My Genealogy Hound

Thomas H. Simms, cashier Hempstead County Bank, Hope, Ark. Mr. Simms was originally from Culpeper County, Va., where his birth occurred on February 1, 1838, and is the son of Albert G. and Salome B. (Merideth) Simms, the former a native of Madison, and the latter a native of Mecklenburg County, Va. The father came to Arkansas in 1871, located in North Hempstead County, and there received his final summons in 1872. The mother also died in this county in 1877. Of the thirteen children born to his parents, five are now living, and Mr. Thomas H. Simms is the eldest of the brothers living. He attained his growth, received a limited education in his native State, and when fifteen years of age went to Culpeper Court House, where he remained in business with the father of Gen. A. P. Hill (a gentleman of Confederate fame) for two years. In 1855 he came to Fulton, Ark., worked on a farm one year, and then went to Washington, Hempstead County, where he was deputy clerk for two years under Capt. Simon T. Sanders. After this he was book-keeper for D. & V. Block, a large mercantile firm of Washington, for one year, and was then employed in the United States land-office for two years. In 1861 he enlisted in the Hempstead Rifles, First Arkansas State Troops, and on August 10, 1861, he was shot almost to pieces at Oak Hills, Mo. When able, he returned home, and, after recovering, served as assessor and collector for 1862 and 1863. In the fall of the latter year he re-enlisted in the army, and served as assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of major. After the war Mr. Simms served as book-keeper, for a mercantile establishment for seven years, but previous to this, however, he was commissioned State land agent of Washington District for 1865 and 1866. In 1874 he was elected circuit clerk of Hempstead County, and served until 1880. From 1882 to 1885 he was engaged in merchandising under the firm title of Jett & Simms, at Washington, and from the last named date until 1889 he was collector of internal revenue for the State of Arkansas, with headquarters at Little Rock. In the last named year he was made cashier of the Hempstead County Bank, at Hope, Ark., and occupies that trustworthy position at the present time. Mr. Simms is a self-made man, and has experienced many hardships in his efforts to acquire a competency. He has hunted deer and camped on the site of the town of Hope, and being one of the early settlers here, has witnessed the rapid growth of the country from its primitive state to its present prosperous and flourishing condition. Mr. Simms was married on March 4, 1858, to Miss Lucy R. Moss, daughter of Capt. William Moss, who came from Scott County, Va., to Arkansas in 1818. She died in Washington in 1878. To Mr. and Mrs. Simms were born five children. In 1879 Mr. Simms married Mrs. Mollie Walker, of Washington, the daughter of the late Judge John Field, a prominent attorney of Washington, who came here with Gov. Pope from Kentucky. To this union were born four children. Mr. Simms is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Odd Fellow, K. of H., L. of H., and a member of the Masonic Mutual Relief Association of Arkansas. He has been a Mason since 1860, is a prominent man of the county, and has a host of friends.