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Symons Family History
Symmons/Simons/Simonds/etc.
The earliest known
Symons in my family is one William Symons born about 1620, possibly
in England, who may have first settled in Massachusetts around Lynn, Essex
County. William's was also one of the first families to
settle East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York.
Many court records have been found
regarding William and his sons, buying land, selling land, and some
very intriguing personal records as well. The Symons lived at
a very lively and exciting time for America, as they were some of the
first settlers of this New World.
Many internet trees show William
Symons as having married a Mary Conkling, or a Mary Alice
Robbins Conkling. But what you don't see, is the source
documentation for this discovery. How have they come about this
marriage? I personally have found absolutely no marriage record for
William marrying a Mary Conkling or an Alice Robbins
or any other combination of that name. Also, the date of the
marriage given was 18 January 1643 in Woburn, Middlesex Co.,
Massachusetts.
How was this marriage found?
I can tell you that you will find a marriage between a William Simons
and a Judith Haward on that date. It does appear that this is
not the William we are looking for though.
So you might ask, maybe William
and Mary are not the ones you are looking for at all. Well,
they are. The Symons family were devout Quakers. My
first Symons ancestor was Sarah Symons, my fourth great
grandmother. I have successfully traced her family through Quaker
records back to a Thomas Symons, my 8th great grandfather born
about 1648, possible in Massachusetts. From Quaker records we make
the jump to court and legal documents. Thomas Symons shows up
in many documents buying and selling family property.
In one such record he mentions that
he is the son of William Symons, deceased, and the letter is dated
about 1684. So we have a father's name, and an approximate date of
death, and a geographic location of William Symons death.
Thomas was writing from Pasquotank Co., North Carolina back to East
Hampton, New York, to David Gardiner, about selling family
property. It is safe to assume that William Symons died in
North Carolina, after all, why would Thomas have to write back to
New York and tell folks there that his father had died?
One document has been found that
states William's wife's first name being Mary. Of all
the documents ever found involving the couple, she was always referred to
as Goody Symons. A land warrant was obtained by Thomas
Symons entitling him to 400 acres of land for the transportation of 8
persons. Those eight people listed were: [Illegible name] Symons,
Mary Symons, Wm. Symons, Rebecca Symons, Eliz. Symons, Jer. Symons, Mary
Symons, negroe boy named Will. The first Mary was most
likely Thomas' mother, the rest of the people were his siblings.
The illegibile named Symons could have been the father. This warrant
was granted right before William Symons died.
So we have the parents, and a list
of children, all from one court document, and from Quaker records, we can
obtain more dates. But lets go back to William and Mary
for just a bit.
Who was Mary Symons?
Was she a Conkling? I'm beginning to think not. I
recently came across another researcher who is adamantly trying to solve
this puzzle, and has come up with some very insightful information.
So far, we have not found and eligible Conkling woman to be
William's wife. But what if she wasn't a Conkling?
There are some letters where Thomas is asking to be remembered to
his Uncle Fithian when he is writing back home to New York from
North Carolina. What if Mary was a Fithian? Or
maybe she was a Gardiner? All of these families were living
in close proximity to each other, she could be any of one of these
families. But try as I might, I can not find a Conkling
connection.
Now, on to Thomas Symons.
Many online trees have his wife as Rebecca White, I did too, until
recently. This same researcher I have been working with has been
trying to beat it into my brain that this couldn't be so. I don't
like to follow just one person though, I want to see someone else with
these ideas too. Well, she sent me some back up research, and one
little line in this research sold me on the idea.
Thomas' son, John
Symons married who? Damaris White who is the daughter of
who? Henry White. And he would be the brother of
Rebecca White and that would make John and Damaris first
cousins, and the Quakers do NOT allow such marriages to happen.
Not only that, but in Henry
White Sr.'s will, the supposed father of Rebecca and Henry
White, she is not mentioned, wouldn't she if she was his daughter?
All of the other children were. Back in 1968 a gentleman by the name
of William Perry Johnson compiled a Symons genealogy for the
"North Carolina Genealogy" Spring 1968 issue. In it, he too was not
sold on Rebecca White, only he had no proof. My fellow
researcher has found a wife that fits, she is in the area, her family is
too, they intermarried with the White family too. Her name is
Rebecca West sister of Mary West who married either Henry
or Arnold White [don't know which as they both married a Mary
one married Thomas Symons' sister Mary].
Seeing as how this family line
starts with my fourth great grandmother, there will be limited
information, such as photos and obituaries. I will try, as time
permits, to located estate and land papers on this family. The
"Documentation" section will be dedicated to articles, websites, and
write-ups located on the Symons family.
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