Born in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania in 1844, James Simpson was a son of New York native Reuben Simpson (1807-unknown) and Pennsylvania native Emma/Amie/Amy Simpson (1809-unknown).

While many details of his early life remain murky, what is known to a fair degree of certainty is that James Simpson was raised in Easton with his siblings: Hiram Simpson (1831-1907), who had been born in Lumberville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania on 18 March 1831 and would later serve with Company H of the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry (Harlan’s Light Cavalry) during the American Civil War; Robert Simpson, who had been born circa 1832 but may have married or died sometime before 1860 (because he was not listed as a member of Reuben Simpson’s household on the 1860 federal census); Mary Jane Simpson (1835-1907), who had been born in 1835 and would later marry and have children with George Malone (circa 1825-unknown), before being widowed by him and marrying Henry Hand (circa 1835-1905; alternate surname spelling: “Ham”); Reuben Simpson, who had been born circa 1839; and Martha Simpson (circa 1842-1900), who had been born circa 1842 (alternate birth years: 1847, 1848) and would later wed boatman John Lewis DeMass (1843-1910) and settle with him in Lumberville, Plumstead Township before relocating with her family to Phillipsburg, Warren County, New Jersey.

Sometime before or after Martha’s birth, Reuben Simpson packed up his family and moved then from Bucks County to the Borough of Easton in Northampton County, where James Simpson was then born in 1844, followed by Rebecca Simpson (1847-1915), who was born on 4 November 1847. (Rebecca would later go on to marry German immigrant and future 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer John Michael Cohler.)

Still just a boy when he began working for a canal company in Easton, James Simpson and his brothers, Hiram and Reuben, were all employed as boatmen by the time that the federal census of 1860 was enumerated in Northampton County. The trio also still resided at home with their parents in South Easton. Also living with them was their younger sister, Rebecca. Their father, who was employed that year as a laborer, also continued to bring in financial support for the Simpson clan.

But like many residents of Northampton County, they watched and worried as their nation’s horizons were darkened by a secession crisis that devolved into a terrible civil war.

* Note: According to the May and August 1907 obituaries of James and Hiram Simpson, both brothers were survived only by their sisters, Mary Jane (Simpson) Hand and Rebecca (Simpson) Cohler, meaning that their siblings, Robert and Reuben Simpson, both died sometime prior to 1907.

American Civil War

Although James Simpson did not enter the fight to preserve America’s Union until the final months of the American Civil War, he still managed to enlist at a pivotal time during that conflict. After enrolling for a one-year term of service in Easton on 11 February 1865, he then mustered in there that same day as a private with Company H of the battle-hardened 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Military records at that time described him as a twenty-year-old lock tender and resident of Easton who was nearly five feet, eight inches tall with light hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. Subsequently transported south to West Virginia, he arrived at his regiment’s encampment at Camp Fairview just outside of the city of Charlestown during the same time that his company was adjusting to a change in leadership. (Recently-commissioned Captain Reuben Shatto Gardner, a miller from Newport, Pennsylvania, had assumed command of Company H on 16 February. Private James Simpson arrived at Camp Fairview on 28 February, according to regimental muster rolls. Already on duty at Camp Fairview was Private John M. Cohler, a German immigrant who had served with the 47th Pennsylvania since early December of 1861 and would later become James Simpson’s brother-in-law.)

Attached to the Provisional Division of the 2nd Brigade of the Army of the Shenandoah during that phase of service, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers had been stationed at Camp Fairview since the final week of December in 1864, and had been assigned, since that time, to protecting Union Army railroad and supply lines from attacks by Rebel guerrillas — a job they continued to perform until the end of March 1865, when they were ordered to move back to Washington, D.C., by way of Winchester and Kernstown. Upon arriving at their destination, their assignment was to prevent the Confederate States Army from getting anywhere near the nation’s capital.

Tragedy and Shock

Late in the evening of 14 April 1865, officers of the 47th Pennsylvania received word that assassination attempts had been made on President Abraham Lincoln and members of his cabinet. The next day, they received heartbreaking news — that President Lincoln had actually been mortally wounded at Ford’s Theater and had succumbed to his fatal head wound at 7:22 a.m. (on 15 April 1865).

