My Genealogy Hound

G. W. Simmons, M. D., whose face is familiar in the homes of the sick and afflicted of this county, was born in Halifax County, N. C., in 1827, and is the son of Jesse H. Simmons, whose father, John Simmons, was a native of Scotland. Jesse H. Simmons married Miss Nancy B. Whitaker, also a native of North Carolina, and the daughter of James Whitaker. Her grandfather, John Whitaker, was a native of North Carolina and was a colonel of some note in the Revolutionary War, as was also John Bradford, Mrs. Simmons’ maternal grandfather. Gov. John Branch, of North Carolina, who was secretary of the navy in the cabinet of President Jackson, was a cousin of Mrs. Simmons. The Whitaker family was one of the most illustrious in the State. G. W. Simmons moved to Wayne County, Tenn., at the age of seventeen, and later was married to Miss Martha J. Gee, daughter of Thomas Gee, of English and Welsh parentage. He then entered the office of Dr. T. L. Carter, where he studied medicine, and a few years later opened an office, but in 1856 came to Clay County, and formed a partnership with Thomas J. Harris, at Oak Bluff, near where Rector now stands, and was the leading physician of the county. The partnership continued for three years when Dr. Simmons opened up business for himself, as his partner had entered the Confederate army. Since that time the Doctor has had the greatest, practice of any physician in the county, and says that after an experience of thirty-three years, he can truthfully say it is an error to make the statement that this is an unhealthy country. In his earlier practice, when people were very poorly housed and very little attention was paid to the laws of health, they suffered from ill health, but just in proportion to their improvement did they become healthier. The Doctor’s own family, consisting of six robust children, is evidence enough of the salutary condition of the country, and nowhere is to be found a better specimen of young manhood than William H. Simmons, who is clerking in his father’s store. Dr. Simmons, by his first wife, was the father of six children, all of whom are now living: Jesse, married, has three children, and resides near his father; Alice married G. W. Webb, who is now living near Oak Bluff, is a carpenter, and they have three children; Ella married James Merriwether, son of Dr. Merriwether, of Paragould, and has two children; William H. is at home with his father and attends the store; Charles lives with his father and attends to the farm, and Mary married W. E. Spence, now circuit clerk of the county, whose sketch appears in another part of this volume. Dr. Simmons married Miss Carrie M. Lavender, of Rector, who came from Georgia when a girl, with her sister and brother-in-law, H. B. Cox. Her father, James Lavender, was a native of Georgia, and her mother, Malinda (Ansley) Lavender, was of Irish extraction. The Doctor takes an active part in politics and votes the Democratic ticket, as do his two sons who are old enough to vote. He is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, and is a Royal Arch Mason, having passed through all the chairs in that order, and for six years was District Deputy Grand Master of the State. He has done much for the benefit of the county in which he lives, has built several of the finest houses in the vicinity, and is now engaged in the general merchandise business, having one of the best selected stocks in the town, valued at from $1,500 to $4,000. When the Doctor first settled in the county very little attention was paid to education, but whisky was considered the staff of life and was sold at every cross roads. Now a school-house takes the place at the cross roads and the whisky seller receives a limited amount of patronage.