George Simpson (1837 - 1895)

Born 28 Jan 1837 in Faskine, Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 22 Mar 1895 at age 58 in Arlington, Fayette, Iowa, United States

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Biography

George Simpson was born on January 22, 1837, in Faskine, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the son of George and Jane (Patterson) Simpson, and died on March 22, 1895, in Arlington, Iowa.

George Simpson was a farmer, a grain merchant and a miner.

He immigrated, with his family, to McKeesport, Pennsylvania circa 1851.

In 1853, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked in nearby coal mines, returning to Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. He moved to LaSalle, Illinois circa 1856, dividing his time between Illinois and Pennsylvania, spending the summer in Pennsylvania and the winter in Illinois.

In 1866, George Simpson and his brother David Simpson purchased 160 acres of farmland in Fayette County, Iowa, to which he moved.

In 1867, he became the superintendent of the first mine in Webster County, Iowa, returning to Fayette County.

In 1876, George Simpson moved to McAlester, Indian Territory, where he served as the superintendent of mines for the Choctaw Nation and the Osage Coal Mining Company. He also purchased an interest in a coal mine in Randolph County, Missouri.

He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as well as the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the United Workmen.

George Simpson married Elizabeth Reavley, the daughter of Thomas and Jane (Bennett) Reavley, on January 2, 1857, in LaSalle, Illinois.

He is buried in the Taylorsville Cemetery near Arlington, Iowa.

Sources

• 1841 Scotland Census. Accessed on ancestry.com, January 2022. View Ancestry Record 1004 #495981 (requires subscription).

• 1851 Scotland Census Parish: Bothwell; ED: 14; Page: 28; Line: 14; Roll: CSSCT1851_149; Year: 1851 Accessed on ancestry.com, January 2022. View Ancestry Record 1076 #2510831 (requires subscription).

• "Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q28C-759C: 22 July 2021), George Simpson and Elizabeth Reavely, 02 Jan 1857; citing Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois, United States, county offices, Illinois; FHL microfilm 1,683,307.

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX42-BKG: 18 February 2021), George Simpson, 1860.

• U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865. Accessed on ancestry.com, January 2022. View Ancestry Record 1666 #3496178 (requires subscription).

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDVS-WCH: 28 May 2021), George Simpson, 1870.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD28-PT4: 29 December 2021), George Simpson, Harlan Township, Fayette, Iowa, United States; citing enumeration district 291, sheet 119B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm.

• "From the Mines," Star-Vindicator (McAlester, Oklahoma), May 26, 1877, p. 7.

• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGV1-RDZ4: 1 August 2020), George Simpson; Burial, Arlington, Fayette, Iowa, United States of America, Taylorsville Cemetery; citing record ID 183958375, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

• Portrait and Biographical Album of Fayette County, Iowa (Chicago, Illinois: Lake City Publishing Co.; 1891), p. 417.