Assigned by the U.S. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton with other Union Army regiments to protect the Washington, D.C. area, out of concern that the American Civil War would reignite, fueled by Lincoln’s murder, Private James Simpson and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were not permitted to march with other Union Army units in President Lincoln’s funeral procession in Washington, D.C. on 19 April. Instead, they gathered together with other officers and enlisted members of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division of the U.S. Army of the Shenandoah for a memorial service held near Winchester, Virginia that same day. During that service, they listened to an address that was delivered by the 47th Pennsylvania’s Regimental Chaplain William Rodrock to the assembled heartbroken throng — an address that was subsequently published on 10 May 1865 in the German Reformed Messenger as “The Tolling Bells. In Memory of the Late President, Abraham Lincoln” and, later, in other newspapers and books as “An Address Delivered to the 2d Brigade, 1st Division, Army of the Shenandoah, comprising the 47th P.V.V., 8th Regt. Vermont Vols., 153d N.Y. Vols., and 12th Reg. Connecticut Vols., near Winchester, Va., by Rev. W. D. C. Rodrock, Chaplain, 47th Reg. P.V.V., April 19th, the day set apart for the funeral of the late President of the United States.”

Letters sent to family and friends back home during that time and post-war newspaper interviews with surviving veterans of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry documented that at least one 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer was given the high honor of guarding President Lincoln’s funeral train while others guarded the key Lincoln assassination conspirators during the early days of their trial.

Attached to Dwight’s Division of the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Department of Washington’s 22nd Corps, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers also participated in the Union’s Grand Review of the Armies on 23 May.

Reconstruction

Shortly after that massive parade, attrition from the ranks of the 47th Pennsylvania began as men deemed too ill or injured were honorably discharged on surgeons’ certificates of disability and allowed to return home to their loved ones. Private James Simpson and other members of the 47th who were still fit to serve were then shipped out on a final tour of duty in America’s Deep South. They and their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers subsequently served in Savannah, Georgia from 31 May to 4 June, where they were again assigned to Dwight’s Division and attached to the 3rd Brigade, U.S. Department of the South.

Relieving the 165th New York Volunteers from their post in Charleston, South Carolina in July, they quartered in the former mansion of the Confederate Secretary of the Treasury.

Then, beginning on Christmas Day in 1865, Private James Simpson and the majority of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were honorably mustered out for the final time at their duty station in Charleston, South Carolina — a process that continued through early January. Following a stormy voyage home, the 47th Pennsylvanians disembarked in New York City. They were then transported to Philadelphia by train, where they were given their final discharge papers at Camp Cadwalader, between 9-12 January 1866.

Return to Civilian Life

Following his honorable discharge from the military, James Simpson returned home to Northampton County, where he found work as a laborer. Still unmarried as of the summer of 1870, he worked as a farm laborer that year and resided at the home of William Kolb and his wife, Anna, in South Easton, Northampton County, where he continued to reside into the 1880s.

Documented as a lock tender on the 1880 federal census, James Simpson would ultimately spend forty years of his life working on the Lehigh Canal, during which time he “had a number of miraculous escapes from death in the big floods,” according to The Allentown Leader. In his free time, he socialized with his fellow Civil War veterans as a member of the Grand Army of the Republic’s McKeen Post (No. 576) in South Easton.

Still residing in Easton and still working for the Lehigh Canal during the summer of 1890, according to that year’s special veteran census, James Simpson filed for, and was subsequently awarded, a U.S. Civil War Pension, with the help of Soule & Co., a Washington, D.C.-based group of attorneys that prepared and submitted applications on behalf of their clients for patents, pensions and other legal claims to federal government agencies. By 1900, however, he had moved into the home of Bowman Henry Yarrington in Easton’s Tenth Ward. (Yarrington was employed by Lehigh Canal as a collector.)

But as James Simpson aged, life became increasingly difficult as the hardships that he had endured in life took a toll on his health. Still single and no longer working for the Lehigh Canal by the winter of 1906-1907, he was admitted to the Northampton County Alms House in Upper Nazareth Township, where he then lived out the remainder of his days.

Illness, Death and Interment

After suffering an episode of apoplexy at the Northampton County Alms House on 1 May 1907, James Simpson died there in his early sixties at the end of that same month (on 28 May). Following funeral services, he was laid to rest at Hays Cemetery in Easton. He was survived by his brother, Hiram Simpson, who lived in Easton, and by two sisters: Mrs. Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand, who resided in Bucks County; and Rebecca (Simpson) Cohler, who lived in South Easton and was the wife of his former 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry comrade, John Michael Cohler.

