William Simpson

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William Simpson

Also Known As: "Simpston"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: Dergina, Ballygawley, Mid Ulster, Northern Ireland
Death: May 15, 1794 (84)
Buckingham, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States
Place of Burial: Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States
Immediate Family:

Son of Thomas Simpson, of Paxtang and 1st wife of Thomas Simpson
Husband of Jane Simpson and Mary Ann Simpson
Father of John Simpson, Sr.; Hannah Pearson; John Wesley Simpson; Thomas Simpson; Richard Simpson and 5 others
Brother of Nathaniel Simpson; Samuel C. Simpson; Joseph Simpson; John Simpson and Rebecca Boyd
Half brother of Mary Elder; Jane Kelso; Thomas Simpson, Jr. and Gen. Michael Simpson

Managed by: Ofir Friedman
Last Updated:

About William Simpson

Not a son of Thomas ‘the carpenter’ Simpson


Descendants of William Simpson

  • 1 William Simpson aka: Simpston b: Mar 17, 1708/09 in Dergina, Ballygawley, Ireland d: Mar 13, 1794 in Buckingham Twp., Bucks Co., PA Burial: Historic Presbyterian Church of Newtown +Jane Allen aka: Ann b: Abt. 1711 in Scotland m: Abt. 1731 in Lancaster Co., PA d: Nov 03, 1801 in Buckingham Twp., Bucks Co., PA Burial: Historic Presbyterian Church of Newtown
    • 2 John Simpson b: Mar 02, 1732/33 in Paxtang, Lancaster Co., PA d: Aug 16, 1804 in Horsham, Montgomery Co., PA Burial: Neshaminy Cemetery, Hartsville, Bucks Co., PA +Hannah Roberts b: Jun 29, 1745 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA m: Nov 25, 1762 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA d: Jan 22, 1821 in Doylestown, Bucks Co., PA Burial: Neshaminy Cemetery, Hartsville, Bucks Co., PA
    • 2 Sarah Simpson b: 1734 in Paxtang, Lancaster Co., PA
    • 2 William Simpson b: 1735 in Paxtang, Lancaster Co., PA d: 1818 in Solesbury Twp., Bucks Co., PA +Nancy Ann Hines b: 1739 in New Britain, Bucks Co., PA m: Abt. 1763 in Bucks Co., PA d: Dec 01, 1790 in Bucks Co., PA Burial: Historic Presbyterian Church of Newtown
    • 2 Jane Simpson b: Abt. 1736 in Paxtang, Lancaster Co., PA
    • 2 Mary Simpson b: May 29, 1749 in Buckingham, Bucks Co., PA d: Oct 30, 1822 in Newtown, Bucks Co., PA Burial: Newtown Presbyterian Buring Ground Pennsylvania +John Wilson b: Mar 13, 1744/45 in Bucks Co., PA m: Feb 09, 1773 in Newtown Presbyterian Church, Bucks Co., PA d: Jul 14, 1811 in Newtown, Bucks Co., PA Burial: Newtown Presbyterian Buring Ground Pennsylvania
    • 2 Thomas Simpson b: in PA
    • 2 Isabel Simpson b: in PA

SIMPSON, WILLIAM Ancestor #: A207000 Service: PENNSYLVANIA Rank: PATRIOTIC SERVICE Birth: 3- -1709 Death: 3-13-1794 BUCKINGHAM TWP BUCKS CO PENNSYLVANIA Service Source: PA ARCH, 3RD SER, VOL 13, P 156 Service Description: 1) PAID SUPPLY TAX 1781

William Simpson was the executor of his brother, Thomas' will in 1774 - Pennsylvania Wills, 1682-1834 Bucks Co., PA Page 350. Thomas Simpson of Newtown, Yeoman. December 23, 1773. Proved January 11, 1774. Wife Sarah and Francis Murray, Merchant of Newtown, exrs. Bro. William Simpson, Yeoman, and cousin William Simpson, Blacksmith. Wit: Jane McCoy, Thos. Janney, Andrew McMinn.

Page 393. William Simpson, Buckingham Twp., Bucks Co., PA, January 3, 1794. Proved June 12, 1794. Wife Jane. Son Thomas Simpson and John Wilson exrs. Son John and 4 daus., Isabel, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah. Money in James Loughry's hands. Wits: James Bonner, Abram Pugh and John Heanely.

The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Volume 116 page 90 Mrs. Annie Wright Ball. DAR ID Number: 115284 Born in Dublin, Ohio. Wife of Wayland Dalrymple Ball. Descendant of Capt. Edward Rogers, William Davis, Ensign John Davis, William Simpson, and Ann Simpson Davis, as follows: 1. James Edward Wright (1829-90) m. 1855 Elizabeth Davis (b. 1835). 2. Daniel Wright (1791-1864) m. 1819 Margaret Christie (1803-70); Joseph Davis (1802-92) m. Edith deFord (1798-1877). 3. Henry Christie m. Elizabeth Rogers (b. 1777); John Davis m. 1783 Ann Simpson.

