Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/389

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SIMMONS


SIMMONS


army ; member of the general assembly of South Carolina, and of the state constitutional conven- tion, and voted against the adoption of the Federal constitution. Eldred Simkins attended the academy at Wellington conducted by Dr, Waddell, and was prepared for the bar at the Litchfield, Conn., Law school, and by Chancellor De Saussure of South Carolina. He was admitted to the bar, May 7, 1805, and established himself in practice at Edgefield Court House in 1806. He was married in 1807 to Eliza Hannah, daughter of Benaja Smitli, and granddaughter of Gen. Elijah Clarke of Georgia, and of their children, John was killed at Battery Wagner in 1863 ; Eliza married Gov. F. W. Pickins (q.v.) ; Susan Ann married Senator Andrew Pickins Butler (q.v.); and Maria Edgeworth married James E, Calhoun. He served repeatedly in the South Carolina legislature ; was lieutenant-governor of the state, 1813-14, and was elected to the 15th congress, Feb. 9, 1818, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John C. Calhoun (q.v.). He was re-elected to the 16th congress, March 3, 1818, serving 1818-21, and declined re-election. He was a member of the general assembly in 1824, and in 1830 became a law pai'tner with his son-in-law, F. W. Pickins. He died in Edgefield district, S.C, in 1832.

SIMMONS, Franklin, sculptor, was born in Webster, Maine, Jan. 11, 1839; son of Loring and Dorothy (Batchelder) Simmons; grandson of John and Sophia (Delano) Simmons, and of Will- iam and Martha (Parker) Batchelder ; great grandson of Samuel Simmons of Rliode Island, a Hevolutionary soldier who served at Valley Forge, took part in some of the most important battles, and was present at Burgoyne's surren- der ; and a descendant from the Rev. Stephen Batchelder, a colonial settler in New Hamp- shire, and from Gov- ernor Winslow of Mass- achusetts. He attended Bates college, Lewis- ton, Me., did some por- trait work in Maine, and spent 1865-C6 in Washington, producing portraits of Grant, Sheridan, Sherman, Farragut, Porter, Se- ward, Meade, Thomas, ROOER WILLIAMS, ^nd many others. In 1868 he established his studio in Rome, where he spent most of his time. He was married to Bar- oness von Jeinsen (born Slocum), of Providence..


R.I., on June 9, 1892. He was knighted by the King of Italy in 1898, and received the honorary degree of A.M. from Bates, 1867 ; Colby, 1885 ; and Bowdoin, 1888. His most notable works include statues of William King and Roger Williams in the National Capitol ; G.A.R. monument of General Grant for the National Capitol ; the equestrian monument of General Logan ; the Longfellow and Soldiers' monuments for Portland, Maine ; O. P. Morton for Indianapolis ; and Governor Pier- pont of Virginia, for Statuary Hall, U.S. Capitol.

SIMMONS, Furnifold McLendel, senator, was born in Jones county, N.C., Jan. 20, 1854 ; son of F. G. and Mary M. (Jerman) Simmons ; grand- son of F. G. and Rebecca Simmons, and of Mc- Lendel and Mary Jerman, He was graduated at Trinity college, Durham, N.C., 1873, and was ad- mitted to the bar, 1875. He was Democratic representative from the second district of North Carolina in the 50th congress, 1887-89 ; was col- lector of internal revenue for the fourth district of North Carolina, 1893-96, and was elected U.S. senator in 1901 for the term expiring March 3, 1907. He received the degree of LL.D. from Trinity college, 1901.

SIMMONS, George Frederick, abolitionist, was born in Boston, Mass., March 24, 1814. He was graduated at Harvard, A.B., 1832, A.M., 1835, and at the Divinity school, 1838. He was ordained as a Unitarian minister in 1838, and preacjied in Mobile, Ala., until driven out by a mob in 1840, because of his anti-slavery senti- ments. He was installed at a church in Wal- tham, Mass., in 1841, but resigned in 1843 in order to give more time to theological study, and read at the University of Berlin, 1843-45. Returning to the United States he was ordained pastor of a Unitarian church in Springfield, Mass., 1848, but was obliged to resign in 1851 for denouncing, in the pulpit, an assault made upon an anti-slavery agitator by a mob of Springfield men. He was pastor of a church at Albany, N.Y., 1854-55. He is the author of : Who ivas Jesus Christ ? (1839); Two Sermons on the Kind Treatment and Eman- cipation of Slaves (1840) ; A Letter to the So-Called Boston Churches (1846); TJie Trinity (1849); Public Spirit and Mobs (1851); Faith in Christ the Condition of Salvation (1854). He died in Concord, Mass., Sept. 5, 1855.

SIMMONS, Henry Clay, educator, was born in Harford, N.Y., Feb. 15, 1845 ; son of Daniel Smith and Elizabeth (Brown) Simmons, and grandson of Noah and Charity (Edmister) Sim- mons. He was graduated from Beloit college, A.B., 1869, A.M., 1871, and from the Chicago Theological seminary in 1872. He was ordained. May 8, 1872, and was pastor of Congregational churches at Fond du Lac, Wis., 1872-74; Mar- shall, Minn., 1874-79, and Walnut Grove, 1879-82.