What Happened to James Simpson’s Siblings?

By the summer of 1860, James Simpson’s thirteen-year-old sister, Martha Simpson (circa 1842-1900), had moved away from the Borough of Easton in Northampton County and into the home of their married older sister, Mary Jane (Simpson) Malone, in Doylestown, Plumstead Township, Bucks County. Also living with them were Mary Jane’s husband, George Malone, and Mary Jane’s children, Isaac, Mary, Hugh, and Susanna. During the mid-1860s, Martha Simpson then began her own family line by marrying boatman John Lewis DeMass (1843-1910), who was known to family and friends as “Lewis.” Choosing to remain in Bucks County initially, Martha and her husband subsequently became the parents of: Clara DeMass, who was born circa 1868; and Susan Emma DeMass (1869-1924), who was born on 30 April 1869 and would later become a nurse in Miami, Florida (and would remain unmarried for her entire life). By the summer of 1870, the four DeMass family members were documented by a federal census enumerator as residents of Lumberville in Plumstead Township, Bucks County, and were supported by the wages that Lewis DeMass brought in as a boatman. Within a year or so of that census, however, Martha (Simpson) DeMass and her husband decided to make a major change and moved their family to New Jersey. Their son, Isaac DeMass (1872-1893), was then born in that state in 1872, followed by: Hannah DeMass (1874-1928), who was born in February 1874 and would later wed Frank A. Achenbach in Phillipsburg, Warren County on 12 February 1898; and Alfred DeMass (1876-1942), who was born on 21 June 1876 and would later marry Lovella Frailey (1880-1967) in Phillipsburg on 14 January 1898 and secure a job as a machine operator at Bethlehem Steel.

* Note: Based on federal and state census records, Clara DeMass, the first-born daughter of Martha (Simpson) DeMass, appears to have died in childhood because her name was not listed as a member of the DeMass household on the 1880 U.S. Census, or on subsequent New Jersey State Census records of the 1880s.

By the summer of 1880, the DeMass family was living in the city of Phillipsburg in Warren County, New Jersey. More children soon followed: Mary Elizabeth DeMass (1880-1939), who was born in Phillipsburg on 24 August 1880 and would later wed Amos D. Vaughn (1880-1959); Edith A. DeMass (1881-1934), who was born in Phillipsburg on 19 April 1881 and would later wed Joseph P. McCorkell (1879-1970); Joseph DeMass (1883-1957), who was born in Phillipsburg on 7 March 1883 and would later wed Anna Hoke (1884-1924); and William DeMass (1885-1887), who was born in 1885 but would die in early childhood in Phillipsburg roughly two years later. Sadly, the next decade also brought heartache for Martha (Simpson) DeMass and her husband, who lost another child when their son, railroad brakeman Isaac DeMass, was killed in a work-related accident. (Employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad, he was still in his early twenties when he was fatally injured as he was crushed between two railroad cars while they were being uncoupled near Trenton, New Jersey on 1 October 1894 and died that same day at St. Francis’s Hospital. He was subsequently laid to rest at the Phillipsburg Cemetery in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. Seven years later, after witnessing the dawn of a new century, Martha (Simpson) DeMass died at the age of fifty-three in Phillipsburg on 30 November 1900 and was then also laid to rest at the Phillipsburg Cemetery.

James Simpson’s older brother, Hiram Simpson, also never married. During his teen and early adult years, he worked as a boatman on the Lehigh, Morris and Delaware canals. Sometime after completing his military service with Company H of the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry during the American Civil War, Hiram secured post-war employment as a brakeman with the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR) — a job he held for much of his adult life. In 1870, he rented a room from William and Mary Koch at their home in South Easton. By 1880, he was still living with the Kochs — but at their home on Northampton Street in Easton that they shared with their daughters, Caroline, Sophia, Gertrude, and Barbara. That year, Hiram was described by a federal census enumerator as a railroad “coal cracker.” When his declining health and age prompted him to accept a less-taxing job as a watchman with the LVRR, he continued to work in that job until he retired with a railroad pension circa 1899. By 1900, he was renting a room from silk mill weaver John Martin at 735 Northampton Street in Easton. Also renting a room there was unmarried dressmaker Barbara Elizabeth Koch (1868-1947), a daughter of the man that Hiram had rented a room from in 1880. Suffering from general debility that ultimately made him an invalid, Hiram Simpson died from paralysis of the heart at John Martin’s home, at the age of seventy-five on 15 August 1907 — less than two months after his brother James’ passing. Unlike his brother, however, Hiram Simpson was buried at the Easton Cemetery in Easton.

