylvester?].

Using names of children as a clue to parents and grandparents, an educated guess would be that Mary, the daughter of Ezekiel Hooper and Mary Wilson, had married Alexander Simmons and that Alexander was a son of Benjamin and Rebecca (Harrington) Simmons. Since Benjamin Simmons, Jr. and Alexander Simmons apparently have the same parents, they would be brothers.

The ancestry of both Benjamin Simmons and Rebecca Harrington can be traced to the 1600's.

Nally-4 09:43, 5 June 2015 (EDT) Because the parentage is a guess, I am removing the parents from this profile: Irene's father Alexander Simmons ... Irene's mother Mary Hooper

Sources

1. ↑ Written (about 1910) family tradition, Hooper Genealogy p. 20-21.
2. ↑ The information was written down by Rev. Hollis M. Bartlett on a family tree chart in his handwriting. The chart seems to have been written between 1910 (birth of Bertram Littlefield) and 1913 (his own marriage). Entry by Becky Syphers
3. ↑ See Source: St Mary's Anglican Parish Census

See also:

• Source: St Marys Anglican Parish Baptismal Records Transcrip

• Source: St Mary's Anglican Parish Census

• Source: https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/

• Source: Tupper, Eleanor, Phd. Tupper Genealogy 1578 - 1971, The Reporter Press, Paul K Blanchard, Inc., North Conway, NH 1972

• Source: White, Elizabeth Person, Nova Scotia Settlers from Chatham, Mass. 1750 - 1769, National Genealogical Society Quarterly Vol. 64, June 1974, p 111.

• Source: Wilson, Isaiah, A Geography and History of the County of Digby, Nova Scotia 1900 P354-355

• Source: FamilySearch.org

• Source: Nova Scotia Archives, reference: M.C.1#854 Page 2, 2580, T B Smith Collection

• Source: http://nseaton.org/Eaton/getperson.php?personID=I34114&tree=nseaton

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Hollis Bartlett and Marie Chantigny for creating profiles for Irene Simmons. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Marie and others.

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