Parish Sims
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Parish Sims (1762 - 1807)

Parish Sims aka Simms
Born in Patrick County, Virginia, British Colonial Americamap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married after 5 Feb 1788 in Virginiamap
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 44 in Sims Settlement, Limestone County, Alabama, USAmap
Profile last modified | Created 17 Jan 2018
This page has been accessed 2,290 times.

Biography

Parish was born in 1762. He is the son of Bartlett Sims and Elizabeth Parrish.

According to Almon Sims's 1965 genealogy of the Sims family

Parish Sims, son of James (Bartlett) Sims, one of the six brothers of Pariss, was born in Patrick County, Va., Feb. 14, 1762. His mother was Elizabeth Parish. The family moved from Patrick County to Hawkins County, Tenn., where his father died in 1793. Both Parish and his father were large land owners, had slaves, and were active in the early development of Hawkins County which in the early days included Claiborne, Hancock and Grainger counties, all in North Carolina territory.
John Sims, believed to be an older brother of Parish, helped to organize Grainger County out of part of Hawkins and was a member of the first County Court. He is believed to have lived and died in Grainger, where he had a large family; descendants now live in several East Tennessee counties. Other old established Sims families in the area are believed to be descendants of James Sims, a distant relative and an early settler in Blount County, Tenn.
In 1807, Parish Sims, with his wife Grizel (Kessiah) and their children, his widowed mother and most of his brothers and sisters, emigrated to what today is Limestone County, Ala. There they made what was known for years as Sims Settlement on Elk River, just South of the present town of Prospect in Giles County, Tenn. An early history of Giles County, by James McCullam, says:
James Ford with a number of others, including James, William and Parish Sims, Thomas Dodd, Simon Foy and Thomas Kyle, with their families started from Hawkins County in East Tennessee in the Spring of 1807 with four boats. When the boats had ascended Elk River about opposite Sims Settlement, three of the boats with the Simses, Kyles and others concluded to stop there, and settled what was long known as Sims Settlement, in Limestone County, Ala . . . .'
A history of Limestone County says they came down the Tennessee River, up Elk River to Brush Island where the first cabins were erected by the Sims brothers on Oct. 3, 1807--'the first settlement in what is now known as Limestone County.'
The 'old ones' in our family knew about this settlement; said they were relatives. Parish Sims made his will, Nov. 26, 1807 and died within a few months. His will, recorded in 1812, in nearby Lincoln County (later destroyed by fire, along with other county records) read in part as follows:
In the name of God, I, Parrish Simes (Sims) of the State of Georgia and West of the Indian lands . . . . give to my beloved wife, Grizel, all of my estate for the sole purpose of supporting and raising my children during her lifetime . . and in the case of her marriage or death, leave my estate to be equally divided among my children . . . . I appoint my beloved wife, Grizel Simes, William Sims (a brother) and Benjamin Murrell, my executors.'
In a short time, the new settlers found themselves in trouble with the Indians and the U. S. Government which claimed they were on land West of the North-South Indian Territory line which had been established in 1805. They were ordered to move off the land and in 1810 they sent a petition, recorded in Vol. 4, "Mississippi Territory Papers," to President James Madison. It reads in part as follows:
Mississippi Territory, Elk River, Simms'es Settlement September 5, 1810
To his Excellency James Madison, President of the United States of America and the Honorable Congress assembled:
We your petitioners humbly sheweth that a great many of your fellow citizens have unfortunately settled on what is now called Chickasaw land which has led us into difficulties that tongue cannot express if orders from the War Department are executed in removing us off of said land . . . . We understood all the land on the North side of the Tennessee River was purchased of the Indians and by paying two dollars per acre we could obtain title to our lands . . . . A great many of us solde our possessions and came here . . . we remained in a peaceful situation until in the Fall of 1807, when General Robertson came, running the Chickasaw boundary line and informed us that although the Cherokees had sold this land, the Chickasaws held claim to it. We think the Cherokees had the best right to the land. Therefore, your humble petitioners wish you to take our situation into consideration . . . . if we are moved off we cannot take our produce with us and a great many, not in circumstances to purchase more, will in consequence of this be brought into a deplorable situation . . . .'
The above petition was signed by 421 men and 20 widows. William Sims, a brother of Parish, was the first signer. James Sims, his brother, was the second signer, and, among the 20 widows signing were Grizell Sims, widow of Parish, and Elizabeth Sims, his mother.
We have no record of the outcome but we do know that Grizell Sims, referred to in some records as Kesiah Sims, later married Judge William Cocke, who came there from Hawkins County, and with most of her children, moved to Mississippi. It is thought that her maiden name was Kessiah, a family name in North Carolina and Virginia. Both she and Judge Cocks are buried in Friendship Cemetery in Columbus, Miss., where she died in 1820.
Children of Parish and Grizell Sims were: Elizabeth, Abraham, Lucinda, Bartlett, William, John, Martin, James, Matthew and Mary.
Bartlett Sims was commissioned as the first sheriff of Monroe County, Miss., in April 1821. He is the ancestor of Ruth Estella Haley Brown (Mrs. Gilbert Brown, Baton Rouge, La.), who supplied me with a record of her family, back to Parish Sims.
James Sims married Harriet Smith, a daughter of Rev. John Smith, a missionary to the Indians at Elliott Station in North Mississippi. They had a daughter, Sophia Antionetta Sims who married John Thomas Watkins. They were the grandparents of John Thomas Watkins who married Kathryne Goza. They live in Hammond, La. I am indebted to Mrs. Watkins for information on her husband's line of the family.
Martin Sims was a minister, a school teacher and an interpreter for the Government and the Mayhew Mission to the Choctaw Indians.
William and James Sims, brothers of Parish, helped to establish Sims Settlement in Alabama. Molly, a sister married Benjamin Murrell. Charlotte, another sister, married Simon Foy and another sister, name unknown, married John Maples. Murrell, Foy and Maples were members of the Settlement party. "[1]