Following her early 1850s marriage to George Malone (circa 1825-unknown), James Simpson’s sister, Mary Jane (Simpson) Malone (1835-1907), settled with her husband in Plumstead Township, Bucks County, where they welcomed the births of: Isaac Malone (1852-1891), who was born circa 1852 (alternate birth year: 1853) and would later become a canal boatman and marry Mary Pettit in Phillipsburg on 27 September 1878 (who subsequently became the cook on his canal boat); Mary Jane Malone (1856-1876), who was born on 12 June 1856 and would later wed William B. Harper (1848-1922) and settle with him in Missouri; Hugh Malone, who was born circa 1858; and Susanna Malone (1860-1920), who was born on 9 March 1860 and would later wed John C. Large (1851-1905). By 1860, Mary Jane (Simpson) Malone and her husband were residing in Doylestown, Plumstead Township with their children, Isaac, Mary, Hugh, and Susanna. Also living with them was Mary Jane’s thirteen-year-old sister, Martha Simpson. Subsequently widowed by George Malone by the mid-1860s, Mary Jane (Simpson) Malone then married a second time — to New Jersey native Henry Hand (circa 1835-1905; alternate surname spelling: “Ham”), and also settled initially with him in Plumstead Township — in a home that was situated on land located somewhere between Doylestown and Point Pleasant. Soon after, they welcomed the birth of their own child, Lucinda Hand (1868-1921), who was born on 6 January 1868, would become known to family and friends as “Lucy” and would later wed farmer Wilson Burd (alternate surname spelling: “Bird”) in Bucks County on 6 November 1890. In 1870, Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand resided in Lumberville, Plumstead Township with her second husband, teamster Henry Hand, and their two-year-old daughter, Lucy Hand. Also living with them was ten-year-old Susanna Malone, Mary Jane’s daughter from her first marriage. Another daughter, Julia Hand, was then born to Mary Jane and her second husband, circa 1871. By the summer of 1880, though, Mary Jane’s daughter, Susanna Malone, had become a live-in servant at the farm of George and Susanna McFarren in Solebury Township in Bucks County. Meanwhile, Mary Jane was also residing in Solebury Township — but in a separate home with her second husband, Henry Hand, who was employed as a quarryman, and their daughters, Lucy and Julia Hand. By the dawn of the new century, however, Mary Jane and her husband, day laborer Henry Hand, were empty nesters who lived in the Borough of New Hope in Bucks County. Subsequently widowed by her second husband when he died circa 1905, Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand continued to reside in the same county where she had lived her entire life. Unfortunately, she suffered a severe fall in early to mid-September 1907, during which she fractured a femur bone (an injury that is still a dangerous one even today). Sent to the Bucks County Home in Doylestown to convalesce, she died there at the age of seventy-two from injury-related complications on 12 October 1907 (within months of the deaths of her unmarried brothers, James and Hiram Simpson) and was interred at the Doylestown Cemetery where her second husband was also at rest.

Following her marriage to John Michael Cohler (1849-1909; alternate surname spelling: “Kohler”), who had emigrated from Germany in 1861 and had then served with her brother, James Simpson, in the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the final year of the American Civil War, Rebecca (Simpson) Cohler (1847-1915) settled with her husband in Easton, where they began their own family line by welcoming the births of multiple children. Preceded in death by her husband when he died in Easton on 16 July 1909 and was buried at the Easton Cemetery, Rebecca (Simpson) Cohler survived him by roughly five years. Ailing during her final years, she was admitted to the hospital in Easton in mid-January 1915, but died there at the age of sixty-six, on 27 January of that year (alternate date of death: 26 January 1915). Following funeral services, she was laid to rest at the same cemetery where her husband was interred (the Easton Cemetery).

* Note: To learn more about the lives of Rebecca (Simpson) Cohler, her husband and children, please read “The Cohler Brothers — German Immigrants and Masons Who Helped Rebuild America.”