[p.90] 4. Edward Rogers m. 1773 Hannah Jackson; William Davis m. 1758 Sarah Burley (1735-1819); William Simpson m. Nancy Hines.

Edward Rogers (1736-1813) commanded the 3rd company, Col. Fisher Gray's regiment, at the Battle of Long Island. He was born in Branford; died in Cornwall, Conn. Also No. 92243. William Davis served as an Associator, 1775. He died, 1779, in Bucks County, Pa.

John Davis (1760-1832) enlisted in Capt. Henry Darrah's company, Bucks County, Pennsylvania militia, 1778, and served as ensign. He was born in Bucks County, Pa. Ann Simpson Davis (1736-1851) when a girl of sixteen served as messenger for General Washington. She was born in Bucks County, Pa.; died in Dublin, Ohio. William Simpson (1732-1816) served as private, 1775, in the Bucks County, Pennsylvania Associators. He was born in Ireland; died in Bucks County, Pa. Also No. 89528.

THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XVII, BUCKINGHAM, 1703. from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time by W. W. H. Davis, A.M., 1876 and 1905 editions. Sometime before the Revolution William Simpson, from the North of Ireland, came into Bucks county and settled in Buckingham or Solebury. The year of his arrival is not known, but on January 15, 1766, he made application to purchase 100 acres, and the deed was executed by John Penn, May 23, 1767. He married a Hines, probably prior to that time. He had two sons and two daughters, Ann, Mary, John and Matthew. John lived and died in Bucks county, and was the father of Mrs. Ann Jamison, Buckingham. Matthew removed to Ohio, near Zanesville, about 1810. Ann married John Davis about 1782, who moved to Maryland, 1795, and to Ohio, 1816, settling on the Sciota, near Columbus. William Simpson was a soldier in the Revolution, and at the battle of Trenton. On one occasion, when he came home to visit his family, his house was searched by his Tory neighbors, but failed to find him, as he was in the cellar with a hogshead turned over him. James Simpson, son of John and Hannah, not related to the foregoing so far as we know, spent part of his life in Buckingham, and became quite a celebrated preacher among Friends. He was born in Solebury, May 19, 1743. He was full of eccentricities and widely known. He kept school for a while in Buckingham, but dreaming how to make brooms he commenced and followed that business. He removed to Hatboro, 1789, and married Martha Shoemaker, a widow, and died at Frankford, 1811, at sixty-eight. He left some sermons and other writings.


His parents -

Thomas Simpson imigrated to PA in 1720.

Ref: WFT CD 47, Tree 371: Cooke came from a place in North Ireland called; Crevehill, Parish of Enniskillen, Fermanagh County. The Cooke's, Brady's and Simpson's all came from the same place. Settled in PA about 1720.

Ref: Vol 2 of Geneology of Pennsylvania Families Settled in the Paxtang area in 1720... A warrent for 20 acres in Paxtang Township was issued to Thomas Simpson March 22, 1733... He did own a house, which he later willed to his wife; carried on the important business of smith, was a planter and perhaps Indian trader. Thomas was a smith, operated a shop at his dwelling plantation. It is not indicated what kind of metal he and his son, Thomas, worked.

Paxtang Presbyterian Church - In memory of THOMAS SIMPSON and his family who settled in Paxtang Anno Domini 1720.

Paxtang Presbyterian Church - As a tribute to the virtues and worth of Elizabeth Simpson consort of Michael Simpson this monument has been erected. She died in 1806 aged 67 years. Mourned and regretted by Friends and Relatives Sacred to the memory of Michael Simpson who died on the first day of June A D 1813 Aged 73 years.



