SIMONDS
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| This illustration of the Jesse Cutler House (built by William Simonds) is from page 58 of Legends of Woburn, by Parker Lindall Converse, published in 1896. You can read this book at Archives.org http://archive.org/stream/legendsofwoburn02conv#page/n7/mode/2up |
William Simonds was born in 1612 in Winchester, Hampshire,
England, son of William Symonds and Alice Unknown. He settled first in Charlestown where he
became a freeman in 1639. He was first
married to a Sarah Unknown about 1641 in Concord, Massachusetts, and then he
removed to the settlement which became the town of Woburn, Massachusetts in
about 1644 when he was taxed there.
In 1644 he also married Judith Phippen, the widow of James
Hayward. He built his house in the
Cummingsville section of town about 1670, and is no longer standing, but there
are photographs of it. William Simonds died
in 1672 and left Judith his house in his will, and it eventually passed to his
son Benjamin and stayed I the Simonds family until 1844, when it was sold to
Jesse Cutler.
William and Judith had twelve children, and ten lived to adulthood. There are a large number of descendants who
spread out over Middlesex County, Massachusetts and beyond. If you are researching this family be sure
to check all the various spellings: SYMONDS, SIMMONS, SIMMONDS, SIMONS, etc.
There are few books or articles about William Simonds and
his descendants. The best bet is to
search the vital records, local histories and Woburn or Burlington records for
this family. The Burlington Historical
Society was a terrific place to visit, too.
http://www.burlingtonmahistory.com I also
found these two books to be helpful:
Genealogical Sketch of William Simonds, by Edward Francis
Johnson, 1889
The History of Woburn, Massachusetts from the Grant of its Territory to
Charlestown in 1640 to the year 1680, by Charles C. Sewall, 1990,
Heritage Books
The town of Burlington was once part of Woburn,
Massachusetts. You can find many places
there named after the Simonds family, including Simonds Park (once the Nathan
Simonds home), the Marshall Simonds Middle School, and Simonds Road.
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My lineage from William Simonds:
Generation 1: William Simonds, baptized on 20 November 1612
at St. Peter’s in Winchester, Hampshire, England, died on 7 June 1672 in
Woburn, Massachusetts; married first to Sarah Unknown, married second to Judith
Phippen, widow of James Hayward, on 18 January 1644 in Woburn. She died 3 January 1690 in Woburn.
Generation 2: James
Simonds, born 1 November 1658 in Woburn, died 15 September 1717 in Woburn;
married on 28 December 1685 in Woburn to Susannah Blodgett, daughter of Samuel
Bloggett and Ruth Eggleton. She was born
17 February 1663 in Woburn and died 9 February 1715 in Woburn. James Simonds married second to Anna
Lawrence.
Generation 3: James
Simonds, son of James Simonds and Susannah Blodgett, was born 1 November 1686
in Woburn, and died 30 June 1775 in Woburn; married on 17 June 1714 in Woburn
to Mary Fowle, daughter of James Fowle and Mary Richardson. She was born 18 June 1689 in Woburn and died
9 March 1762 in Woburn.
Generation 4: Caleb
Simonds, born 27 August 1720 in Woburn, died 4 January 1811; married first on
26 March 1746 in Woburn to Susanna Converse, daughter of Robert Converse and
Mary Sawyer. She was born on 18 June
1724 in Woburn and died 29 October 1771 in Woburn. Caleb Simonds married second
to Lucy Mixer on 6 December 1774 in Woburn.
She was the daughter of Joseph Mixer and Mary Ball, born on 21 November
1727 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts and died on 3 September 1783 in Burlington,
Massachusetts.
Generation 5: Ruth Simonds, daughter of Caleb Simonds and
Susanna Converse, born 13 April 1763 in Woburn,
and died 29 January 1840 in Danvers, Massachusetts; married on 22 March
1785 in Burlington, Massachusetts to Andrew Munroe, son of Andrew Munroe and
Lucy Mixer (his step-mother). Andrew
Munroe, Jr. was born on 31 March 1764 in Lexington, Massachusetts and died on 7
August 1836 in Danvers, Massachusetts.
Generation 6: Luther
Simonds Munroe m. Olive Flint
Generation 7: Phebe
Cross Munroe m. Robert Wilson Wilkinson
Generation 8: Albert
Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill
Generation 9: Donald
Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)
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To Cite/Link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ Simonds of Woburn, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 15, 2012, (
My (late) sister once lived in Woburn and worked in Burlington, as a surgeon at the Lahey Clinic. So your title caught my eye. I continue to be impressed by your massive compilation of genealogy records. I just got a huge bundle of information from a second cousin, relatives in the hundreds, but even when I finish recording it (years from now!) it won't approach all your knowledge. I have to say, Kudos!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mariann, my daughter lives in Burlington, next to the Simonds middle school. I told her she was "coming home to her ancestors". At 25 they don't appreciate it like we do!