 

Sources: 

1. “A Brakeman Crushed to Death” (fatal work-related accident of Isaac DeMass, a nephew of James and Hiram Simpson and a son of Martha (Simpson) DeMass). New York, New York: New York Tribune, 2 October 1893.
2. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
3. Cohler, John (a brother-in-law of James and Hiram Simpson), in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company A, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
4. Cohler, John (a brother-in-law of James and Hiram Simpson), in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company A, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
5. Cohler, John, in U.S. Census (“Special Schedule. — Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and Widows, etc.”: South Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1890). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
6. Cohler, Rebecca ( a sister of James and Hiram Simpson and the widow of John M. Cohler), in U.S. Census (Easton, Ninth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
7. Coler [sic, “Cohler”], Jacob (a brother-in-law of James and Hiram Simpson), in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company A, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
8. Coler [sic, “Cohler”], Jacob (a brother-in-law of James and Hiram Simpson), in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (Company A, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
9. Cook [sic, “Koch”], William, Mary (mother), Mary (daughter), Catharine, Sophia, Caroline, Kittie, Robert, and William; Simpson, Hiram (boarder); and Gephart, Joseph (boarder), in U.S. Census (South Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
10. Cooler [sic, “Cohler”], John, Rebecca (a sister of James and Hiram Simpson), Mary, Lizzie, and Charles; and Simpson, Amy (Rebecca’s mother), in U.S. Census (Easton, West Ward/Post Office: South Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
11. “Death of John M. Cohler” (obituary of James Simpson’s brother-in-law and fellow 47th Pennsylvania veteran). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 19 July 1909.
12. Demas [sic, “DeMass”], Lewis, Martha (a sister of James and Hiram Simpson), Clara, and Susan E. (Lumberville, Plumstead Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
13. Demass [sic, “DeMass”], Lewis, Martha, Susan, Isaace [sic, “Isaac”], Hannah, Alferd [sic, “Alfred”], and Mary, in U.S. Census (Phillipsburg, Warren County, New Jersey, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
14. “DeMass, Miss Susan E.” (a niece of James and Hiram Simpson and a daughter of Martha (Simpson) DeMass), in “Obituary.” Miami, Florida: The Miami Herald, 16 February 1924.
15. Diaries of Jeremiah Siders (Company H, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry), in “Pennsylvania Military Museum Collections, 1856-1970” (MG 272). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
16. Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, p. 1589. Des Moines, Iowa: The Dyer Publishing Company, 1908.
17. “Easton’s Big Day: Over 30,000 Strangers Attend the Unveiling of the Soldiers’ Monument.” Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania: The Wilkes-Barre Record, 11 May 1900.
18. “Easton’s Monument: Unveiled Yesterday with Patriotic Pomp.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Daily Leader, 11 May 1900.
19. Garis, Louisa (boarding house operator); Roseberry, Jacob (boarder); Kohler [sic, “Cohler”], Jacob (boarder and a brother-in-law of James and Hiram Simpson), et. al., in U.S. Census (Easton, Sixth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
20. Gobin, John Peter Shindel. Personal Letters, 1861-1865. Northumberland, Pennsylvania: Personal Collection of John Deppen.
21. Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. New York, New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885.
22. Hand, Henry (the second husband of Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand, Mary [sic, “Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand”] (a sister of James and Hiram Simpson) and Lucinda; and Malone, Susanna (a daughter of Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand from her first marriage), in U.S. Census (Lumberville, Plumstead Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
23. Hand, Henry (the second husband of Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand, Mary [sic, “Mary Jane (Simpson Malone” Hand”] (a sister of James and Hiram Simpson), Lucy, and Julia, in U.S. Census (Solebury Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
24. Hand, Henry (the second husband of Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand and Mary [sic, “Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand”] (a sister of James and Hiram Simpson), in U.S. Census (Borough of New Hope, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
25. Hiram Simpson (James Simpson’s older brother), in Death Certificates (file no.: 76444, registered no.: 354, date of death: 15 August 1907). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
26. Hiram Simpson (James Simpson’s older brother), in Records of Burial Places of Veterans (Easton Cemetery, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of birth: 18 March 1831, date of death: 15 August 1907). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Military Affairs.