Name: Parish Sims. [2] [3] Born 14 FEB 1768. Halifax, Patrick, Virginia, United States. [2] [3] Died 1808 Sims Settlement, Limestone, Alabama, USA. [2]

Sources

  1. Sims Family: Chapter 18, page 133
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Source: #S111 Birth year: 1762; Birth city: Patrick Co; Birth state: VA. Birth date: 14 February 1762 Birth place: Patrick Co, VA Death date: 1807 Death place: Limestone Co, AL Link: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=genepool&h=2350443&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
  3. 3.0 3.1 Source: #S46 Birth date: 14 February 1762 Birth place: Patrick, VA, USA Link: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=genepoolb&h=4103922&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
  • "Sims Family" Sims, Almon J. "The Pariss Sims Family and Related Families, 1765-1965". Knoxville, TN: Sims, 1965. online at FamilySearch: [1] accessed 31 Dec 2019. link is for book, have to manually enter page number

1. Sims, Almon. The Pariss Sims Family and Related Families 1765-1965. Chapter Eighteen: "Brothers of Pariss Sims and Their Families." [2] This link inactive when accessed 29 Dec 2019

  • Source: S111 Edmund West, comp. Family Data Collection - Individual Records Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2000;
  • Source: S46 Edmund West, comp. Family Data Collection - Births Publication: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2001;




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Parish by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Parish:

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Comments: 13

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Given the alleged birth location of this Parish Sims [Pittsylvania in 1762], I may have found a patent granted to this Parish Sims, called an heir of James Sims, Deceased, dated 28 Dec 1792 for 47 acres of land lying in Henry County by survey dated 15 Dec 1780 [Patrick County divided from western Henry County in 1790] which may be helpful by bringing into question the death date/place of his father. https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01LVA_INST/altrmk/alma990008212340205756
posted by Honi Kleine
I think we should drop Kezziah (however spelled) from the name of the wife of Parish Sims of the Sims Settlement. Let's just call her Grizel Sims or later Grizel Cocke. Confusion follows as son as you link Keziah to her name. That's Parrish's wife. Is there really a document from 1809 that has Keziah on her name?
posted by Hershel Parker
Hi, Hershel, and thanks for your comments on this profile. Agreed that there's confusion aplenty and enough in this generation of the Sims family. The relevant passages from Almon Sims's cited above suggest there *are* records that use Kessiah for Grizel some times, but I confess I took Almon at his word and reproduced that declaration in the profile without further research. I'd like to review Almon's notes and sources from his book (I have an electronic copy) to see if I can locate any further corroboration before we consider deleting that name in this line. That said, Parish is only a cousin for me whereas the other two profile managers, Patty and David, are direct descendants, and I'll certainly defer to their thoughts on this matter.