DeleteI am a Symonds descendant, just getting started in genealogical research. My line is William b. 1612, Lt. Benjamin, Joseph, Samuel, Samuel, Ashnah, Sylvester R., Clarence S., Nellie Louise (my grandmother). Until 1924, family members resided in Connecticut after migrating there from Massachusetts. In 1924, Nellie and her husband Frank Miller Augur loaded their six children into an open touring car for a transcontinental move to the Pacific NW -- a trek of great adventure. About a hundred descendants still reside in PNW.
ReplyDeleteI am going to have to do some research on Burlington! A Simonds school there? Who knew?
I to am a wiliam simonds descendant thru his son joseph all the way down to my grandfather Frank Simonds of central ny state. A 6th cousin who can trace a direct male line from himself to william has done familytreedna testing and found out that the simonds male line is of Scaninivan deep ancestry. Part of the I-Hapolgroup. some time between the year 400 to the year 1000 the line must have been part of ethier Vikings, Dannish settlers or Ango Saxon's and ended up in england from Nordic lands somehow. Thought you might like to know
ReplyDeleteAbout 20 years ago, I was walking in downtown Boston, and came across a sidewalk sale at the Brattle Book Shop (I think the owners of this chain of book stores were closing down this store). I saw a big thick book that looked old, with "Holy Bible" on the binding. I bought it without even opening it.
ReplyDeleteThis past week, I happened to open the page before the title page, and saw the following carefully written in old script on first inside page:
Edward Simonds, Woburn (MA, I presume) May 1855.
The title page reads:
Holy Bible
Old and New
Testament
translated out of the original tongues
--at bottom of page--
New York
American Bible Society
1855
The book is 1215 pages long, and quite heavy.
I am trying to find a descendant in the Simonds family (specifically Edward Simonds, if possible) who would like to have this book. Please contact me. Burton Klein, e-mail address: burtonklein@gmail.com.
About 20 years ago, I was walking in downtown Boston, and came across a sidewalk sale at the Brattle Book Shop (I think the owners of this chain of book stores were closing down this store). I saw a big thick book that looked old, with "Holy Bible" on the binding. I bought it without even opening it.
ReplyDeleteThis past week, I happened to open the page before the title page, and saw the following carefully written in old script on first inside page:
Edward Simonds, Woburn (MA, I presume) May 1855.
The title page reads:
Holy Bible
Old and New
Testament
translated out of the original tongues
--at bottom of page--
New York
American Bible Society
1855
The book is 1215 pages long, and quite heavy.
I am trying to find a descendant in the Simonds family (specifically Edward Simonds, if possible) who would like to have this book. Please contact me. Burton Klein, e-mail address: burtonklein@gmail.com.
My ancestry, not water-tight proven, but getting there:
ReplyDeleteMy parents
Elizabeth Wilcox m 1947 Jos Jayko
Orson Horton Wilcox m 1908 May Hill
Ada Cordelia King 1861 IL - 1947 SD m. Horton Wilcox
Elizabeth Cornelia Selts 1840 NY - 1924 IL m. John Henry King
Mary Warner Douglas 1796 VT - 1875 IL m. John Selts (Seltz, Sitts?)
Hannah Simonds 1774 VT - 1839 IL m. Joseph Douglas
Joel Simonds 1744 CT - 1821 VT m. Patience Hall [[Patriot]
Joseph Simonds 1689 Lexington MA - 1768 Ware MA m. Hannah Abbe
Joseph Simonds 1652 Woburn MA - 1733 Lexington MA m. Mary Tidd
IS HE A SON OF WILLIAM SIMONDS 1612-1672?
Does anyone else share part of this ancestry?
Thank you, Mary
Hello Mary, Joseph Simonds (1652 - 1733) is the son of William Simonds and Judith Phippen. He was the 6th child, 3rd son out of 12 children.
DeleteThank you, Heather. Have put it on my tree (7 years later)
DeleteI realize this is an old post an am hoping someone still monitors it. I am trying to find the parents of Thomas E. Simonds born abt 1806. His mother immigrated from England and he married Elizabeth Harris of North Carolina. They later moved to Roane County W.V. and are on the 1880 census there.
ReplyDeleteAny assistance would be much appreciated, I have been stuck on this since about 2012.
Sorry, can't help you. While my Simonds are of the same era, they are all in Vermont and getting ready to emigrate to Illinois. I didn't find a Thomas, though that doesn't mean there isn't one. Good luck, and thank you for reaching out! I, too, have a brick wall, but in New York and not of Simonds.
ReplyDelete