27. Irwin, Richard Bache. History of the Nineteenth Army Corps. New York, New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1893.
28. Isaac Malone (a nephew of James and Hiram Simpson and a son of Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand; and Mary Pettit, in Marriage Records (Phillipsburg, Warren County, New Jersey, date of marriage: 27 September 1878). Trenton, New Jersey: New Jersey State Archives.
29. James Simpson, in Death Certificates (file no.: 48757, registered no.: 28, date of death: 28 May 1907). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
30. “John M. Cohler” (obituary of James Simpson’s brother-in-law and fellow 47th Pennsylvania veteran). Easton, Pennsylvania: Easton Express, July 1909.
31. John Michael Kohler [sic, “Cohler”] (the groom), Michael & Joanna K. (the groom’s parents); Rebecca Simpson (the bride, who was a sister of James and Hiram Simpson) and Reuben & Amy S. (the bride’s parents), in Marriage Records (St. John’s Lutheran Church, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of marriage: 21 August 1867). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
32. Koch, William, Mary, Caroline, Sophia, Gertrude, and Barbara; and Simpson, Hiram (boarder and a brother of James Simpson), in U.S. Census (Easton, Sixth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
33. Kohler, Jacob [sic, “Cohler”] (a future brother-in-law of James and Hiram Simpson) and John Michael Kohler and Johanna Kohler (parents), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Evangelische Kirche Knielingen, Karlsruhe, Duchy of Baden, date of birth: 7 May 1841, baptism: 13 May 1841), in “Baden, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1783-1875.” Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com.
34. Kohler [sic, “Cohler”], Jacob (a brother-in-law of James and Hiram Simpson); and Laubach, Sabilla, Charles (Sabilla’s son), Edward (Sabilla’s son), and Charles (Sabilla’s grandson), in U.S. Census (Easton, Fifth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1910). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
35. Kohler, Johann Michael [sic, “John Michael Cohler”] (a future brother-in-law of James and Hiram Simpson) and John Michael Kohler and Johanna Kohler (parents), in Birth and Baptismal Records (Evangelische Kirche Knielingen, Karlsruhe, Duchy of Baden, date of birth: 8 April 1846, baptism: 16 April 1846), in “Baden, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1783-1875.” Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com.
36. Kohler, John; Cohler, John (alias); and Kohler [sic, “Cohler”], Rebecca (a sister of James and Hiram Simpson and the wife/widow of John Cohler), in U.S. Civil War Pension General Index Cards (veteran’s application no.: 412820, certificate no.: 231785, filed by the veteran from New Jersey, 16 December 1880; widow’s application no.: 925121, widow’s certificate no.: 688646, filed by the veteran’s widow, Rebecca Kohler [sic, “Cohler”] from Pennsylvania, 5 August 1909). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
37. Kohler [sic, “Cohler”], John, Rebecca (a sister of James and Hiram Simpson), Lizzie, Charles, Willie and Harry, in U.S. Census (Phillipsburg, Warren County, New Jersey, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
38. Kohler [sic, “Cohler”], John, Rebecca (a sister of James and Harry Simpson) and Harry H., in U.S. Census (Easton, Eleventh Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
39. Kohler [sic, “Cohler”], Michael, Johanna, Jacob, Barbara, Johann [sic, “John Michael Cohler”], Gottlieb, Johanna, Juliana, and Josephine (note: the children Jacob, Barbara, Johann, Gottlieb, Johanna, Juliana, and Josephine were all future brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law of James and Hiram Simpson), in “Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897” (Microfilm Serial or NAID: M237; RG Title: Records of the U.S. Customs Service; RG: 36; ship: New Orleans, place of origin: France/Baden, departure: Le Havre, France, arrival: Port of New York, New York, 16 July 1861). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
40. Kolb, William, Anna and Catharine; and Simpson, James (boarder), in U.S. Census (Borough of South Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
41. Kolb, William, Anna, Bertha, Luther, and Catharine; Marworth, Eva M. (a cousin of William Kolb); and Simpson, James (boarder), in U.S. Census (Borough of South Easton, Second Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
42. Lucy Burd (a niece of James and Hiram Simpson and a daughter of Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand, in Death Certificates (file no.: 5298, registered no.: 11, date of death: 13 January 1921). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
43. Malone, George (the first husband of Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand), Mary [sic, “Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand”] (a sister of James and Hiram Simpson and the wife of George Malone), Isaac, Mary (a daughter of George and Mary (Simpson) Malone), Hugh, and Susanna; and Simpson, Martha (a sister of Mary (Simpson Malone) Hand and James and Hiram Simpson), in U.S. Census (Doylestown, Plumstead Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
