Russell Symmes (1899 - 1981)

Born 3 Aug 1899 in Winchester, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Flora Elizabeth Whitney (Hawkes) Symmes — married 3 Sep 1927 in Winchester, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

Died 26 Oct 1981 at age 82 in Orlando, Orange, Florida, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Chip White [send private message]

Biography

Birth & Early Life

Russell Symmes was born in Winchester, Massachusetts on August 3, 1899; the third and youngest child of Samuel Stowell Symmes and his second wife, Minerva Rice Johnson.^[1][2][3]

He grew up living with his parents and siblings at 7 Sanborn Street in Winchester. He graduated from Winchester High School in 1917, and attended Williams College. He served in the United States Navy during World War I. By 1920, at the age of 20, he was working for his father as a "Teamster" delivering milk products for the family dairy business.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Russell and His Siblings (c1905)

Russell Symmes High School Graduation Photo (1917)

Marriage & Children

On September 3, 1927, he married, in Winchester, Massachusetts, Flora Elizabeth Whitney Hawkes, of Rockland, Massachusetts, daughter of Clinton Augustus and Flora Adelia (Hawkes) Hawkes, of Charlemont, Massachusetts. The wedding was held at the home of Russell's sister, Mrs. Walter P. Keyes, 39 Lloyd Street. The ceremony was performed by Rev. John G. Lovell of Chelmsford at 3 o'clock. Following their wedding, they initially settled in Nashua, New Hampshire, where their first three daughters were born, but by 1934, they had returned to Winchester so Russell could help his father tend his farm. They had nine children:^{[2][3][6][7][8]}

1. Kenneth Russell Symmes, born about 1928.
2. Virginia "Ginny" Symmes, born July 20, 1929; married, July 22, 1950, Frank Putnam White; died April 1, 2013.
3. Deborah Symmes, born about 1931.
4. Priscilla Symmes, born September 21, 1932; married Robert Walter Klein; died June 6, 2016.
5. Samuel Stowell Symmes, III, born February 15, 1934; married Janice Lynch; died February 25, 2016.
6. Peter Hawley Symmes, born June 12, 1935; died, unmarried, March 30, 1966, aged 30.^[7][9]
7. Roger Hawkes Symmes, born about 1939.
8. Russell Symmes, Jr., born March 11, 1940; died January 3, 1944, aged 3.^[7][10]
9. Elizabeth Symmes, born about 1945.

The Symmes Family (1943)

Later Life & Symmes Farm

When they were living in Nashua, New Hampshire, Russell had been the New Hampshire representative for a New York bond house, a trade he may have picked up from his half-brother Laurence, who also worked at a Bond House. But in 1934, he moved his family back to Winchester so he could run Symmes Farm Dairy for his father, Samuel Stowell Symmes. The farm was on a part of the original 300-acre tract that had been deeded to the Rev. Zechariah Symmes by the town of Charlestown in the mid-1600s. Russell's family were originally living in a house at 9 Sanborn Street in Winchester, right next to the house of his father, but by 1941, the growing family needed more space, so they moved into a larger house. That house was located at 233 Main Street at Symmes Corner, in Winchester, and coincidentally, was the same house once owned by his grandfather Marshall Symmes, Jr. When his father died in 1946, he inherited the farm and continued to run it until his retirement.^{[6][11][7][8]}

Retirement

Russell and his wife retired to Winter Park, Florida, in 1961, where Russell's favorite leisure activity was playing golf. He was known to play 36 holes of golf on some days. He was a member of the Winchester Rotary Club and continued in the Rotary after moving to Florida. He was also a member of the "Three-Score-And-Ten", Pinehurst, North Carolina, and the Winter Park Country Club.^[2]

For many years Russell and Elizabeth crisscrossed the country in their car in order to visit family, who by then were inhabiting quite a diverse collection of states ranging from Massachusetts to Florida, and New Jersey to California.