(BTW, Hershel, thanks for your considerable scholarly work on Herman Melville!)

posted by Mark Todd
Hershel, see my previous post re: this thread.

The relevant full quote from Almon Sims's book, page 134, is as follows: "Grizell Sims, referred to in some records as Kesiah Sims, later married Judge William Cocke, who came there from Hawkins County, and with most of her children, moved to Mississippi. It is thought that her maiden name was Kessiah, a family name in North Carolina and Virginia. Both she and Judge Cocke are buried in Friendship Cemetery in Columbus, Miss., where she died in 1820."

The Bibliography for his sources is not specifically referenced in the text: "The information in this history has been compiled chiefly from the following sources:

Family Bible and Census Records.

Old Letters on Family History by grandsons and great grandsons of Pariss Sims.

Family Lore, handed from generation to generation.

Early Histories of Pioneers in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Records of the North Carolina Department of History and Archives.

"Lost Tribes of North Carolina" by Worth S. Ray.

Records of the Tennessee Historical Library. "Early History of Giles County, Tenn.," by James McCullum.

"Sims Family History" by Clifford S. Sims, Jr.

Genealogical and Census Records, Library of Congress, Washington.

The Compendium of American Genealogy— Virkus.

Histories of England, Scotland and Ireland."

posted by Mark Todd
edited by Mark Todd
No worries, David. I've done this several times myself. :)

Done!

Cheers, Mark

posted by Mark Todd
Sims-6918 and Sims-5124 appear to represent the same person because: Didn't show Parish as a potential when i added him. Now i know to look deeper. Thought that the suggested matches was robust.
posted by David Grawrock
Welcome to WikiTree were anyone can add the same person anytime they want to.
posted on Sims-6918 (merged) by James Sims
James, i carefully reviewed the suggested matches when i added him. Yours didn't appear. Place mismatch maybe, but i certainly don't want to get lots of extras here on WikiTree. I've already initiated a request for a merge.
posted on Sims-6918 (merged) by David Grawrock
Hi, Patty. I think your DNA evidence is overwhelming, and I've added a note at the bottom of the bio for [Sims-3961 that reflects your findings, so other genealogists and researchers are aware of your work.

Update 24 Dec 2019: Patty, since our relation is at best once removed and then at least seven or eight generations distant, I'd expect shared DNA between descendants or this profile and that of [Sims-3961 to be a fraction of one percent. Using a filter of <3 cM on the GEDmatch tool to compare our DNA, looks like we have shared DNA of 0.194 percent, but with "significant validity" (per GEDmatch) for 52.580 percent for compared 393,224 SNPs that were true identical. So I think we can't discount that Parish and Pariss were related, based on Almon Simms's genealogical research. Best, Mark

posted by Mark Todd
edited by Mark Todd
Parish and Grizel Kessiah Sims' have approximately 45-50 DNA matches on ancestry.com. My DNA is a match to all of these Sims descendants. My DNA does not match any of the descendants of Elizabeth Parish and James Sims. How is that possible if Parish Sims is the nephew of Pariss c Sims? When does DNA become the overriding determinate in genetic genealogy. Help please, G2G. In this case tradition is smothering the truth of science.
posted by Patty Sims
Thank you Mark for the change you made to the relationship of Parish Sims-5124 and Pariss Sims-3961. As DNA research advances, I believe it will become clear the two individuals are not remotely related. Eagerly awaiting a conclusion.
posted by Patty Sims
Sims-3961 and Sims-5124 do not represent the same person because: These are differet people. Sims-5124 is the nephew of Sims-3961.
posted by Mark Todd
Sims-3961 and Sims-5124 appear to represent the same person because: Possible duplicate
posted by Topher Sims

Rejected matches › Pariss Sims (abt.1750-1833)

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