44. Malone, Isaac (a nephew of James and Hiram Simpson and a son of Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand), Mary and Lizzie, in U.S. Census (Phillipsburg, Warren County, New Jersey, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
45. Martha J. Demass (a sister of James and Hiram Simpson), in Death Records (Phillipsburg, Warren County, New Jersey, date of death: 30 November 1900). Trenton, New Jersey: New Jersey State Archives.
46. Martin, John, Gertrude A. and Katherine M.; Koch, Barbara E. (boarder); and Simpson, Hiram (boarder and a brother of James Simpson), in U.S. Census (Easton, Fourth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
47. Mary Hand [sic, “Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand”] (a sister of James and Hiram Simpson), in Death Certificates (file no.: 97162, registered no.: 205, date of death: 12 October 1907). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
48. McFarren, George and Susanna; Groom, Jonathan, Mary and George H.; Malone, Susanna (a servant who was a niece of James and Hiram Simpson and a daughter of Mary Jane (Simpson Malone) Hand); and Lowen, Henry (servant), in U.S. Census (Solebury Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
49. “Miss Susan E. DeMass” (a niece of James and Hiram Simpson and a daughter of Martha (Simpson) DeMass), in “Deaths.” Miami, Florida: The Miami News-Metropolis, 14 February 1924.
50. “Mrs. Joseph P. McCorkell Succumbs to Pneumonia” (obituary of a niece of James and Hiram Simpson and a daughter of Martha (Simpson) DeMass). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 28 November 1934.
51. “Mrs. Mary Hand” (death notice of a sister of James and Hiram Simpson), in “For Rapid Reading.” Bristol, Pennsylvania: The Bucks County Gazette, 18 October 1907.
52. “Northampton’s Monument Is Unveiled at Easton: Great Throngs from All Sections Participate in the Big Celebration.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, 11 May 1900.
53. “Obituary: Hiram Simpson” (death of James Simpson’s older brother). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 16 August 1907.
54. “Obituary: James Simpson.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 30 May 1907.
55. Rebecca Cohler (obituary of a younger sister of James and Hiram Simpson). Easton, Pennsylvania: Easton Express, 27 January 1915.
56. Reports and Other Correspondence of W. D. C. Rodrock, Chaplain, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (Record Group R29). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 1864-1865.
57. Schmidt, Lewis. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
58. Scott, Robert N. The War of War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, series I, vol. XXXIV, part II: “Correspondence, etc.-Union,” Chapter XLVI: “Louisiana and the Trans-Mississippi,” p. 199. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1891.
59. “Served in the 47th” (obituary of James Simpson). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 29 May 1907.
60. Simpson, James, in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company H, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
61. Simpson, James, in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (Company H, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
62. Simpson, James, in Records of Burial Places of Veterans (Hays Cemetery, South Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, date of birth: 1944, date of death: 28 May 1907). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,  Department of Military Affairs.
63. Simpson, James, in U.S. Civil War Pension General Index Cards (application no.: 934806, certificate no.: 907809, filed by the veteran from Pennsylvania, 5 September 1890). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
64. Simpson, Reuben (father), Amie, Hiram, Robert, Mary, Reuben (son), James, Martha, and Rebecca, in U.S. Census (Borough of South Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1850). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
65. Simpson, Reuben (father), Emma, Hiram, Reuben (son), James, and Rebecca, in U.S. Census (Borough of South Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
66. “The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, 20 July 1870.
67. “The Shaping of Easton,” in “About Easton: History.” Easton, Pennsylvania: City of Easton, retrieved online 11 June 2026.
68. “The Unveiling of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument at Easton on Thursday.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 16 May 1900.
69. Vaughn, Mary Elizabeth (a niece of James and Hiram Simpson and a daughter of Martha (Simpson) DeMass), in Death Certificates (file no.: 40091, registered no.: 240, date of death: 8 April 1939). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
70. “Veterans’ Reunion: Heroes of the 47th Assembled at the Duck Farm: Their Old Commander Present: Large Gathering of Old Soldiers in Whom Martial Spirit Is Still Strong.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 22 October 1902.
71. Wharton, Henry D. Letters from the Sunbury Guards, 1861-1866. Sunbury, Pennsylvania: Sunbury American.
72. Yarington, Bowman H., Mary Y., Elizabeth, George H., Edgar, and Lillie I.; and Simpson, James (boarder), in U.S. Census (Easton, Tenth Ward, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.