Descendants of Thomas Simpson

  • 1 Thomas Simpson b: 1683 in Ennis Killen, Fermanagh, Ireland d: Mar 25, 1761 in Paxtang, Lancaster Co., PA Burial: Presbyterian Churchyard Cemetery, Harrisburg, Dauphin, PA * +Jean b: Abt. 1683 m: Abt. 1703 in Northern Ireland d: Aft. 1736
    • 2 Nathaniel Simpson b: Abt. 1703 in Ireland d: in Ireland
    • 2 Samuel Simpson b: 1706 in Northern Ireland d: 1790 in Abington, Montgomery Co., PA, Probate Date +Rebecca aka: Hannah b: 1708 in Ireland m: 1728 in Paxtang, Chester Co., PA d: Nov 29, 1799 in Paxtang, Lancaster, PA
    • 2nd Wife of Samuel Simpson: +Mary Lowther aka: Martha b: 1725 in County Westmeath, Leinster, Ireland m: Aug 02, 1745 in Buckingham Monthly Meeting, Bucks Co., PA d: 1795 in Abington, Montgomery Co., PA
    • 2 Joseph Simpson b: Abt. 1707 in Ireland
    • 2 William Simpson aka: Simpston b: Mar 17, 1708/09 in Dergina, Ballygawley, Ireland d: Mar 13, 1794 in Buckingham Twp., Bucks Co., PA Burial: Historic Presbyterian Church of Newtown +Jane Allen aka: Ann b: Abt. 1711 in Scotland m: Abt. 1731 in Lancaster Co., PA d: Nov 03, 1801 in Buckingham Twp., Bucks Co., PA Burial: Historic Presbyterian Church of Newtown
    • 2 Simpson b: Abt. 1710 in Ireland +William Harper b: Abt. 1710 m: Abt. 1730
    • 2 Thomas Simpson, Jr. b: Abt. 1711 in Ireland d: Jan 11, 1774 in Paxtang, Lancaster Co., PA - will date +Sarah b: Abt. 1711 m: Abt. 1731 in Paxtang, Lancaster Co., PA d: in Paxtang, Lancaster Co., PA
    • 2 John Simpson b: 1711 in Ireland d: 1746 in Bucks Co., PA +Helen DeLaPaine aka: Delapaine b: 1714 m: Nov 1736 in Abington MM, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania d: in Bucks Co., PA
    • 2 Rebecca Simpson b: Abt. 1712 in Ireland d: in Dauphin Co., PA +Boyd b: Abt. 1712 m: Abt. 1731