The Symmes Family Reunion (1975)

Death & Interment

Russell Symmes died in the Florida Hospital in Orlando, Florida, on October 26, 1981, at the age of 82. His ashes were interred in the Russell Symmes Family Lot at Wildwood Cemetery in Winchester.^{[2][3][8][12]}

Russell & Elizabeth Symmes Gravestone

Obituary

Russell Symmes, 82, of Winter Park, Fla. and formerly of Winchester, died Oct. 26 in the Florida Hospital in Orlando, Fla.

The son of Samuel S. Symmes, Mr. Symmes was born in Winchester and lived here at 8 Symmes Corner until moving to Florida in 1961.

The owner and operator of the Symmes Farm Dairy, he was a Winchester High School graduate and attended Williams College. He was a member of the Winchester Rotary Club and continued in the Rotary after moving to Florida. He was also a member of the "Three-Score-And-Ten", Pinehurst, N.C., and the Winter Park Country Club.

He is survived by his wife Elizabeth (Hawkes) Symmes; a sister, Elizabeth S. Keyes of Mt. Vernon st.; three sons, Brig. Gen. Kenneth R. Symmes of Ariz., S. Stowell Symmes III of N.J., and Roger H. Symmes of Fla.; four daughters, Virginia S. White of Woburn, Deborah S. Walsh of Calif., Priscilla S. Klein of Calif., and Elizabeth Smathers of Fla.; 16 grandchildren and one great-grandson.

A memorial service at graveside will be held for the immediate family with Rev. Robert B. Storer officiating. Friends are invited to join the family in the Symmes Room of the Unitarian Church in Winchester from 1-3 p.m. on Oct. 31.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FXF9-RN1 : 1 March 2016), Russell Symmes, 1899.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} The Winchester Star. Thursday, October 29, 1981. Obituaries. Page 29. Citing: "RUSSELL SYMMES."
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 20 March 2018), memorial page for Russell Symmes (3 Aug 1899–26 Oct 1981), Find A Grave: Memorial #180092663, citing Wildwood Cemetery, Winchester, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Chip White (contributor 49288196).
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M9TK-KYT : accessed 6 October 2017), Russell Symmes in household of Samuel Symmes, Winchester Town (south & east part), Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 996, sheet 21A, family 437, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,668.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MX12-4XF : accessed 6 October 2017), Russell Symmes in household of Samuel S Symmes, Winchester, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing ED 532, sheet 30B, line 53, family 630, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 720; FHL microfilm 1,820,720.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} "The Winchester Star". Friday, September 9, 1927. Wedding Announcements Sec. Symmes-Hawkes. Citing: "Miss Elizabeth Whitney Hawkes, head of the French Department at Rockland High School, was the bride of Mr. Russell Symmes of this town last Saturday [September 3] afternoon at a pretty home wedding at the Winchester home of the groom's sister, Mrs. Walter P. Keyes, 39 Lloyd street. ... The ceremony was performed by Rev. John G. Lovell of Chelmsford at 3 o'clock. ... Mr. Symmes is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel S. Symmes of Sanborn street, his father being the tree warden for the town. He is a graduate of the local high school, and he attended Williams College. He is New Hampshire representative for a New York bond house. Mrs. Symmes, who is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clinton A. Hawkes of Charlemont, is a graduate of Wheaton '18. The couple will make their home, upon their return from a wedding trip, in Nashua, N.H."
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3} "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K4N3-SLH : accessed 12 May 2017), Russel Symmes, Winchester Town, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 9-637, sheet 10A, line 31, family 205, 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 1622.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2} White, Virginia. Handwritten notes. Notes in the possession of Chip White.
9. ↑ "The Winchester Star", Thursday April 7, 1966, Obituary Sec. Peter Hawley Symmes.
10. ↑ "The Winchester Star", Friday, January 14, 1944, Obituary Sec. Russell Symmes, Jr..
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X7NN-ZP8 : accessed 8 October 2017), Russell Simms, Nashua, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 86, sheet 8A, line 4, family 206, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1303; FHL microfilm 2,341,038.
12. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JK61-32C : 19 May 2014), Russell Symmes, Oct 1981; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

See also:

• Symmes Farm Dairy - History and memorabilia.