donnac58@yahoo.com,



Note: Served in the Rev. War

GEDCOM Note

First man killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Enemy Artillery Finds Its MarkOnly a few weeks after arrival the rifle companies were actively integrated into the routine duties of the new American Army. These units formed the nucleus of the Continental Army and were actively supporting the campaign design associated with the siege of Boston initiated by the New England Militia months earlier. General Washington did not have the luxury of building an army in garrison; he built the American Army while maintaining the siege of Boston, a complicated and difficult endeavor. Siege warfare often involves extend periods of seemingly mundane tasks interspersed with periods of intense combat. One of these periods of intense combat occurred on August 27 when a detachment of fifty Pennsylvania riflemen provided covering and supporting fires for a unit engaged in the construction of an artillery battery position on Ploughed Hill. The American and British lines were very close together at this location. As the riflemen provided long and short range fires to cover those men digging the battery position, the British responded to the rifle fire with artillery fire from platforms they already had available to disrupt work of the Americans. One can envision the British gunners loading and priming their guns behind the wall of earth thrown up to protect them from the well-aimed and accurate American rifle fire, then moving their guns into position and quickly aiming and firing. Or perhaps the British responded with larger and longer range guns positions beyond the range of the American riflemen. The British artillery response was effective. Mr. William Simpson, of Paxton Township, a volunteer in Smith’s Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Company, had his foot ripped from his body by an enemy cannon ball. Simpson initially survived this traumatic event but ultimately succumbed to the injuries.[17] William Simpson, like Gen. Richard Montgomery, died from artillery fire.[18] Artillery proved an effective killer during the American Revolution and this lethality is worthy of the more recent designation as “King of Battle.” Congress took notice of the importance of artillery and began the process of building a national vice regional corps of American artillery with the appointment of Col. Henry Knox on November 17, 1775.[19] George Washington visited the wounded William Simpson shortly after the incident and this visitation of a wounded comrade in arms by the commanding officer reflects an American tradition of military leadership that continues to this day. The severe wound necessitated amputation of Simpson’s leg, and he died the next day. Simpson’s death may very well mark the first combat casualty in the new national or Continental Army raised by the United Colonies under the authority of the Continental Congress. This force was fielded in mid-August 1775, only a few weeks before Simpson’s death.[20] Simpson would become one of many thousands of men to serve, first the United Colonies and later the United States, and in doing so sacrifice their lives in the nearly decade long struggle that would ultimately lead to the independence of the United States of America. [1] H. T. Shelton, General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution (New York: New York University Press, 1994), 149; also see 219-20 n38. [2] Robert K. Wright Jr., The Continental Army (Washington D.C.: Center for Military History, 1983); see Chapter 1, “The Army of Observation: New England in Arms,” 4-20. [3] United States Army. About the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, http://www.oldguard.mdw.army.mil/regiment, accessed November 15, 2016. [4] Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed., Journals of the Continental Congress, Volume II (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905), 89-90, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:lit(jc00235, accessed November 16, 2016. The Wednesday, June 14, 1775 entry reads in part, “That each company, as soon as compleated, shall march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry, under the command of the chief Officer in that army.” June 14 is both Flag Day and the official birthday of the United States Army. Congress authorized the “Stars and Stripes,” on Saturday June 14, 1777. The entry in the Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, Vol. VIII, 1777, reads “Resolved that the flag of the thirteen United States be Thirteen stripes alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” See http://www.nationalflagday.com/history.asp accessed November 16, 2016 and http://www.army.mil/birthdayaccessed November 16, 2016. [5] Ford, Journals, 89; and Arthur S. Lefkowitz, Benedict Arnold’s Army (New York: Savas Beatie, 2008), 291 n62. Morgan’s Company over recruited, departing Winchester with twenty-eight more men than authorized by Congress; Don Higginbotham, Daniel Morgan Revolutionary Rifleman (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1961), 23; Upon arrival in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in route to Boston, Cresap’s Maryland Company contained 130 men; J. B. Wisker, The American Colonial Militia: The Pennsylvania Colonial Militia(Vol. 3) (Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellon Press, 1997), 100. Smith’s Company had at least one volunteer citizen, Mr. Simpson; most companies apparently exceeded their recruiting quotas and added volunteers to the rosters who served without pay. [6] Thomas Lynch Montgomery, ed., Pennsylvania Archives, Fifth Series, Volume II (Harrisburg: Harrisburg Publishing Company, State Printer, 1906), 4; Lefkowitz, Benedict Arnold, 44-46. [7] Ford, Journals, 90. [8] Ibid., 104; Wright, Continental Army, 5. The term regiment and battalion were largely synonymous in the British and new American military structure; most other nations included two battalions in a regiment the British and Americans did not. The Continental Army eventually adopted the regiment as the standard headquarters for controlling groups of companies but the term battalion was used through the American Revolution. [9] Ford, Journals, 173; Wright, Continental Army, 25-26. The ninth company was the second company raised in Lancaster County. [10] Kenneth Roberts, March to Quebec, Journals of Members of Arnold’s Expedition (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1946), Morison Diary, 506-508. [11] Tucker F. Hentz, Unit History of the Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment 1776-1781, Insights from the Service Record of Capt. Adamson Tannehill (Richmond: Virginia Historical Society, 2007), 3, http://www.vahistorical.org/research/tann.pdf, accessed November 16, 2016; and Higginbotham, Daniel Morgan, 24. [12] Montgomery, Pennsylvania Archives, 6. William Simpson’s brother, Michael, also served the patriot cause with Benedict Arnold at Quebec and at Trenton, Princeton, White Plains and Brandywine and continued his service as a Pennsylvania Militia general after the Revolution; AmericanRevolution.org, http://www.americanrevolution.org/arnold/arnoldappb.php, accessed January 1, 2017. [13] Roberts, March to Quebec, Morison Diary, 506-508. [14] Roberts, March to Quebec, Caleb Haskell, 469; John Blair Linn, ed., Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution, Battalions and Line. 1775-1783, Volume 1 (Harrisburg: L. S. Hart, State Printer, 1880), 5, http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/john-blair-linn/pennsylvania-..., accessed December 10, 2016. [15] Wisker, The American Colonial Militia, 100; the original report of this event was in the Pennsylvania Journal, August 23, 1775. [16] James Thacher, M.D., Military Journal During the American Revolutionary War from 1776 to 1783, http://www.americanrevolution.org/thacher.html, accessed December 17, 2016. [17] Montgomery, Pennsylvania Archives, 46. [18] Shelton, Montgomery, 149. [19] McKenney, Janice E. The Organizational History of Field Artillery, 1775-2003 (Washington D.C.: Center for Military History, 2007), 4. [20] Montgomery, Pennsylvania Archives, 46 indicates Simpson was wounded August 27 and “died a few days after;” Roberts, March to Quebec, Morison Diary, 508-509, indicates Simpson was wounded on September 3 and died the next day; Franklin Ellis, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1883), 40, indicates the date of Simpson’s wound as August 28 with his death on August 29. Many men had already died in the actions by New England militia around Boston, but Simpson may have been the first member of the force raised by the United Colonies, not individual state colonial militias, to die in combat during the American Revolution.


“He was the first man killed at the battle of Bunker Hill.”


References

  • Thomas Simpson in the North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000. The Kinnears and their kin : a memorial volume of history, biography and genealogy, with Revolution. Page 303. < AncestrySharing >. Page 304. < AncestrySharing >
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William Simpson's Timeline

1709
May 17, 1709
Dergina, Ballygawley, Mid Ulster, Northern Ireland
1727
1727
Faifax, Virginia, USA
1729
1729
Templepatrick, Antrim, Northern Ireland
1729
1733
March 23, 1733
Paxtang, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
1735
1735
1735
Antrim, Ireland, UK
1737
1737
1737